Parents

Dear Students, Parents and Guardians,

Congratulations! You made it to the end of the 2019-20 school year! It was a difficult end to the semester, but you made it. Thank you for your support and cooperation over the past two months. We know this has been a difficult time for our families, and we are grateful for your commitment to our teachers and the hard work they have done to provide a high-quality learning environment.  

As we enter the final days of the school year, it is time to start thinking about summer school and the return of personal items left at school prior to the switch to remote learning. 

• If you are enrolled in the following first-semester summer school classes:  
  • ACT/SAT Prep Class
  • Art & Design
  • Computer Programming Accelerated
  • Digital Art & Design
  • Photo 1
  • or are an incoming freshman, you have materials to pick up. 
• You also will receive an email from our summer school principal.
• If you are a student who left personal items or projects in their assigned lockers prior to remote learning, you will receive an email from Sean Carney over the next 24 hours with pick-up instructions.
• If you do not receive an email, but know that you left items in an assigned locker, please email Sean Carney at scarney@d125.org with specific information including locker number and items that need to be retrieved. He will respond with pick-up instructions.
• If you left items in a locker secured by a personal padlock (pool or PE locker, for example), retrieving them will have to wait until later in the summer.

Parents and guardians should pull into parking lot E. There, they will provide an attendant with the student’s name, date of birth and Stevenson ID number (if known), and a cell phone number where they can be reached, then park in a space. When the items are ready, the parent/guardian will be called at the cell phone number, then can drive through the bus lane to pick up their materials. Any personal items/projects left at school prior to remote learning will be given to you as well. These items were cleaned and placed in plastic bags since the stay-at-home order was put in place. If you have any questions, please email scarney@d125.org.

Here is the distribution schedule:

Tuesday, May 26 (Last names A-M)
9-10 a.m. - Last name beginning with A-B
10-11 a.m. C-D
11-noon - E-F
No drop-off from noon to 1 p.m.
1-2 p.m. - G-H
2-3 p.m. - I,J,K
3-4 p.m. - L-M
 
Wednesday, May 27 (Last names N-Z)
9-10 a.m. - Last name beginning with N-O
10-11 a.m. - P,Q
11-noon  - R, S
No drop-off from noon to 1 p.m.
1-2 p.m. - T
2-3 p.m. - U,V,W
3-4 p.m. - X.Y,Z

Thursday, May 28
3-6 p.m. - Make up

Friday, May 29
Rain Day

Sincerely,

Sean Carney  
Asst. Superintendent for Business Services

Ken Latka
Asst. Principal of Operations

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Thank you for your patience as we have worked to develop a process for completing our annual residency verification process online to ensure the health and safety of SHS families and staff during the pandemic lockdown. As a reminder, each SHS family is required to share documentation on a yearly basis demonstrating their residence within the District 125 attendance boundaries. In order to complete this process, each family must upload residency documents through their Infinite Campus portal by June 5, 2020. Detailed instructions for completing this process may be found here. Once residency documents have been uploaded and verified, families will be able to complete the online registration and fee payment process which will open in late June. Below is more detailed information about the residency verification process. Additional information and resources are also available through the Annual Residency Verification Procedures section of the SHS website.

Please know we are here to help with any questions/concerns you might have. Contact our Student Services team members with any questions by emailing residency@d125.org.

Kind regards,

Sarah Bowen
Director of Student Services                   

Regina Anderson
Student Services Manager 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Which documents are required to show residency in the district?
A total of three documents are required. Documents issued on a monthly basis must be from April 2020 or later. SHS is not able to accept documents with a PO Box address or send any correspondence to a PO Box.

Families must upload ONE of the following:

• Complete, current, and valid lease agreement — including the name and phone number of your landlord. Please note: If your lease expires prior to the first day of school (8-13-20), please provide an updated lease agreement to residency@d125.org after you have renewed.
• Real estate tax bill — must be actual tax bill, not property tax assessment. For online copies of your current tax bill , see the Lake County IL Property Tax Information website. From there you can follow these steps to save a PDF file for uploading to our Infinite Campus System: Basic Search > Enter your address information > Highlight your name > Enter > (On the right hand side) Reports > Click on tax bill > Go > Download to PDF > Save 
• Monthly mortgage statement

Families must upload TWO of the following:

• Utility bill statement (payment coupon attached) — Please provide the entire first page of the bill including the coupon portion at the bottom of the bill. Utilities accepted include gas, electric, water, trash collection, or cable bills. Please note that we are not able to accept cell phone bills. Two bills may be uploaded for this category provided they are for different utilities. If you participate in online billing, please access the statement in your account and upload a PDF of the bill.
• Vehicle registration — Only one vehicle registration may be uploaded per family. This must be for the current school year.

How do I submit residency documentation to SHS?  
Families must upload residency documents using their Infinite Campus portal. The username and password for the IC portal are the same login credentials used to check your child’s grades and attendance. These login credentials are the same for each child in a family . 

Documents will then be reviewed and verified by members of the Student Services Division and families will be contacted should there be any follow-up needed. Documents must be uploaded by June 5, 2020. Detailed instructions may be found here.  

What if my family does not have an Infinite Campus portal?
If a family has not yet established an Infinite Campus portal, this process must be completed prior to uploading residency documents. Instructions for creating a portal are described in steps one and two of this document.  

May I submit my residency documents via email?
We are not able to accept residency documents via email. All documents must be uploaded through the Infinite Campus portal.

When is the deadline for uploading the residency documents?
All documents must be uploaded to Infinite Campus no later than June 5, 2020.

Do I have to prove residency for each of my children?  
Each SHS family must show residency in the district every school year. Families with more than one child attending SHS only need to submit one set of residency documents each year during our Annual Residency Verification.

Who should I contact with questions?
Please contact our Student Services team with any questions/concerns by emailing residency@d125.org. 

Friday, May 15, 2020

Dear Seniors,

We’re a week away from your graduation, and I’ll admit that I have mixed emotions. While I’m sad to see you leave us, especially under these less-than-ideal circumstances, I’m also very excited as you embark on the next chapter in your lives. I’ve had the good fortune to get to know many of you over the past four years, and words can’t describe the great pride I have in the Class of 2020. 

