Wednesday, May 15, 2013
School District 101 celebrates hundreds of years of service to Batavia students, parents and the community.
Eighteen School District 101 teachers, administrators and support staff—including a few local legends—will say goodbye at the end of the 2012-13 school year. They represent more than 300 combined years of service to the students and community of Batavia. They include School Superintendent Dr. Jack Barshinger, longtime Batavia basketball boys coach Jim Roberts, girls basketball coach Michael Mandele and cross country coach Michael DiDomenico. Congratulations and best wishes to:
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Reports cards will be coming three times a year instead of four.
Beginning in the 2013‐14 school year, elementary schools in Batavia Public School District 101 will transition to trimesters, which segments the year into three 12-week parts and moves away from traditional quarters and semesters. Rotolo Middle School has been on the trimester system this year. "This alignment may serve to facilitate the transition from elementary to middle school," a School District 101 press release said. "Feedback from staff led to an examination of our practices in segmenting the school year. After further study, the trimester system aligned more with our educational practices and provided increased opportunities for teachers to get a better understanding of each individual child before issuing report cards," the press…
41.859203
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Louise White Elementary School
800 N Prairie St, Batavia, IL
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318046
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41.829605
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Hoover-Wood Elementary School
1640 Wagner Rd, Batavia, IL
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318644
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41.846405
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J.B. Nelson Elementary School
334 William Wood Ln, Batavia, IL
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318651
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41.853121
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H.C. Storm Elementary School
305 N. Van Nortwick St., Batavia, IL
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318761
/locations/9375876
41.8378
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Alice Gustafson Elementary School
905 Carlisle Rd, Batavia, IL
/articles/batavia-elementary-schools-moving-to-trimesters-in-2013-14
1714468
/locations/9375874
41.844541
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Grace McWayne Elementary School
3501 Hapner Way, Batavia, IL
/articles/batavia-elementary-schools-moving-to-trimesters-in-2013-14
1714486
/locations/9375875
Thursday, May 9, 2013
The magazine's 2013 report out this week recognizes more than 80 Illinois schools and more than 2,000 across the country.
Northside College Preparatory High School is No. 1 in Illinois and No. 25 in the nation. Geneva High School at No. 926 among high schools in the country. St. Charles North is good old No. 841, but St. Charles East is nowhere to be seen. Nor is Batavia High School. That's because Newsweek magazine's rankings of the best high schools in America is one of those situations in which, like the the lottery, "to win it, you've got to be in it." For its rankings, Newsweek sent out a survey to more than 5,000 high schools in the U.S., with about 2,500 schools responding in 2013. You can see the details about the rankings, and every other ranked high school by clicking on the markers in the interactive map above. The survey scores were then weighted …
Monday, May 6, 2013
To celebrate and participate in Bike to School Day, children, parents and school officials will ride their bikes or walk from home to their respective schools on Wednesday morning.
Hundreds of children across Batavia Public School District 101 will be strapping on helmets, kicking up kickstands, and pedaling their way to school on Wednesday, May 8, in celebration of the second annual National Bike to School Day. Bike to School Day events raise awareness of the need to create safer routes for bicycling and walking and emphasize the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, reducing traffic congestion and concern for the environment. “This is a great opportunity to encourage and promote good health in our students by asking them to walk or bike to school,” said Dan Polowy, Assistant Director of Building and Grounds at Batavia Public School District 101. Polowy …
Sunday, May 5, 2013
A new survey shows most adults do not show appreciation to former educators despite direct teacher impact on students' futures. Here's your chance to do that in time for National Teacher Day.
A survey of 1,000 adults shows that most do not express appreciation to their former teachers—even though 75 percent say their teachers had a direct impact on their future successes. The survey, conducted by Kars4kids from May 1 and 2, 2013, isn't scientific or conclusive, but its conclusions were a good reminder to tell your favorite teacher how much he or she meant to you. Some of the survey conclusions were that: Kars4kids uses funds raised by tax-eligible car donations for educational programming around the country. “We were surprised to learn the very low number of adults who show appreciation for educators who had a large, positive impact in their lives,” said Avi Gordon, Chief Operating Officer of Kars4Kids. “The difference an …
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 6-10. Tell us who you appreciate, among today's teachers or teachers from the past you fondly remember.
