Community Unit District 300 notes

Community Unit District 300 parents and guardians will soon be able to review their family's educational records anywhere, anytime by the click of a button.

On Feb. 5, the district plans to launch the Parent Portal of the district's online information system, called Infinite Campus. The date for the launch is tentative; it could occur as late as March or April.

The primary goal of the IC Parent Portal is to support teachers, administrators, parents, legal guardians and students in improving communication between all parties. Research has long shown that increased parental engagement in a child's education is a major factor in that child's academic success and future prospects.

While IC is relatively new to Illinois -- making District 300 a state leader in parental engagement efforts -- it has been successfully implemented in districts elsewhere. In fact, the entire state of Colorado now uses IC in its public schools.

IC registration information is now available both through the Web site, www.d300.org, and on the Web site for each school. Just click on the "Parents" drop-down menu and choose "Parent Portal Infinite Campus." The site also can be linked directly: www.d300.org/web/parents/parentportal.

When parents or guardians sign up to participate in this free service, they will be able to privately view a bounty of useful information on their own students, such as: class grades, class schedules, homework assignments, attendance and tardies, immunization history, performance on standardized tests such as ISAT, fees (paid and outstanding), teacher contact information and family contact information (e-mail, phone, address).

Access to IC is made available by a secure Internet site. When parents or guardians sign up, they must review and agree to follow district policy on its use, which includes not giving their password to anyone -- not even their own children. The parent/guardian's access to the student's account will be automatically disabled when the student withdraws or graduates from District 300 or turns 18 years old.

The policy also states, "Information accuracy is a joint responsibility between schools, parents/guardians and students. Each school will make every attempt to ensure information is accurate and complete. If a parent/guardian or student discovers any inaccurate information, they should notify their school immediately and provide proof of the (accurate) information."

District 300 teachers, secretaries, and other staff members have been training with and using IC for more than a year in anticipation of the Parent Portal launch planned for early next month.

Also, nearly 30 families from schools across District 300 participated in a pilot phase this fall to help ensure as smooth a public debut as possible.

The Parent Portal specifications include:

• An Internet connection with a minimum dial-up modem speed of 56Kbs. (A slower connection will work, but not as well.)

• A computer with a minimum processor speed of 500 Mhz or better. Either MAC or PC.

• The Web browser Internet Explorer 6.0 for the PC or the latest version of FireFox or Camino for the MAC.

• Software with Adobe Acrobat Reader, available at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Book drive: With the holiday gifts now put away and mountains of ribbon and paper but a memory, the Jacobs High School French Club hopes the Community Unit District 300 community will turn its sights overseas.

Africa is part of the school's French language curriculum, as the western portion of the continent speaks French. Each year, the Jacobs French Club chooses a service project. Last year, the club collected care packages for American soldiers. This year, the students' efforts are focused on the Minnesota-based Books for Africa program.

Through Jan. 22, community members are asked to bring new or gently used books to the school's Student Services Office.

The French Club also seeks donations toward the $2,000 in postage needed to ship the club's goal of 50 boxes of books at 50 pounds per box.

Bethany Biallis, a French teacher at Jacobs, said that the club recently held a donation competition among math, science, social studies, English and foreign language classes. That contest brought in more than 350 texts totaling about a half-ton in weight. Steven Shadel's math class collected the most books and earned freshly-made breakfast crepes, prepared with care by the French Club. The second round of competition runs through Jan. 22 among other Jacobs classes.

"We have been fundraising all year for postage to send these boxes of books to the clearinghouse in Minnesota," she said, "which in turn sends them to communities needing these books in Africa."

Books for both children and adults are needed. The clearinghouse will gratefully accept most items, except those which are in Spanish, German, are religious in nature or focus on American history.

Drop off items at the school, 2601 Bunker Hill Drive near Randall Road in Algonquin. Or, if more convenient, donors may drop off their books at the District 300 Central Office, 300 Cleveland Ave. in Carpentersville, and the Communication Services Department will deliver the books to Jacobs High School.