As you might recall, we have decided to hold a virtual commencement ceremony because it is highly unlikely that the state will allow us to have an in-person graduation event. Our virtual commencement ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. Friday, May 22 through Zoom. I’m pleased to announce that our senior speakers this year will be Lauren Malenfant and Athena Kolli. We’ll be announcing the names of all seniors. Students will receive login information by email in the days to come. Also, we will carry a livestream of the ceremony on Facebook. All of this information will be posted on our graduation web page. We’ll include a PDF of the graduation program on that page, and also will be mailing one printed program home with your diploma.

Also, we will have our graduation photographers available from Monday, June 1 through Thursday, June 4 to take photos of students in their cap and gown. At this time, we will distribute diploma covers, NHS stoles and honor society cords, and Senior Service Recognition tassels. The schedule is listed at the end of this email.

Students should enter campus through the Port Clinton entrance and proceed to the Circle Drive, where a staff member will greet them. Students should bring an index card with their first and last name and ID number written on it. In parking lot B, students will retrieve materials prior to getting their photo taken.

Students will proceed toward Half Day Road (Route 22) and stop at the corner for their photo. Only the student getting pictured should leave the vehicle when called upon. Everyone else present must remain in the vehicle; the only people allowed to take pictures are the graduation photographers from VIP.  You will place the index card in the bin near the photographer and follow their directions for the photograph.

Photos will be available the week of June 15 for download or purchase at https://www.vipis.com/group/11de8b02/adlai-stevenson-high-school. Each graduate will have the opportunity to download one photo at no charge.

Because of the state’s stay-at-home order, Stevenson High School is closed to faculty, staff and students. We want to ensure the safety of our students, therefore, students will not be allowed into the building, and they may not congregate in any of the campus parking lots. 

As we near the end of your Stevenson journey, I want to thank you for all of your support and cooperation over the past two months. Nobody could have foreseen this kind of ending to high school, but you have handled it well. Remember: Even though you may be away from Stevenson, you will always be a Patriot! 

Sincerely,

Troy Gobble
Principal

Graduation Photo and Diploma Cover Schedule

Monday, June 1 (Last Names A-G)
9-10 am: A
10-11 am: B
11-12 pm: C
12-1 pm: D,E,F
1-2 pm:  A-F

Tuesday, June 2 (Last Names H-M)
9-10 am: G, H
10-11 am: I, J
11-12 pm: K
12-1 pm: L
1-2 pm: M
2-3 pm: G-M

Wednesday, June 3 (Last Names N-T)
9-10 am: N, O
10-11 am: P
11-12 pm: Q, R
12-1 pm: S
1-2 pm: T
2-3 pm: N-T

Thursday, June 4 (Last Names U-Z)
9-10 am: U, V
10-11 am: W, X
11-12 pm: Y, Z
12-3 pm: Makeup Time 

May 14, 2020

Dear Senior Families,

Due to today’s inclement weather, we are postponing cap and gown/yearbook pick-up for seniors. The new pick-up date is Wednesday, May 20 from 3-6 p.m. 

Please remember to enter campus from the Port Clinton entrance and enter lot E (by the Sports Center). Yearbooks will be distributed in lot E. After receiving a yearbook, seniors should follow Stevenson Drive to the front of the building. Graduation caps and gowns will be distributed in lot B (by the Point). A Jostens representative will pass out the caps and gowns in lot B. Students will then exit campus onto Half Day Rd/Route 22.

Because of the state’s stay-at-home order, Stevenson High School is closed to faculty, staff and students. We want to ensure the safety of our students, therefore, students will not be allowed into the building, and they may not congregate in any of the campus parking lots. 

Thank you for your assistance. We had 650 seniors pick up their items on Wednesday, and hope to distribute all remaining caps and gowns, and yearbooks, next Wednesday .

Sincerely,

Sean Carney
Assistant Superintendent for Business Services
 

Dear Students, Parents and Guardians,

Thank you for your support and cooperation over the past two months. We know this has been a difficult time for our families, and we are grateful for your commitment to our teachers and the hard work they have done to provide a high-quality learning environment.

As we enter the final days of the school year, it is time for students to return materials that they borrowed. For some, it is time to pick up materials needed for summer school.

Students who need to drop off school materials used during the current school year, or who need to pick up materials necessary for summer school, will have opportunities to visit the Stevenson campus during the last two weeks of May.

Drop off and pick up will take place in three phases to limit the amount of physical interaction and traffic congestion on campus. All drop off and pick up will take place in parking lot E by the Sports Center. For questions specific to a class, sport or club, please contact your teacher, coach or adviser. For general questions, please contact Ken Latka (847-415-4002 or klatka@d125.org).

Phase 1: Dropping Off School Materials (Tuesday, May 19 - Friday, May 22)
Items to be dropped off include, but are not limited to: 

• All textbooks and library books
• Technology on loan from SHS (laptops, Apple pencils, calculators, Mi-Fi hotspots)
• All athletic uniforms and warm-up outfits
• Musical instruments (from seniors or those not taking a music class in the 2020-21 school year)
• All Music Department uniforms (concert dresses or tuxedos)
• Art supplies (cameras, etc.)
• A full list of class-specific supplies can be found here.

Please place all items in a bag with Student Name, ID and Grade. Items may be dropped off in parking lot E on the following dates and times, based on the first letter of students’ last name:

Tuesday, May 19 (Last names A-F)
8-9 a.m. - Last name beginning with A
9-10 a.m. - B
10-11 a.m. - C
11 a.m.-Noon - D
No drop-off from noon to 1 p.m.
1-2 p.m. - E
2-3 p.m. - F
 
Wednesday, May 20 (Last names G-L)
8-9 a.m. - Last name beginning with G
9-10 a.m. - H
10-11 a.m. - I
11 a.m.-Noon - J
No drop-off from noon to 1 p.m.
1-2 p.m. - K
2-3 p.m. - L

Thursday, May 21 (Last names M-R)
8-9 a.m. - Last name beginning with M
9-10 a.m. - N
10-11 a.m. - O
11 a.m.-Noon - P
No drop-off from noon to 1 p.m.
1-2 p.m. - Q
2-3 p.m. - R

Friday, May 22 (Last names S-Z)
8-9 a.m. - Last name beginning with S
9-10 a.m. - T
10-11 a.m. - U-V
11 a.m.-Noon - W-X
No drop-off from noon to 1 p.m.
1-2 p.m. - Y-Z
2-3 p.m. - Anyone who didn’t drop off items earlier

Next Wednesday, May 20, we will provide information on picking up Summer School materials, which will occur between Tuesday, May 26 and Friday, May 29.

Thank you in advance for your help in returning materials to the school. 

