Unit 5 News and Special Events
March 16,2010
Unit 5 names new principal at
Prairieland Elementary School
NORMAL, IL …March 16, 2010…McLean County Unit District
No. 5 has named Carmen Bergmann as the principal of
Prairieland Elementary School for the 2010-2011 school
year. The position will be effective
July 1. Mrs. Bergmann replaces Tim Arnold, who is
leaving the district at the end of the school year.
“From the time Prairieland opened, I have heard great
things about the faculty, students and families. I am
excited to continue the wonderful traditions at
Prairieland,” Mrs. Bergmann said. “I look forward to
building new relationships with the Prairieland staff,
students and parents as we work together to provide an
excellent learning environment.”
Mrs. Bergmann has been a teacher and administrator in
Unit 5 for 16 years, and is currently principal at Glenn
Elementary School. She has served in that position since
2007. Prior to that, Mrs. Bergmann was principal at
Carlock Elementary School. She also taught at Northpoint
and Pepper Ridge elementary schools. Mrs. Bergmann
completed her student teaching at Parkside Elementary.
She has served on numerous Unit 5 committees and helped
launch Unit 5’s Illini Data project.
The Board of Education will officially approve
Bergmann’s appointment at its April 14 regular meeting.
“Mrs. Bergmann is a wonderful administrator,”
Superintendent Gary Niehaus said. “She has the
experience necessary to continue the tradition of
excellence at Prairieland.”
A graduate of Illinois State University, Mrs. Bergmann
earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary
Education and a Master of Science degree in Educational
Administration. Mrs. Bergmann currently is attending
classes to earn her superintendent certificate.
Mrs. Bergmann is married to John Bergmann, who is a
teacher at Normal Community High School. They are both
Unit 5 graduates. The Bergmann’s have three children in
Unit 5. In her free time Mrs. Bergmann enjoys supporting
her children’s sporting events, running and watching
Cubs baseball.
“This is a bittersweet time for me because I love Glenn,
yet I am ready for the challenge of a larger building,”
Mrs. Bergmann said.
February 2, 2010
Unit 5 Named ENERGY STAR Leader
McLean County Unit District No. 5 is proud to be the
first school district in Illinois to join the EPA's list
of ENERGY STAR Leaders, an elite group of organizations
that have improved energy efficiency across all of the
buildings in a portfolio.
ENERGY STAR Leader status is awarded to an organization
that has achieved an overall savings of 20 percent or
more. To date, Unit 5’s savings top 30 percent, or more
than $4.5 million.
“Many district individuals have consciously changed
habits to daily reduce district energy demand,” said
Bruce Boswell, Unit 5 Energy Educator-Manager. “With an
overall savings in the district’s 27 sites at over 30%,
we hope to continue finding ways to save more energy
need and expenses.”
ENERGY STAR Leaders manage energy strategically across
an entire portfolio of buildings using EPA's
standardized measurement tool for tracking building
energy use. These select organizations are recognized by
EPA for improving the energy performance of their
portfolio by 10 percent or more.
“From the beginning of the energy savings effort in Unit
5, during the summer of 2005, the emphasis has been on
creating a team effort with employees, students, and
Board members involved in energy savings,” Boswell said.
“Thus, many people have worked to reduce our energy
demand and expenses to both reduce environmental impact
and money needed to meet energy need.”
Unit 5 educates approximately 13,000 students in 20
schools with seven other support sites and more than
1,731,000 square-feet.
Everyone in the district is encouraged to participate in
increasing energy efficiency. The district has made a
major commitment to increase energy efficiency through
retrofitting and new construction. Some of the major
retrofitting projects include installing geothermal
capture systems in eight of the schools, installing more
energy efficient windows, new insulated exterior walls
and replacement of T-12 lighting with T-8 in many rooms.
As our growing district continues construction on three
new schools, each will have geothermal heating and air
conditioning and have many other energy efficient
features.
Last year, Unit 5 had 14 sites obtain Energy Star
recognition - Brigham, Eagle Road, Eugene Field,
Fairview, Fox Creek, Glenn, Grove, Hoose, Hudson,
Oakdale, Parkside Elementary, Prairieland, Towanda, and
the Warehouse, which was the first warehouse in Illinois
to be recognized with Energy Star recognition.
ENERGY STAR was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a
voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions through energy efficiency. Today, the
ENERGY STAR label can be found on more than 60 different
kinds of products, new homes and commercial and
industrial buildings.
September 14, 2009
Dr. Niehaus's letter to parents regarding the H1N1 virus
Letter to Parents (PDF)
August 21, 2009
Unit 5 is now on Twitter
What is Twitter? Twitter is a one-way
communication tool using short messages that allows
information to be shared between people. You can access
Twitter from a computer or a range of mobile devices
including mobile phones, pdas and ipods(a great way to
keep up with school information).
To follow Unit 5 news on Twitter, you can find us at
www.twitter.com/McLeanCountyU5. If you are not using
Twitter yet, sign up, and follow us. We will be posting
"Tweets" regularly to keep our parents and community
even better informed.
|