Who was your best teacher ever? Who's your favorite teacher now? With Teacher Appreciation Week coming on May 6-10, now is a good time to say how much you value the people who educate us. Let us know your favorite or "best ever" in the comments field, and if you've got one, share a photo of your favorite Batavia teacher with this article. Here are just a few of your comments from Batavia Patch's Facebook Page:
The Batavia School District 101 Board of Education has re-set the last day of school due to a snow day taken in March.
The Batavia School District 101 Board of Education has adjusted the last day of school to Monday, June 3, 2013. The board voted at its April 23 meeting to make the adjustment, due to the loss of a school day on Tuesday, March 5 because of heavy snowfall. Schools will communicate directly with parents if there are changes to end of year events or final exam schedules, the district said in an April 26 e-blast. The state of Illinois requires a certain number of school days, and the end of the school year always includes five emergency days for this purpose. This school year, the district needed to use just one of the five emergency days. Click here to download a copy of the revised calendar (PDF). SOURCE: Batavia School District 101
Friday, April 26, 2013
From extreme moulage to extreme disaster, this drill is playing for serious stakes.
It didn't happen at Rotolo Middle School in Batavia, but it was close enough—and similar enough—for Friday's emergency disaster drill at Geneva Middle School South to be of interest. Here's what went down, and what parents can expect if a similar event were to happen in Batavia. Scenario As a part of a full-scale drill, a boiler exploded due to equipment failure during first period at Geneva Middle School South, collapsing part of the building. The building's fire alarm was activated. Extrication is needed for students and staff members trapped in the building. Triage is also needed. Five people are being transported to Delnor Hospital with a variety of serious, simulated injuries. 11:15 a.m. It looks like fun, but it's serious …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
The Friday-afternoon drill that was the brainchild of the late Charles "Chic" Williams will involve "victims" in full makeup, sirens, explosions, smoke and hundreds of school and emergency personnel.
In a way, the sirens you hear Friday afternoon are paying tribute to Chic Williams, the man who helped build Geneva's Readiness and Emergency Management program to one of the best in Illinois. Williams, who died Monday after a fight with liver disease, was Geneva High School's National Incident Management System coordinator and the person who applied for the $374,000 grant that will make Friday's full-scale emergency practice run possible. Williams' visitation begins at 3 p.m. Friday at Malone Funeral Home in Geneva, a half-hour before the drill is expected to end. Friday's drill almost certainly will be the most complex and expansive in the city's history—the culmination of nearly three years’ work updating and aligning Geneva School …
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Geneva Middle School South
1415 Viking Dr, Geneva, IL
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318902
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Batavia School Superintendent Jack Barsinger is asking parents to write their legislators to support HB 494, which seeks a one-year moratorium on virtual charter schools.
Dear Parents and Guardians, We need your help. You may have seen in the news that 18 school districts in the area received a proposal from Virtual Learning Solutions, Inc. to operate an online charter school in all 18 districts. Batavia Public School District 101 was included in this proposal. The online school would be open to students in kindergarten through grade 12. Funding for the online school would come directly from state dollars that normally go to fund our districts. We find this problematic at a time when state education funding is challenging, at best. The proposal calls for Virtual Learning Solutions, Inc. to receive over $8,000 in state funding for every BPS101 student who enrolls in the online school. If the student drops …
Factchecker
7:55 am on Friday, May 10, 2013
Looking at the data for AP participation and pass rates in US News and World Report, it is unlikely that Batavia High School would have been ranked in Newsweek's list either: St. Charles North, 55% participation, 74% pass rate Geneva, 27% participation, 90% pass rate Batavia, 15% participation, 60% pass rate more ›