Superintendent shares good news and updates re: court case, safety protocols, winter dances and GPS
Dear Glenbard Families,
I trust each of you had a wonderful holiday break with your families and have again adjusted to the regular hectic pace of the Glenbard D87 academic calendar and schedule. I can’t thank each of you enough for your support and cooperation as we are navigating through another difficult year contending with COVID-19. Your partnership and the diligent work and efforts of all of our students has been amazing.
I would like to highlight a few important information points:
Academics
We have been able to provide most of our educational regular experiences, including projects, labs, field trips and visual and performing arts performances. I am impressed with the hard work of our students, as well as the dedication of our staff in meeting each student’s academic and social emotional needs.
We have been able to provide online access to learning materials, along with designed supports, for those few students who have had to quarantine. Students have had access to tutoring, both during and after the school day.
We are celebrating our 95% passing rate (average among all students’ grades)!
Clubs, Activities, Athletics
Because of our excellent coaches’ and sponsors’ efforts and our students’ cooperation in adhering to safety protocols, we have been able to provide nearly all of our regular after-school, evening and weekend activities, practices and competitions. Sixty-seven percent of our students have been involved in some after-school activity. We also thank all parents, guardians and other guests as we have been able to have fans at most events. Thank you for ensuring that masks are worn regularly at these activities.
Status of Winter Dances
While we have been able to host regular after-school events, we will not be having our regular school-sponsored dances this winter. This is simply due to the alarming COVID-19 numbers and the difficulty of maintaining physical distance at dances. Note this pause on school dance events is consistent with most peer high schools within our three athletic conferences. Principals will continue to keep all students and parents apprised of other regularly planned school events as we progress through the calendar year.
Pending Downstate Court Ruling
We are anticipating a court ruling within the next week that may result in a temporary restraining order relating to Gov. Pritzker’s executive orders that require masks for all students, teachers, staff and visitors, as well as requiring mandatory vaccinations or COVID-19 testing for school employees. Approximately 140 of Illinois’ 840 school districts are named in the lawsuits. We anticipate that the ruling will not affect D87 as we were not named in the lawsuits. We will continue to keep you apprised of this situation. Know that the original executive order requiring masks in school and mandatory vaccination or testing for school employees is still in effect for Glenbard schools.
Effective Safety Protocols
We continue to follow the outlined systems and processes in place that allow us to continue to provide in-person learning. Face masks, handwashing, physical distancing, cleaning protocols and voluntary SHIELD testing. The state and national agencies providing this guidance include:
We frequently remind students and staff to stay home and to get tested if they are symptomatic.
Free, voluntary SHIELD testing is available at all of our buildings each week, and we encourage everyone to consider testing in order to keep schools safe. SHIELD’s diagnostic (PCR) test is a saliva-based test to identify positive COVID-19 cases and keep students safe. Notification of test results typically occurs in less than 24 hours. If you are interested in your student testing and have not yet consented, please login to PowerSchool today and consent to ensure your student can participate in SHIELD testing.
Each week that school is in session, we update our COVID-19 Dashboard with the most recent data regarding the number of positive cases of COVID-19, individuals quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data and SHIELD testing data.
It is our goal to keep students, faculty and staff safe in schools so in-person learning can continue.
Free Glenbard Parent Series Webinars
We are very fortunate to have the nationally recognized Glenbard Parent Series (GPS). The free GPS programs focus on topics for all families, and they are convenient – each program is presented as a webinar you can watch from anywhere. Programs include webinars hosted by the Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee/Glenbard Parent Series-Spanish and Families United in Support of Excellence and Equity of all Students, Especially Those That Identify as African American or Black (FUSE). I encourage you to check out these upcoming webinars:
The link to each webinar and the full schedule of upcoming webinars is available at glenbardgps.org.
Working together, we help our students do well in class, pursue areas of interest and prepare for the path they choose after high school. Thank you for your support of our students and staff as we work toward these shared goals.
David F. Larson, Ed.D.
Superintendent
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