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Post by title1parent on Jun 3, 2009 18:18:36 GMT -5
6/03/09
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Award Recognizes Physical Education Excellence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neuqua Valley High School Department Chair David Perry and his team of physical education teachers have earned their third consecutive "Blue Ribbon Award" from the Illinois Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. This honor recognizes excellent physical education and health programs and distinguishes Neuqua Valley as having one of the top programs in the state of Illinois.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Student Places Top 10 in National Geography Bee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hill Middle School student Siva Gangavarapu placed in the Top 10 in the final round of the National Geographic Bee, which was held in Washington D.C. This is an enormous achievement as there were more than five million students who competed nationwide in this year's challenge. Siva advanced to the Nationals after being crowned the State Champion earlier in the spring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ District Receives Outstanding Special Olympics Award ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Illinois Special Olympics has awarded Indian Prairie with the 2009 Outstanding Facility Award in recognition of the district's many years of support to Special Olympics activities.
Some of the areas of support for the Special Olympics program include Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley High Schools serving as the site for the program's aquatics competitions for nearly 30 years, Waubonsie Valley serving as the host site for basketball tournaments from 1981 to 1986, Waubonsie Valley initiating the district's Peer Partners program in 1987 to promote collaboration between students with special needs and non-disabled students, and District 204 coaches routinely hosting peer conferences and training schools.
A delegation from the district will be on hand to receive the award as part of the State Summer Games on June 12-14 in Bloomington.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Middle School Art at North Central College ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hill Middle School and North Central College's Education Department have established a partnership that has enabled 20 students to display a variety of photos and prints in the newly-renovated Meiley-Swallow Hall Art Gallery, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville. Meijer Foods donated the frames for the exhibit, which is open to the public and will run through June 30. The Gallery's hours are 8 am to 9 pm Monday through Thursday and 8 am to 5 pm on Saturdays.
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Post by title1parent on Jun 16, 2009 16:40:00 GMT -5
6/16/09
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Newsweek Names High Schools "Top in the Nation" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley were included in Newsweek magazine's 1,500 Top U.S. High Schools in the Nation. Newsweek's list is a national ranking based on a formula that divides the number of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests taken by students into the number of graduating seniors from approximately 27,000 of the nation's public high schools. According to Newsweek, this measurement places Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley in the top 6 percent of schools in the county. This is the fifth time that Neuqua Valley has made the list and the third year in a row for Waubonsie Valley.
Indian Prairie offers 27 Advanced Placement courses that provide the opportunity for students to tackle college-level academics. Across the district, more than 2,300 AP tests were taken in 2008.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Neuqua Valley to Perform at Prestigious Midwest Clinic ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Neuqua Valley High School Wind Ensemble is one of the groups selected from approximately 200 applicants from across the globe to present a concert at the 63rd Annual Midwest Clinic next December in Chicago. The Midwest Clinic is the largest instrumental music education conference in the world. It is regularly attended by 15,000 music educators, students, and professionals from thirty nations and all fifty states.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Granger PTA Receives National Recognition ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Granger Middle School received a special recognition from the National Parent Teacher Association. The school was identified as one of only four schools in the state to receive the Hearst Family-School Partnership Award. The award recognizes PTAs whose collaborative efforts with parents, families, educators, and community members promote parent/family involvement in ongoing programs that support and encourage student success.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Board President's Volunteer Efforts Recognized ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Board of Education President Curt Bradshaw was recognized by Morgan Stanley for his volunteer efforts. Bradshaw achieved such distinction because he logged more than 1,000 hours of service to the district in 2008. There was a monetary award of $5,000 that accompanied the honor, which Bradshaw donated to the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation for its ongoing efforts to support educational enhancement opportunities for District 204 students.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ District 204's Publications Receive National Awards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two district publications received honorable mention recognition in the National School Public Relations Association's 2009 publications contest. The winning publications were the all-day kindergarten booklet and the new middle school schedule booklet. Both were created to help the district communicate with parents about new program initiatives and were selected from among 698 contest entries this year.
