AMBOY – Newly elected school board members were seated during the April 22 Amboy Board of Education meeting. They included incumbents, Katie Pratt, Elsa Payne and Rory White. Board officers were also chosen. Nicole Jones will continue her role as board president, Katie Pratt will serve as vice president and Elsa Payne was selected as secretary. 

The board approved meeting dates and times for the coming year. Most board meetings will be held on the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. The exceptions will be in May, October and November when the meetings are held on Tuesday, as well as the board retreat scheduled for Saturday, March 5, 2022.

PRINCIPALS’ REPORTS

Amboy High School Principal Janet Crownhart congratulated March Student of the Month Gabby Jones. 

Curriculum and School Improvement

• Information for summer school has been sent to families. The high school plans to have four in-person, teacher taught classes. Each class will be held for two weeks, 3 hours per day. They will also offer their normal credit recovery program on Apex.

• Work has begun on Transitional ELA through the ROE in conjunction with Sauk Valley Community College.

• The Ed Pathway team met with the ROE on April 13 and then as an Amboy team on April 14 to begin planning the work needed for the Pathway grant.

School Activities

• Homecoming festivities were held the week of April 5. The theme was super-hero. Students decorated the hallways, made class T-shirts, and had a pep rally on April 9. King and Queen were Brady Jones and Breanna Blaine.

• Two FFA members, Dana Merriman and Mason Ely, are working outside of school to develop educational videos, which will be shared by the Lee County Farm Bureau during their virtual Ag Expos for 5th graders in the county.

• The FFA Parliamentary Procedure Team placed 1st as a team at the District contest on April 7. Individual placings included:

3rd place chairperson-Kelton Schwamberger 

Floor members:

4th-Dana Merriman

6th-Emma Dinges

7th-Andruw Jones

10th-Lauren Althaus

The team will advance to the state contest on May 15.

• An in-person FFA banquet was held on April 21 with a limit of 50 guests.

• Kelton Schwamberger, Dana Merriman and Emma Dinges will run for section FFA officer positions at the section banquet on April 27.

• Kelton Schwamberger and Emma Dinges will compete in public speaking contests to advance to the state contest on April 28.

Amboy Junior High 

Principal Andrew Full 

Curriculum and School Improvement

• On April 8, the School Improvement Team met with Anji Garza from the ROE to discuss the following topics: Finish IQF and submit, submit April Progress Report, update 1003(a) budget for 2020-2021, and summer school.

• Faculty meetings were held March 22, March 25 and April 12 to discuss PBIS and IAR testing.

PBIS

• On March 22, the monthly PBIS celebration/assembly was held over Google Meets and the following awards were handed out:

Students of the Month

5th Grade-Michael Hood and Amylia Bump.

6th Grade-Janella Gallagher and Brandon Campiran.

7th Grade-Peyton Payne and Victor Lopez-Belmontes.

8th Grade-Cierra Kessel and Caleb Shugars.

P.E.- Quinton Leffelman and Madisyn Heath.

Clipper P.R.I.D.E.- Makayla Burt, Caylee Hummel, Henry Klein, Grady McLaughlin, Teagen Payne, Emma Richardson, Daymein Ellis, Caiden Heath, Madisyn Heath, Chase Huggins, Hayden Hunsberger, Hope Lauzon, Chloe Vaupel, Emilee Blaha, Devyn Cheever, Gavin Eisenberg, Wyatt Hoffman, Bradley Schmidt, Bristol Bulfer, Brody Christoffersen, Michael Farrar, and Jaden Haley.

• On March 26, AJHS held their 3rd Quarter Celebration. Students watched a movie and had popcorn with candy toppings and Gatorade.

School Activities

• On March 26, faculty and staff went over the IAR practice.

• IAR testing started on April 13 for 5th-8th grade students.

• AJHS is hosting three small home track and field meets this year on April 21, April 29 and May 3.

• Mr. Kerley has started optional outdoor concert band practices with the concert band after school on Tuesdays. 

• Track, Academic Bowl, Young Authors and Speech pictures were taken on April 14.

Principal Joyce Schamberger, 

Central Elementary 

School Improvement

• Illinois Assessment of Readiness testing for grades 3 and 4 will be taken at the end of the month.

• Preschool screenings were held April 6 and 7. There are 30 spots for preschoolers.

• Kindergarten registration for the 2021-22 school year is open.

PBIS

• The Fourth Quarter PBIS Incentive for Central School will celebrate the end of the school year by walking to Dairy Delite for a treat, which will be paid for by Central PTC.

• Central will also celebrate the end of the year with a track and field day on May 21. Chris Payne will plan the activities for students. The rain date is Tuesday, May 25.

• A virtual End of the School Year Awards assembly for Central School will take place on May 24. All grade levels will be recorded and posted on Parent Square.

School Activities

• Schamberger congratulated Mikayla Hussey for being granted items from Donor’s Choose. She received many items for her preschool classroom and the school.

OTHER BUSINESS

• The board approved submission of a waiver to keep the fee for Driver’s Education at $250 for the school years 2021-2026. 

• Approval was given to continue allowing the children of all district staff members to attend Amboy schools at no cost. Nichols pointed out that the policy is a win-win for the district as it is a hiring incentive and also increases enrollment at Amboy schools. 

• Turftamers of West Brooklyn was approved to provide mowing services for a one-year term. 

• A quote from Midwest Educational Furnishings, Inc. for library furniture was accepted. 

• Approval was given to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Oregon Community Unit School District 220 for professional services. Nichols said the two districts want to create a shared position that will include grant writing and other services. 

“This is a one-year commitment but we hope it will create a significant value for the district,” he said. 

PERSONNEL

Following closed session, the board approved Amie Wiseman as District Librarian for the 2021-22 school year.

The next regular board meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18 at Central School. All meetings are open to the public.