Left; DeKalb High School students catch up before starting their first day. Right: A Founder's student has quite a story to share with Chief Byrd.
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| Greetings everyone!
With the start of our pre-k and kindergarten students on Monday, August 18, we are all officially back for the 2025-2026 school year!
We are always excited about the first days of school and about getting back into our learning routines, but I want to take this opportunity to extend a special 'Thank you!' to everyone who helped make sure we were ready to welcome our students back this month. A lot of hard work takes place throughout the summer months, and there's little downtime for many of our team members.
Our buildings and grounds projects range from simple fixes to major construction work, including opening the new Mitchell Elementary School and checking that every detail is complete. Ensuring our technology is safe, secure, and working to meet the growing needs of staff and students is a never-ending priority and significant work takes place over the summer months to be ready for the start of the year. We prepare to welcome new educators to the district and begin our year strong with a full suite of professional development opportunities to energize and support our building with the tools they need to be successful and ready to get students learning from day one. Even with student registration opening on April 1, there is a constant flow of registrations taking place up to the first day of school, and beyond, that require several steps to register students properly. Our registrar and supporting staff always have a hectic summer and we appreciate everyone's understanding and patience with these critical processes.
These are just a few examples of what's happening behind the scenes once students leave in May. I'm incredibly proud of our entire D428 team, and we're all excited to see our students and educators back in the classroom for what promises to be a year filled with progress, learning, and fun!
Let's go Barbs!
Minerva Garcia-Sanchez, Ed.D.
Superintendent
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Fabulous first day faces, and some good advice! | |
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Mitchell Elementary Celebrates Grand Opening |
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“Education has been good to me, and I’m grateful for this opportunity.” - Dr. Leroy A. Mitchell
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The District hosted a formal grand opening and ribbon-cutting celebration on Friday, August 8, to officially open Dr. Leroy A. Mitchell Elementary School at 1240 Normal Rd., DeKalb. More than 300 guests attended, including several family members, friends, and colleagues of the new school's namesake, Dr. Leroy A. Mitchell, city and elected officials, D428 staff, and fellow area educators.
Dr. Mitchell served for 28 years as the Director of the Counseling, Help and Assistance Necessary for a College Education (CHANCE) program at Northern Illinois University, where he helped more than 12,000 students who showed a drive to succeed but did not have the funds for a college education successfully earn degrees.
Dr. Mitchell is a highly respected and beloved leader in the community. In addition to his dedication to ensuring students succeed in college and beyond, he is also the founding pastor and pastor emeritus of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, DeKalb's first predominantly African American congregation.
Mr. Billy Hueramo, D428 director of teaching and learning (pre-k-5), led the ceremony, which featured remarks from Superintendent Dr. Minerva Garcia-Sanchez, Board of Education President Christopher Boyes, Meta Community Development Manager Tara Tenorio, Dr. Mitchell, and Mayor Cohen Barnes, who presented Dr. Mitchell with a proclamation from the city of DeKalb declaring Friday, August 8, 2025, as Dr. Leroy A. Mitchell Day.
The ceremony also featured a touching video tribute to Dr. Mitchell's enduring legacy of education and leadership in his more than 40 years as a community member and the unveiling of a namesake wall mural in the building's main entryway.
On Saturday, August 9, Mitchell Elementary welcomed a steady crowd of students, families, neighbors, and community members for an open house that included tours of the new school, free hot dogs and hamburgers, a chance to freshen up with a haircut or braids, and a chance to meet teachers and school staff.
Principal Maurice McDavid shared in an interview with The Daily Chronicle about the grand opening, "We definitely feel prepared to have students arrive, to get here safely, to be here safely, to leave here safely. We've got curriculum. We've got everything ready to roll. So, we're ready!"
We look forward to more opportunities to welcome community to Mitchell Elementary, along with all schools throughout the District in the coming school year.
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Video: Dr. Leroy A. Mitchell: A legacy born from becoming a 'Mitchell'
To learn more about Mitchell Elementary, visit the school's About page on their website. You can also watch the Grand Opening Ceremony on the District's YouTube channel.
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Top to bottom:
Mitchell Elementary School.
Dr. Mitchell address the audience at the grand opening.
Members of Mitchell Elementary's staff are introduced.
Instead of a traditional ribbon cutting, a paper chain was cut to officially open the school.
A student takes time to visit the wall mural and read and learn more about Dr. Mitchell.
In & Out Cuts of DeKalb offered free hair cuts and braids for students on Saturday's community open house.
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Welcome new building administrators |
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Shannon Armstrong, Early Learning Development Center Principal
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Elizabeth Richardi, Principal, Founders Elementary
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| Barzeen Vaziri, Assistant Principal, Founders Elementary
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| Candice Coleman, former Assistant Principal at Jefferson Elementary begins her first full year as principal at Tyler Elementary.
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Rhona Crandall moves from Dean at DeKalb High School to the Assistant Principal at Jefferson Elementary.
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| Delandon Mason, Assistant Principal at Mitchell Elementary.
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Jayne Muetterties, Restorative Dean at Mitchell Elementary.
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| Lori Hermann, Assistant Principal at Brooks Elementary.
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| Elise Maliszewski, Dean, DeKalb High School.
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| Tom Slater, Clinton Rosette Middle School Dean.
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ParentSquare is primary tool for classrooms and district communications |
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All District and school building-level communications, including teacher classroom school-to-home communications will be sent through ParentSquare. ParentSquare provides a safe, efficient, and accessible way for the District and schools to communicate with families and staff. It also offers an improved interface and mobile-friendly delivery.
We encourage families to download the ParentSquare app and activate an account now to take full advantage of the many features available, including notification and language settings. However, downloading the app is not required to receive alerts and posts from the District and school buildings.
**An important reminder: Make sure your contact information is up to date in Skyward so you are receiving notifications and information from the District and your school(s). This is particularly important for critical or emergency notifications.
The ParentSquare app is available in iOS or Android stores. Downloading the mobile app is the easiest way to receive emergency alerts, posts, events, sign-up requests, photos and files, and more.
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Check out the District's Virtual Backpack page for information on a variety of community events, services, camps and more! You'll find a quick link to Virtual Backpack on the D428 website homepage.
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The 'For Parents' page is located on the homepage of District's website and includes several quick links to helpful resources such as the Parent/Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct, Barb Food Mart, crisis resources, and more.
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Upcoming Dates to Remember |
August 19 - Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m.
August 22 - Professional Learning Community (PLC) Day - Early Release
August 28 - FNBO Challenge, Huskie Stadium, 4 p.m.
September 1 - Labor Day, No classes, offices closed.
September 2 - Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m.
September 12 - Professional Learning Community (PLC) Day - Early Release
September 16 - Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m.
September 26 - Professional Learning Community (PLC) Day - Early Release
October 7 - Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m.
October 10 - Teacher Institute Day, No student attendance
October 13 - Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day
October 21 - Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m.
October 24 - Professional Learning Community (PLC) Day - Early Release
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