Sincerely,

Sean Carney            
Assistant Superintendent for Business Services

Ken Latka
Assistant Principal of Operations

The following message was emailed to all senior families today:

To the Class of 2020,

We have had an incredible year! Our UP-themed Homecoming dance had the highest attendance ever, we ice skated in the Wood Commons, we experienced learning in the new East Building addition, our Patriettes and Chess team won state, we explored the arts at Odyssey, and too many more wonderful events throughout our school … we somehow managed to fit all these amazing events in before March 13. And now our journey together is about to end, and certainly in a way that none of us could have anticipated even four months ago. However, as you’ve learned in your history classes, events and circumstances usually don’t ask for our permission.

On Tuesday, Governor Pritzker presented the “Restore Illinois” plan that includes specific information about school operations. While we had held out hope for a Prom and Graduation ceremony in June or July, it is clear from the Governor’s five-phase plan that we will not be able to host a Prom or Graduation in June, and looks that it will be nearly impossible to hold an in-person Prom or Graduation ceremony in July. If we hear from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) or the governor’s office that we can have an in-person Graduation later in the summer for small groups of students, we will quickly make plans to do so.

In the meantime, we are developing a “Virtual Graduation” celebration we will share with our students and families on Friday, May 22. This virtual graduation will have remarks from members of our senior class, our school board president, superintendent, and principal. We will also be mailing home the graduation program which lists the names of all 2019-20 Stevenson High School graduates.  

An important part of the traditional graduation ceremony that will be missing from our Virtual Graduation is the opportunity to take photos of our graduates receiving their diploma. We know how important this moment is for our families, so we are excited to provide students a chance to have professional photos taken in their cap and gown in front of the Stevenson High School sign at the campus entrance.

We will have our graduation photographers available from June 1 through June 4 to take these photos for students. We will also be passing out the diploma covers at this time. More specific information about the organization and scheduling of this event will be shared soon.

Lastly, we have two important items to distribute to the senior class next week: Graduation caps and gowns and your 2019-20 yearbook. Seniors will be able to pick these items up on Wednesday and Thursday, May 13-14. We understand many of you will want to wear the cap and gown for family pictures on graduation day, and we also hope you wear them to school the first week of June to get your official graduation photos taken. Please see below for more specifics about how to pick up these items. 

We could not be prouder of the Class of 2020. This group has shown incredible leadership and school spirit throughout its high school career. We truly appreciate all the hard work each of you has put into your high school experience. We are excited to celebrate your graduation over the next few weeks. 

Sincerely,

Eric Twadell             Troy Gobble        Ted Goergen
Superintendent        Principal              Director of Student Activities

Cap and Gown/Yearbook Distribution Schedule

Seniors can pick up their graduation cap and gown and yearbook at the school from 1-8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, May 13-14. We have designed a schedule for pick up based on the senior’s last name; the complete schedule is listed below. We understand that some students will be taking online AP exams during their assigned pick-up time. If you find yourself in this situation, please choose a time that is more convenient for you.

All students will need to enter the campus from the Port Clinton entrance and enter lot E (by the Sports Center). The yearbooks will be distributed in lot E. After receiving a yearbook, seniors should follow Stevenson Drive to the front of the building. Graduation caps and gowns will be distributed in lot B (by the Point). A Jostens representative will pass out the caps and gowns in lot B. Students will then exit campus onto Half Day Rd/Route 22.

Because of the state’s stay-at-home order, Stevenson High School is closed to faculty, staff and students. We want to ensure the safety of our students, therefore, students will not be allowed into the building, and they may not congregate in any of the campus parking lots. 

Cap and Gown/Yearbook Distribution Schedule

Wednesday, May 13 (Last Names A-L)
1-2 p.m.:  A and B
2-3 p.m.:  C and D
3-4 p.m.:  E and F
4-5 p.m.:  G and H
5-6 p.m.:  I and J
6-7 p.m.:  K and L
7-8 p.m.:  Anyone A-L who missed their assigned time

Thursday, May 14 (Last Names M-Z)
1-2 p.m.:  M and N
2-3 p.m.:  O and P
3-4 p.m.:  Q and R
4-5 p.m.:  S and T
5-6 p.m.:  U and V
6-7 p.m.:  W, X,Y and Z
7-8 p.m.:  Anyone M-Z who missed their assigned time

Dear SHS Students and Families,

In this era of uncertainty there is one thing that is certain: Stevenson Summer School 2020 is happening! This letter provides updates and information regarding our summer school programing, scheduling, and course offerings. In our planning, we worked on a number of different options to support our students’ interests.

While we had other hopes, we do not know when it will be safe to open the building to our students. Therefore, we will conduct both semesters of summer school remotely. As you make your summer plans to stay home or to perhaps travel, our remote summer courses and workshops were created to support our students’ learning experiences in both synchronous (webinar-style instruction, presentations, discussions, critiques, and conferences) as well as asynchronous (independent tasks, assignments or projects) ways.

To fully understand the many unique aspects of this year’s summer school experience, we ask that you please take the time to read the following information carefully. Our goal for Summer School this year is to continue to support our Stevenson students and families in ways that offer both flexibility and engaging course opportunities.  

Please let us know if you have any questions. 

Schedule and Course Offerings
We will continue to offer our traditional summer school courses, please use this link for the course book that contains course descriptions, dates and times. 

Transition Workshops
If you’re feeling a bit unprepared for next year, consider taking a transition workshop! We’re here to help. Recognizing that the 2019-20 school year ended in a rather unexpected way, we are offering students opportunities to review and reinforce their skills in a number of subject areas. In addition to our traditional course offerings, we are excited to offer transitional workshops in English, Mathematics and Spanish. These optional, non-credit bearing transition workshops are designed for students who are looking to reinforce their understanding of key skills and prerequisite content so they can feel more confident moving forward into next year. Transition workshops will last two or three weeks and will occur during both the first and second semester of summer school. Please visit our website for more information on these transition workshops at https://www.d125.org/academics/summer-school.

Technology
All incoming freshmen will receive an Apple iPad that will be used for course work, etextbooks, school communication (email, video conferencing) as well as provide them the ability to interact with their teacher and peers for continuous feedback. We will communicate details about iPad distribution once specific procedures are finalized.

Registration
To register for any of our summer school courses, including our transition workshops, click here. Please register by May 15; this will help us to plan accordingly. After this date, we will do all we can to accommodate additional course and workshop registrations if space permits.

