Pancake Breakfast

March 14, 2016

It is always nice when someone else is doing the cooking! My family and I attended the pancake breakfast yesterday morning and it was outstanding!  The Music Boosters did an amazing job planning the event. I extend a special thank you to our Music Booster Board for your commitment and hard work. We appreciate your dedication to our chorus and band programs. Our students are certainly blessed by your presence in their lives.

81 in :81 featuring Mrs. Karras-Abajian

March 11, 2016

March 11, 2016

Dear District 81 Learning Community,

I am thrilled to share the next video from our 81 in :81 video series.  This video highlights Roula Karras-Abajian. Mrs. Karras-Abajian is a teacher at Lincoln Middle school as well as Co-President of the Schiller Park Education Association.

District 81 is blessed to have remarkable individuals working in our learning community. I am privileged to work alongside each of them as we support of our exceptional students!

Please enjoy 81 seconds of Mrs. Karras-Abajian’s remarkable story. The video is a small snapshot of Roula’s contributions to the success of our students and her colleagues in the SD81 family.

We proudly present her extraordinary journey in the link below!

Warmly,

Dr. Boryszewski

81 in :81 featuring Mrs. Risolvo

March 4, 2016

Dear District 81 Learning Community,

I am thrilled to share our second video from our new video series called 81 in :81. This video highlights Kathy Risolvo. Mrs. Risolvo is a teacher at Washington School as well as an SD81 alumni!

We are blessed with remarkable individuals in our learning community and our students are truly privileged to have them in their lives.

In 81 seconds, or a little longer, we will share the remarkable story of Kathy Risolvo. The video is a glimpse into all Kathy has contributed to the success of our students and her colleagues in the SD81 family.

We proudly present our second extraordinary story in the link below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWx0PB5S1Gc

Warmly,

Dr. Boryszewski

Magnificent!!

March 3, 2016

The Dr. Seuss celebration held at Kennedy School tonight exceeded expectations! This tradition has been an important part of Schiller Park School District 81 for over 20 years, and each year it gets better and better!

My favorite part of this event is how it brings the entire community together with a common goal, which is to create an amazing memory for our children. It thrilled me to see former students, village dignitaries, school board members, teachers, members from the police and fire departments and community members volunteer their time.

A special thank you goes out to the Kennedy School staff for the hard work and passion they put into making tonight an outstanding example of excellence in SD81.

It takes a village….

February 25, 2016

I have sent countless emails and posted several messages regarding the dedication of every single member of the SD81 learning community! The video below confirms that our students are blessed to be surrounded by adults who sincerely are interested in developing a relationship with them. Roger Pape is the head custodian at Kennedy School. Austin Payton is a third grader whose good choices earned him an award from the principals today!

In the video, Austin is using an app on his iPad called sphero to control the movement of a robot. While Austin was engaged in this activity Roger gave him a challenge and Austin rose to the occasion. My point is Roger could have kept walking and carried on with his work but instead he stopped to not only engage but truly notice a child.

My mantra has been and will continue to be that District 81 is an amazing place to work and learn because of our dedicated professionals and amazing students. It is moments like these that confirm this!

“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come” -Hugo

February 24, 2016

Principal Stavrou recently had a conversation with a parent of a former student. She was delighted to hear about all this student has accomplished since graduating from LMS. The conversation sparked an idea in Ms. Stavrou and she suggested we create a Facebook page for alumni.

I am thrilled to inform you District 81 has created a new Facebook page! We hope to hear from our alumni and create a venue for them to network with each other. Please pass this along to any alumni you are friends with. I am so excited to see where this takes us!

Some of you may remember the image below, as it was the cover of the 2007-2008 Lincoln Middle School yearbook!

Click here for the Facebook page

Introducing Our New Video Series 81 in :81!!

February 23, 2016

Dear District 81 Learning Community,

It is my pleasure to introduce a new video series produced by School District 81.  The series is called 81 in :81, and like the ESPN’s short film series, 30 for 30, each video will highlight extraordinary stories. We are blessed with remarkable individuals in our learning community who have helped shape countless extraordinary stories.

In 81 seconds, we will share the extraordinary stories of faculty, staff, Board of Education members, and all who have contributed to the success of our students, and who are part of our SD81 family.

We proudly present our first extraordinary story in the link below!

Washington Musical Exceeds Expectations!

February 12, 2016

Schiller Park District 81 is fortunate to serve the most outstanding students! They come to school eager and always willing to give their best to be their very best. Tonight was no exception. The Washington School rendition of the Lion King was spectacular! Those fortunate to attend, left the event in awe of the performance and talent of our students.

My emails to staff often end with the following…“our students are blessed to have your presence in their lives. Thank you for your commitment to providing them with stellar learning experiences”

Over the last several months the professionals at Washington School created not only a stellar learning experience for our students, but more importantly a memory that will last a lifetime. I am forever grateful and proud of the teamwork and dedication that was necessary to make tonight possible.

District 81 is privileged to have a Board of Education who keeps students at the forefront of decision-making. I extend a special thank you to the board members who attended the performance this evening, your presence and support is sincerely appreciated!

Finally, I offer thanks to our parents for sharing your children with us everyday. We absolutely love working with them. It has been our pleasure to watch them grow and shine!

Special Guests Join Us for Performance of The Lion King!!

February 10, 2016

This morning District 81 welcomed special guests from the Schiller Park Historical Society and members of Grace Park Condominium Community to see Washington’s rendition of the Lion King. After the performance our guests were treated to a special breakfast which included members of the cast. It was exciting to see the sincere interaction between our guests and cast members. Members of the Schiller Park Historical Society and Grace Park Condominium Community were delighted by the performance, and impressed by the hard work of the students and faculty. I was thrilled to have so many community members support our students this morning and I hope they had as much fun as we did!

I look forward to continuing our outreach and inviting other community groups into our schools.  It warmed my heart to see how genuinely excited everyone was to be together today. I will continue to invite more community groups to these special events, including next month’s Lincoln Middle School production. I hope you enjoy the pictures, I could not be more proud of our remarkable professional learning community. 

Making History in SD81!

February 3, 2016

All the preparation and planning that went into last night’s Technology Rollout Event paid off! It was a fantastic turnout, and we were able to send over 500 students home with their devices! This is a momentous time in our school district, and I couldn’t be happier to bring this opportunity to our students.

These pictures capture the energy and excitement of the event – you can certainly tell how thrilled our children and the SD81 team are based on their smiles! Next year each grade level from kindergarten through 8th grade will have iPads. We can’t wait to bring this opportunity to our younger students and see how they grow as digital citizens and learners.

I want to give my most sincere thanks to the professionals who dedicated so much time and effort to making this happen for our students.  I also want to thank our wonderful families who demonstrated their patience and understanding as we deployed the devices to each student. Finally, I would like to thank the Board of Education for giving their support and making the decision to bring 1:1 learning with iPads to District 81.  Every decision they make at the Board table impacts our students, and they are huge part of this positive forward momentum we have in our district!

As always, I look forward to continue our work together in the best interest of our students. We continue to do great things and have accomplished so much!