***Ian Chafee***
Candidate for Board of Education
North Palos School District #117

www.chafee.net
ian@chafee.net
708-599-9288

I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and hopefully help you learn more about myself and North Palos School District #117 as we head into April’s election for the school board. Along with Dr. Tom Kostes, I am running for re-election to the Board and hope that I can count on your vote on April 5th. It is my firm belief that the teachers, staff & administration of the District are doing excellent work for our children, parents and community, and I would like the opportunity to help them continue that work. My contact info is at the bottom of this page; if you have any questions or comments I urge you to check out my web site or get in touch with me.

Personal

• 2 years service on District 117’s Board of Education
• Resident of Hickory Hills for 12 years
• 2 daughters who attend District #117 schools (ages 9 & 5)
• 10 years professional experience working in the technology department of an elementary school district
• Volunteer technical support for the Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn
• Member of the Illinois Patriot Guard Riders, a support group that provides honor guards, escorts and assistance to the families of fallen soldiers and veterans.
• Room parent for daughters’ classrooms at Quin, Dorn and Glen Oaks.
• Volunteer webmaster for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Sky, a women’s wheelchair basketball team.
   

As a Board member:

• District 117 is ranked among the top performing academic Districts in the State of Illinois.
• Winner of the 2010 Lincoln Award for Performance Excellence, the only Elementary School District in Illinois to receive this honor & the first since 2007.
• 96 % of District students achieved at the Meets Expectations or Exceeds Expectations level on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test.
• All 3 eligible schools (Glen Oaks, Oak Ridge & Conrady Jr. High) received the Academic Excellence Award, the highest honor given by the Illinois State Board of Education. This is the second consecutive year that all three schools have earned this award.
• Recognized by the National School board for the implementation of a “Best Practice” program to be included in the Magna Best Practices Database. This program was one of only 83 programs selected nationally from the 334 nominations received this year.
• District 117 received the highest level of Financial Recognition by the Illinois State Board of Education.
• Balanced or surplus budgets my entire term on the board with projections for balanced or surplus budgets for the next 5 years.
• District 117 spends $1000 less per student than state average and $2500 less per student than the Cook County average, yet ranks at or near the top of both the county and state in student achievement.