Meeting 1: 2013-2014 School Year

Greetings Early Childhood Directors,
Welcome back to school!

Concordia University Chicago News:
-Concordia University Chicago is celebrating 150 years of education! Dr. Patricia Hoffman shared with us that this year Concordia has enrolled the largest number of new students in the history of their education. Praise be to God! 
-Administrators: Please join us on Tuesday, September 17 for our first Administrators Conference of the school year. We will be discussing the Danielson Model for both the September 17 and January 14 meetings. The first conference will focus on "What does this mean?" then "How is this done?" during the January meeting. Please contact me for registration information: msmithparkridge@gmail.com 
-Concordia is also in the process of accepting nominations for a new President. The following link will take you to a recorded presentation of the search process if you wish to participate with your congregation:  https://webconferencing.cuchicago.edu/p6xjp58k401/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal
-Lastly, Concordia is looking to hire a faculty member with a literacy specialty. If you or someone you know would qualify, please view this website for further information: http://www.cuchicago.edu/about-concordia/employment/?source=search-result and click on the "List All Openings" tab. 

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On Wednesday, September 11, we held our first meeting of the 2013-2014 school year. The topic discussed was on "School Safety."  Here are some notes from our meeting and a few pictures of our host school, Immanuel, Belvidere.

There are so many aspects to safety. We touched on a few of the following:
Employee Safety
-Google/YouTube/Facebook employees in which you are considering to hire. You never know what you might find!
-Fingerprinting companies: Accurate Biometrics (www.accuratebiometrics.com)
-Some of our Lutheran schools fingerprint ALL volunteers including those involved in VBS and Sunday School. This can be quite expensive but protecting our children is worth every penny!
-How often do you re-fingerprint? Again, this can be costly, but 3-5 years is  a good time period for re-fingerprinting.
-This website can be a helpful resource: http://www.group.com/
Under "Children's Ministry" you will find a link regarding background checks. This website has partnered with a leading risk management provider to bring a more affordable background check with accurate results.
-St. Peter has a very thorough screening process. If you would like to view some of their requirements visit: http://fulllifeinchrist.org/get-involved/protection-ministry/

Visitor/Volunteer Safety
-Badges for all visitors should be mandatory
-Make special "church member" or "Bible Study" badges for returning volunteers to be kept in the office.
-Trouble with visitors coming back to the office to sign out? Ask them to leave their license!

Facility Safety
-Staples sells Repositional Window Decals for any signage  you are using around the building. This can also be posted on windows and is easily removable in case you need to communicate via paper message.
-Walkie talkies used to communicate in some schools
-If a walkie talkie system is not feasible, teachers should be expected to take their cell phones if they are outside in order to call the office or administrator in case of an emergency.
-We also shared some lock-down and emergency weather drills.  If you are looking to improve your lock down procedure or any other drills, contact law enforcement officials in your town to have them walk through your building. They will offer suggestions that may be useful.
-Call your town's police station to add your school to a list which provides information regarding any suspicious activity occurring in the community.  This is different from the registered sex offender list you may be receiving monthly.
-A few of our schools have purchased magnetic strips special for locking doors in an easy and safe way. Here is one example of this item: http://www.mastergrindingandsecurity.com/lockdown-magnets/
-Door knobs with push locks from the inside make it easy for teachers to lock their doors in case of an emergency. If you are concerned with children locking themselves in the classroom without a teacher, make it a policy that ALL staff carry their key (they should be wearing a badge too!).
-If your school tends to have more "traffic" within the building or is in a busy community, LobbyGuard Scout is a higher end visitor management solution for tracking visitors entering and leaving your building: http://lobbyguard.com/products/lobbyguard-scout/
-Make sure you contact your "relocation" area at the beginning of each school year in order to make sure they are aware that you will be using their facility in case of an emergency evacuation.
-Go to your county's regional office of education website for additional safety information.

WE NEED TO EDUCATE OUR PARENTS ABOUT THEIR CHILD'S SAFETY.  KEEP CONSISTENT WITH YOUR SAFETY POLICIES. MAKE PARENTS AWARE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING THESE POLICIES. 


Circle Time Area

Display words on paper plates!

Preschool Room
MARK  YOUR CALENDARS! 
Early Childhood Network Meeting Schedule
2013-2014

                Date                                                                        School                                                    Topic
     October 9, 2013                                                      Open Arms, Glenview                              Programs/Books/Music
     November 13, 2013                                                 Trinity, Burr Ridge                                     Assessment
     January 15, 2014                                                    St. Philip, Chicago                                      Guidance & Discipline
     February 12, 2014                                                  St. Paul, Mt. Prospect                                Special Needs
     March 13, 2014                                                       Faith, Arlington Heights                             Technology
     April 10, 2014                                                          Zion, Ottawa                                            Accreditations
     May 15, 2014                                                          St. John, Wheaton                                    2014-2015 Planning


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