Sandwich Spotlight- August
Sandwich Community
School District 430
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Welcome Back!
We are excited to welcome everyone back and begin another important year for the Sandwich Learning Community. A tremendous amount of work has taken place across the district this summer, and we are excited about the progress and improvements you will see when you return. From the new secure entrance at the Middle School, the new event entrance, updated locker rooms, and seal coating at the High School, to several important technology and infrastructure improvements. We continue to invest in making our schools safer, more efficient, and better places to learn and work.
We are also proud to expand our instructional coaching support for all staff PreK-12. This team is listed below and will be a cornerstone of our Tier I instructional focus. They will be led by our new Director of Teaching and Learning, Lisa Winters, and will provide increased support and collaboration for teachers throughout the district.
Monica Sartori- Elementary
Allie Ricci- Elementary
Blythe Pogliano- Middle School
Shelley Morgan- Middle School
Brian Long- High School
In addition, we have installed a new districtwide camera system that eliminates an annual subscription cost, providing both updated equipment and ongoing savings for the district. Our new keyless fob entry system is ready at all buildings except one, which will be completed this fall. Beyond the physical improvements, we are excited to share more about the work our District Leadership Team and Board of Education have been doing together over the past six months, which focuses on financial stability for our district. We are excited to launch our new reading curriculum for grades K-5, which is called CKLA by Amplify. This tool is aligned to the Science of Reading and follows best practices within the field of reading.
Finally, I want to extend my appreciation to our custodial, maintenance, and technology teams, who have worked throughout the summer to ensure our facilities are ready for students and staff. Their work often happens behind the scenes, but it is essential to a successful start to the school year. Also, thank you to our administrative team and teaching/support staff. The energy and coordination required to launch a new school year can be daunting…you are greatly appreciated! We are excited about where we are headed and thrilled to have all of the students back.
We are Sandwich!
Ryan Janisch
Superintendent, Sandwich 430
Communication Apps- Infinite Campus and Parent Square
The district utilizes two apps for communication and management purposes. Infinite Campus is used for all student-related functions—such as grades, attendance, fees, and more—while ParentSquare is used exclusively for communication. ParentSquare helps us share newsletters, send alerts, manage parent-teacher conference sign-ups, and coordinate volunteer opportunities. If possible, we encourage all families to download the mobile apps for both platforms to stay connected and informed throughout the school year.
Infinite Campus- Link 
Schedules
Bus Information
Fees
Grades
Attendance
Food Services
Parent Square- Link
Communications
Sign-ups
Transportation Information in Infinite Campus
We apologize for the errors in the transportation information that was initially uploaded to Infinite Campus. These errors have been corrected, and you should now see the accurate transportation information in your Infinite Campus Parent Portal account. As an additional step, we asked all bus drivers to call their assigned routes today to help ensure families received accurate information. We understand how important reliable transportation information is as we prepare for the start of the school year, and we sincerely apologize for the confusion and inconvenience this error may have caused. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
New Leadership and Central Office Staff
We wanted everyone to know some of the new faces that you will see in leadership positions around the district for the 26-27 school year. We are excited about the new staff that we were able to hire and they join us with a variety of backgrounds. Their addition to our current team members will allow us to have a team that is passionate, supportive, skilled, and with high expectations. Please meet our new administrative and central office hires!
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Director of Teaching and Learning- Lisa Winters
With more than thirty years of experience in education, Mrs. Winters’s career has spanned multiple roles, including teaching Kindergarten, third grade, and instructional coaching. Mrs. Winters’s early interest in curriculum brought her to the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project’s Everyday Mathematics. She spent fourteen years as an educational consultant with the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, traveling throughout the United States to support PreK through sixth grade teachers in their mathematics instruction. During this time, Mrs. Winters also earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Administration. Most recently, Mrs. Winters has spent the last seven years serving as the K–5 Instructional Math Coach in Sycamore, supporting teachers across the district. In this position, she led a team of math specialists and oversaw district committee work to guide the adoption of a new curriculum. In 2022, Mrs. Winters received the DeKalb County Excellence in Education Award. As the Director of Teaching and Learning, she will focus on building strong relationships, maintaining visibility across the district, providing clear communication around high-quality instructional practices and ensuring that decisions are always guided by what is best for our students.
