Illini Central CUSD 189

Illini Central has contracted N Focus Photography as our sports photographer this year. While she takes pictures of individual athletes and teams for a fee, the district wanted every athlete to have access to pictures at no cost. The district is paying her to provide action photography at one game for each sport with the intention of taking pictures of all athletes, and as part of the district's contract with N Focus Photography, parents and athletes get access to these pictures free of charge.

Links to the school-sponsored events will be shared as they are completed. So far, we have ICMS Baseball and ICMS Softball galleries ready for families to view and download. When sharing on social media, please be sure to give credit to N Focus Photography.

Baseball: https://nicoledixon.passgallery.com/-icmsbaseballgamecoverage/gallery
Softball: https://nicoledixon.passgallery.com/-icmssoftballgamecoverage/gallery

Today, the Illini Central School District was placed in “secure” status. Administration was contacted by Mason City Police to enter “secure” due to the pursuit of armed burglary suspects headed from Menard County towards Mason City. The suspects were apprehended and placed under arrest. We thank the following departments for their collaborative efforts in ensuring student safety: Mason City Police Department, Athens Police Department, Menard County Police Department, Logan County Police Department, and the Secretary of State Police Department.

The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority. Our school has adopted The “I Love U Guys” Foundation’s Standard Response Protocol (SRP), which provides clear, consistent language and actions for responding to a variety of emergencies. Students and staff are trained and will regularly practice these procedures so that everyone knows how to respond quickly and appropriately.

The SRP includes five specific actions:
Hold – “In Your Room or Area” - Used to keep hallways clear during situations such as medical emergencies. Students stay in their classroom or area until given the “All Clear,” and learning continues as usual.
Secure – “Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors” - Called when there is a safety concern outside the building (e.g., police activity in the neighborhood). Everyone comes inside, doors are locked, and activities continue indoors.
Lockdown – “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight” - Used if there is a potential threat inside or very near the school. Students move out of sight, remain silent, and do not open the door.
Evacuate – “To a Location” - Used when it’s safer to move students and staff to another location, such as during a fire or other hazard inside the building.
Shelter – “Hazard and Safety Strategy” - Used for specific hazards like tornadoes, earthquakes, or hazardous materials. Students follow the appropriate safety strategy (e.g., drop, cover, and hold for earthquakes).

During a Secure or Lockdown, it’s generally safest not to come to the school, and no one will be allowed in or out of the building. Law enforcement and school staff need to focus on safety and securing the situation. Communication with your child may be limited during the initial stages of a Lockdown. As the situation resolves, students may be able to update parents. In some cases, students may be moved to another site for reunification. We will provide instructions as soon as it is safe to do so.

Please know that our first priority is to make sure all students are safe, and then we will focus on communicating with parents and families. You may not receive notification for brief or low-risk situations (e.g., an animal on the playground), but we will notify families during more serious or extended incidents. Drills will be conducted regularly so students and staff can respond confidently in real emergencies.

For more details, you can review the full Standard Response Protocol Parent Guide here: http://iloveuguys.org. The graphic included is the same graphic that is displayed throughout our building.

Thank you for partnering with us to keep our school community safe.

Welcome back to school! As a reminder, school is dismissed at 2 pm today. If you are picking your child up after school, please use the back parking lot. We are glad to have your students back in the building!

Reminders for Pre-K!

Pre-K will be extending their open house hours from 5pm-7pm tonight.

School starts next Tuesday, August 19th.

We are so excited to be back and cant wait to see you all tonight!

Parents,

This document is a great informational source for you about the district. From drop-off procedures to clubs and sports, we have compiled some of the most asked questions in one document. You can find it here: https://aptg.co/9TY9Ln

We are always working to improve and simplify communication between you and Illini Central Schools. Keeping up with your child’s coursework and their teachers directly impacts their well-being both in the classroom and at home. School communication plays a big part in all of this, but it’s often not set up to be as accessible as it could be.

That’s what we’re working to solve. This year, we’ve made some changes to our website, app, and Rooms based on feedback from parents and staff. Rooms enables you to have two-way parent-teacher conversations and stay informed about classroom announcements. Rooms has streamlined communication and can now be sent directly to your phone via SMS.

Our district app currently offers:
Live feed updates
District and school news
Upcoming events
Breakfast and lunch menus
Push notifications for important and urgent announcements

With Rooms, you’ll have access to even more exciting features like:
Two-way messaging with teachers, staff, and coaches
Classroom announcements, reminders about coursework, and materials
Behavior tracking for celebrating good behavior and academic achievement
Automatic translation

So what does all of this mean for you? This means that you don’t need another app or tool to keep up with your child’s teachers and coursework. You’ll be able to find the vast majority of school and district information in one place: within our Illini Central app. If you don’t already have it, the district app is free, and you can search for it in the Play Store and App Store!

After you’ve created your login, you can access Rooms through the Illini Central app (or the www.illinicentral.org website). Once you’re there, you’ll see a toggle at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Just touch Rooms to get started. If you have multiple children attending our district, you’ll see them both listed in the menu section of Rooms.

For more information, visit this site: https://info.apptegy.com/for-parents-and-guardians