October was Principal Appreciation Month and the Chicago Ridge School District honored its principals and assistant principals.

"I just wanted to publicly thank our principals and assistant principals," Adam Thorns, Chicago Ridge School District superintendent, said at the Oct. 11 Board of Education meeting. "This is Principal Appreciation Month in October and we have some things planned for later in the month for them that they're not aware of yet. But just wanted to thank them. And I know in just talking with the board, I know how much you appreciate the work and the extra hours that they put in. It's a great team to work with. So thank you very much."

During the meeting, Thorns also gave a brief update on the district, discussing how enrollment was actually up by 47 students, totaling 1,449. In districts around them with similar populations, there was a decrease of 100 or so students, so he wants to pay attention to class sizes if the current growth continues.

Thorns also talked about several staffing needs throughout the district. Several positions remain to be filled, including a health teacher and reading specialist at the junior high, various special education positions at both elementary schools and some paraprofessionals. He also acknowledged some resignation notices that were posted recently and would hopefully bring in some more candidates soon.

The curriculum director gave a quick update on how the district will handle testing data. In order to support students and provide them with the instructional tactics that they respond to best, they want their decisions to be based on data. Three times a year, they plan to test NWEA math and reading growth benchmarks. K-8 students will test in the fall, winter and spring.