LM Sept.2019

#76 is located in Mundelein, which is 40 miles northwest of Chicago in Lake County. We have 1,100 preK-8th grade students and 150 staff members. We have a highly diverse population, with 70 percent of our students coming from economically challenging backgrounds, 40 percent are ELL and 80 percent are culturally diverse. Eighty percent of our students graduate and go on to Mundelein High School, and 20 percent of our students graduate and go on to Stevenson High School. Two years ago, we passed a building-bond referendum for $11 million. We were able to invest those dollars back into our schools and make some major safety, maintenance and technological improvements the past two summers, with the most recent being closing a school and reorganizing three school buildings into three schools on two campuses. This allowed us to operate more efficiently and responsibly. Q : Yourschool district recentlymadeback- to-school extraspecial forstaff.What didyoudo? Based on the recent reorganization of the district, we needed to make sure that our staff felt safe, valued and appreciated. Each year, we start our first day institute with a big back-to- school themed party to get staff motivated and inspired to come back to school. No one ever looks forward to going back to school so this became our mission for the leadership team and me to energize them and get them to look forward to coming back to school. This year’s theme was, “Rock Out the Red Carpet—The Premiere of the New D76.” Everyone from the DLT to the BOE dressed up as their favorite rock stars and walked down the red carpet. The positive energy

was contagious. It takes people’s minds off the dreaded back-to-school stress and summer being over thoughts...the party gives them something to look forward to and the theme allows them to plan their outfits with their teams over the summer and work together and build relationships and bond over something fun. The red carpet made them feel special like the rock stars they are. Q : Whywas it important tomakethisday extraspecial forstaff? Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge, the leadership expert Simon Sinek says. As superintendents and leaders, we need to make sure we take care of the people in our charge. They need to feel valued, appreciated and recognized. We need to ensure that their basic social and emotional needs are met. Before we expect staff to take care of our students, staff needs to feel cared for, safe, welcome and supported so that they can make our students feel the same. Students who come from loving homes come to school to learn. Kids who don’t, come to school to be loved. Staff is the most valuable resource we have in our schools that impact students so they need to feel loved so they can love their students. Q : Hasyourdistrictdoneanything likethis before,anddoyouthink ithad an impact? Yes. It’s our fifth year doing it. The staff loves it and looks forward to it every year. We have a contest in the spring to pick the “theme” for the next school year. I announce what the winning theme is at the end-of-the-school-year staff recognition party. They then have all summer to plan with their teams, wardrobes, contest and props. It is a fun activity to build teamwork, collaboration and excitement for the upcoming year. Plus, our leadership team gets into it and plans out wardrobes too. It has become a highly anticipated event. The feedback from the BOE and the community is about how happy and excited our staff is to return to school. They are energized and looking forward to welcoming their students and have a special and memorable start to the year and want to keep that momentum going. continued...

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LM September 2019