Preparing
for flu season
With flu season here, many parents across the country find themselves caring
for children sick with influenza. Children are two to three times more
likely than adults to get sick with the flu and, on average, the virus
affects one in three children in the U.S. each year. The National Association
of School Nurses (NASN) helps educate parents how they can keep their
children healthy this flu season. Following is a simple three-step approach
to flu prevention:
Vaccination: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
the best way to prevent flu is to get a vaccine. While October and November
are the best times to get a flu vaccine, it is never too late to be
vaccinated. It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to become fully
effective. There is plenty of vaccine still available, according to
the CDC.
Good Hygiene: Practicing good hygiene habits is a great
way to help control the spread of germs like the flu virus. Parents
should teach their children healthy habits such as:
• Washing their hands with soap and warm water for at least
20 seconds
• Covering their mouths and noses with tissues when sneezing
and coughing
• Avoid sharing drinks, water bottles, silverware and
pencils
The CDC suggests that parents disinfect objects that are
frequently touched by children, such as toys. Parents should also keep
children who have influenza at home. Teachers, staff, and parents can
help slow the spread of flu by serving as role models for good hygiene
practices.
Antiviral Medication: Prescription antiviral medication
is an important adjunct to vaccination for flu prevention
and treatment. If a child has been around someone who
has the flu, a doctor can prescribe
antiviral medication to help prevent the child from catching
the virus. However, it is important to contact the doctor
soon, because children
should begin taking the medication within the first 12-48
hours of exposure to the virus. If taken within that
window of time, there is an 89 percent
chance that antiviral medication will keep him/her from
getting sick. A doctor can also prescribe antivirals
to treat the flu, helping both
adults and children feel better faster.
Beyond 220 registration opens (9/29/08)
Beyond
220, a self-supporting program of the Barrington 220
School District is offered in partnership with the District 220 Educational
Foundation. The program’s goal is to offer courses
that extend learning opportunities
thereby enriching the knowledge, skills and lives of
community members. Course subjects range from technology
to cooking to financial help and
exercise. Most classes are held at Barrington High
School. All participants must be at least 18 years old.
The registration
deadline
is one week
prior to the beginning of class. More details can be
found at Barrington220.org
Revenues outweigh spending in annual budget (9/29/08)
Barrington 220 will operate with a moderate budget
surplus for the 12th consecutive year after school board members
approved this year’s finances on Sept.
23. The 2008-09 budget details operating expenditures
of $113.6 million versus $115.8 million in revenue. Of the revenue,
81 percent will come
from local property taxes, while approximately 74
percent of expenditures are devoted to staff salaries and benefits.
Highlights of this year’s
budget include nearly $15 million for the construction
of a new early learning center and renovations to Barrington Middle
School Station
Campus. In the previous year, the district has received
state, national and international recognition for its financial
management practices.
Board honors 14 National Merit Semifinalists (9/29/08)
Fourteen Barrington High School students are now
officially among the nation’s brightest students.
Board of Education members recognized
this year’s National Merit Scholarship
semifinalists. Seniors earning the distinction this year are
Benjamin
Altshuler, Aleksander Bapst,
Will Chan, Lela DiMonte, George Farrell,
Michelle Grube, Megan Karande, Brandon Kleinvehn, David Lilien,
Sasidhar Madugula, David Martin, Sam
Martin, Woody Rosenberg and Justin Yu.
Nationwide,
1.5 million juniors in 21,000 high schools
participated in the National Merit Scholarship
Program by taking the preliminary SAT test
last year. Of that group, just 16,000 are semifinalists. The
students may now become National
Merit Finalists. All winners of Merit Scholarship
awards come from the finalist group, which
is named in
February, based on their abilities,
skills and accomplishments.