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Post by title1parent on Aug 31, 2009 16:26:03 GMT -5
Points of Pride, 08.31.09 Reported by janet_buglio@ipsd.org on 8/31/09 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Neuqua Valley Receives National Award for Arts Education ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts selected Neuqua Valley as one of only five schools in the nation to receive the National Schools of Distinction in Arts Education Award. The award recognizes schools that have made the arts (music, art, dance, and theatre) an essential part of their students' education. Neuqua Valley was nominated by the Illinois Alliance for Art Education and was the only public high school in the nation to receive this award.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ District Earns Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
District 204 received a Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Association of School Business Officials International. The district was awarded for its preparation and issuance of the 2008 fiscal year. This is the second year in a row Indian Prairie has received this recognition.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fry Elementary Teacher Named Art Teacher of the Year ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Illinois Art Education Association named Joan Mills of Fry Elementary School as the 2009 Illinois Elementary Teacher of the Year. Joan is recognized by her peers for her work in curriculum development and leadership development.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Musical Groups Selected for State and International Conferences ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Neuqua Valley Wind Ensemble has been selected to perform at The Midwest Clinic: An International Band and Orchestra Conference held in Chicago in December. Only 16 high school ensembles from around the world are selected to perform at this prestigious event each year.
Waubonsie Valley's Varsity Chamber Singers were also selected to perform at a prestigious conference. The group will perform at the State Convention of the Illinois Music Educators Association in January.
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Post by title1parent on Sept 22, 2009 21:28:08 GMT -5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eighteen Students Selected as National Merit Semifinalists ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eighteen Indian Prairie seniors have been named as semifinalists in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program. Representing the highest PSAT scores from each state, there were 16,000 semifinalists selected out of 1.5 million entrants this year. Each of these academically talented students will continue in the competition to receive one of 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards worth a total of $36 million.
The National Merit semifinalists from Neuqua Valley are Katherine Anderson, Shijun Du, Victoria Han, Joy Mua, Ian Johnson, Sana Kagalwalla, Neel Lawande, Steven Li, Sophie Luo, Kelsey Stimple, Aneesh Tyle, Sean Vadas, Luke Verbus, Emily Wang, Gillian Wu, Kevin Zhang, and Weijia Zhang. Shenil Dodhia was selected from Waubonsie Valley.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Students Achieve Perfect Scores on SAT and ACT Tests ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Waubonsie Valley seniors Shenil Dodhia and Eric Wu earned a perfect score of 36 on the ACT exam. This is a rare accomplishment as there were only 68 students who received a perfect score out of more than 140,000 students tested. The ACT tests the areas of English, mathematics, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, and a student's composite score is the average of the four test scores. The average national ACT score is 21.1.
Neuqua Valley junior Steven Li received a perfect score of 2,400 on his SAT exam. There were fewer than 250 students from across the nation who achieved a perfect score. The SAT is a standardized assessment of the critical reading, mathematical reasoning, and writing skills students have developed over time and that they need to be successful in college. Each year, more than two million students take the SAT.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WVHS Teen Honored as 2009 Volunteer of the Year ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Illinois Healthcare Association selected Waubonsie Valley's Randy Mertes as the 2009 Teen Volunteer of the Year at its Annual Convention held in Peoria. Randy was recognized as a result of his contribution with the staff and residents at Alden Gardens of Waterford.
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Post by title1parent on Oct 6, 2009 16:47:13 GMT -5
10/06/09
======================= National Merit Names Commended Students =======================
Forty-nine students in District 204 were named Commended Students by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Approximately 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation were recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2010 competition by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
National Merit Commended Students from Neuqua Valley include: Rachel Aron, Grant Blazina, Ellyn Bordushuk, Ankit Chandola, Varun Char, Peggy Chau, Aman Choudhury, Joseph Cronin, Siddarth Datla, Mitchell Davis, Michael Hardisty, Samuel Ide, Krystal Lee, Alexander Merkley, Monica Mingione, Joe Nash, Ashwin Nayak, Bradley Niederschulte, Sandeep Reddy, Karuna Relwani, Pedro Ribeiro, Michael Rooney, Adam Safer, Matthew Skrip, Katherine Sparks, Maxwell Stunkel, Melissa Tang, Megan Taylor, Matthew Uber, Apuroopa Vesangi, Charles Vinci, and Kara Wisniewski.
