LaGrange Highlands School District 106

Dear Highlands Families and Staff, 

The start of school is nine days from today! It is not a typical start to our school year, but we are glad to be coming together as a Highlands Community. Please find our Reunite Document that has information about our Return to Learn plan. Our Reunite document will continue to evolve as we learn more about COVID19. Updates in processes or procedures will be recorded in the material and sent to you with notification of the changes. 

Thank you for your continued partnership. 

Warm regards, 

Dr. Warke

Dear Highlands Families and Staff, 

We are looking forward to starting the 2020-2021 school year with our students in the hybrid and remote settings returning on August 20, 2020. It will be a year like no other we have ever had in Highlands. 

In the Spring, our school and the rest of the world were in crisis mode. District 106 quickly provided a remote alternative to our students that allowed us to finish the school year and learn how to do it better for the fall semester. While the plan may not have been the most comprehensive for all students, I feel strongly that it was the best approach to take at that particular time. As we move into the Fall Semester with uncertainty, please know that the plan that we have put together, along with our neighboring school partners, will focus more on a more traditional learning model, whether it is the hybrid plan or remote plan.  

The weight of the school administrators’ responsibility and the board to re-open our schools is a heavy one. No district has the perfect plan, and these are unchartered waters. Each district has to figure it out. As administrators and board members, who are also parents, feel the weight of the responsibility to help our children and the children in the community we serve. 

No one asked for the pandemic and the resulting changes that it has brought to us. Our classrooms look different. Our school year is starting differently. The typical excitement that we have to go school supply shopping and school clothes shopping is clouded by all the virus brings. All of these decisions impact the students of Highlands and the entire staff and community of Highlands. Our number one priority has been and continues to be the health and safety of the students, staff, and the community. 

I know that many questions may be adding to stress and anxiety of the uncertainty about the start of the school year. We created this FAQ to answer some of the items that are on everyone’s mind. Additionally, you will be receiving a document that details our plan on Monday, August 10, 2020. 

The board meeting scheduled for August 11 will be moving to August 18 at 7:00 p.m. I recognize that everyone is expecting a final vote on August 11. This vote is a resolution to approve all of the Return to Learn Plan components, not to determine if Highlands will return in a remote or hybrid capacity. Highlands families have indicated whether their child(ren) will come to Highlands in the hybrid model or if their child(ren) will participate in learning through the remote opportunity. We are finalizing the hybrid groups this weekend and sharing more information with our families next week. We are working as quickly as we can with the information we have received. 

The information that would change how Highlands opens from this point forward is a positivity rate at 8% in the suburban Chicago area. Or, if the Governor moves the suburban Chicago area to phase three. These two different scenarios will have our plan remote. 

Thank you for your continued feedback, patience, and understanding as we navigate these uncertain times. 

Warm regards, 

Dr. Warke

A Special meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place in the LaGrange Highlands Middle School Gym and also simulcasted at https://youtu.be/Z5cKvE7lBjc beginning at 6:30 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. A link will be posted on our website on the evening of the meeting.  

The agenda for the meeting is available by going to Administration --> Board of Education -->Agenda

Dear Highlands Community,

We recognize this time has been challenging for all of us. The Board of Education (BOE), the teachers and staff, the parents, and the administration have a shared goal to empower students with the best learning environment possible. A top priority is to keep our students and staff safe and healthy, as the administration works with teachers daily to better understand their perspectives on this.

As we navigate this challenge, we are leaning into our core values of community, perseverance, and creativity. During Tuesday’s board meeting, the administration presented a hybrid plan to return to school, which included a rigorous remote component. After deliberating the issue, the board endorsed a fully remote plan.

After listening to community response, we will hold a special BOE meeting next week to discuss the administration's plans for remote learning. We will also consider if ongoing discussions improve the viability of the hybrid option.

Change is hard during normal circumstances. But we always return to our unwavering commitment to our children. Together we will ensure that our young Hornets succeed during this unprecedented time. We are committed to working together and continuing to grow and learn.

Highlands Board of Education

Board Briefs for the July 21, 2020, Regularly Scheduled Meeting of the LaGrange Highlands Board of Education are available by clicking here.

Click here to view the Return to Learn presentation, which was developed by the LaGrange Highlands administration and was submitted to the Board of Education on July 21, 2020 at their regularly scheduled meeting. It details a partially in-person and partially remote learning approach for the 2020-2021 School Year. The Board has requested that the administration submit a presentation for a fully remote learning approach.