ImPACT concussion diagnoses benefit athletes (9/29/08)
Although Barrington athletes may be susceptible to
suffering concussions during game action,
the days of them returning to the field
before a proper diagnosis are a practice
of the past. At its Sept. 23 meeting, Board of Education members
learned
how students in the school
district are treated after suffering a
blow to the head and the battery of tests they must go through
before
being allowed back into the field
of play. Dr. Dan Di Iorio, Barrington High
School’s primary sports physician, said the school now uses
a computer
program called ImPACT to help determine
when students are suffering from a concussion
and when they can safely resume activity.
Enrollment committee seeks new members (9/26/08)
The Barrington 220 Enrollment Monitoring Committee
(EMC) has a member vacancy at Barbara Rose School, Grove Avenue
School and Sunny Hill School. The EMC is
looking for a community representative from each of these
respective attendance areas. If you have any interest in becoming
a member of the EMC, an application
may be found on this Website or
may be obtained at the schools. The deadline for submitting
applications is October 6, 2008. All applications should
be mailed
to your respective school and marked to the attention
of the principal
Arnett C. Lines School Receives Prestigious Blue Ribbon Award from U.S. Department of Education (9/12/08)
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
announced this week that Arnett C. Lines School
in the Barrington 220 District is one of only
320 schools nationwide to be named a 2008 No
Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon School. The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools award
distinguishes and honors schools for helping
students achieve at very high levels and for
making significant progress in closing the achievement
gap.
“We applaud the staff, students and community
of Lines School,” said Superintendent Tom Leonard.
“Their teamwork and achievement embody the high
standard of learning known and enjoyed throughout
Barrington 220.” Michael Gilmore, assistant superintendent
of elementary education, added, “We are proud
when one of our schools is recognized for the
excellence that occurs on a daily basis in all
our schools.”
Lines School, led by Principal Jill Schweiger,
is honored for the second time, having previously
received the award in the 1993-94 school year.
Other U.S. Blue Ribbon recipients in Barrington
220 are Barrington High School (1992-93) and
Grove Avenue School (1991-92 and 2007-08).
The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools
Program honors public and private elementary,
middle and high schools that are either academically
superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in
student achievement to high levels. These include
schools whose students achieve in the top 10
percent of their state on test scores.
Arnett C. Lines School will be honored at an
awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 20-21.
Barrington ACT Scores Reach 5-year High (08/22/08)
Barrington High School students taking the ACT
college entrance exam in 2008 achieved an
overall composite score of 24.3, the school's highest
score
in the previous five years. In 2008, 741 BHS students
took the ACT. The
annual exam consists of curriculum-based tests of educational development
in English, mathematics, reading and science designed
to measure the skills needed for success
in first-year
college coursework. The average
composite ACT score in Illinois for 2008 was 20.7.
School Safety at Forefront of New School Year (08/22/08)
Video and audio observation cameras installed on
78 school buses, a unique pilot Website that allows students
and
parents to report incidents of bullying,
and a recently named safety coordinator are among
new initiatives to ensure the wellbeing of students.
Two new front and back cameras on each of the Barrington
Transportation Company's largest passenger buses
will help deter or document inappropriate and unsafe
behaviors.
A pilot Website allows
students and parents at all grade levels to detail
and report cases of bullying or peer harassment
with the option
of anonymity. To complement interpersonal support,
Barrington 220 is one of the
first school districts in the Midwest to pilot
a Website that allows families to inform school
administrators about
episodes of bullying. Some others include Lake
Forest School District (67) of Chicago; Sleepy
Eye Public
Schools of Minnesota; Ferguson Middle School of
Beaver Creek, OH; Yarmouth Memorial High School
of Nova Scotia,
Canada; and East Windsor Public Schools of Connecticut.
Austin Johnson, a dean of students at Barrington
High School, will assume additional duties as the
district's new safety
coordinator for the 2008-09 school year. Johnson
replaces Steve McWilliams, who becomes principal
of Barrington High School. Along with maintaining
emergency
response plans, Johnson will work closely throughout
the year with individual schools and area agencies
to address
safety and security issues at
the building level.