National Merit Commended Students from Waubonsie Valley include: Christopher Andrews, Matthew Bajzek, William Case, Nikhil Chintalapudi, Samantha Cooper, Jordan Geltner, Leandra Knapp, Alexander Knightwright, Kelly Knox, Benjamin Rubinstein, Corey Sarcu, Michelle Senger, Paul Sowa, Alexander Stein, Courtney Weber, Robert Wieland, and Eric Wu.
======================= National Hispanic Recognition Scholar =======================
The College Board named Neuqua Valley student Pedro Ribeiro a National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar. Of the 200,000 Hispanic/Latino students who took the 2008 PSAT, some 5,000 with the highest Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test Selection Index scores (the sum of critical reading, mathematics and writing skills scores) qualify for this recognition.
======================= National Achievement Scholarship Semifinalist =======================
Neuqua Valley student Chelsea Clark was named a National Achievement Scholarship Semifinalist. This honor is presented to the top 10 percent of black students based on their 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test Selection Index scores (the sum of critical reading, mathematics, and writing skill scores). About 1,600 high-scoring participants in each year's National Achievement Scholarship Program are designated Semifinalists and have the opportunity to advance in the competition for National Merit Corporation scholarships.
======================= College Board Announces AP Scholars =======================
In District 204, 1,522 students took a total of 3,051 Advanced Placement (AP) tests in May of 2009, with 83 percent of those tests resulting in a score of 3 or above (on a 5-point scale), providing students with the equivalent of college credit while in high school. Many students took multiple AP tests.
The College Board's Advanced Placement Program provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP exams.
About 18 percent of the nearly 1.7 million students worldwide who took AP exams last spring performed at a sufficiently high level to earn an AP Scholar Award by completing 3 or more exams and earning grades of 3 or higher. Thirty-nine percent of Neuqua Valley students and 31 percent of Waubonsie Valley students earned a grade of 3 or higher on at least one AP test last year.
The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students' performance on high school AP exams:
AP SCHOLAR WITH HONOR � 110 District 204 students were recognized with this award by earning an average of 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on 4 or more of these exams
AP SCHOLAR WITH DISTINCTION � 188 District 204 students qualified for this award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams
NATIONAL AP SCHOLAR � 41 District 204 students were so honored by earning an average grade of 4 or higher (on a 5-point scale) on ALL exams taken AND grades of 4 or higher on eight or more of those exams.
National AP Scholars from Neuqua Valley High School included: Brian Afeltra, Brian Banta, Siyue Chen, Ian Dimayuga, Tanay Ganga, Kevin Gao, Caitlin Glimco, Josiah Han, Heather Herzog, Thomas Hirschfeld, Katherine Li, Winshen Liu, Matthew Lutrick, John Majors, Scott Nelson, Christoher Nye, Alex Onsager, Bhavani Pokala, Iman Rahim, Michael Rooney, Kareem Saleh, Matthew Seeberg, Rohit Subramanian, Todd Tabor, Cassandra Thomson, Nivedita Umasankar and Patrick Welch.
National AP Scholars from Waubonsie Valley High School included: Brian Baro, Matthew Beaty, Cvetomir Cankov, Jeffrey Carlson, Sonam Dodhia, Alissa Fahrenz, Andrew Huh, Matthew Jachimiec, Philip Jones, Edwin Lee, Carla Mann, Alana Moore, Leah North, and Steven Troscinski.
