With the onset of the new Common Core State Standards, programs that strengthen skills in reading and math are more vital than ever before. With this in mind, we have created new summer programs taking place during the months of June and July.  These summer offerings will be designed to maintain and/or strengthen your child's skills in math and reading. Further, the programs will be self-paced, appropriate for all ability levels, and accommodating for your family's summer schedule.  Check out the following links for more information about our math and reading summer program and send the forms back with your students as soon as possible.  Completed forms are due by Wednesday, May 22nd!!!!!

Summer School Math Program    -   Summer School Reading Program

Successful Triad 5K & Results
Thanks to everyone who participated in the 12th annual Triad 5K and water run this weekend.  Please feel free to review our participant 5K results [ Overall ] [Age Group].  We would like to extend our gratitude to all of our sponsors and volunteers as well as the Troy Police Department and Fire Department for once again helping to make our event a success! All told, the proceeds from this event will benefit over 250 students at all grade levels and in all communities of the Triad family.  We hope to see everyone again next year!

• 5K results [ Overall ] [Age Group] -  Triad 5K & Water Run Flyer  - Triad 5K Route

2013-2014 School Calendar
Approved by Board 

Mr. Jason Henderson
Assistant Superintendent of Business

At the Special Triad Board of Education meeting held on March 19th, Jason Henderson was hired to replace Ken Miller.  After twelve years of service to the Triad District, Mr. Miller will hand over the reins as of July 1st.  Mr. Henderson’s responsibilities as Assistant Superintendent will include business operations and instructional leadership.  

 Mr. Henderson began his career at Triad in 1994.  His experiences include working as a math teacher, coach and administrator at the building and district levels.  Mr. Henderson earned his Bachelor of Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, his Master of Science at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and his Educational Specialist in Educational Leadership at University of Illinois Springfield.  Mr. Henderson also obtained the Chief School Business Official Endorsement in 2009.  Mr. Henderson’s educational background, work ethic and optimistic spirit will benefit the Triad District during these challenging times.  

Academic Excellence Award for 2012
On April 3rd, State Superintendent Christopher A. Koch was in Carlinville to recognize 13 schools from nine districts named to the 2012 Illinois Honor Roll. Dr. Koch recognized schools that earned an Academic Excellence Award.  Across the state, 454 schools earned the Academic Excellence Award for 2012.  St. Jacob Elementary and C. A. Henning Elementary were recognized for their sustained academic excellence.  For this accomplishment, the schools earned the Academic Excellence Award due to their performance on the Illinois State Assessment Test.  Schools that earn this award have met adequately yearly progress in 2011 and 2012 as required by No Child Left Behind and 90% of students met or exceeded state standards in both reading and mathematics for the three most recent school years.
( Pictured in the photo from left to right: Jay Simpson, Principal St. Jacob Elementary, Dr. Chris Koch, State Superintendent, Kay Burrough, Principal C. A. Henning Elementary and Jason Henderson, Curriculum Coordinator )

Peabody Energy Leaders in Education
Award Recipient

Congratulations to TMS science teacher, Therese Hembruch, for being named as one of the Peabody Energy Leaders in Education Award winners for the 2012-13 school year.  Therese has been an instructor at TMS since the 2008-09 school year, teaching classes in science, English, and history during her 5 year tenure. 

Peabody Energy Chairman and CEO, Gregory H. Boyce, states, “We understand that from the moment a child begins a K-12 education one of the most important factors influencing that child’s success or failure is an educator who made a difference.”  The Leaders in Education programs honors dedicated and compassionate professionals with awards and recognition at an annual dinner reception.  Honorees are selected throughout the school year by a committee of top educators and business leaders, and each earns a $1000 award as part of the award.

