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Superintendent Notes

The school district has been hard at work this fall, continuing its focus on the District Improvement Plan with specific efforts centered on daily instruction for students. A key component of this work includes the launch of our new Tier One Think Tank Committee, an internal professional development team dedicated to enhancing instruction for all learners. This group will deliver its first focused training on student engagement in November. 

Our administrative team, instructional coaches, and intervention staff have also been analyzing fall assessment data alongside state assessment results to identify both areas of growth and celebration. Please note that the state accountability reports are expected to be released in late October. Additionally, we are piloting two promising K–5 reading curriculum tools and plan to select one for district-wide implementation next school year. 

We have begun district-wide implementation of new safety protocols for intruder preparedness called ALICE. Staff had one training session, and they will receive another training in the next few weeks, with student training to follow in November. More information on ALICE can be found below. 

We also continue to expand the use of Infinite Campus for student management and ParentSquare for communication; please ensure both apps are installed on your mobile device. This will be our main source of communication and allow for dialogue in an easy-to-use app chat feature.

Finally, our District Leadership Team has started facility planning work focused on creating secure entrances, modernizing facilities, and achieving long-term goals such as moving fifth grade to the elementary schools, removing the mobile units at the high school, and developing a district performance arts center.

We are Sandwich!

Ryan Janisch

Superintendent, Sandwich 430

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ALICE Training

All staff have been trained on our new intruder procedures. In the past, our response to an intruder emergency was limited to a lockdown-in-place approach. We now know there are better options to enhance the safety of students and staff. Last year, our Safety Committee began the work of implementing the ALICE program. Over the summer, staff members and our School Resource Officer received ALICE training, and those trainers then provided districtwide staff training in October. We are now beginning the process of training students.

ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. The program empowers staff to make the best decision for their situation—whether to lockdown in place or evacuate—based on the circumstances. Students in grades PreK–4 will use the book I’m Not Scared, I’m Prepared, while students in grades 5–12 will watch a district-created training video. Our goal is to inform and prepare students for emergencies in the same way we practice fire and severe weather drills. We will not conduct surprise intruder drills or live simulations. All intruder drills will be announced to parents at least two days in advance, and students will be notified as well.

Student safety remains our top priority, and this transition to the ALICE protocol represents an important step in strengthening our district’s overall safety procedures. Below you will find links to the ALICE website and a book preview video of the book that we will be using with students in grades PreK–4.

• Book Overview- I’m Not Scared, I’m Prepared

• ALICE Website

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Excellence in Education Awards

The DeKalb County Community Foundation, in partnership with the DeKalb County Regional Office of Education, invites residents to nominate outstanding education professionals for the 2026 Excellence in Education Awards. Nominations are due by October 31, 2025. Selected recipients will each receive a $1,000 award, a plaque, and public recognition at a ceremony in spring 2026. To submit a nomination or learn more, visit dekalbccf.org/eie.

Now in its 27th year, the Excellence in Education Awards recognize teachers, administrators, and support staff who make a meaningful impact in DeKalb County schools. Every public school district and private school in the county is encouraged to nominate individuals in the following categories:

• Pre-K - 5th Grade Teacher

• 6th - 8th Grade Teacher

• 9th - 12th Grade Teacher

• Administration

• Support Staff (including secretaries, aides, custodians, food service workers, bus drivers, and maintenance personnel)

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As we continue to roll out our new tools for parents, we’ve received a few questions about the difference between Infinite Campus and ParentSquare. 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 

• Schedules

• Bus Information

• Fees

• Grades

• Attendance

• Food Services

Parent Square

• Communications

• Sign-ups

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New District Website (Coming Soon!)

We’re excited to share that the district will be launching a brand-new website later this year! Our goal is to create a site that’s easier to navigate and keeps families better connected to what’s happening across the district. We’ll be working with staff, families, and community members to gather feedback on the draft version before it goes live. The new site will run on the same platform as ParentSquare, making communication and notifications smoother and more seamless for everyone.

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Student Fees and Waiver Process

We want to remind all families that student fees are due by Monday, December 1. Please go into your Infinite Campus parent portal to pay all student fees. This is located on the dropdown option labeled “Fees”.

The carryover period for students who were receiving free/reduced lunch for the 2024-2025 school year ended on September 25, 2025. If a new 2025-2026 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.

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District Leadership Team

A few years ago we created a District Leadership Team to help create a district improvement plan. This guide would provide us with a roadmap for future district improvement. Three years later, the District Leadership Team has recently finalized the district’s next three-year improvement plan. Please take a moment to review the goal areas and district plan listed below:

• 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. 

• District Improvement Plan

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School Calendar 

Below you will find our school calendar for the 25-26 school year. Please note that this year we have two floating emergency days. On those two floating emergency days, we will not be in school unless we have had to cancel school due to weather before the date listed on the calendar. Please pay special attention to these days listed in green. 

• School Calendar 25-26

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Attendance Policy

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

• 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. 

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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

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