Brett Burton

Dear Nicholson Families & Friends,

I would like to welcome you to a fantastic 2009-2010 school year! We are extremely excited about having a great year at Nicholson! We would like to welcome our new students and staff members to the Nicholson Family.

Nicholson has received the Illinois Spotlight School Award for the past two years. Hence, we will continue to strive towards excellence in academics and character. The 2009-2010 school year will provide many academic opportunities for our students. Nicholson School will continue with a 90 minute uninterrupted block of time for reading instruction, which is paramount for the success of our students. Equally as important, the Houghton Mifflin series will be the core reading text, and students will be frequently assessed this year with this program. Furthermore, students at Nicholson will continue to be monitored frequently to measure reading gains and to support identified reading gaps. Equally as important, the Nicholson Building Leadership Team has created an academic intervention schedule to provide students with additional support and common planning time for grade levels to collaborate.

Nicholson teachers and students will transition to year four with the behavioral management model; PBIS. PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support) is a system approach to preventing and responding to classroom and school discipline problems. PBIS creates and maintains safe learning environments where teachers can teach and student can learn. The previous three years the focus was geared toward establishing expectations on the playground and classrooms. This current school year we will continue to focus on these two areas, as well as incorporate the Nurtured Heart Approach to provide additional support for our students and staff.

Another important facet of school this upcoming year will be the focus on increasing the integration of technology. Nicholson staff has created an instructional technology lab that will provide students with an opportunity to obtain pertinent 21st Century technology skills.

In closing, I would like to stress the importance of parents participating in their child’s education. We welcome your feedback and support. Please don’t hesitate to contact me this year if you have any questions.

Brett Burton, Principal
Nicholson Elementary School
(630) 301-5395
bburton@sd129.org