Decided Online Summer School is Not for You?
If you have signed up for summer school and have changed your mind, you can receive a full refund by canceling your registration by May 15. All cancelations between May 15 and June 2 (when the course begins), will receive a partial refund. No refunds will be issued after the semester begins.

Refunds
In the case that a course is canceled due to insufficient enrollment all fees will be refunded, however a non-refundable processing fee will be charged. Since there will be no need for transportation to and from campus this summer we will be issuing a refund for this portion of the summer school registration fee after summer school begins.

We truly appreciate your patience and flexibility as we adapt our learning programs to these atypical times. No one wants students back in the building more than we do! As always, our goal is to keep each and every student growing, developing and learning. Dr. Gwen Zimmermann and Anthony Reibel will coordinate Summer School. Please contact them at summer_school_office@d125.org with any summer school-related questions. 

Troy Gobble      Mark Onuscheck
Principal            Director of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction

Dear Parents, Students and Guardians, 

Thank you for your ongoing support over the last few weeks. By working together throughout our remote learning days, we continue to stay connected in meaningful and engaging ways.   Our students’ attendance rate this spring has been as high — and often higher — than the same time the last few years! We know this is a testimony to the dedication of our students, parents and guardians. 

Last Friday, Governor JB Pritzker announced that all schools in Illinois will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. The purpose of today’s email is to describe how this action will impact your experience at Stevenson for the remainder of the school year.

The end of the year will be very different this year. As we look to bring some closure to this unusual year, we want to give each student the chance to demonstrate their growth over our remote learning days and finish the school year confidently. To do this, we’ve created a schedule for the last two weeks of school (May 11-21) that we hope will: 

(1) provide you with the time needed to conclude your courses successfully; 
(2) provide you with flexibility to ensure you will have the chance to demonstrate your proficiency in the learning targets for each class; and 
(3) provide you time for individual conversations with your teachers, if necessary. 

We recognize that some students might have questions about how to improve their grade at the end of the semester. Other students might want an opportunity to make up work or provide further evidence of their proficiency. We have designed these two weeks of school with purposeful time available to both students and teachers to allow these conversations to occur. 

Schedule for May 11-18: Each school day between May 11 and May 18 will only have four classes, so a student’s day will end at 11:45 a.m. The schedule for these days is listed below. Teachers and students should use these afternoons like “office hours” to support any individual conversations that need to occur as we wrap up the school year. Teachers will be available for conversations with students or parents on these days. Contact your teachers directly through email to set up a one-on-one Zoom conversation. Monday, May 18 will be the last day that classes meet.

Schedule for May 19-21: Our scheduled final exam days, May 19-21, will be repurposed as a chance to finalize your remote learning experience. There will not be exams on these days, and classes will not be meeting. These three days are a chance for teachers and students to finalize the semester. Teachers will be available for conversations with students or parents on these days.

AP Exams: The College Board has also moved AP exams into these two weeks, May 11-22. Students will complete their AP exams online from home. The College Board has set the start times for these exams at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Central time each day. You can find the dates and times for specific tests here.

All athletics and intramurals are canceled. While we held out hope that the Illinois High School Association would be able to extend the spring sports season into the summer, it will not be possible. The IHSA canceled all spring state tournaments earlier this morning.

Most fine arts events are canceled. However, some activities (such as the One-Act plays) may take place virtually. Please follow the SHS Facebook page for the latest updates.

Prom and Graduation: As you recall, we sent an email recently outlining potential June and July dates for those two events. We remain hopeful that the Class of 2020 can be honored this summer. We will keep you updated on both of these events when we have more information.

Summer school will still take place as scheduled. For the sake of safety, we will most likely use remote learning for summer school courses. Summer school will begin June 2, and details on our remote learning plans — including how incoming freshmen will receive their school-issued iPads — will be announced in May.

Thank you for your continued participation and engagement in school. We have never been prouder of our Stevenson community, and we can’t wait to see you as soon as it is safe to do so.

Please stay healthy and safe!

Troy Gobble            Mark Onuscheck
Principal                  Director of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction
 

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope that this email finds you and your family healthy.

As the Stevenson High School community continues to grow, it is important to ensure that taxpayer resources are used as effectively as possible to support the education of students who live within our district. To that end, each SHS family is required to share documentation on an annual basis indicating that they reside within the District 125 attendance boundaries. Due to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, SHS will be using an online process for residency verification this spring. Each SHS family will need to upload residency documents online through their Infinite Campus portal some time between May 15 and June 5, 2020. Please note that it is not possible to upload these documents prior to May 15.  

Detailed instructions outlining the process for uploading residency documents using Infinite Campus will be emailed in early May. Once residency documents have been uploaded and verified, families will be able to complete the online registration and fee payment process which will open in late June. Below is more detailed information about the residency verification process.  

Please know we are here to help with any questions/concerns you might have. Contact our Student Services team members with any questions you might have by emailing residency@d125.org.

Kind regards,

Sarah Bowen                                                   Regina Anderson
Director of Student Services                    Student Services Manager 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Which documents are required to show residency in the district?
A total of three documents are required. Documents issued on a monthly basis must be from April 2020 or later. SHS is not able to accept documents with a PO Box address or send any correspondence to a PO Box.

Families must upload ONE of the following:

• Complete, current, and valid lease agreement — including the name and phone number of your landlord. Please note: If your lease expires prior to the first day of school (8-13-20), please provide an updated lease agreement to residency@d125.org after you have renewed.
• Real estate tax bill — must be actual tax bill, not property tax assessment
• Monthly mortgage statement

Families must upload TWO of the following:

• Utility bill statement (payment coupon attached) — Please provide the entire first page of the bill including the coupon portion at the bottom of the bill. Utilities accepted include gas, electric, water, trash collection, or cable bills. Please note that we are not able to accept cell phone bills. Two bills may be uploaded for this category provided they are for different utilities. If you participate in online billing, please access the statement in your account and upload a PDF of the bill.
• Vehicle registration — Only one vehicle registration may be uploaded per family. This must be for the current school year.

How do I submit residency documentation to SHS?  
Families must upload residency documents using their Infinite Campus portal. Documents will then be reviewed and verified by members of the Student Services Division and families will be contacted should there be any follow-up needed. Please note that all documents must be uploaded between May 15 and June 5, 2020. Instructions for this process will be emailed in early May.