Global Honor Adds to Financial Accolades (08/22/08)
The Association of School Business Officials International
has selected the Barrington 220 School District
to receive its 2007-08 Meritorious Budget
Award. Only school systems that meet or exceed
the organization's rigorous criteria for fiscal
management are eligible for
the honor. This
recognition follows the district's upgrade to
an elite 'AAA' bond rating from Standard and Poor's
earlier this
year as well as the Illinois State
Board of Education's Certificate
of Financial Recognition for the highest level of financial accountability.
Barrington Community Stadium Opened
with First Game and Open House, Aug. 29 & 31 (08/22/08)
Weather permitting, one of the premier prep sports
facilities in Chicago's northwest suburbs welcomed
fans on Friday,
Aug. 29, when Barrington High
School hosted Libertyville High School. The inaugural
football game kicked-off a new chapter in Barrington
sports history,
introducing a state-of-the-art
complex with a cultured turf field also suitable
for soccer, track and field, and lacrosse. A free
community open house
took place on
Sunday, Aug. 31, from 1 to 4 p.m. Visit
the online
stadium photo gallery for construction
images and event details.
The Pepper Construction Group is managing all onsite
aspects of the work, with architectural design
provided by the
Cashman Stahler Group; both firms are of the Chicago
area. Barrington 220 voters approved $4.4 million
to build the
community facility in an April 2007 referendum.
Since then, the Friends of the Stadium charitable
organization has
added more than $1 million to enhance the development
and to supplement the school district's overall
project budget.
220 Education Foundation Awards $29,224 in Grants (08/22/08)
The District 220 Educational Foundation
has awarded $29,224 in 2008-09 grants
to enhance
various
learning initiatives.
Of this
amount, $8,862
in once-annual
P.I.E. Grants were given in increments
up to $1,500 for "innovative" teaching
projects, and $4,764 Helping Hand Grants
were awarded for fall semester requests
that supplement
various
classroom needs throughout the school
district.
The foundation also recently issued $15,598
in Opportunities for Excellence Grants
for original
projects at Barrington
High School. Included was $3,500 for advanced
equipment to augment AP Human Biology classes,
$7,098 for
AP Spanish teachers to attend a summer
institute that will improve
the AP Spanish curriculum, and $5,000 for
multimedia equipment to support instructional
and athletic
programs.
EJ&E
Rail Acquisition has Many Implications
for Barrington 220 Schools (08/22/08)
At its Aug. 19 meeting, the Barrington
220 Board of Education reiterated its official
resolution
opposing the proposed
acquisition of the
EJ&E
rail line by Canadian National Railway Company.
The official Website of the U.S. Surface Transportation
Board provides
additional details
on this
important
matter, including instructions for registering
an official opinion.
The effects a 400-percent increase in freight
traffic on the local economy will be substantial,
with
numerous implications
for Barrington 220 schools
and students:
- The Barrington School District serves a combined population of more than 10,000 students and staff from an
area of 72 square miles and beyond.
- Because the Barrington Transportation Company's fleet is based in the center of the Village of Barrington,
significant delays and safety situations will occur throughout our district as buses cross the EJ&E line
approximately 840 times per day to deliver students to and from ALL 12 schools.
- The EJ&E rail line intersects seven major thoroughfares in our school district; therefore, increased freight
traffic will dramatically affect the commute times of staff, students and parents, which could alter school
schedules and jeopardize the safety of the region's children as they travel to and from classes.
- Barrington High School is located only 600 feet west of the EJ&E tracks, raising critical environmental
and safety concerns in the wake of increased freight traffic.
- Approximately 1,700 of the high school's 3,000 students either walk or transport themselves to school each
day. We can expect hurried or impulsive behavior among teens crossing the tracks as they rush to get to
school, which could lead to tragic consequences.
- Increased rail traffic will result in significant transportation disruptions, delayed emergency response
times and added costs for school district taxpayers.
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