New Year, New People, New Systems

Wow!  Another year is starting just around the corner and I can't believe how fast it goes.  This year will seem extremely fast as I  have a senior and a freshman in high school, which means college visits and applications and of course the FASFA.

We also had a change in leadership for an Instructional Technology Coach. I am sure you all heard Sean Mullins left the district, which was a loss to Unit 5 in general; but we are very excited to introduce to your our new Instructional Technology Coach, Ed Hafermann.  Ed has been in education for over 15 years, has been a Junior High Teacher for all of that time teaching Language Arts and Social Studies.  Ed is also the Head Basketball coach at Normal West High School.  Please take some time and send Ed a note to congratulate him.   If you want to read more about him, you can do that here.

NEW, NEW and NEW
This school year brings on many new items...

First, Infinite Campus will be our new Student Information System SIS).  Having a system in place which really works with the SBG philosophy is essential for our district and educators.   This means no more Skyward at the secondary level and no more TeacherEase at the elementary level.  Teachers, students and parents will all use the same system.   There are apps for IC you will want to download to your phone if you have students or are a parent in Unit 5.  Unfortunately there is not yet a teacher app for Infinite Campus.

Apple App Store  When searching for the district make sure to enter McLean and Illinois and it will pop up.

Google Play Store When searching for the district make sure to enter McLean and Illinois and it will pop up.









Next is Tyler Employee Access - This is where you will want to check your paycheck in September.  Remember September 15th is the first paycheck of the year with the 2nd year contract raises in it.  Remember it is also the first paycheck of the year which will also have your TRS and Union Dues will be taken out in Oct., so if it is less then your summer checks, that is the reason.  It is your responsibility to double check your check and to make sure any changes for the new year are correct.  The payroll department rolled out the first payroll from Tyler on July 15 and it looks like it was successful.  If you want to know what you will be making this year, check out the UFEA website for information on the contract and your years of service.   Make sure you also check your time off!  I looked at mine and found it was grossly off.  I took snapshots of the Skyward information and my information and sent it to the HR Department. They fixed it within the hour!!  That is fast service!  This could effect those who plan to retire in the near future and need all of their banked sick days.

If you are a staff member who WILL NOT need a SUB when you are out for a day, then you will need to enter your time off into Tyler.  It is really as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Last, if you are a teacher who will need a SUB when you are out for the day, you will use Frontline formally Aesop.  Once you enter your credentials into Frontline, you will be able to create an absence.  From my understanding, once this information is entered into Frontline, it will automatically go into Tyler and you will NOT have to enter it twice, like you did with Skyward; that is an added bonus.

If you would like to do videos for your classroom or subs, use Loom. It's what I used to create these easy screencast videos.

Amber ~