What if my family does not have an Infinite Campus portal?
If a family has not yet established an Infinite Campus portal, this process must be completed prior to uploading residency documents. Click here for instructions on creating an Infinite Campus portal.

When is the deadline for uploading the residency documents?
Residency documents must be submitted online using Infinite Campus between May 15 and June 5, 2020. All documents must be uploaded no later than June 5, 2020.

Do I have to prove residency for each of my children?  
Each SHS family must show residency in the district every school year. Families with more than one child attending SHS only need to submit one set of residency documents each year.  

Who should I contact with questions?
Please contact our Student Services team with any questions/concerns by emailing residency@d125.org.

Dear Students, Parents and Guardians,

This is the letter we never wanted to write. To be honest, we are still a little stunned that we are even doing so.

As you have probably heard by now, yesterday, Governor JB Pritzker announced that all schools in Illinois will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. While we are not surprised by this decision, and are in full support to ensure the safety and health of our students and staff, we are nonetheless extremely saddened at the prospect of our Stevenson High School building continuing to remain empty this spring. 

Between our two families we are parents of two elementary students, a middle school student, a high school senior and a college student. We have a small sense of the frustration, anxiety and sadness that many of our Stevenson families may be feeling right now. We are right there with you. In our own families we are trying to make sense of all this, and learn to become more comfortable living with the confusion and uncertainty of the times that we are in. If there is one thing that we know for sure, it is that this unprecedented and challenging period for our Stevenson families will help us grow stronger and more resilient, and more compassionate and empathetic. As we have already witnessed the ways in which the Stevenson community has stepped up and supported one another during these past five weeks, we have never been more proud to be a Stevenson High School Patriot.

We know that there are many questions that we still need to answer in the days and weeks ahead. We have been working diligently on a number of different scenarios for this spring and summer. Now that we have clarity from the governor’s office, we will be sending out a follow-up email on Tuesday of this coming week with more detailed information on final exams, graduation, summer school, pick-up and drop-off of school materials, etc. 

Finally, as today was supposed to be Prom for the Class of 2020, we want our seniors to know that we are thinking of you today. We know that this is far from the senior spring that you had been looking forward to. Please know that we are planning for and hopeful that we will be able to provide a fantastic summer Prom and Graduation ceremony before you head off to new adventures in the fall!

Please be safe and and healthy, and as always, we appreciate your patience, flexibility and grace during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Dr. Eric Twadell        Troy Gobble
Superintendent         Principal

To Our SHS Families:

Every year our summer school course offerings include a number of experiences and classes that range from careers, photography, business, college essay writing, and core graduation requirements (e.g., World History, Government, Health) – as well as a number of bridge courses that can help prepare students for the respective year long courses.

Regardless of whether this year’s summer school will be run via remote learning, on campus, or some combination of the two, we will be providing SHS students the same enriching and meaningful summer school experience we always have. 

The dates for 2020 summer school remain the same, with the first day of summer school beginning on June 2, and registration is open (course information can be found on our website.) If you have already registered for summer school, no further action is required.

We will continue to provide general summer school information through the first week of May as it becomes available. For families who register for summer school 2020 classes, they will receive specific information about their course(s) the week of May 29. If you have other questions about summer school, please email us at summer_school_office@d125.org. 

Be safe and stay Stevenson strong!

Gwen Zimmermann and Anthony Reibel
Summer School Coordinators

Hello AP Students and their Parents and/or Guardians:

We hope this email finds you well.

We wanted to take the time to follow-up on some information posted on the College Board’s website regarding AP Exams. To view all updates regarding AP exams, please refer to the College Board’s COVID-19 website here. Please know that we do not have additional information beyond what is on the College Board website.

Regular and Late Testing
Per College Board, the regular testing period will run from May 11-22, 2020, while the late-testing period will run from June 1-5, 2020. 

All students will be scheduled to test during the regular testing period. While there have been social media posts that state students can test on either the regular test date or the make-up test date, we strongly encourage students to take the test on the original test date to maximize the chances that students successfully submit their exam without technical difficulty. In the event something should happen while taking the exam on the regular test date, the College Board then has the flexibility to possibly allow the student to take the exam on the make-up date. The College Board has made it clear that there will be absolutely no other testing opportunities beyond the make-up date, regardless of technical difficulties or other extenuating circumstances. 

Technology Support
The College Board recognizes that some students may not have access to the tools and connectivity they need to take the exam. If you are a student who needs mobile tools or connectivity, please fill out this form by April 24.

Stevenson High School does not have further information than what is displayed on the College Board’s website, but we will continue to update all parents and students with information as it becomes available. For now, we expect an AP At-Home Testing Guide to become available in late April for both educators and students.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Last month I sent an email sharing information about Sophomore SCoPE (School Counselor Parent Engagement) meetings (see below). SCoPE meetings provide parents/guardians of 10th-graders with an opportunity to meet with their student and counselor to discuss their student’s strengths, interests, goals and concerns.

If you haven’t had a sophomore SCoPE meeting yet, please consider setting up a 30-minute meeting with your student’s counselor. In light of our current Remote Learning schedule, SCoPE meetings will take place via phone or video conference until further notice. To schedule the meeting, please click on the link below, locate your student’s counselor, and click on their respective link. This will take you to their Calendly scheduling page. To identify your student’s counselor, please check with your student or look on their student ID card. If you experience challenges related to scheduling or have other questions/concerns, please reach out to your student’s counselor.

Our counselors look forward to continuing to build partnerships with students and families! We wish you and your family health and wellness during these uncertain times.

Link for counselor scheduling page

Kind regards,

Sarah Bowen
Director of Student Services
 

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,

We hope this message finds you safe and healthy! As we near the end of our second week of remote learning, we cannot thank you enough for the flexibility, patience and grace you have provided us as we have moved Stevenson into a virtual high school.

Yesterday, Governor Pritzker extended the mandatory school closure and the use of remote learning days for Illinois schools until April 30. While we will be prepared to have our faculty, staff and students back on campus May 1, we are also planning for the realistic possibility that we will finish the year teaching and learning remotely.

Our first and foremost priority for the past few weeks has been to refine and implement our remote learning teaching and learning plan for students. We are doing everything that we can to ensure that students continue to receive outstanding teaching and learning experiences from our amazing faculty and staff.

