Principal’s Report to the LSC – 11/9

Purpose

To provide updates at Kelvyn Park School from Instruction, Culture & Climate, Parents & Community, and Operations lenses to provide the LSC with a holistic understanding of the organizational improvement efforts.

Instruction

• Conducted 1-on-1 interviews with all staff members at Kelvyn Park. Questions were asked to gain insight into staff members’ perspectives on Kelvyn Park as an organization. This was done by asking about personal priorities, successes, areas of growth, vision and major changes for KP. A final question was about how staff members would like to be supported by the principal. Full findings are attached. 
• Vacancies:
  • Interviewed Security Officer candidates and extended an offer. Going through CPS background checks. 
  • Looking into converting the Case Manager position into an additional counseling position.
  • Still seeking Diverse Learners teacher. 

Culture & Climate: 

• Formed the Culture & Climate Team led by Culture & Climate Coordinator Luz Robles. Includes teachers and staff members to A group of people dedicated to collaboratively designing and implementing school policies, procedures, and celebrations for enhancing the school’s culture and climate to be inclusive and centered on social and emotional learning development and growth. 
• Established and communicated celebrations for students during the month of October: LatinX Spirit Week, Fall Season Door Decorating Contest, Senior Spirit Week, Halloween Celebration, Dia de los Muertos Celebration. 
• College & Career Fair will be on October 23rd from 10:30am-12:30pm. 
• Seniors attended a College Fair at Roosevelt University on 10/4. 
• New cell phone policy communicated to teachers, staff, and students. Students are allowed to have their cell phones on them if they follow Green (they can use their phones) and Red (they cannot use their phones) Zones. Students who arrive after 8:30am have their phones confiscated and returned at the end of the day. Students with discipline infractions or who abuse the policy will have a cell phone locker assigned to them for a set amount of time. Began on 10/7. 
• Transitioning Ms. Figueroa into the Assistant Dean role until she is ready to assume the Dean of Students role. 

Parents & Community: 

• Parent Newsletter was written and mailed for the month of October. It included key dates, updates to the school, and post-secondary information for parents. This will be distributed at the beginning of every month for parents and community members. Copies were left at the Alderman’s office for distribution. 
• Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) met on 10/3. We filled all four officer positions! The PAC will meet on the first Saturday of every month at 10am. 
• Family Literacy Night is our first monthly event for parents and community members at KP. It is happening today, 10/9, from 5:30pm-7:30pm and is open to the public. 
• Future family events for parents and community include (dates TBD): November – Family Art Night, December – Parent Workshop + Holiday Dinner, February – Black History Month Event. Future events are to be determined. Various faculty members are helping coordinate each one. 
• Will host Café con El Director in the middle of each month for parents to ask the principal questions about everything happening at Kelvyn Park. 
• Established the “PRO KP Team”, which stands for the Public Relations and Outreach for Kelvyn Park Team. a group of people who collaboratively brainstorm and experiment with new ideas to improve the public perception of Kelvyn Park with marketing and outreach strategies that highlight all of the wonderful things happening at the school. They actively solicit input from teachers, parents, and students to identify which strategies work and which do not.