Chicago City Wire

Members of the Chicago Ridge school district talk about this coming summer and school year.

“So we're looking forward to it,” Megan Nothnagel, curriculum director for the district, said during the meeting. "It's getting close. We will use the same resources that we used last year that we purchased to support those predetermined areas, and we'll be developing with staff on Monday, staying a little bit later just to build up that understanding of the resources and how they can support that instruction.”

The board uploaded a live stream of its public meeting to the district’s YouTube channel.

At their April 11th board of education meeting, members of the Chicago Ridge school district gave updates on their program for summer school this year and upcoming registration deadlines. Online registration for the 23-24 school year opened on April 17th, and this year they are doing it through Powerschool for the first time. The board is trying to make the change as user-friendly and smooth as possible for future years. It does help that it can be done on phones and can translate the instructions and information into the most common languages in the community, including Spanish and Arabic. They were also pleased to announce that their registration fees remain unchanged from last year.

The board discussed paying Construction Solutions of Illinois $1.4 thousand for building additions and renovations at Ridge Lawn School and $2.4 thousand for similar work at Ridge Central/Finley Jr. High School.

The summer school program for this year will be very similar to last year as well, with teachers recommending students from their classes for the session based on their performance on specified foundational skills and abilities in their subjects. The teachers will finalize the recommendations list in the coming weeks, and parents will be given invitations for their children, and the classes will start on June 20th. The day will run from 8:15 to noon based on input from teachers and families. The goal of summer school is to bring students up to achievement levels in foundational skills like reading and math.

The board will meet again at 6:30 p.m. on May 9 at Finley Jr. High School at 6135 West 108th Street.

The Board of Education also announced in April that they have three vacancies on their board and will be taking applications from those who are interested. Two of the seats will be expiring in April of 2025, and the other will go until April 2027. They are currently accepting applications and will accept them until April 25th, at 4:30 p.m. The board members will review the applications and make a decision at their meetings in May, and then appoint the chosen candidates before the end of the month.