Ashton-Franklin Center CUSD #275

Time is flying by, Monday February 8th is the 100th day of school!!!

Please enjoy AFC Jr/Sr High Schools weekly newsletter. Say safe and warm this weekend! https://www.smore.com/pe9um

#AFCMusic AFC is hosting a Virtual Route 72 Solo Festival. JH and Middle School students from our conference have prepared solos that will receive professional feedback from music educators that specialize in voice, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and piano! Students (and their music teachers) will begin submitting their entries next Monday, with final results delivered on 2/22/21.

LIVE-STREAMING OF GAMES AFC home games will be live-streamed through a You Tube channel, which will be free of charge. Information on how to access that will be provided next week. However, many of the schools we play will broadcast through the NFHS Network. There is a subscription cost for that . This can be accessed at nfhsnetwork.com. Type in Ashton-Franklin Center into the search. Our games will appear on the screen. If you click on a game, it will ask you to subscribe to the channel. Cost is $10.99/month or $69.99/year. That subscription will allow you to watch all AFC games that are on the NFHS network. #AFCathleticsandactivities

All AFC schools will be open at their regular time this morning. We will dismiss one hour early at 12:45pm. All afterschool activities are cancelled today. Please contact your students school with any questions.

Catch up with the latest student stories, sports scores, and news updates. It’s everything AFC #275, in your pocket. Download the app on Android: https://bit.ly/35zAeub or iPhone: https://apple.co/3ovtnKX.

Next year's kindergarten parents please have kindergarten registration papers returned to the elementary school by February 12th. If you have not received registration papers yet please contact the school office at 815-456-2325.

Dear Parent, Beginning February 3, students and teachers across Illinois will have an opportunity to participate in the ninth annual statewide Illinois 5Essentials Survey. This survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of your child’s school. As a parent, this opportunity will allow you to share your thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness in a survey about your child’s school. On behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be administered online by UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago. The survey gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains. These five indicators that affect and predict school success are: • Effective Leaders • Collaborative Teachers • Involved Families • Supportive Environments • Ambitious Instruction Prior research in more than 400 schools has shown that schools that were strong on at least three of these “5Essential” indicators were 10 times more likely to improve student learning gains in math and reading than those that were weak on three or more Essentials. All teachers and 4th through 12th grade students will be responding to this survey. 5Essentials Reports will be generated for schools if their teachers and/or students meet the response rate threshold of 50 percent. These reports will be sent to schools and districts in May 2021 and will also be included in the State School Report Card. Additionally, your district has chosen to provide the optional Parent Supplement survey. If at least 20 percent of AFC parents complete this survey, a parent supplement report will also be generated. The parent data will not be reported on the State Report Card. Your participation in the parent portion of the survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child. The Illinois 5Essentials Survey for students and teachers will be conducted February 3, 2021 through April 2, 2021. The Parent Survey Supplement will be conducted during that same timeframe. To take the survey please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ and select the appropriate survey to begin. For more information about the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, or to view previous years’ Reports, please visit https://www.5-essentials.org/illinois. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact 5Essentials Client Services at 1-866-440-1874 or impact-surveys@uchicago.edu. Sincerely, Michael Lindy, Superintendent AFC #275 Schools

7th and 8th grade boys and high school girls and boys basketball schedules are now on the athletics' website. That website can be accessed from www.afcschools.net. No spectators will be allowed at any game due to the pandemic and current IDPH guidelines regarding spectators and the distance from the playing court. Games will be live-streamed. Information on how to access the live-stream will be provided soon.

AFC ES February Lunch Menu https://drive.google.com/file/d/16D27kuUkFuMEWyHiy8bVWzoV4YgBYY9g/view?usp=sharing

AFC ES February Newsletter: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fO4oMvDYr5t9uPQdlxuDTTVKTEB_VZGf/view?usp=sharing

Registration is now open for high school girls and boys basketball and 7th and 8th grade boys basketball. Parents need to register their student athletes on the athletic website which can be found on the AFC website. There is a tab at the top of the athletic website for registration. An account may have to be set up if you don't already have one. All paper work except the physical is "signed" on the registration site. Physicals need to be turned into Mrs. Gittleson ASAP! If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Gittleson at tgittleson@afcschools.net. #AFCathleticsandactivities

Please enjoy AFC Jr/Sr High School's weekly newsletter! https://www.smore.com/h31ct Have a great weekend!