While science lends itself naturally to hands-on learning, Therese takes kinesthetic learning to a whole new level.  Students participate in the meiosis square dance during her unit of cells.  They bring stuffed animals from home and work in groups to demonstrate the food chain hierarchy.  Therese has undertaken new projects this year.  She is currently serving as an instructor in our IMSA after-school program, which provides enhanced curricular opportunities for students who excel in the areas of Science and Math.  Therese also spearheaded a campaign to bring a Botball (robotics program) to our school through the procurement of a grant from SIU-E.  Mrs. Hembruch models the importance of being a lifelong learner through her participation in science camps offered through SIU-E each summer.  Because of her innovative approach to instruction, Therese has been asked to present at county-level institutes and other in-service opportunities.

Triad High School’s Peabody Energy Leaders in Education Award Recipient

Congratulation to THS technology education teacher, Andy Brendel, for being named as one of the Peabody Energy Leaders in Education Award winners for the 2012-2013 school year.  Andy has been an instructor at THS for 11 years and is currently the director of Career Technology Education department (CTE) at the school. Daily, he challenges his students to work cooperative projects that apply the skills taught in his technology courses.  Andy has been instrumental in providing STEM education through the development of Project Lead the Way curriculum.  [Read More]

Carmody Named IHSA Boys' Tennis Coach of the Year.

Triad High School Boys’ Tennis coach, Jack Carmody, has been named the IHSA Boys’ Tennis Coach of the Year.  This award is presented to only one coach in the state of Illinois each year and the IHSA then forwards that coach’s name on to the National Federation of State High School Associations for consideration for National Coach of the Year.

Coach Carmody was awarded this honor based upon his tireless efforts to make Triad High School tennis a quality program that draws state wide respect in Illinois.  Coach Carmody is entering his 8^th season as the head coach of the Triad Boys’ tennis program.  The first seven years of the Carmody regime at Triad has yielded seven Mississippi Valley Conference Championships and IHSA Sectional titles in 2007 & 2008.  He has had at least one individual qualify for the State Tennis Tournament in each of his seven seasons as Triad’s coach.  Coach Carmody would like to share the credit for this prestigious award with all of the hard working players he has coached and his dedicated assistant coaches over the years including Gabe Wise, Matt Carmody, Devan Faulkenberg, & Jordan Faulkenberg.

What Does Increased Performance Levels on the ISAT Mean for Triad’s Test Scores?

Illinois schools, including Triad, have begun implementing the Common Core State Standards. These standards in Math and English Language Arts are intended to increase the performance levels of students across the state. These higher, deeper and clearer standards are currently being aligned to district Math and English Language Arts curriculum.

As Illinois schools began aligning current curricula and instruction to the Common Core, on January 24^th of this year, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) made the decision to change the performance levels (cut scores) on the ISAT.   The ISAT is the standardized test given to all 3^rd through 8^th grade students in Illinois during the first two weeks in March. ISBE determined that the current expectations for 3^rd through 8^th grade students were too low and were not a good indicator of a student’s ability to succeed in college and the workforce.  In response to this, ISBE has raised the scores on the ISAT that will be recognized as “exceeds” and “meets” by 13-17 points in reading and 21-30 points in math at all levels.  The following link contains all of the new performance levels for the 2013 ISAT: New ISAT Cut Scores

What does this mean for districts such as Triad?  Over the past three years, Triad has averaged approximately 90% of students meeting or exceeding standards in reading and 93% meeting or exceeding in math.  With the new cut scores, we are likely to see a drop in these percentages this year.  Some students who previously met or exceeded standards will instead show the need for improvement. However, these new expectations do not mean that our students know less than they did before or are less capable than they were in previous years. Instead, ISBE raised its expectations for all students going forward to show their progress toward college and career-readiness targets.

