Monroe School District # 70

At its regular meeting in January, the Monroe District 70 Board of Education accepted the resignation of Mr. Byron Sondgeroth as its Superintendent/ Principal effective at the end of the 2011-12 school year. Mr. Sondgeroth has accepted a Superintendent position in another district for the 2012-13 school year. The Board is currently conducting a search for Mr. Sondgeroth’s replacement with a goal of announcing a new Superintendent/Principal in April. Interested candidates can click on the following links to obtain more information about the process.

Brochure Announcing Vacancy Personal Information Sheet

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

Monroe requests that parents living within its boundaries register students who will be entering Kindergarten in August 2012. Registration will be held during the month of February 2012. Children who will reach the age of five (5) before September 1, 2012 are eligible to register for Kindergarten. It is important to register during the during the month of February. Monroe uses this information to make staffing decisions for the 2012-13 school year. To register, please call 697-3120 (between 8:30 AM and 3:00 PM) and provide the necessary enrollment information such as name, birth date, place of residence, etc. No registration fee will be collected until Monroe’s official registration day in July 2012.

INCREASE IN STUDENT LUNCH PRICE

When students return to school on January 5 after winter break, Monroe's student lunch price will increase from $1.60 to $1.65 per lunch. The reason for the increase in price is due to a change in the United States Department of Agriculture Child Nutrition Law. The new law states that schools participating in the National School Lunch Program must receive sufficient revenues, without using federal reimbursement funds, to cover regular nutrition costs. Federal reimbursement funds cannot be used to offset the normal cost of regular, non-reimbursed school lunches. In a review by the USDA, using its contribution calculation formula, Monroe is under the required average lunch price by five cents. As a result, Monroe must increase the amount is charges for a school lunch by five cents.

RUNNER UP AT STATE

Monroe's 8th grade girls' basketball team finished its Jr. High season by bringing home another state trophy at the Illinois Elementary School Association State 8A Tournament held Auburn Jr. High School in Divernon on December 10 & 15, 2011. On Saturday, December 10, the team defeated Effingham St. Anthony 41-16 in the afternoon, followed by a 34-21 win over Pana Sacred Heart later that evening. Saturday's wins earned the team a chance to defend the 7A state title it won in 2010. On Thursday, December 15, the team faced a very tough Elmwood Park St. Celestine team. The Monroe girls played an awesome game, but St. Celestine was able to pull away in the fourth quarter for a 41-28 win. Monroe finished as the 2012 8A State Runner up. Congratulations to a very athletic group of girls who played a role in bringing four state basketball trophies to Monroe in the past three years. In addition to this year's 8A second place state trophy, the girls finish the Monroe careers as the 2010 7A state champions. The same girls also helped Monroe's 2009 7th grade team to a 7A third place finish, as well as being a part of Monroe's 2010 8th grade team that finished second in its 8A tournament.

Monroe 1A State Runners-Up

CANNED FOOD DRIVE

In November, Monroe students and staff collected approximately 1,532 canned and dry food items to help with Limestone High School’s canned food drive sponsored by its Student Council. The top two home room classes in the drive were Mrs. Fitzanko (8th grade) with 377 items and Mrs. Berger (7th grade) with 340 items. Great job Monroe!

SHOEMAN WATER PROJECT

From September 28 through October 25, Monroe participated in the Shoeman Water Project. During that time, Monroe collected over 1500 pairs of shoes with the approximate weight of 1000lbs. Shoeman was founded by George Hitchings in 2008 to provide countries such as Kenya and Haiti with clean water. Shoeman takes the shoes and cell phones that you donate and sells them at a marketplace to the people of Haiti and Kenya for pennies on the dollar. This provides shoes to people who would otherwise not have them. Proceeds from the sales of these cell phones and shoes go to buy equipment to build wells within these same countries where clean water is so desperately needed. For more information about Shoeman Project visit www.shoeman.org.

BOARD MEETING CHANGES

This notice is to inform the public that the regularly scheduled School Board meetings on November 10, December 8 and January 12 have been changed to begin at 7:00 PM in the Office of the Superintendent. The previously scheduled start time for each meeting was 6:30 PM.

50th ANNIVERSARY OPEN HOUSE
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Open House Pictures

Monroe’s current building was dedicated in 1961. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Monroe hosted a public open house on Sunday, October 2 from 1-4 PM. The public was able to tour the building, view old photos of Monroe, enjoy some refreshments and visit with former Monroe grads who attended. Click on the link to see photos of the event.

SEX OFFENDER NOTIFICATION

State law requires that all school district provide parents/guardians with information about sex offenders and violent offenders against youth. You may find the Illinois Sex Offender Registry on the Illinois State Police’s website at: http://www.isp.state.il.us/sor/.

Summer Projects and Update Pictures

GYM RENNOVATION

The renovation of Monroe’s gymnasium began in late March with the demolition of the bleachers and the stage. Once the school year was complete, the project has continued with the removal of the tile floor, painting, installation of the new floor, etc. The project also included a new vestibule to the north entrance of the gym off the playground. Click on the link above to see updated photos of the project.

District Mission Statement:

The mission of School District 70 is to provide quality educational opportunities for all students within an environment that fosters the desire to learn, and enhances the teaching of skills necessary to meet the unique academic, personal, physical, and social needs of each individual. All students will be challenged to develop intellectual and learning skills to their fullest potential, preparing them to become contributing members of society and lifelong learners.

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2011 - 12 School Calendar
**Revised 01-18-2012**

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