At the same time, we also recognize that a school is much more than the building,  classrooms, homework, quizzes and tests. What makes Stevenson High School so special are the amazing co-curricular opportunities that we offer to our students. As the parent of a high school senior, I know very well how important these events are for our students and our families. While it is obvious that we will be unable to facilitate many of our usual spring co-curricular events, we have been working hard this week to plan for three particularly important spring events: Prom, Spring Fling and Graduation. 

While we wish we could say for certain when the exact dates will be, we hope that you understand the very uncertain nature of schools and planning these days. What is most important for us is to follow the advice and guidance from the State of Illinois, our local health authorities and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines (social distancing, group size, etc.). With that said, we are pleased to share that we are moving forward with two sets of possible dates for Prom, this summer’s “Patriot Palooza” and Graduation.

As you might imagine, the venue that was to host our Prom has cancelled all events for April and May. We know that Prom is an important event (and if your families are like mine, the dress is already bought and paid for!), so we are tentatively rescheduling Prom for either Saturday, June 20 or Saturday, July 18. 

We also know that many of our students look forward to Spring Fling. In the event that we cannot be on campus in May, we are tentatively planning a “Patriot Palooza” for all Stevenson students from noon to 5 p.m. on Friday, June 26 or Friday, July 24. Similar to our usual Spring Fling event, we will have food trucks, inflatables, a softball tournament, a cricket tournament, ultimate frisbee, and more! This will be a great opportunity to get out of the house, reconnect with your classmates and have some fun!

The most important event in any school year is graduation. It is very important for us to be able to recognize and celebrate the hard work of our senior students, and to share in that experience with their families and friends. While we continue to hold out hope that we will be able to have our Graduation ceremony on Friday, May 22, we are also tentatively planning to hold Graduation on either Sunday, June 28 or Sunday, July 26 at 11 a.m. at the Sears Centre Arena (our usual location for graduation) in Hoffman Estates. We cannot imagine missing the opportunity to celebrate the amazing accomplishments of our seniors with their parents, grandparents, other family members, and friends. 

Please note again that all of these dates are tentative and the ultimate decision will be driven by consultation with our state and local health departments and informed by the CDC guidelines. As our goal has been to avoid cancelling these important milestone events, we hope that you are willing to live with some uncertainty on the exact dates until the week of May 4, when we expect to be able to make a more informed decision on how we may be able to move forward. 

So, in summary, assuming that we are able to do so safely, we are looking forward to celebrating with our students and families at these important events! To keep things simple, we have two plans for moving forward with Prom, Patriot Palooza and Graduation:

Plan Green assumes that we are unable to hold our May events, and the State of Illinois and CDC guidelines suggest it will be safe to to do in June:

Prom: Saturday, June 20, location TBA.
Patriot Palooza: Friday, June 26 on campus!
Graduation: Sunday, June 28 at 11 a.m. at the Sears Centre Arena

Plan Gold assumes that the State of Illinois and CDC guidelines suggest that we need to wait until July to celebrate:

Prom: Saturday, July 18, location TBA.
Patriot Palooza: Friday, July 24 on campus!
Graduation: Sunday, July 26 at 11 a.m. at the Sears Centre Arena

Obviously, more details will be coming in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, please be sure to visit our social media sites (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) for current news and updates. You can access all of our social media pages from our website at www.d125.org.

While much has changed in the past few weeks, one thing has not. We remain fully committed to our mission of Success for Every Student. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Eric Twadell         Mr. Troy Gobble        Dr. Ted Goergen
Superintendent          Principal                    Director of Student Activities

To our Stevenson Parents, Guardians, and Students, 

First of all, we miss seeing all of you in the building!  We hope you and your families are safe and healthy. We know that this has been a sudden and unexpected shift in the way we do school, but we want you to remember that your teachers and our staff are here for you! Let’s stay connected. 

This weekend, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released information on how schools should operate during the newly defined “Remote Learning Days,” which begin tomorrow, March 31. We wanted to provide you with an update for how this will impact our work at Stevenson and your work as a student. Our goal is to continue to provide you with meaningful instruction, feedback, and engaging learning experiences to support your academic growth. This goal requires your commitment, too. 

Most importantly: Let’s keep learning! Our teachers are considering what essential skills are necessary for a student to understand before the end of the year. We will be focused on ensuring all students improve in these essential skills during our Remote Learning Days. Your classes will be focused on developing the skills that fulfill course requirements and prepare you to confidently move forward into the next course in the sequence. Over the remaining weeks of school, we will continue to prepare you for next year and beyond. 

Stay engaged: Our teachers and staff are working diligently to keep you interested and engaged in each of your courses. Some of your class work will be done synchronously — where you meet face to face with your teachers and classmates in an online meeting. Some of your learning will be done asynchronously — where your teachers will ask you to complete key assignments that are designed to help you learn material at your own pace. We know at this difficult time how important it is for all of us to stay engaged with our Stevenson community; your participation in class and your own learning are going to require your focus and collaboration with your classmates. Our teachers and staff are here to support you! Also, reach out to your classmates and stay connected with them as well.  

You might be wondering: Will my teachers be taking attendance and how? Will my assessments be graded and how? In short, the answer to both of those questions is: Yes!

1. Will my teachers be taking attendance and how: Yes, your teachers will be taking attendance. If you are meeting as a class “synchronously,” your teachers will take attendance based on your appearance and participation in an online meeting. If your teachers ask you to complete an assignment or assessment “asynchronously,” your attendance will be determined upon the completion of the activity.  
    
2. Will my assessments be graded and how? Yes, your teachers will continue to give assignments and assessments (essays, quizzes, tests, etc.) over the next few weeks as always. Here’s some good news: Your current grade can only improve during our Remote Learning Days. What does that mean? At the beginning of next week, your current grade status will be posted for each of your courses. This current grade will be used as a baseline. Throughout the upcoming weeks, the work you submit will receive scores and feedback from your teachers.  Only scores that will increase your baseline grade will be used to calculate your semester final grade. We understand that remote learning can be difficult for some, and we want to assure students and parents that no student’s overall grade will be harmed in this process, only improved. Again, our goal is to support student learning over the next few weeks.

As we move forward together, we want to continue to provide you with the best possible educational opportunities. We are so proud of everyone in our community as they have worked to make the best of a challenging situation. Please stay engaged with the learning and our Patriot family!  

If you have any questions, please send them our way. We are looking forward to seeing you online tomorrow!

