From the desk of Dr. Wheatley

October 1, 2009

You have probably already noticed that there's something different about Opdyke-Belle Rive School District #5. Whether you're reading this in the traditional hard copy or on our website, I think you'll agree that big changes have been made to the look and feel at both, Opdyke and Belle Rive Attendance Centers. Our September "Open House" was a total success as measured by the number of parents who attended. This month the staff is looking forward to attending the Mt. Vernon Conference held on October 29-30, 2009.

  This past summer has been one of change for not only OBR, but the entire community. OBR's new visual staff members, new buses and entry way into the Belle Rive school revealed substantial improvements, causing great excitement among members about the direction of our school district. Even with these changes I mean to take OBR into the future, our community will always be firmly rooted in the ideas and values on which it was based: friendship, loyalty, service, accountability, and personal academic student growth.

  It is in this spirit of growth and evolution that we welcome our new members into our OBR family. They include: Kara Tifferteller, Amanda Richardson, Julie Shreve, April Akers, Tracy Horton and Ben Scattone. Our new look will bring a wealth of intelligent, diverse, and well-rounded educational leaders into our school system.

In addition to our new visual identity this 2009-2010 school year, OBR hopes to impact the community in an entire new way by taking on a new initiative to increase our academics at both schools…we strive to be a Blue Ribbon School District this year. I hope you will take from this message that small changes can add up to big results.

Dr Wheatley

All activities at OBR will focus on reaching and maintaining our vision, Children Come First, One Body One Voice and Educational Achievement Opportunities for Every Student. The faculty and staff are dedicated to the success of every student. To accomplish this, we are committed to building strong partnerships with parents and community agencies. We encourage our parents to be involved through District activities and by having an active voice through Board of Education meetings, committee work and surveys. OBR takes pride in its student success rates, strong parental support, highly qualified staff and focus on the whole child; that is, thorough communication and continuous school improvement efforts. Through strategic planning we have identified challenges that create goals, objectives and action plans to meet the needs of every child. Through this web site, it is our goal to share information about the District to keep parents updated on accomplishments and student activities and to seek parental input.

Our current student enrollment is approximately 200. I believe in continuous improvement in all areas of our school district.  The educational programs of OBR continue to excel because of the commitment of our staff, the involvement of our parents, and the high achievement of our students.

We were required by the Illinois State Board of Education to submit a Response to Intervention (RtI) Plan by January 1. RtI is a state and federal law that requires school districts to change the way students receive assistance with reading, writing, math, behavior and involves various assessments including three tiers of interventions for students. Because it is a paradigm shift for schools, RtI incorporates various steps schools must take to phase in the full implementation over several years. The OBR plan was based on the needs assessment that was completed for the State last spring in determining initial readiness towards full implementation of RtI.

I hope you will find this web site informative and valuable. If at any time, you would like additional information, please do not hesitate to call. I believe in an open door policy and welcome parents and other parties interested in the District to call and visit.