Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Cost to keep Valley View’s technology running smoothly totals more than $550K
Valley View School District 365U educates more than 18,000 students in 20 schools and employs more than 2,000 full-time employees. To keep the district’s technology running smoothly, the responsibility for maintaining instructional and operations software for the hundreds of computers and programs across the district requires a considerable amount of expertise from a variety of vendors. To that end, the Valley View Board of Education Monday night approved the annual renewal of instructional and operations software maintenance contracts totaling $553,125. A description of the vendors and cost of each service and maintenance agreement approved by the board is as follows: AIMSweb, a progress-monitoring system used in Valley View for …
Friday, June 8, 2012
Program helps eligible young adults in Bolingbrook and Romeoville learn vocational and life skills.
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Friday, June 8, 2012
Editor's note: The following is a press release issued by Valley View School District. Ira Hammond and Corey Jones have their high school diplomas now thanks to Valley View School District 365U’s Secondary Transition Experience Program, but as they head to Joliet Junior College in the fall, they will do so hoping their legacy will live on at STEP. Hammond, you see, had a dream. He wanted to find a way for STEP students to get involved with their school. “I saw that a lot of students didn’t really have something to do,” he said as he recalled pitching his idea for a Student Council to staff and administrators last fall. “I wanted to show people they can be part of something great. You can put your skills and your hard work and your ideas …
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The Valley View Educational Enrichment Foundation relies on donations from events and residents to provide funds for the programs that would otherwise go unfunded.
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Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Valley View Educational Enrichment Foundation officials said for the third year in a row they have set a record for grant requests. Teachers, administrators, and residents submitted 65 applications for programs requiring more than $85,000 through the annual grant application program, said Foundation President Mike Lawler. The Foundation Board of Directors has so far been able to approve 20 grant programs utilizing approximately $34,200 in funding. Those programs include reading, math, language arts, history, cultural diversity, music, art, physical education, and many others that enrich the educational experience of the students by going above and beyond the curriculum. In all, more than 20,300 students are estimated to benefit from …
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Ekstrom, who has been with VVSD since 2006, will succeed David Hehl, who is taking another position in the district as of June 30.
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Editor's Note: The following is a release from the Valley View School District. Erica Ekstrom, currently principal of Valley View School District 365U’s Secondary Transition Experience Program (STEP), has been named VVSD’s Executive Director of Student Services. Ekstrom, who has been with VVSD since 2006, will succeed David Hehl, who is taking another position in the district as of June 30. A graduate of Illinois State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education, she obtained her Masters from Governors State University and also holds a Master’s of Educational Leadership from American College of Education. She began her career with Valley View as a resource cross categorical teacher at Bolingbrook High School before becoming a …
A plan to shift the cost of teacher pensions from the state to local school districts became the most hotly debated topic in Springfield on Tuesday.
With the clock ticking on the current legislative session in Springfield, Illinois lawmakers are scrambling to find a solution to the state's massive shortfall in the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS). The most hotly debated topic in the Illinois General Assembly on Tuesday was a plan to gradually shift pension liabilities from the state to local school districts, universities and colleges. The proposal is part of Senate Bill 1673, a pension bill backed by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago). An Illinois House committee voted 6-3 to send the proposal to the House before Thursday's adjournment deadline, NBC Chicago reports. House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego slammed Madigan and the proposed shift, calling it a "poison pill" …
Amendment to contract adds site improvements, technology to existing agreement
Classrooms may soon be empty when summer break begins next week, but throughout Valley View School District, buildings will be buzzing with activity – construction activity, that is. On April 16, the Valley View Board of Education approved a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMAX) contract in the amount of $12,320,590 with Wight & Company of Darien for the design, construction and renovation of the district’s 12 elementary schools to accommodate all-day kindergarten classrooms next fall. At its meeting Tuesday night, the board amended the GMAX contract to add the cost of site improvements at R.C. Hill Elementary School, as well as technology infrastructure improvements for the district’s kindergarten, first- and fifth-grades, math rooms and …
Monday, May 28, 2012
Two Valley View School District 365U student-athletes finished in the top 12 at the boys state track championships over the weekend.
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Monday, May 28, 2012
Editor's Note: The following is a release from the Valley View School District. Two Valley View School District 365U student-athletes finished in the top 12 at the boys state track championships over the weekend. Romeoville High School's Perez Ford ran the 200 meter dash in 22.4 seconds to finish sixth in the state. Ford also competed in the 100 meter dash and the high jump but did not make it past Friday's preliminaries in either event. Bolingbrook High School's Xavier Perkins was 11th in the high jump with a leap of 6-feet-2-inches. He won his flight in the preliminaries by jumping 6-feet-5-inches to qualify for the finals. Bolingbrook High School's Jordan Banks made it downstate in the triple jump but did not make it past the …
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
The competition was part of a three-day band trip that was the culmination of all of their hard work this school year.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Editor's Note: The following is a release from the Valley View School District. Jane Addams Middle School’s Symphonic Band not only won their classification but also earned “Best Overall Band” honors over the weekend at the Music in the Parks Festival competition at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The competition was part of a three-day band trip that was the culmination of all of their hard work this school year. The 50 band students, their seven chaperones, and their director, Carly Zabinski, also stopped at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, to take part in a band clinic with Dr. Bruce Moss, the director of bands at the university and the director of the Wheaton Municipal Band. They also visited the …
The program, limited to the first 300 girls who sign up, is for those who have not participated in Girl Scouts.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Current fourth and fifth grade girls in Valley View School District 365U have until the end of the month to sign up for a unique summertime opportunity to have fun and make new friends while learning about astronomy and engineering through a hands-on science program. Known as The Science Spectacular, the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana program will take place in Chicago Monday, June 11, and Tuesday, June 12, with bus transportation provided from both Irene King Elementary School in Romeoville and Independence Elementary School in Bolingbrook. King and Independence will then both host the program Wednesday, June 13, and Thursday, June 14, with more exciting science activities. Girls must sign up for all four days of the…
Monday, May 21, 2012
The effort to be more environmentally conscious at lunchtime began earlier Valley View completely eliminated the use of Styrofoam trays at the middle and high school levels.
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Monday, May 21, 2012
It wasn’t too long ago that Valley View School District 365U students tossed more than two million lunchtime Styrofoam trays into the trash every year. But these days, thanks to a cooperative effort between two VVSD departments and a Chicago-area company, that number has been significantly reduced. “A lot of people say you can’t recycle Styrofoam, but we’re proving that’s not true,” said Mike Lopez, director of facility operations for Valley View. “We may not be the only school district doing it, but we’re one of the very few.” The effort to be more environmentally conscious at lunchtime began earlier this year when VVSD Food Service Director Meghan Gibbons and her staff completely eliminated the use of all 350,000 Styrofoam trays at the …
Ira Hammond
8:16 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Yeah I really had a great time at STEP being student council president and founder. Ira Hammond more ›