There will be a 7th and 8th grade boys basketball open gym tomorrow, Friday, January 29 in the Junior High School Gym from 4:00 until 5:30. Masks are required to participate. #AFC Athletics and Activities

Attention High School Girls and Boys Basketball Players! Official practices begin tomorrow, Thursday, January 28. Girls will practice 2:00-4:00 and boys will practice 5:30-7:30. These are practices and not just workouts! It is strongly recommended to make it if at all possible! Coaches will let you know the future practice schedule. If you do not have an updated physical on file, please get that scheduled ASAP.

Dear Parents, AFC Schools will be closed Tuesday, January 26th due to inclement weather and poor driving conditions. All after-school activities are cancelled and there will be no synchronous learning. Please stay safe! Michael Lindy, Superintendent AFC #275 Schools 815-453-7463 mlindy@afcschools.net

It's Christmas in January! Here are the K-4 elementary students performing songs they have been working on for many weeks! Enjoy! https://youtu.be/StFKv0te16M (K-1 video) https://youtu.be/tXlRMEaR8Zg (2-4 video)

Tonight's Board of Education meeting has been moved to a virtual meeting.  Below is the Zoom Meeting link you can use if you are interested in attending. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81199787130?pwd=dG92UjBjaUtHOGRtSk93cDVCU3dpZz09 Meeting ID: 811 9978 7130 Passcode: 1UpEL6 Michael Lindy, Superintendent  AFC CUSD #275 815-453-7461 mlindy@afcschools.net

Good Morning! With some wintery weather predicted for later tonight and into tomorrow, I wanted to take a minute and share the process and rationale that we will follow for potential school cancellations. I apologize for not doing this earlier in the year, I think the mild weather lulled me into a false sense of security. Generally speaking, I do not cancel school based on a forecast for snow and ice. As you may have experienced, weather forecasts can significantly vary in accuracy. I monitor weather forecasts and reports as well as actual conditions. Driving conditions are very important given our rural setting. My thoughts are focused on staff and students that travel country roads that are subject to drifting and ice. Mr. Harvey and I will communicate repeatedly during weather events. My goal is to make notification, if a decision is to close is made, as soon as practicable and may come as late as 10pm the night before a closure or by 6:00am the day of a closing. Temperature-related closings are a bit different. I will defer use the NOAA/National Weather Service Wind Chill Chart (found here: https://www.weather.gov/safety/cold-wind-chill-chart) to make those determinations. As a rule of thumb (but not an absolute) when wind chills get to the point where frostbite can occur in less than 30 minutes, that is when consideration for closure begins. In the event that school is cancelled, all extracurricular activities will also be canceled for the day in keeping with past practice. If school is cancelled, we will not move to an "e-learning" day. There are several reasons for this approach. First, our lower grades are not yet equipped for e-learning. The grades that are equipped for e-learning face uncertainty on these emergency days that may find older students caring for younger siblings and unable to join synchronous lessons. It is my absolute belief that in-person learning provided by AFC staff is the best instructional modality for AFC students. Remote learning was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and allowed us to provide instruction where we otherwise could not. Building the capacity to live stream instruction will provide benefits in the long term, but it is still not the same as students in the classroom with great teachers. The safety of our students and staff are my first priority. I will never regret erring on the side of caution and cancelling school on a borderline day if that means everyone is safe. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions. Best Regards, Michael Lindy, Superintendent AFC CUSD #275 815-453-7461 mlindy@afcschools.net

Sports seasons are in the works of being planned! IHSA is meeting on Wednesday, January 27 to plan dates for each season. Athletes need to have a current physical on file with Mrs. Gittleson to be able to participate in any sport. Freshmen school physicals also count as a sports physical. Please contact Mrs. Gittleson at tgittleson@afcschools.net if you have any questions.