The curriculum department is organizing a District 161 Gifted Education Task Force. The purpose of this team will be to make recommendations that ensure our program is meeting the needs of our students. Some of the items the team will work on are listed below.

oReview the current vision and mission of the gifted program
oReview current entrance criteria
oExplore new criteria for entrance and programming
oUnpack the Northwestern District 161 recommendations
oReview surveys for teachers, parents and alumni
oReview curriculum, programs, research, and techniques for best practices in gifted education
oReview and internalize the NAGC standards as a guide to revise the gifted program
oPay special attention to inclusion of underrepresented student populations
oArticulate program changes with the HF gifted programming

We would like to have representation from administrators, teachers, and staff. The task force will meet once a month beginning on October 4th, 2016 from 3:40- 4:40 PM. Please contact Ms. Amabel Crawford at 708.647.7016 or acrawford@sd161.org for more information.

Dear Learning Community,

On Monday we will open our doors and welcome our students and families back for another exciting school year in District 161! Whether your child is new to the District 161 family or returning, we promise to provide all of our students, staff, and families with a safe, inviting, and exciting place to learn. Your students will be challenged to explore their full potential and encouraged to try new approaches to learning. Our teachers and administrators will celebrate your student’s success throughout their journey this year and provide the supports they need along the way.

We welcome questions and support from our school community and will continue to build partnerships that help our students learn beyond the school day. As we enter our second year of the district’s Strategic Plan, we are excited to continue developing programs around STEM and Restorative Justice that will provide even more valuable learning experiences for our students.

We will also host our first annual District 161 Cultural Fair. This will be an opportunity to celebrate the rich diversity in our community. We will provide more information on this in the coming months.

Please be sure to join your child’s school for the open house activities. This will be a great opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and principal and tour the building. We are confident that the 2016-2017 school year will be a success.

Welcome to the new Flossmoor School District website. This site has been completely redesigned to showcase our wonderful students and staff, as well as to hopefully simplify and improve navigation. 

To view the Flossmoor School District 161 Strategic Plan Presentation from June 15, 2016, please see attachment.

At the June 27, 2016 Committee of the Whole Meeting, representatives from Compass Learning presented Flossmoor School District 161 with the company's Success Story recognition for "The Shifts in Teacher Practice While Moving the Needle on Student Achievement."

https://compasslearning.com/il-flossmoor-school-district/

Flossmoor School District 161 will join the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) in the fourth statewide survey of school climate and learning conditions. The survey provides a unique opportunity for teachers, students, and parents to have a voice in improving their schools. Click on the PDF to learn more.

As a part of the Illinois State Board of Education’s evaluation on learning progress, all children in grades 3-8 will be taking the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) Assessment. See the PDF to learn more. 

Parker Junior High is pleased to welcome Dr. Vickie Person as our new Interim Principal.

Dear Learning Community,

On Monday we will open our doors and welcome our students and families back for another exciting school year in District 161! Whether your child is new to the District 161 family or returning, we promise to provide all of our students, staff, and families with a safe, inviting, and exciting place to learn. Your students will be challenged to explore their full potential and encouraged to try new approaches to learning. Our teachers and administrators will celebrate your student’s success throughout their journey this year and provide the supports they need along the way.

We welcome questions and support from our school community and will continue to build partnerships that help our students learn beyond the school day. As we enter our second year of the district’s Strategic Plan, we are excited to continue developing programs around STEM and Restorative Justice that will provide even more valuable learning experiences for our students.

We will also host our first annual District 161 Cultural Fair. This will be an opportunity to celebrate the rich diversity in our community. We will provide more information on this in the coming months.

Please be sure to join your child’s school for the open house activities. This will be a great opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and principal and tour the building. We are confident that the 2016-2017 school year will be a success.

Parker Junior High is pleased to welcome Ms. Shemeka Fountain as our new Assistant Principal. Ms. Fountain has 16 years experience with middle school students and has been an administrator for three years. Ms. Fountain is excited to be a member of the District 161 community and looks forward to working with parents, students and staff to ensure that we are continuing to provide a quality education for all of our students. 

Welcome to the new Parker website. We are currently in our training phase. Staff will be receiving instruction on the new processes and class pages should be up by Aug. 26.  

District 161 is excited to announce that we are continuing student access to digital devices at Parker Junior high school. Beginning this fall, students in grades 6 - 8 will be issued a Chromebook along with a protective case for use in school and at home.

Chromebooks will assist our students by providing access to digital materials at home as well as at school. Students will be able to utilize email and calendars to help them stay organized, improve communication, and assist them in learning to manage the technological skills prevalent in society today. Each year we are seeing more classroom materials and textbooks available online. Students will have access to this information whenever and wherever they may be without needing to carry all of their textbooks with them. We will also be strengthening the digital citizenship of our students.