In this week's Classroom Close-Up, we stopped by Mr. Eli Mondrella's Adaptive Physical Education class at Hawthorne Elementary School. Students in Mr. Mondrella's class are part of the Social Academic Integrated Learning (SAIL) Program at Hawthorne. This program is designed to meet the needs of children in the areas of communication, social interaction, and sensory regulation. Positive interventions and strategies are used to address unique needs, support adapting to environmental changes, and repetitive or stereotypical activities.

Through a variety of activities in adaptive P.E., students work on balance, strength, cardio, sports skills and breathing, while simultaneously focusing on their social skills and communication. 

In today's adaptive P.E. class, students used scooters to navigate around the gym to retrieve puzzle pieces as they worked with partners to complete a puzzle. During this lesson, they had to communicate choice, follow directions, use their social skills to work with their peers to complete a puzzle, and practice patience, taking turns all while navigating a scooter. 

Parents of current students are invited to complete the Illinois 5Essentials Parent Survey. The information you provide will help guide improvement as we strive to inspire each student to excel through the education and opportunities we provide in CUSD 200. 

Your participation in this survey is invaluable, voluntary and anonymous. To take the survey, please follow the directions below:

• Click here to take the survey. 

• Select the parent survey

• You may enter your email address if you would like to receive confirmation of your submission, but it is not required. 

• Then enter “[DuPage]” into the county field and “NAME OF SCHOOL” to find our school.

You will then be asked a series of questions to provide input regarding your family’s experience at your student's school. Please remember to click “submit” once you are done so your responses can be counted.

Please know that your identity and responses will be kept confidential and will not be connected with your child. If you have multiple children who attend a school, you may complete one survey for each child. Our goal is to complete the survey on March 6, so please submit your responses soon!

Thank you in advance for your valuable time and input. 

Online registration is now open for the 2025-26 school year for new students, kindergarteners, and new and returning Jefferson Early Childhood Center tuition students. Click here for more information and to begin the online registration process.

Registration for all returning students for the 2025-26 school year is scheduled to open in the spring. More information will be forthcoming. 

CUSD 200 is looking for engaged community members to join the Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC) for the 2025-26 school year. The CAC works to provide valuable input on educational and district-related initiatives to district administration and the Board of Education.

Candidates must reside within CUSD 200 boundaries and shall not miss more than two meetings without first notifying an officer of the CAC or the superintendent’s office. Members serve one-year terms (up to five consecutive years) and meet regularly (usually monthly) throughout the school year.

Applications are due by March 28, 2025, and can be filled out and submitted online by clicking here or visiting the CUSD 200 website.

Questions? Please contact: Dianna Hutchison at (630) 682-2002 or dianna.hutchison@cusd200.org.

Monroe Middle School hosted its first Dance Marathon that raised money to support Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

The Dance Marathon was meaningful, empowering, impactful, and most of all, fun! By the end of the event, the school surpassed its $5,000 goal and raised over $7,000 to benefit Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

Thank you to the Castino family for their vision and advocacy, student council members and sponsors Ms. Aghazadeh and Ms. Granbom for their commitment and passion, staff and parent volunteers, and Monroe community for supporting the event. Thank you to the guest speakers and survivors for sharing their powerful stories and inspiring hope. Thank you to the Wheaton Police Department for coming and showing support, and to the Hadley community for joining in and showing incredible sportsmanship.

The Pleasant Hill Elementary School PTA annually sponsors the One School, One Book program. This program, from the non-profit organization Read to Them, encourages families to read aloud together. The PTA selects one book to be read by the entire Pleasant Hill community - students, families, and staff.

This January, Pleasant Hill read A Boy Called Bat, by Elana K. Arnold. Bat is a young boy on the autism spectrum who navigates relationships with others and his growing bond with a baby skunk.

The PTA supported participation with a number of enriching activities such as creating a Pleasant Hill Friendship Garden, staff-read chapter recordings, story-specific trivia questions and prizes, and a Young Author's Day Assembly.

Historically, books that are chosen for this program highlight themes that lend themselves to a community service or donation project. This year, the PTA selected organizations that are very close to home:

- CUSD 200 Transition Program, which provides functional education and job training in domestic, vocational, community and social/leisure skills for students aged 18-22

- WDSRA (Western DuPage Special Recreation Association) & CUSD 200 ESYS (Extended School Year Services), who partner together to provide five weeks of summer afternoon recreational programming for our own special education students.

For the CUSD 200 Transition Program, they collected new or gently-used books to stock their library. Gently used books can still be donated and dropped off at the Transition Program, 100 Bridge Street, Wheaton.

To support the programs of WDSRA & ESYS, they collected new, unused art supplies (stickers, construction paper, markers, crayons, coloring books, etc.) and clean-up supplies, like paper towels, baby wipes and Clorox wipes. To view WDSRA's donation wish list, visit https://bit.ly/4hdAYbc.

Wren Page, a sophomore at Wheaton North High School, composed a full symphony for an 80+ piece orchestra titled "Valley of the Ancients." Wren's symphony recently debuted with the Naperville Youth Orchestra and featured several musicians from Wheaton North. Congratulations to Wren for composing an amazing piece of music!

Engage Emerson is a committee of Emerson staff members committed to strengthening communication and collaboration between teachers and families. After seeking feedback from teachers and families, Engage Emerson has put together a 3-part book study of The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.

During the first session on March 4, more than 45 parents and teachers came together to support the well-being of our children. The hour was packed with open, honest and respectful dialogue, and attendees left feeling hopeful about the positive changes that will come from these important discussions.

The Washington Elementary School Staff planned a Family Night on February 22. The event included a variety of fun activity stations including: math games, literacy games, line dancing, strength challenges, wellness activities, a photo booth, and a cultural traditions fair. It was a wonderful evening of fun and learning for the entire Washington Elementary community!