Sincerely, 

Troy Gobble      Mark Onuscheck
Principal            Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students:

We sincerely hope that you are doing well and staying safe and healthy during this Spring Break week. For many of us, life has been turned completely upside down from where we thought it would be just a few weeks ago. Most of us are suddenly working from home, although sadly, some are not able to work at all. Some of us have had college students return home earlier than expected, and trying to keep them and our other children safe, healthy, and productive is proving to be a tall order. The definition of a “normal” day has taken on a completely new meaning. Please know that we fully understand the challenges that our Stevenson families and students are facing and we are working hard to get to a “new normal” as quickly as possible.

As we noted on Thursday, we wanted to hold off on sending out any further information on how teaching and learning will continue for us until we had factual information that we could forward to you. We received the new guidelines last night from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) on how we can move forward with newly defined “Remote Learning Days” and it is clear that due to the hard work and preparation of our faculty and staff we are in a very good position to move forward beginning on Tuesday, March 31.

While the governor has targeted April 7 as the end of mandatory school closures, we are moving forward with our planning assuming that the closure will last longer. If we are lucky enough to be able to come back to our campus sooner, we can easily adjust our plans from that point forward. Given the likelihood of the current situation continuing longer than expected, and taking into account feedback from students, parents and teachers, and the ISBE guidelines we are making some adjustments to our Remote Learning plan beginning next week.

• As noted in our email on Thursday, Monday, March 30 will be a Non-School Day for students. Given the new guidelines from the Illinois State Board of Education, our academic divisions and curriculum teacher teams will need this time to collaboratively plan how they are going to adjust our curriculum and move forward with the newly designated Remote Learning Days.
   
• We have revised our Remote Learning Days schedule after receiving feedback from students and teachers in order to better support instruction and student learning in both synchronous (virtual, in real-time) and asynchronous (independent work for students) methods. We hope this new schedule will also allow us to reduce the volume of student screen time, allow for more manageable breaks between synchronous experiences, and provide a more balanced workload experience for students.
   
  • Our new daily schedule for Remote Learning will be as follows (click here to download a PDF):

• Our teachers, working closely with their divisional curriculum teams, will continue to provide both synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning opportunities for students. It will be important for students to log in each day at 8:30 a.m. to determine their teachers’ expectations for the day's work.
   
• There was a lack of clarity from ISBE regarding attendance and grading during the “Act of God” Days. Mr. Gobble (Principal) and Mr. Onuscheck (Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment) will provide further details on our attendance and grading procedures moving forward in a subsequent email to parents and students on Monday, March 30. In general:
   
  • Teachers will continue to track and record attendance, and our deans, counselors and social workers will check in on students and families as needed.
     
  • We will follow the new ISBE recommendations on grading that are based upon the principle of “no educational harm to any child.” Which simply means that students’ grades should not be negatively impacted during our Remote Learning Days. Students will continue to have the opportunity to demonstrate evidence of proficiency and improve their grades as the semester progresses. We will continue to provide various types of learning opportunities and assessments, such as: essays, discussions, quizzes and tests during our Remote Learning Days.

We also know that there are many lingering questions that parents and students have such as: How will Advanced Placement Exams be administered? Has prom been cancelled? What about graduation? Will we still have Summer School? Etc. Please know that we are working very hard to maintain and / or postpone as many events as possible rather than simply cancelling events that are weeks and months away.

While our primary goal the past week has been to get school “up and running” again on Tuesday, March 31 we are also trying to look and plan ahead for all the end of the year events. We know that the mandatory school closure is hard for all students, but especially for our senior students. We know how hard they have worked and we want to be able to celebrate and recognize their achievements. We are committed to providing you with accurate and up to date information as it becomes clear to us.

Thank you all for your patience, flexibility and grace as we do our best to support our families, parents, and students during this unprecedented time.

Sincerely,

Dr. Eric Twadell    Troy Gobble
Superintendent.    Principal

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students:

We sincerely hope that you are doing well and staying safe and healthy during this Spring Break week. Last Friday, we said that we would let you know by today what, if any changes, would be coming from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) that would affect our e-Learning plans moving forward.

As of this afternoon, the ISBE has not provided any updates to their mandatory guidelines on how we will be allowed to move forward with e-Learning after March 30. What we can tell you is that Monday, March 30 will be a non-attendance day for students, and a work day for teachers to make curriculum and instructional adjustments given the changes that we anticipate from the ISBE. We fully expect to resume our e-Learning days on Tuesday, March 31. Although we have a fully developed e-Learning/remote learning plan for moving forward, we are holding off on sharing information as we want to ensure that our plan meets ISBE mandatory guidelines. We will email an update as soon as we hear the requirements from the ISBE and finalize our e-Learning/remote learning plans accordingly.

During this challenging time, we have received a tremendous amount of support, and a willingness to volunteer time and resources, among our students and parents. As you may know, many parents of Stevenson students have lost their jobs as a result of this outbreak. To support families in need, our Stevenson High School Foundation has developed a new initiative, Stevenson: One Family. The Stevenson: One Family initiative will serve as a complimentary program to our Kids in Need (KIN) program and will provide financial assistance (i.e. gift cards to grocery stores, restaurants, etc.) to Stevenson families that find themselves in need during this time. If your family is in need — or if you are willing to donate your talents or resources to our Stevenson: One Family initiative — please click here.

Thank you all for your patience, flexibility and grace as we do our best to support our families, parents, and students during this unprecedented time.

Sincerely,

Dr. Eric Twadell        
Superintendent

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students:

As we head into our Spring Break week, we would like to offer our heartfelt gratitude for your support during this unprecedented time. Our first week of e-Learning has been a mammoth undertaking by our teachers, who in many cases have children of their own at home who they are trying to lead through their own continuing education opportunities. Thank you for supporting their work, and for rallying around the importance of the continual learning of our students. We appreciate your patience, flexibility and understanding.

As I am sure you are well aware by now, the governor has instituted an emergency stay at home order for the state of Illinois, effective at 5 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, March 21. For more information on the governor’s executive order, click here.

In addition to the stay at home order, the statewide school closure is being extended to at least April 8. While we are hopeful, and fully expect, that we will be able to continue with our local e-Learning efforts, we have not yet received information or official guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

In an effort to communicate clear and accurate information, here is what we know as of today:

• As you might imagine, our current e-Learning plan was not designed for an extended school closure and crisis like we are experiencing now. As such, we have been working hard to modify our plan for an extended school closure. We are using the feedback that we collected through a survey of students and teachers this week to help guide our decision-making moving forward. We will communicate on or before Thursday, March 26 our plan for supporting students as we move into April.
• Please know that we are continuing to offer meal service for the families of our students in need. Should you find yourself in this situation, please contact Deanna Dreyer at ddreyer@d125.org for more information.
• The College Board has informed us they will be moving Advanced Placement exams to “streamlined online exams.” (Click here for the announcement.) We fully understand and appreciate the extraordinary amount of work that students and teachers have put into preparing for AP exams, and our e-Learning plan for April will address how we will continue to support students in their preparation.

