Superintendent News
Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95
A Message from Dr. Kelley Gallt
February 26, 2021
Dear District 95 Families,
Nothing excites me more than the thought of bringing more District 95 students back to full in-person learning for those who choose it! Please be sure to read the article below, “Current Progress Toward Returning Hybrid Students to Full In-Person Learning”, to learn more about guidance from health authorities and our planned next steps.
I am pleased to report that as of this week, according to the Lake County Health Department, every staff member who registered with the Lake County Allvax system to be vaccinated should have received an invitation to schedule an appointment for their first dose. In addition, 50% of our staff have self-reported that they have already received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. As we continue to have more staff members vaccinated, we add yet another important mitigation strategy important to a potential full in-person learning plan for students.
As we enter March and families may begin to entertain travel plans or other activities for spring break, please remember that with or without a vaccination, our best hope for more in-person learning requires that everyone continue to embrace the mitigation strategies outlined by health authorities, especially wearing a mask, social distancing, and washing hands. Additionally, the Lake County Health Department is also recommending that when traveling, individuals who cannot adhere to following the CDC’s mitigation strategies should consider self-quarantining upon their return.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kelley Gallt
Current Progress Toward Returning Students to Full In-Person Learning
Throughout this school year, District 95 has been continually working to provide in-person learning opportunities for our students to the degree that health and safety measures permit. Recently, we have identified additional students return to full time, five day per week, in person learning:
- Struggling students have been identified by the schools to return to in-person learning five days per week (Full time, K-12)
- Hybrid Seniors and Freshman have been given the opportunity to return to in-person learning five days/week
- Struggling students who are identified by families may be eligible to return to in-person learning five days a week (Full time, K-12) should they meet criteria specified through our Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
These opportunities are being offered while still maintaining the Lake County Health Department guidance of mask wearing, six feet of social distancing, and limited numbers of people per space.
As we look at the possibility of bringing more students back later this spring, we are using the newly published CDC Phased Mitigation guidance to assess our options. Based on the space available in our classrooms, we already know that in order to bring our current Hybrid students back full time, 5 days per week, we must remove the 6 feet of physical space expectations between students, ultimately maximizing our physical space. The CDC mitigation tiers do allow for K-12 schools to open for full in-person instruction with physical distancing of 6 feet to the greatest extent possible provided that we are experiencing a low or moderate level of transmission. Additionally, the World Health Organization continues to recommend “3-6 feet” of social distancing. For more information about these latest CDC guidelines, please click here to visit their website.
In the near future, we will be sending Hybrid parents a survey to understand whether they would want their students to participate in person, five days a week, with the minimum expectations of 6 feet of social distancing removed. This information will be used alongside data and information collected from other stakeholder surveys to inform our decision making for this spring.
As we continue to look at opportunities to allow more students to return to in person learning this year, please know that we are also planning for full in-person learning for the Fall of 2021-22.
Social Emotional Wellness - Family Seminar Series & More
Family Seminar Series
In response to family feedback, the Curriculum & Instruction and Student Services Departments have prepared a series of seminars to provide additional resources for supporting students at home. Virtual webinars will be offered on Thursday, March 11th, 2021. More information can be found HERE.
All virtual webinars will be recorded, so that families may access them if they are unable to join the live meeting. (Recordings will be linked within the document above after the sessions.) Asynchronous (self-paced) session content will additionally be linked into the document above as we approach March 11th.
Social-emotional Learning Frequently Asked Questions
Recently, we have fielded additional questions from families regarding different elements of social-emotional learning. Linked HERE is a document that provides answers to commonly-asked questions.
Social Emotional Support Reminders
There have been several additional opportunities for accessing student social emotional support developed across the course of the school year. Linked HERE families can find information on requesting additional support for their student, making an in-person counseling appointment, and other opportunities. As always, families are also encouraged to reach out to building-based teams with student-specific concerns.
D95 STEAM Possible! Event - Sign up by March 5th!
Register now for the 2021 Virtual D95 STEAM Possible! Event
Date & Time: April 10th, 8:30 am – noon
Cost: It’s free!!
The virtual STEAM Possible event features two avenues for participation for K-8 students.
- Students may serve as “STEAM Ambassadors” as they participate in an at-home self-directed Science investigation (formerly known as the Science Fair). STEAM Ambassadors will present their at-home investigation virtually on April 10th.
- Students may also become “STEAM Agents” and join us for guided STEAM Exploration activities via Zoom (formerly known as the STEAM Summit).
- Students may participate in one or both of these activities.
Visit the D95 website to watch our videos and sign up between February 17th - March 5th. Each family will receive special missions to get excited about the virtual D95 STEAM Possible! Event. Visit us at https://www.lz95.org/district/steam-possible
Save the Date! District 95 Board of Education Candidate Forum
Candidate Forum
Tuesday, March 16th
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Lake Zurich High School Performing Arts Center (PAC) -or- virtually through LIvestream on the District 95 website (www.lz95.org)
More information will be available soon on the district website.
Gratitude Message Boards
Last fall we introduced Gratitude Message Boards on our websites, allowing families to express their public messages of appreciation for staff members across the district. Originally, we only intended to post these Gratitude Boards through winter break, but to our delight people have continued to submit messages of appreciation! We will continue to display and update these gratitude boards for the remainder of the school year. Click here to submit your public message of appreciation or thanks for a D95 staff member!!
Meal Service - Spring Break
For those receiving meals (either picking up from the high school or having them delivered) please be aware there will be no meal delivery or pickup during Spring break (March 22nd-26th). For more information, please click here to visit our website and select “Meal Assistance”.
High School Traditions
The high school administration has been hard at work planning events and activities for students, especially those special traditions for our seniors. While COVID mitigation strategies like social distancing may change how these events occur, there will be celebrations for our students! These events and many others have been, and will continue to be, communicated by the high school administration. These are just a few key dates of interest:
5/15- Senior Car Parade at 12 PM (rain date on 5/16)
5/22 and 5/23- Graduation: We are securing two dates depending on capacity requirements and other State guidelines. Initially the plan will be to use the stadium, but more specific information will be provided as the date approaches.
PROM: The high school administration is collaborating with the Senior Parent Advisory Team to creatively plan an outdoor prom on school grounds. This will look different than traditional proms of the past, but the opportunity to dress up, spend time with friends, and access a photo booth will be part of the venue. The event will be catered and will include multiple stations of entertainment following all capacity guidelines from our local health department and Illinois State Board of Education. Two tentative dates have been set aside, the final date will be communicated once it is secured.
- Friday, 5/21- Evening prom -or-
- Friday, 6/5- Evening prom
Revised Quarantine Guidelines from the Lake County Health Department
The Lake County Health Department has released modified guidelines for some “Close Contacts” to COVID-positive individuals.*
These revised guidelines are ONLY applicable to those Close Contacts NOT LIVING WITH the COVID-positive person:
- If testing (within 5-7 days after exposure to the positive individual) reveals a negative test, then the close contact may leave quarantine after 10 days rather than the normal 14 days, - AND -
- If the close contact experiences any COVID symptoms during any of those 10 days, the quarantine period RESTARTS from the point of the symptoms.
*A Close Contact is defined by the Lake County Health Department as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period* starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to test specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.