Dear Warrior Family,
I hope this message finds you and your family well and enjoying your summer break as our state enters Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois Plan. The summer guidance for schools outlined in Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois Plan was updated Friday evening and will only allow us to hold in-person summer school classes with no more than 10 students per class and gatherings of no more than 50. Given that we have over 350 students registered for summer school in Summer Session 1 and Summer Session 2, we will need to hold both sessions in a fully digital format.
On a more positive note, based on the Phase 3 guidance, we will be able to offer behind-the-wheel over the summer. Therefore, we will offer a digital summer Driver Education classroom course during Summer Session 2 starting July 6, in conjunction with the behind-the-wheel lab experience. Starting next Monday, we will also begin making up the behind-the-wheel hours for the backlog of students from the spring semester.
Restore Illinois guidance in both Phases 3 and 4 limit gatherings of only 10 and 50, respectively. Unfortunately, these gathering requirements mean we will not be able to hold a large in-person graduation ceremony or Prom in June or July. Our principals will send out an alternative graduation plan to senior families tomorrow afternoon, which will include a personalized diploma pick-up and photo opportunity for all graduates and their families at both East and West Campus. We will also release our virtual graduation ceremony on June 28. I know this is not what we were hoping for; however, we will do our best to make graduation another positive and memorable experience for our graduates and their families.
We hope to receive guidance from the state regarding the 2020-2021 school year when we enter Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan (most likely in July). Over the summer we will continue to procure PPE and other items we will most likely need to open our buildings in the fall and prepare for a number of possible scenarios that will impact academic learning and daily operations:
school resumes for traditional in-person instruction
school resumes using remote digital learning
school resumes with periods of both in-person and remote digital learning
We will continue to keep you updated as information becomes available. We are also awaiting additional guidance from the IHSA concerning summer contact days, athletic camps, and the status of fall sports.
Thank you again for your support and understanding! We Are Warriors and We Are One!
Sincerely,
Ryan McTague, Ph.D.
District 156 Superintendent of Schools
mctagueryan@dist156.org
(815) 759-2022