These achievements ranked District 204's high schools among Newsweek's "America's Top High Schools" for 2009, placing them in the top 5 percent of public schools measured by the publication's index, which is based on the number of AP tests taken divided by the number of graduating seniors.
======================= District 204 Recognized by SchoolSearch and SchoolMatch =======================
Indian Prairie School District 204 was selected as one of only 58 Illinois school districts (out of 868) to receive the SchoolSearch 2009 Bright A+ Award. The award identifies school districts that represent the top 5 percent of Illinois school districts academically. Selection is based on student performance with the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and ACT composite scores.
District 204 also received the 2009 "What Parents Want Award." This national award from SchoolMatch recognizes the district as part of the top 16 percent of the 15,571 public school districts across the country meeting the needs of families with regard to selecting schools. Some of the criteria for award selection include having competitive academic test scores; competitive teacher salaries; and, above average expenditures in instructional and library/media services on a national average.
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al
Frosh
Posts: 6
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Post by al on Oct 7, 2009 11:36:27 GMT -5
^ that's good to hear, (the National Merit Commended List) definitely an honor to reach that level and good news is good news, but you would think the students/parents would be notified of this in some formal way by the school. We have a student on the Commended list and have not heard a thing except for this email blast. Seriously, how hard would it be to notify 30ish kids?
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Post by WeNeed3 on Nov 4, 2009 16:10:03 GMT -5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crone Students Place 3rd in State Eco-Art Contest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Chicago Botanic Garden and the governor of Illinois challenged creative, eco-conscious youth, ages 8 to 18, to submit designs for Art on a Rain Barrel (AoRB), an Illinois-wide environmental art contest. Students were encouraged to create teams to enter the contest. The top teams from throughout the state were invited to bring their designs to life at the AoRB festival at Navy Pier as part of the governor's It's Our River Day 2009. A team from Crone Middle School took third place in the 12 through 15 year old division. Top designs received special prizes and recognition including public display at the Chicago Botanic Garden and other sites throughout the state of Illinois. More than 30 teams of students from throughout Illinois participated in the event, which was presented by the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Illinois Governor, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and Upcycle Products.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NV Student Semifinalist in Siemens Competition ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Neuqua Valley High School senior Aneesh Tyle was selected as a semifinalist in the 2009 Siemens Competition, the nation's leading original research competition in math, science and technology for high school students. The Siemens Competition is administered annually by the College Board, awarding college scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 in individual and team categories. A record number of 1,348 projects were received this year for the Siemens Competition, an increase of 12 percent over 2008. The number of students submitting projects increased by 14 percent while more students than ever, 2,151, registered to enter. This year, 318 students were named semifinalists along with 96 students being honored as regional finalists. Aneesh is one of ten semifinalists from Illinois.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ District 204 Students to Perform at IMEA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA) recently selected 171 students representing all seven District 204 middle schools to participate in the upcoming District 9 IMEA Festival on Saturday, November 7. The performances will highlight top students who excel in band, orchestra, chorus, and jazz band.
An impressive number of District 204 high school students were also selected to participate at the IMEA All-State Conference in January. Neuqua Valley has 109 students, Waubonsie Valley has 60 students, and Metea Valley has 15 students.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Young Elementary Donates Books to South African School ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Approximately 4,200 lbs. of books were delivered to Kleinberg Primary School in South Africa as a result of a partnership with Nancy Young Elementary School. The mission of the partnership program was to promote literacy and instill a love of learning to children around the world. U.S. Consulate General Dr. Alberta Mayberry presented the books to the students in South Africa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WV Students to Perform in All-State Theatre Production ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Waubonsie Valley High School students Chris Puchi, Lauren Guenther, and Antoinette Konow were selected by the Illinois Theatre Association to perform in the All-State production of "Urinetown" at the 35th Annual Illinois High School Theatre Festival, which is the largest high school festival in the United States. The All-State production involves a cast, crew, and orchestra of 71 high school students who are identified as the brightest stars in the state.
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