Back-to-school is upon us: SD60 looking forward to a new school year
“As always, we’re excited for a new school year,” Superintendent of Schools Stephen Petrucci said on Thursday, as district staff put the finishing touches on preparations for the first day of school on Tuesday, September 2.
While numbers won’t be finalized until after the first week of school is over, Petrucci says enrollment looks stable for this year, with just over 6,000 students projected to be enrolled in schools throughout School District 60 for the coming year.
Twenty-two new, certified teachers from outside the district were welcomed with an orientation and tour of the city this week. These teachers bring SD60’s compliment of classroom teachers to just two or three short of all classrooms being staffed. Petrucci points out that this is an improvement over last September when the district was short eight classroom teachers.
“We also have about 30 teachers on Letters of Permission,” he said. “Each year [the number of LoPs] ranges from 20 to 30 or so. We definitely have a good cadre of teachers on LoP.”
Teachers on LoP must reapply each year, so some of those who have applied this year already have experience, both as LoPs and in the district. The LoP teachers will be joined by new teachers this week for training in planning and preparation to support them all in getting ready for the new school year.
“[Having the LoPs] really helps us out in our schools. It still tells us that this district, like many others, faces ongoing challenges around staffing.”
In SD60, the first week at the elementary school level is spent in fun, educational activities while enrollment numbers firm up, and students are assigned to their classes at the end of the week.
During this time, Petrucci urges parents to let their school know if they have moved out of the catchment area, to help school staff determine classroom configurations.