LaGrange Highlands School District 106

Hello Highlands Parents,

Our goal is to continue to provide the best learning in the safest environment possible. Our partnership with all District 106 families is key as we move forward to full day, in-school learning on March 15. 

We want to take this opportunity to update you on the current recommendations regarding travel quarantines. Many of the guidelines from the CDC and IDPH have evolved, and we know this subject is the topic of many questions to our nurses and principals.  

                                     Updated D106 Travel Quarantine Guidelines

Travel Outside of the United States

Upon return from student/family travel outside of the U. S., students must:

• Get tested 3-5 days after their return home AND quarantine at home for 7 days. A full 7 day quarantine period is required even with a negative test result.  
• If you choose not to have your students tested, they are required to stay home and quarantine for 10 days after your return. 

Travel Outside of Illinois but within the United States

When traveling outside Illinois, but within the United States, the District recommends that families follow all IDPH travel guidelines to minimize the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.  These guidelines can be found at:

 https://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19/travel-safety-guidance.

• If you follow the IDPH safe travel guidelines AND participate in the District 106 saliva screening program, your student(s) may return to school post-travel without quarantining. If you have not already signed the waiver to participate in the screening you may do so at any time by clicking here.
• If you elect NOT to follow IDPH safe travel guidelines OR participate in the District’s salvia screening program, before your student(s) may return to school, they must:

1. Quarantine AND get a PCR test 3-5 days after return from travel. Your student(s) may return to school only after providing the school with evidence of a negative PCR result administered in the appropriate time frame.
2. If you choose not to have your student tested, they must quarantine for 10 days after travel and may only return if they have no COVID symptoms.  

The travel quarantine is one of many mitigations used at District 106. While these may appear burdensome to some, we do ask each of you to consider not how this affects just your family, but the entire district. Let’s continue our work together to keep everyone in the Highland’s community safe.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Karen Lippold, Middle School Nurse, Jeannette Geskie, Elementary School Nurse, Ms. Magruder, Elementary School Principal, or Mr. Papierski, Middle School Principal. 

We’ve had a lot of great news to share recently, including our announcement earlier this week to move forward with the return to a full day of in-person learning on March 15.  This move does have hurdles to clear, but we are confident that we will not “trip” on any of them.  We have, and will continue to work collaboratively with teacher leadership as we move forward with our plans for March 15.

To keep you fully informed,  each week we will provide you with an update on our progress as we get closer to the return date.

Where we are as of February 19:

• March 1 all ES hybrid students will return to five days of in-person learning.
• March 11 is now scheduled as a remote planning day for staff.  No student attendance.
• March 12 is now the end of the second trimester. March 15 is the start of the third trimester.
• District 106 currently has over fifteen(15) mitigation procedures in place, and only one that may require a modification: the distance between students in some classrooms may be less than six feet.  More details will follow as planning is completed.
• The District 106 schedule starting March 15 will include lunch. Student lunch will take place in the MS lunchroom the ES Multi-Purpose Room and the ES Gym.  Lunch will include an outdoor recess time(weather permitting).  Lunch periods will be classroom cohort specific.   More details about lunch will be provided in the coming days.  
• Students most likely will travel to most special subject classes.  Details are still being finalized at this time.   

As we move forward, let’s all remember that our collective practice of mitigation strategies are critical to creating the healthy and safe environment that makes it possible for us to move forward with plans for full-day student attendance.  Thank you for your support. 

Here is information about our upcoming Kindergarten Registration:

Download Kindergarten Registration 2021/2022

Mark Friedman and Glenn Schlichting from BWP and Associates presented the District 106 Board of Education with the results from the recent community survey and the plan moving forward to hire a new superintendent at the February 16 board meeting. 

To view the board presentation, please click here.   To view the survey results, please click here.  

To view the Return to 5 Days presentation presented by Interim Superintendent Steve Griesbach, the Leadership Team, and Union President Christine Moretti at the February 16 board meeting, please click here.  

The Elementary School will move to 5 days of in-person learning (8:30-12:30) starting March 1.  ECE students will also return to 5 days of in-person learning on March 1st in accordance with their classroom placement.  On March 15, both the Middle School and the Elementary School, will extend the in-school learning day to 3:15 p.m. ECE will extend their learning day to the full 2.5 hours of the AM & PM sessions (8:30 - 11:00 and 12:00 - 2:30).  The option for Remote Learning will still be available. More details regarding the move to a full day of in-person learning will be coming March 1.

On February 16, 2021 the D106 Board of Education held it’s regularly scheduled meeting for the month of February. The board reviewed several topics including an update on the district’s return to more in-person instruction and the search for the new superintendent.

Interim Superintendent Steve Griesbach, the Leadership Team, and Union President Christine Moretti discussed the plan for the next four weeks and beyond regarding greater in-person learning for Highlands students. The Elementary School will move to 5 days of in-person learning (8:30-12:30) starting March 1.  ECE students will also return to 5 days of in-person learning on March 1st in accordance with their classroom placement.  On March 15, both the Middle School and the Elementary School, will extend the in-school learning day to 3:15 p.m. ECE will extend their learning day to the full 2.5 hours of the AM & PM sessions (8:30 - 11:00 and 12:00 - 2:30).  The option for Remote Learning will still be available. More details regarding the move to a full day of in-person learning will be coming March 1. You can view presentation here.

Mark Friedman and Glenn Schlichting from BWP and Associates presented the board with the results from the recent community survey and the plan moving forward to hire a new superintendent.  To view the presentation, please click here.   

If you missed the February board meeting, please click here.