District 102 School Board Candidate: Ellyn Ross

Name: Ellyn Ross

Age: 51

Town: Buffalo Grove

Incumbent? Yes, 2002

Family: Peter-married for 28 years, Gary 24, Eric 21, Caryn 18

Occupation: Weight Watcher Service Provider

Community Involvement: Stevenson High School Community Foundation - Co-
President. Volunteer at Stevenson High School from 2001-present.

Link to campaign website or Facebook page: No response

Why are you running for a School Board position?

My passion for public education, children, and to continue the positive work of the board.

What are the key issues that the district will have to address in the next four years?

Our District has been a leader in leveraging technology to enable our teachers to
help develop individualized learning opportunities for our students. We need to
continue to advance this initiative to ensure that our students are as well prepared for the next step in their educational development as possible. To continue to
advance our strategies with respect to recruiting, training, and retaining highly
qualified teachers.

What are your top three priorities as a board member?

1. Maintain our governance structure at all levels and to keep the right people in the positions. We are a high impact board by staying strategically and policy focused, letting our superintendent and staff run the operational side of things.
2. Continue to support the goal of increasing and maximizing growth for
   the whole child. A key to this is encouraging a personalized learning
   environment. Our School Board and administration firmly believe that our
   students’ educational growth is maximized by avoiding falling into the trap
   of a “one size fits all approach.” We can reach our stated goal by continuing
   to support our educators in their development of learning that reflects the
   needs of the individual student.
3. Continue to advocate for programming supporting the arts, humanities and physical welfare while maintaining fiscal prudence. We are fortunate that our District is in excellent financial shape, but when the economy struggles, these are the programs that are often the first cut. We must be prudent, but we must always be mindful of our mandate to maximizing the growth of the whole child, not merely academically.

What are some of the district’s strengths?

1. District 102 has continually prepared students for the academic rigor at Stevenson High School. Everyone at all levels of this organization continues to do great work and each year scores improve. In addition, we focus on the social and emotional well-being of all our children.
2. Sophisticated use of interactive technology (white boards, i-Pads, etc.), which enhances the learning environment.
3. We are a AAA bond-rated district and have demonstrated year after year that we connect our spending to the vision of our district, teaching and learning goals and initiatives that matter most.
4. Our community/parent involvement with their child’s education.

What do you think could be done to improve the district?

We need to continue the work of the District’s long range planning committee.
This committee includes board members, educators, students, parents and other
members of the community. This committee will set the course for our District for
the next 5 years. Our goals and strategic plan came from the outcomes of the long
range planning committee.

What distinguishes you from the rest of the School Board candidates?

I have been involved with District 102 from 1993 to the present. Prior to serving
on the School Board, I served as a community member on several District planning
committees, including the District’s initial special needs task force. I also served on
the District PTO Board for 7 years, including two years as President. Each of my
three children attended District 102 schools from K-8th grade. No other candidate
has my breadth of experience as a District 102 community member.

When decisions need to be made, my question is, “What is the best practice for
our children?” In addition, my focus is on the “whole” child-academic, social and
emotional well-being. We need to have well -rounded children ready for the 21st
century.