Good afternoon!! This week I stopped by and watched the JV soccer game against Warren, the tennis match against Libertyville, and the Zion-Benton football game. I am so impressed with our students who participate in extracurriculars and represent Lake Zurich High School. They work so hard for the teams and clubs, while also maintaining their academics. There are many opportunities to participate in extracurriculars at Lake Zurich High School. Information can be found on our website, announcements, and around the school. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out!

New Topics

-Upcoming Important Dates

-Lake Zurich High School PTO Executive Board

-Picture Day Retakes

-Paying for College Informational Night

-Semifinalists for National Merit Scholarship

-Student Celebrations for Non-LZHS Events

Previous Topics

-Morning Drop-Off Communication

-SchooLinks Information

-Spiritwear Volunteer Opportunities

-Spiritwear Sales

-Attendance Information

-September 22-Picture Retakes

-October 7-Homecoming Dance

Our Lake Zurich High School Spiritwear Booster Club is moving to become the Lake Zurich High School PTO. Spiritwear will be a sub-committee of the larger Lake Zurich High School PTO. We need Lake Zurich High School parents to serve as President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. There will be one meeting a month, at night, when the executive board will hold a PTO meeting; all Lake Zurich High School parents will be invited to attend these meetings.

If you are interested in serving in one of these roles, please complete the brief application form by clicking here. The application form asks for your name, what role you would be interested in, and why you would like to be considered for this position. If there are multiple applicants for a position, then assistant principals, division heads, and I will choose the applicant to be seated on the Executive Board. If you have any questions, please contact me about the roles or expectations. I am looking forward to partnering with you!!

View your School Portraits, and select your yearbook/class picture before Retake Day! 931 of Lake Zurich High School families have not yet looked at their pictures online. Please read the information below concerning your school portraits.

• The final deadline is two weeks after retake day; if you do not pick an image VIP will choose a yearbook/class picture image for you
• To view your student’s school portraits look for an email sent to you by “Visual Image Photography”, or go to vipis.com (student ID number may be required)
• Retake pictures will be taken on 9/22/23.
• Retake photos will be added to your online image gallery about a week after photo day
• If you have any questions, please email support@vipis.com

This is a reminder that our "Paying for College" presentation is scheduled for Monday, September 18, at 7 PM in our Performing Arts Center. Our guest speaker for the evening is Mr. Jerry Cebrzynski, the Associate Vice-President for Financial Aid at Lake Forest College. With over three decades of experience in financial aid, Mr. Cebrzynski is highly knowledgeable and an engaging presenter.

This presentation will serve as an excellent opportunity for you to learn about various avenues for financing a college education, including financial aid, scholarships, loans, and government grants. If you are considering higher education for your student, it's never too early to become informed on these crucial topics.

For those who can't attend in person, the event will be live-streamed and can be viewed later using the following link: https://livestream.com/accounts/23583809/events/10958853

Additionally, I'd like to direct your attention to other valuable resources available on our Canvas platform in the "High School Roadmap" section. One critical step in securing federal financial aid is completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In Canvas, you'll find a variety of resources related to financial aid, including links, documents, and informational videos from the Department of Federal Student Aid.

It's worth noting that aid is available in various forms—grants, loans, work-study programs, and scholarships. Often, the most favorable financial aid packages come directly from the college your student plans to attend. Apart from federal aid, states and colleges also use FAFSA to determine a family's eligibility for additional financial assistance. Seniors may begin applying for FAFSA starting no earlier than December 1st. Thank you for your attention, and we look forward to your participation in this valuable event.

We congratulate the three students below on becoming semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship. We wish you the best of luck as you work to become a finalist! Great work!

-Lia Carroll

-Kyle Chua

-Matthew Chung

Throughout the year, our students engage in multiple experiences outside Lake Zurich High School. We would like to highlight those experiences. If a student has an experience outside of Lake Zurich High School and you would like us to highlight it in a future newsletter, please click here and fill out this Google Form. Below you will find the recognition for this newsletter.

-Nathan Gorska, has earned the Boy Scouts of America’s highest advancement award, the Eagle Scout Award, in addition to his bronze and silver palm awards. Approximately 6% of scouts earn this award. Nathan is a member Troop 309 out of St. Francis de Sales Church in Lake Zurich. He completed the multi-year journey to Eagle meeting all requirements and successfully designing and organizing a community service project of refurbishing a playset and building seating for a local church in Lake Zurich.

Lake Zurich High School is asking for your support during the morning drop-off. Some drivers are creating safety issues for our students as they drive through the upper lot. Please note the two issues we need to address.

-When dropping off students in the morning, please make sure you are using the student drop-off lane only. The drive-thru lane and driveway from the lower lot up to the tennis courts are not available to drop off students.

-Also, please make sure that you are not parking in numbered spots during drop-off because these spots are assigned to specific students, and they wouldn't have any other place to park. If you must park during drop-off time, please use a visitor spot and only stay as long as it takes to complete your business at the school and then vacate the spot so other visitors may use it.

Thank you for your cooperation and support!

Welcome to SchooLinks, our new College and Career Readiness platform. We wanted to send out some information that will help you navigate SchooLinks alongside your student.

• To login please click “Forgot my password” and enter the email address that you use for your ParentVue login. From there you will be able to access your guardian account
• You and your student(s) will be automatically connected within the platform alongside your student's counselor and other faculty members who will take part in your student's journey toward College and Career Readiness
• We are always looking for additional industry partners to help bring work based learning experiences to all students. To learn more about how you can help, please email our Director of College and Career Readiness, Ali Finn
• SchooLinks provides extensive support for navigating all it has to offer. You can locate the help center here
• For any additional questions, please reach out to Ali Finn
  
  

Thank you for your continued support throughout your student's journey to life after District 95!

Dr. John Walsh and Ms. Ali Finn

As we prepare to start the school year, it is important that students and families establish regular routines to maximize student attendance to school. Students are expected to be at school daily, and with enough time to navigate to their first period class on time.

Please note that for students who struggle to maintain regular attendance, parents/families will receive additional communication, conference requests, and other interventions to support regular school attendance - in accordance with state law. At the high school level, this may involve one or more of the following:

• having students attend Office Hours to make up work missed due to tardy behaviors or unexcused absences,
• assignment to after school interventions (i.e., staying for a period of time after Office Hours), and
• not being able to make up formative work missed for credit due to attendance concerns.

Parents/guardians and students can find more information regarding attendance in the Parent-Student Handbook.