Dear Parents and Guardians,

It has been absolutely wonderful to see more students return to school this week through our gradual reentry process! Our in-person learners grades K-2 and our self-contained special education classrooms have done a wonderful job adapting to a new way of experiencing school through the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to welcoming back our students in grades 3 and 4 on Monday, October 3.

We are keeping a close eye on COVID-19 community metrics and also its impact within our own buildings. At this time, there have not been any outbreaks of COVID within our schools, meaning multiple cases connected by time and place as defined by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). Our staff absentee numbers, however, are rising, but at a manageable level for the time being.

Additionally, the community metrics (looking collectively at all District 15 zip codes combined) are all below state warning levels. Should there be a situation that prompts us to make changes to our in-person learning plans, we will inform those impacted directly. As a reminder, these decisions could be made at the classroom, school or district level. Please have back-up plans ready should we need to close classrooms, a school(s) or District 15.

We are now into October, which means Halloween will be here before we know it! In a normal year, this would mean we’d be working with our PTAs to plan classroom parties and activities to mark the occasion. Due to the abundance of restrictions that are in place throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be able to host classroom parties this year. While I am sure this does not come as a surprise, I know it is still disappointing to hear. It is certainly something we all look forward to and are disappointed these activities will not be able to take place in 2020. School principals will be communicating with families in more detail about holiday celebrations and what will take place in each school. They are working to determine some fun ways to safely celebrate.