The Troy 30-C School District has a very rich history of exemplary student achievement.  I recently had the pleasue of providing two assessment updates to the Board of Education.  These reports included information about how our students are doing on the Illinois Standards Assessment Test (ISAT), a comprehensive review of demographic data, and an analysis of how our students are performing on the NWEA Measure of Academic Progress (MAP).  The links to the reports I shared with the Board of Education and the full presentations with additional information are below.

The most important thing to remember about these reports is that they show outputs.  While it is important to review outputs, it is much more important to invest our energies around inputs - best practices and exemplary programs that produce great outputs.  The real work is all about "inputs."  These inputs include the hard work of teachers, support staff, and administrators that occurs every day in the schools.  I am personnaly very proud of the results that you will see in the following reports.  However, I am more proud of the teachers and their efforts to provide a quality education for all students!

• Illinois State Report Card Analysis
  • Report to Board of Education on 11-16-11
  • Full Report
• Measure of Academic Progress
  • Report to Board of Education on 10-17-11
  • Full Report

Sincerely,

Don White, Ph.D.
Superintendent

The Illinois State Board of Education annually publishes a "School Report Card" for all public schools and districts. This report includes information about district finances, student and employee demographics, and student achievement.  The 2011 School Report Card has been published and is available for you to download here.

The Troy School District has many reasons to be proud of our students and employees. While we have room to improve, we continue to achieve above the average of other districts while expending on average fewer dollars per student.

I am extremely pleased to share a very exciting opportunity for parents, students, and community members to recognize a teacher.  The Joliet Area Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations until November 28, 2011 for the Joliet Area Chamber of Commerce Great Teachers Award.  The nomination process is easy to complete and is a great opportunity to demonstrate your appreciation for the work done by a special teacher.

You can complete a nomination by downloading and completing a very short nomination form (Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat format) and submitting it to the Joliet Area Chamber of Commerce.  Please know that the short time you spend nominating a deserving teacher will go a long way in saying "thank you" to someone that has or is having a positive impact for your child and our community!

Thank you,

Superintendent of Schools

Troy 30-C recognizes two types of absences. Excused absences will be issued for illness, medical appointments, in the event of an unfortunate death in the family, a family emergency, observance of a religious holiday, and the need for the student to appear for a court appearance. Unexcused absences will be issued when a parent does not notify the school office, student illness beyond nine occurrences without medical documentation, family vacation, a court appearance without documentation, truancy, and tardiness due to oversleeping, transportation or family issues other than an emergency.  More information can be found in the 2011-12 Parent-Student Handbook.

Except for one activity, the 2011-12 school year is off to a great start! The construction at three of our schools is completed or in the very final stages of completion. The schools are clean and ready to accept students and staff. We even have some newly aligned curriculum maps and resources that will be implemented this school year.

Welcome to the 2011-12 school year at the Troy Schools! I am confident that this school year will bring many opportunities for all students to learn, socialize, and grow. It has and will always be the goal of all employees in the Troy School District to provide the best educational opportunities in a clean, safe, and secure environment. To that end, I encourage you to contact your child's teacher or principal at any time if you have questions or suggestions on how they can make your child's school year a success.

The Troy School District utilizes a "Virtual Backpack" to share important information about activities and services that may benefit your child or family. This was implemented to save paper and reduce the time needed to copy and distribute flyers from community organizations wishing to share information about activities that can benefit our families and students.

Continuous improvement is one of the goals in the Troy 30-C strategic plan.  This is a goal that we take very seriously knowing that we will never be done improving the services and programs we offer our students and families.  Here are a few items that we will be working on over the summer and for next year: