District 109 Community Update
April 23rd, 2021
A Warm Welcome!
SOMETHING GOOD: Rolling With The Changes
Speaking Of Monday's Board of Education Meeting...
COVID News Update
STARTING THE CONVERSATION... WHAT DOES SCHOOL NEXT YEAR LOOK LIKE?:
This is the BIG question that we know many of you are starting to ask. It's a topic that is being thoroughly discussed internally, and with agencies like the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Department of Public Health, and Lake County Department of Health to see if they plan on adjusting any guidance in the coming weeks or months. We will begin updating you every week on the status of this key question in this newsletter. Right now, the honest answer is it's too early to say.
WEEKLY DASHBOARD UPDATES
A reminder that we update our COVID dashboard statistics, both SHIELD testing and the external numbers from LCHD and IDPH once a week on Fridays. The positive case numbers connected to each school and the on-site PCR testing numbers are updated more frequently. You will be able to see the timestamp on the testing table as to when it was updated last.
HOW WILL WE GET COVID UPDATES OVER THE SUMMER?
The goal of the weekly updates this year has been to make sure you're in the loop and not surprised by anything. But... we reach a point where weekly updates won't be necessary. Once school gets out, we will be taking a hiatus from this weekly written & video update, and will communicate in a widespread fashion with you the day after board meetings summarizing our meetings, and when any significant initiatives are in the works. We plan to make our dashboard dormant over the summer, since we will have no internal data to collect, and encourage you to visit the county & state health department for the latest COVID numbers. It has been a LONG 15 months. We should all enjoy as much of our summer as possible. Expect a more steady stream of communication starting the first week of August. Again, it's our administration's pledge to keep you up to date and ahead of big conversations, but to give you space to enjoy the break from school.
-5-day SHIELD positivity rate is 0.02%. (April 15, 16, 19-21)
-Overall SHIELD positivity rate is 0.07% (out of all valid samples collected since Feb 17)
-New cases per 100K (as of 4/21) is 63.84 for zip code 60015 (orange range)
-New cases per 100K (as of 4/21) for Lake County is 93.94 (orange range)
-Positivity rate (as of 4/10) for Lake County is 3.7% (blue range)
Earth Day/Week Celebrations!
South Park
Shepard
Kipling
Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet This Weekend!
A reminder from our friends at Community: The Anti-Drug: You can bring unused medications to the Walgreens in Bannockburn (2501 Waukegan Road) this Saturday 4/24, 9 am - noon for proper disposal. It's part of the National #DrugTakeBackDay. Another reminder: the Deerfield and Highland Park Police Departments have drop boxes where you can do this all year long as well!
Name That K-9!
DPS 109 STUDENTS - Help name the new Lake County Sheriff's Office canine! Submit your idea for a name beginning with the letter 'D' by April 28. Students who selected the winning name can participate in the new canine’s swearing-in ceremony. Click below for the form!