District administrators have looked at Triad’s 2012 ISAT data to see how our scores would look with the “new” performance indicators that will be implemented this year. Our 2012 ISAT reading tests showed that 90% of students met or exceeded standards under the old cut scores.  Had the new cut scores been in place, this percentage would have been 69%.  In math, 93% of students met or exceeded standards in 2012.  Under the new cut scores, this percentage would have been 71%. Curriculum Coordinator Jason Henderson presented a more detailed presentation on the new ISAT cut scores to the Triad Board of Education at the February 25^th Board meeting.   If you would like to view the information presented at the Board of Education meeting, please click the following link:  ISAT Cut Score Update

As a district, we will continue to make every effort to help students and parents understand what is expected and how we are working to make sure that we are on track to meet those expectations.  Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or principal with any questions and concerns regarding the ISAT cut scores or any other curricular issues.

Mike Villa is Hall of Fame Inductee

On Saturday January 5, 2013 the Missouri State High School Soccer Coaches’ Association held their inaugural induction to their Hall of Fame.  Triad boys’ and girls’ soccer coach, Mike Villa, was among the 13 coaches inducted.  Coach Villa was honored for his accomplishments while coaching at Vianney High School in St. Louis.  Before coming to Triad, Coach Villa coached at Vianney for 23 years and won 463 games.  His boys’ teams at Vianney captured 7 Missouri State Championships and his 1992 team was named the USA Today National Championship team.
  Coach Villa has continued his success at Triad.  He has coached the boys soccer team to 212 wins, including 7 regional championships and a 3^rd Place finish at State in 2009.  Coach Villa’s girls’ teams at Triad have also enjoyed great success.  His Triad girls’ teams have won 237 games, won 7 regional championships, qualified for State three times, finished 2^nd in State in 2003, and won the Class 2A State Championship in 2011.

  Congratulations to Coach Villa, who is already been inducted as a member of the Halls of Fame at:  Quincy University (individual and team), Vianney, the first player in the NAIA Hall of Fame, St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame, and the St. Louis Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Online Cafeteria Accounts 

The Triad District is now able to offer parents the ability to manage their child's meal account balances through an online management service called PayForIt.net.  The service may be accessed via links through our Parent Resources webpage or directly via www.payforit.net . This service benefits students, parents and the school cafeteria.  Management of your child's account through this online service will ensure that they never have to worry about carrying cash for lunch purchases and having the money with them at the start of lunch service.  Using the PayForIt.net service, parents can log in at any time to make a deposit to their child's account, view their child's account balance, set up recurring deposits to their child's account, set up e-mail notifications when their child's account falls below a certain dollar amount, or request a report showing what the child has purchased on their account. [Triad Food Service]

District Introduces "Virtual Backpack"

Triad CUSD#2 continues to work toward a paperless direction for many of its home-school communications.  We have recently launched this “Virtual Backpack” webpage to assist parents obtaining information to community resources, services and information in our area.  The categories on this page will assist you in locating district approved informational flyers, notices and registration forms released by area non-profit organizations, intergovernmental agencies and business partners. 

Parents and Guardians are able to access information on activities in the surrounding communities from Family Movie Events in the Park to Athletic camps and activities by clicking on the Parent Resources link in the navigation column.  Recently added events include Little Knights Basketball beginning September 22 for girls and September 28th for boys in grades 4th, 5th, and 6th. Little Knights Wrestling sign-ups will be held on  October 5th, 6th, and 11th. Girl Scout and Boy Scout information can also be found on this link as well as YMCA information.  Vistors are also given the opportunity to subscribe to this page, which will notify the subscribers of new information posted  to the page!  Everything posted to the Parent Resource page has been approved by the Triad Central Office.

Stay Connected with us...

We are excited to have announced during our parent teacher conferences the launch of a new service to deliver important information to your cell phone via SMS text messaging. While we will continue our current practice to contact parents through the use of a pre-recorded voice messages/building email distributions for such things as school event announcements, school closings, and other parent notifications, we are also now able to offer an immediate SMS text message to registered family cell phones.  The process is simple and only takes a few seconds to complete. Simply text… “yes” or “optin” to the number 68453. [ More Info ]