Back to School Information

2. First Day LFHS

3. Communication and School Business

• Attendance and Handbook Link
• Concerns or Questions
• FAQ
• Friday Fanouts
• Mark Your Calendars
• Master Assessment Calendar
• New Website
• Opt Outs
• Parent Coffees
• Safety and Security
• Student Calendar and Information Card
• Student Supports
• 2021-2022 Yearbook and Young Idea Art & Literary Magazine Distribution

Dear Lake Forest Community High School,

Welcome to a new school year, but don’t worry, we still have a couple weeks of summer left! I wanted to be the first person to reach out and welcome you to the first day at LFHS (for the 2023 school year).

Our staff and teachers are working hard to make sure that this is a year to remember! Lake Forest High School is a special place full of special people, and we are looking forward to coming back together again.

I have just found out that we have run into a slight hiccup with Powerschool email addresses and our rising 9th grade information–that should have gone out last week. This should be remedied by Thursday or Friday, so parents, please be on the lookout for information later this week.

I have a lot of information to share with you–sit back and get comfortable– you may even want to bookmark this for future reference as well!

Textbook Pickup

Students will attend book pick-up in the Library at the East Campus of LFHS at the times listed below:

A - L

Thursday, August 11th

8:30 AM - 11:30 AM

12:00 PM - 3:00 PM

• All students will pick up their schedule, textbooks, and student ID.

• Freshmen will receive a Chromebook. Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors will not receive Chromebooks unless they are new to the district.

• Locker information will be included on your textbook pick up schedule and access to lockers will be permitted.

First Day LFHS

The first day of school is Wednesday, August 17th, and we will have a normal Scout Day schedule. For our bus riders, you will receive your pickup/drop off schedule soon, and for those dropping off a Scout(s), please remember that the line can get long at around 8:05.

We will have plenty of staff out to help students navigate our hallways and find their way to class! The most important thing is for our students to enjoy coming to school!

Communication and School Business

Attendance. School attendance matters, and we have noticed a decline in attendance and an increase in unexcused absences. We have also heard from parents and guardians who feel equally as frustrated. As a reminder, our attendance rules are listed in our handbook and they begin on page 18.

Important to remember, a student who misses a class 9 times/semester will be considered “Under Review.” While we understand that there are reasons for students to not attend class, it is vital that we all understand and support the importance of regular school attendance.

Our attendance line is (847) 582-7500 or email at absences115@lfschools.net.

Concerns or questions. As we begin a new school year, I wanted to take a moment to remind our community of the wonderful faculty, staff, and administrators who serve our students each day. With that in mind, it is important that as concerns or questions arise, we have a shared understanding of how we can best partner to support our students.

• Students should first speak with the teacher. The hard skill of advocacy is an important one for them to learn, and we are here to support and help them as they learn to personally navigate their concerns.

• If there are still concerns or questions, parents or guardians might then consider reaching out to the teacher or faculty member.

• If this still doesn’t resolve an issue or concern, each staff or faculty member partners directly with an administrator. Here is the flowchart of administrators and their responsibilities.

• If concerns continue, the flowchart will help guide how they might best be escalated to support our students.

We understand that students have different levels of comfort as do parents, and we also understand that it is only through open and honest communication and dialogue that we can clearly understand, listen to, and resolve questions, concerns, or issues. If there is a serious matter, please remember that we always have our confidential reporting tool available as well.

FAQ. Last year, LFHS created this FAQ last year to help answer questions that were popping up in the community. Bottom line is that we are all here to support our Scouts, but we know that the more information you have, the more you can help prepare your student!

Friday Fanouts. This is our weekly communication. We organize information and celebrations in two headings, Need to Know and Nice to Know. Please be on the lookout for our first Fanout on August 19th! If you have a celebration or a contribution, please email those to esmith@lfschools.net or elenart@lfschools.net. We are excited to include as much as possible, but with so much going on, we need all the community support we can get!

Mark your calendars. We have our in-person Open House on September 8th, a 2-hour late start on September 9th, and Homecoming the week of September 12th. We are truly starting the year with a whirlwind of all things Scout–and we couldn’t be happier!

Master Assessment Calendar. The Master Assessment Calendar for the 2022-2023 school year is available here for your planning purposes.

New website. District 115 has a new look online, and we are excited to share it with our community. We hope that it provides easier and more streamlined access to all things Lake Forest High School.

Opt Outs. Per Board Policy 7:15, we will be sending a separate “Opt Out” communication to parents. This communication will highlight the necessary information and forms for parents who wish to opt their children out of certain activities at LFHS. Please be on the lookout for this communication soon!

Parent coffees. We will continue our parent coffees with one small change, I will host these right before the APT meetings each month. I am looking forward to this opportunity to continue this open dialogue with our community.

Safety and Security. I know there have been questions about what safety and security looks like at LFHS. We are lucky to have Det. Mark Long, our SRO, and our Director of Operations, Safety, and Security, Lane Linder. Please read here for information about these two professionals, an opportunity to learn more about school safety, and much more.

Student Calendar and Information Card. This one pager provides important information at LFHS! Download as a PDF!

Student Supports. LFHS has a robust structure for supporting students who are in need. From PLT on Wednesdays to Resource centers to Core Teams, students who are in need are never alone. Here is a link to our Student Support information!

2021-2022 Yearbook and Young Idea Art & Literary Magazine Distribution

Distribution for the 2021-2022 yearbook and Young Idea Art & Literary Magazine will take place on Wednesday, August 10, from 8:00am-noon.

Students who purchased a book should bring their school IDs to scan. If necessary, students will be able to verbally give their ID number, but this might add to their wait time. For those who did not purchase a book, but would like one, there will be a limited number of extra yearbooks and Young Idea available for purchase on a first come basis.

Please follow the timeline below. You may pick up books for multiple siblings during any one of the designated times for your students. Please bring their student IDs to scan or have their ID numbers to give verbally. If you are not able to pick up the book, please send someone and provide them with your ID number. If your designated time does not work for you, come anytime from 8:00am-noon. Please notify the person helping you that it is not your assigned time.

Date: Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Class of 2022 8:00-9:00am

Class of 2023 9:00-10:00am

Class of 2024 10:00-11:00am

Class of 2025 11:00am-noon

Location: Front Doors to the Commons (the glass area at the front of the school)

Supporting Our Partnerships

Get involved. A great way to build community is to be a part of it. Please consider joining our APT, supporting the LFHS Foundation, and/or being a part of PALS, Applause, or our athletic Boosters. The time, talent, and treasure that each one of these organizations gives to Lake Forest High School is absolutely amazing, and we are so lucky to partner with each one of them.

I know this is a lot, and as I know I have mentioned above, we are here to support you and our Scouts!

Go Scouts–let’s make this a year to remember!

Most respectfully,