BSD2 News & Notifications | District & Community Flyers | BSD2 Events Calendar

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Here's the official BSD2 2024-2025 calendar

The District 2 Board of Education approved the official 2024-2025 school calendar during its January 17 meeting.

Key dates are as follows:

• Beginning of the School Year: Student attendance for Grades K-8 will begin on Wednesday, August 21. The first day for pre-kindergarten students is Monday, August 26.
• Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving will be celebrated on Thursday, November 28. There will be no school that week.
• Winter Break: There will be no school Monday, December 23, through Friday, January 3, with classes reconvening on Monday, January 6. 
• Spring Break: There will be no school Monday, March 31, through Friday, April 4, with schools reopening Monday, April 7.
• End of the School Year: The last day of school will be Wednesday, June 4, unless emergency days are needed.

Click here for the 2024-2025 Calendar-at-a-Glance.

SUMMER SCHOOL

District 2 will once again offer a free traditional summer school program to provide select students focused support in developing reading and math skills that will help them be successful in their upcoming grade levels.

NEW: In addition to reading and math instruction, the traditional summer school program will also feature a period of enrichment for students built into the program to enjoy each day: 

• Grades K-1: LEGO Club
• Grade 2: Water painting
• Grade 3: Art & Yoga
• Grade 4: Digital Music Making
• Grade 5: Civics & Leadership
• Grade 6: Dance or Punch Needling
• Grade 7: Math Through Golf

This year, summer school is from Wednesday, June 5, through Thursday, June 27, at Tioga School. Classes will meet from 8-11:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday.

Families of students who have been identified to receive the summer school program will be notified during parent-teacher conferences on Friday, February 16. The deadline to register for summer school is Friday, March 8.

SUMMER ENRICHMENT

The District will also offer a slate of free enrichment activities for students who aren’t identified for traditional summer school. This new enrichment program is open to all students who are not in need of traditional summer school. It will allow students in grade-level groupings to participate in the following rotations of fun, engaging summer enrichment activities each day: 

• Grades K-4: Technology, Art and Games
• Grades 5-7: Gardening, Writing and Cricut

The Summer Enrichment program coincides with traditional summer school, running from 8-11:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday at Tioga School beginning June 5 and ending June 27. 

Registration for Summer Enrichment will open Tuesday, February 20, and will be conducted on a first-come-first-served basis.

CHILDCARE

Right at School, which operates the after-school programming for Johnson and Tioga Schools, will also offer a parent-paid childcare option throughout the summer. 

• Click her for more information about Right At School Summer Camp. 

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

Johnson and Tioga Schools to host kindergarten registration on Tuesday, March 5

Incoming kindergarten students who are NOT currently enrolled in the District's pre-kindergarten program will be able to register for the 2024-2025 school year on Tuesday, March 5, from 3-7 p.m. at:

• Tioga School, 212 W. Memorial Road
• W.A. Johnson School, 252 Ridgewood Avenue

Students will need to register at their home school, so parents who are unsure which school their child will attend should call the Educational Administration center at 630-766-5940.

Registration requirements are as follows:

• Child must be present during registration to be assessed for kindergarten.
• Parent or guardian must present a certified copy of an original birth certificate indicating the child will be 5 years old on or before September 1, 2024.
• Parent or guardian must also present the following proofs of residency at the time of registration:
• A lease or mortgage statement
• A driver's license or current photo identification
• Three additional proofs of residency.

Click here for the kindergarten registration flyer.

5ESSENTIALS

Annual survey allows students, parents, and teachers to weigh in on school climate and learning conditions

Each year, District 2 administers the Illinois 5Essentials Survey to provide an opportunity for teachers, students, and parents across the District to have a role in improving their schools.