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Sandwich Middle School Assistant Principal- Derek Jones
Mr. Jones is a familiar name and face around the district. He started his career in Oswego and has been with us here in the district since 2019. He has worked as a special education teacher at Dummer and most recently at Sandwich High School. He has also served as a coach at a variety of levels within the district, including being our varsity wrestling coach. Mr. Jones completed his Master’s Degree in Administration in 2023. He brings a new perspective with district knowledge and excellent special education experience to the middle school leadership team.
School Calendar
Below you will find a link to our website and our school calendar for the 26-27 school year. There you will find an interactive school calendar and our “Calendar-at-a-Glance”.
Please note the first day of school is an early dismissal- Wednesday, August 12
District Leadership Team
The District Leadership Team will continue its work this year and begin with the continued implementation of our three-year district improvement plan. We have finalized the following goal areas for our District Improvement Plan:
Professional Learning Communities
Aligned Instruction and Curriculum
Student Support System (MTSS)
Supportive and Engaged Culture
District Resources (Finance and Facilities)
Under each of these goal areas we have specific tasks listed for each year. We will continue to hold ourselves accountable to these expectations. Having a clear understanding of the vision and direction of our school district is vital to our success and growth. Please take a few moments to read through the District Improvement Plan.
Meal Information and Fee/Free and Reduced Lunch
The carryover period for students who were receiving free/reduced lunch for the 2026-2027 school year ended on September 24, 2026. If a new 2026-2027 application has not been submitted, your child was automatically put on paid breakfast and lunch
If you would like to fill out an application, please log in to your Infinite Campus parent portal account and click on “More”, then “Meal Benefits”. Once your application has been submitted and reviewed, you will receive an approval/denial letter in the mail via USPS.
In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, and Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 or (202) 720-6382 (TTY). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer
Meal Rates for the 26-27 School Year
Breakfast (K-12) $2.15
Elementary/Middle School Lunch (K-8) $3.90
High School Lunch (9-12) $4.05
Attendance Policy
Last year the district worked closely with the Regional Office of Education to create an attendance policy that is more aligned with the rest of the county. Our goal is to reduce the number of Chronic Absentee students within the district.
CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM- a student who misses 10 percent of school days (18) within an academic year with or without a valid excuse. According to school research, these students are at greater risk of educational loss. Students within this category are reported to the state and monitored on the district/school report card.
To achieve this goal, we updated our attendance policy to create systems of support to monitor attendance and support families. The biggest changes are outlined below for families. Additional details can be found in the student handbook for each school.
All excused absences count toward a student's total of 10 days of absence.
After 10 absences, the district will ask for a doctor's note for future absences.
All absences must be reported daily by 10:00 AM
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If a student is not reported absent by 10:00 AM the district will begin to identify the student’s location and reason for the absence.
Parents/Guardians will be contacted first.
If no one can be reached, we will contact emergency contacts.
If no one can still be reached, we will contact the district SRO to do a safety check at the student’s home.
Support for student absences will begin at the seventh absence of the school year.
Please help us achieve a positive school outcome through consistent student attendance. This is a significant predictor of student and school success. If someone in your family is unable to attend school for the day, it will be important that you report the absence by 10:00 AM.
Core Values
Our District Culture and Climate Committee created a set of district Core Values. These values are designed to be the cultural base of our learning community. We are using these core values as a set of expectations for staff and students. We want to ensure that our learning community not only supports academic growth but that it embraces a high set of cultural expectations.
These District Core Values were presented to the District Leadership Team and the Board of Education for input. We continue to implement these Core Values with students every month. Please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with our core values.
District Core Values
We are Sandwich!