Superintendent's Corner
Avoca District 37 - January 16, 2022
In This Important Issue
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Talking About Race Resources
- COVID Management & Communications
- COVID Testing - Improvements - And Clinics on January 19, 22, 26 & 29
- 2022-2023 Calendar - A Survey About March 2023
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Talking About Race Resources
Our national holiday today honoring Dr. King is as important as any national holiday can be, recognizing the importance of the 20th Century American to have most impact on the daily lives of more Americans than any other individual.
This is largely because the depth of Dr. King's reach is so profound. What he did to fight for Civil Rights, for Economic Justice, for Peace, and how he taught us to do so ourselves. Dr. King's words and deeds were multifaceted and offer us many lifetimes of lessons.
One area was his unflinching courage in talking about the racial history of this country and the impact of racism on the lives of every American. While Dr. King was also about action, very much so, this year, it might be hard to find the opportunity to take in-person action in a safe manner.
So I am going to encourage you to review the linked resource below from the National Smithsonian Museum of African American History titled "Talking About Race." These pages offer perspectives for educators and parents/guardians on a variety of topics. All of us can improve our ability to talk openly and constructively about race, racial history, and racial challenges in our community and country. This resource is a good place to start.
Another great local resource is the H.E.R.O.S. (Healing Everyday Racism in Our Schools) website, including monthly events for those invested in learning and growing and acting.
COVID Management & Communications
We will need to remain vigilant in the coming weeks, and we hope that in a few weeks, we will be able to lift some restrictions we have had in place, like that for interscholastic events and large group gatherings.
Previously, upon each case of a COVID positive student or staff member, we sent out an individual notice. Now, we send out one notice per school with the accurate messaging about close contacts and safe steps, but we link to a "Weekly COVID Dashboard" where you can see the number of COVID positive cases by grade per day and week. You may click here to see that dashboard for last week.
You may also click here to see the COVID Dashboard from Northwestern University that supports our COVID monitoring by local zipcodes.
Please remember that the most effective steps we can take to keep our schools safely open are to:
- Stay home when sick/symptomatic
- Communicate with the school nurse about any contacts, symptoms, or absences
- Wear an effective mask, preferably KN95 or better when in public
- Get a COVID vaccination/booster
If you have not yet entered uploaded your student's vaccination info to our secure site (click here), please do so, because vaccination/booster status affects how much school is missed when a close contact occurs.
COVID Testing: January 19, 22, 26 & 29
I am aware of some failures from our last round of COVID testing. I have been in communications with North Shore Clinical Labs and they have identified areas where errors can be corrected.
We did use North Shore Clinical Labs in the Spring of 2021 and experienced no problems, so we are going to operate two more dates with them and work to be sure that their operations are successful. Those dates will be January 22 and January 29 at Marie Murphy. (links coming later this week)
In the meantime, Vista Health will also be operating walk-in testing clinics at Misner Auditorium at Central School in Glencoe on January 17 and January 26. Click on the picture to the left to see the dates times and relevant information.
2022-2023 Calendar: A Survey About March 2023
The school calendar for next year, 2022-2023, will soon be adopted by the Board of Education. Before doing so, the Board is seeking feedback regarding how to best configure the March 2023 school dates around Spring Break, including Parent-Teacher Conferences. This survey will go to staff and Marie Murphy students too.
Contact Us
Email: osburnk@avoca37.org
Website: www.avoca37.org
Location: 2921 Illinois Road, Wilmette, IL, USA
Phone: 847-728-4128
Twitter: @AvocaOsburn