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey provides a comprehensive assessment of school organizational culture with actionable reports to help drive school improvement on five "essential" indicators of success:

• Effective Leaders
• Collaborative Teachers
• Involved Families
• Supportive Environment
• Ambitious Instruction

Between Tuesday, January 30, and Friday, March 29, teachers, students, and parents will be asked to take the 15-minute research-based 5Essentials survey to help identify strengths and weaknesses in their school’s climate and learning conditions.



• Click here to complete the Illinois 5Essentials Parent Survey.

BUDDY BENCHES

Congratulations to our third-grade ACE students!

This year, in their English/language arts studies, third-grade students in the Accelerate Curriculum & Enrichment (ACE) programs at Tioga and W.A. Johnson School researched and developed a proposal to purchase "Buddy Benches" to install on their playgrounds.

Thursday evening, they presented their idea to the Bensenville Community Foundation.

A "Buddy Bench" is a place students can go when they're feeling sad or lonely and need someone to talk to or play with. When a student sits on the "Buddy Bench," other students and staff will know the child could use a friend and will join the child and offer their help, support, and comfort.

The Foundation loved the idea and voted unanimously to fund the project!

• Click here for an ACE Buddy Bench photo gallery.

WINTER WONDERLAND

This is how you throw a Snowball!

Thank you to all of the BMS students and PTA volunteers who made Snowball a success on Saturday, January 20. Fun activities, delicious food, great music, and lots of friends to make memories with! What a great way to warm up a cold winter night!

• Click here for a BMS Snowball photo gallery.

CELEBRATE!

Congratulations to the BMS Dance team!

The BMS Dance Team competed against eight other schools on Friday at the Thomas Middle School Dance Invitational, and their Rihanna-themed pom performance earned them second place!



"We are extremely proud of these girls, many of whom have never danced prior to joining our team in early November," said BMS Dance Team Coaches Megan Arado and Alyssa Lee. "Our dancers worked incredibly hard this season, and we couldn't be more overjoyed with this accomplishment!"

Click here to watch the BMS Dance Team's winning performance.

CREATE KINDNESS

Johnson students are up to the challenge!

In their social-emotional learning classes last week, Johnson students participated in the Great Kindness Challenge. "Create Kindness" is the theme of this year's challenge, and students shared their ideas for creating kindness at school, at home, and throughout their community in drawings that were combined to create a Kindness Quilt displayed in the school's cafeteria.

FRIEND OF EDUCATION

Congratulations to the Bensenville-Wood Dale Rotary Club!

During the BSD2 Board of Education's January 17 meeting, the Bensenville Education Association presented Rotary with its Friend of Education Award for “excellence in dedicated service to the students and staff of Bensenville School District 2" for its annual coat drive.

THANK YOU VFW POST 2149

Veterans' generous gift will benefit the BSD2 Family Resource Center

We would like to thank Tioga Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2149 for its $500 donation to Bensenville School District 2.

Post 2149 serves the communities of Bensenville, Wood Dale and Itasca, and its generous gift will help fund programming offered at the BSD2 Family Resource Center. 

U.S. Army veterans Barbara and David Dimeler, longtime Bensenville residents and members of Post 2149 whose children attended BSD2 schools, delivered the check from the Post to District 2 last week.

"Thank you, members of VFW Post 2149, for your service to this country and for your generosity to the BSD2 community!" said Dr. Katie McCluskey, BSD2 Superintendent of Schools. "We are grateful for your thoughtful donation to our students and families."

CHECK IT OUT

 If you're active on social media, please like and follow the BSD2 Facebook and Twitter pages

• Click here to visit the BSD2 Facebook page.
• Click here to visit the BSD2 Twitter page.

District 2 has gone "green" in its approach to distributing community flyers.

Rather than sending flyers home with each student via backpack mail, District and community flyers are posted on the BSD2 E-Flyers page for parents to view or print 24/7.

It is estimated that this saves our schools hundreds of hours per year spent sorting and handling the materials, not to mention the number of trees and other resources saved in producing them.

• Click here for the current list of BSD2 E-Flyers.