FALL 2024

Greetings everyone!

Welcome back to our new school year! As we settle into our new year routines and begin this journey together, I am filled with excitement and optimism for what lies ahead. Our dedicated educators have been working tirelessly to prepare engaging and enriching experiences for all students. This year, we are focusing on fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where every student can thrive. We will continue to build on our strengths, innovate in our teaching practices, and support each student's unique path to success.

Parents and guardians, your partnership is invaluable. Together, we can ensure our students not only achieve academically but also grow as compassionate and resilient individuals. Let's make this year memorable and filled with achievements and joy.

I'm also excited to introduce our new quarterly newsletter! Instead of each month, we'll be sharing quarterly updates this year filled with news and highlights from across the district. We hope you find this updated format easy to read and a convenient way to connect you with helpful information and resources. We'll be making a few tweaks as we settle into the new look and feel. As always, I invite your feedback. Our next newsletter will be sent in November, but we'll be sure to keep everyone informed of time-sensitive or critical information that may need to be sent before then.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to excellence. Here’s to a fantastic school year ahead!

Let's go Barbs!

Photo: Dr. Garcia-Sanchez visits with students and
families at the annual Ice Cream social day on August 7.

Minerva Garcia-Sanchez, Ed.D.
Superintendent

New School Year Greeting from Dr. Minerva Garcia-Sanchez

Since the groundbreaking event held last April, significant progress has been made on the construction of Mitchell Elementary School, located at 1240 Normal Rd, in DeKalb.

We're excited to report that all work is progressing as planned. Within the existing building, all interior walls were removed, and now new walls are being constructed. Fire protection, plumbing, HVAC and electrical systems are also in the process of being installed.

A new roof will be finished on the existing building before winter, and notable changes to the exterior will start to be seen as we go through the fall. 

All of the steel and precast components are complete for the new additions. If you look closely at the upper right photo, you'll notice the geometric shapes for the new addition windows are in place. 

Click here to see the latest drone footage of construction at Mitchell Elementary.

Earlier this summer, the School Board approved replacing a portion of the Littlejohn playground and the remaining Jefferson playground. Upgrades to Littlejohn started the first week of school, and work at Jefferson will begin the week of August 26. In addition, Lincoln will be getting a 'firetruck' installed in the place where a damaged piece of equipment was removed last year.

The opening of Mitchell Elementary School allows the District to make progress on its priority to reduce classroom sizes, which means there will be less need to rely on mobile units for classroom space. The District has five mobile units, four of which are leased, that are used for classroom instruction. Plans are to remove the units at Brooks and Cortland. The unit at Jefferson will stay but be converted for storage. Because of the building sizes of Littlejohn and Lincoln and needing to accommodate three sections of each grade, mobile units will stay in place. However, options to upgrade the Littlejohn unit to include restrooms are being explored. 

Maurice McDavid is committed to family, education, and community. As a product of District 428, he is ecstatic to return to where he learned so much as a student and began his professional career as an educator.

McDavid is a former middle school history and Spanish teacher, as well as a dean, assistant principal, and principal. He joins D428 most recently from serving as a principal at a dual language elementary school in DuPage County.

With his wife, Samantha, and three children, he serves the community in multiple roles but is ready to take the helm at Dr. Leroy A. Mitchell Elementary School on a journey toward excellence.

There are some familiar faces taking on different administrative roles in the District with the start of the year. We're excited to welcome each of these dedicated individuals to their new positions and look forward to the contributions they will make to their respective schools. 

Sara Jennings shifts her Assistant Principal role at the High School to the AP for Teaching & Learning.

Rick Davis moves from Littlejohn Elementary as Principal to the Assistant Principal for Student Services & Operations at the High School.

Ben Erickson is now the Assistant Principal at Lincoln Elementary.

Laura Young moves from Assistant Principal to Principal at Littlejohn Elementary.

Welcome to Zack Price, new Assistant Principal at Littlejohn

A refreshed and updated D428 website was launched on Monday, August 19. Some features of the new site include streamlined navigation and quick links so it's easier to find what you are looking for, the entire site is now searchable, accessible, and mobile/device friendly, and translation is available in more than 100 languages. The same features are included in each of the individual school sites. 

It's been more than 10 years since the District's website received a comprehensive update. We're excited to introduce the new site, invite you to do some site-surfing to check things out, and most importantly, continue to refine the site to ensure it provides relevant and current information for our families, students, staff, and community. 

You will notice slight changes to the site throughout the fall as we continue to build and convert information into the new site structure. 

Quick Tips

• Visiting D428.org will take you to the homepage of the District. From there you can also find your school. Be sure to bookmark the link to your school site for quick access. 

• To select a school site and/or change the language, look for the selection menu at the top of the page above the D428 logo. 

• Quick links to the District Calendar, Transportation, Food Services, Registration, Virtual Backpack and Careers are located just below the banner images. 

Above photo: Snapshot of the new D428 homepage. 

Below photo: Illustrating drop down menu of location to access individual school sites.

D428 is excited to announce that we have adopted a new form of school-to-home communication through ParentSquare. ParentSquare provides a safe, efficient, and accessible way for the District and schools to communicate with our families and staff. It offers an improved interface and mobile-friendly delivery. 

All District and school building-level communications will be sent using ParentSquare. Many of our teachers will also start integrating ParentSquare into their classroom communications in the near future. 

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). 

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.

Android App - Google Play Store

iOS App - Apple Store

QR code for Android App

QR code for Apple App