We are working closely with local emergency management agencies and collaborating with other governmental agencies to address the identified health and safety needs of the members of our community.

We know that this is a stressful and anxious time for everyone. Please know that we are working hard to ensure that we prioritize what is in the best interests of the health and safety of our community, students, parents and guardians, and our faculty and staff.

We will provide more information as it becomes available, or no later than Thursday, March 26.

In the meantime, please stay safe and healthy.

Sincerely,

Dr. Eric Twadell           Troy Gobble
Superintendent            Principal

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,

First and foremost, thank you for your patience and flexibility as we finalize the move of Stevenson High School into an e-Learning environment. We have been working around the clock for the past 96 hours since the governor's announcement of school closures to revise our e-Learning plan to serve our students to the best of our ability and do so within the new ISBE mandatory guidelines.

Here is what this means for families:

• We will have e-Learning weeks:
  • March 17 through March 20
  • March 30 through April 3
  • On e-Learning Days, we will continue to follow the regular daily bell schedule as if classes were meeting in the school. Click here to see the regular daily schedule. 
    • Exceptions: There are no study halls, no freshman advisories, and no loss of privilege times.
• Spring Break will be observed March 23 through March 27 (no classes).
• More information will be forthcoming regarding the weeks of April 6 and April 13.

During our e-Learning Days, we will use a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. What does that mean?

• Synchronous Learning happens in real time, much like an online distance learning class. Synchronous learning will take place during your regular daily class period. 
• Asynchronous Learning is independent work that is assigned online, but which students may complete offline. Asynchronous lessons and assignments may be completed at any time before their due date. 

Teachers may use one or both types of lessons during the time that Stevenson High School is operating in our e-Learning environment.

On e-Learning Days, students are asked to do the following:

• Check Canvas and their Stevenson email daily by 8 a.m. to:
  • Be informed by their teachers of the plans and expectations their teachers have for class, needed materials and assignments.
  • Be informed by their teachers if they will need to join a synchronous class session (during regular daily class times).
• Students will need to complete the assigned lessons and assignments by the day and time listed by the teacher.
• Teachers will be available to answer questions throughout the day through email.

Our Principal, Mr. Gobble, will provide a follow-up email later today for students with additional information and details for the start of our first e-Learning school day tomorrow. While we are navigating truly uncharted waters, we are confident that our e-Learning plan is the most effective way to continue your student’s education in the coming days and weeks. 

We know that there is a fair amount of worry, stress, and anxiety among parents and students regarding what the next few weeks will look like in terms of school. We understand. Many of us here at Stevenson are feeling it as well as we are trying to support our own families through this difficult time. Please know that our faculty, support staff and administrative team are continuing to work tirelessly on behalf of our Stevenson students.

While we’ve been focused on getting our academic classes up and running for the past 96 hours, please know that our Student Services Division has also been working around the clock to prepare for this transition. We continue to be committed in our efforts to help students develop and support their Social and Emotional Learning. Our exceptional Student Support Teams — counselors, deans, social workers, and psychologists — will be available for any student who needs help. We continue to be here for you. If parents or students need to speak with one of our professionals, please send them an email to arrange an online meeting. 

While we are facing unprecedented challenges, you have our promise, our commitment, that we have never been more committed to realizing our mission of Success for Every Student. 

Finally, I wanted to share with you just one example of the many ways that our faculty and staff are embracing this unprecedented challenge with resilience and creativity. Yesterday, our Student Activities Division announced to all students via email that we will be having a “Virtual Spirit Week” starting today as a way to keep them engaged and connected with one another. Here is what the Virtual Spirit Week looks like:

Please encourage your student to participate with peers in this fun event. Students, check out Mr. Gobble’s green and gold PJ’s on Instagram!
 
Students, we are looking forward to seeing you online tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.!

Sincerely,
 
Dr. Eric Twadell
Superintendent
 

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,

Shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday night, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released new and updated state-wide mandatory guidelines for schools that prohibits us from moving forward with our planned synchronous e-Learning Days announced this past Thursday. 

However, we are currently in communication with the ISBE and it is clear the situation at the state level is evolving rapidly, and will likely change again significantly within the next 12-24 hours. As such, we are unable to determine with any degree of certainty how Stevenson High School will operate during the March 17-March 30 school closure. Our intention remains to begin using our synchronous e-Learning days as soon as we are allowed to do so by the ISBE.

Given the uncertain nature of information at this time, we are changing our expectations for tomorrow.

• Monday, March 16, will be a Student Non-Attendance Day.
• There will be no e-Learning classes Monday, March 16.
• The school building will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, March 16.
  • Please only come to the school if it is absolutely necessary.
  • All students should enter the school through the circle drive entrance by the Principal’s Office.
    • Students may come to the school if they need to pick up a musical instrument or other necessary items.
    • The SMARTdesk in the Link Lab also will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, March 16.

Please know that our faculty and staff have been working tirelessly for the past 72 hours to get ready for moving Stevenson High School into a fully synchronous e-Learning environment. Watching the hard work, resilience, and dedication of our faculty and staff for the past three days as they prepare their e-Learning curriculum and lessons has been awe inspiring. Again, our intention remains to begin using our synchronous e-Learning days as soon as we are allowed to do so by the ISBE.

While I am sure that most of you have been inundated with the following, we thought it would be a good reminder that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has recommended the following:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
• If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Put distance between yourself and other people if COVID-19 is spreading in your community.

Thank you in advance for your patience and flexibility as we navigate these challenging times. 

We will provide more information tomorrow as it becomes available to us.

Thank you, 

Dr. Eric Twadell
Superintendent

To The District 125 Community:

To safeguard the health and wellness of all students and staff, and after consultation with village officials and considering the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) regarding limiting the gathering of large groups, we have decided to close Stevenson High School to students beginning tomorrow, Friday, March 13, in an abundance of caution and as a precautionary measure to limit the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) illness in our community. 

To prepare for what we expect to be a prolonged closure:

• On Friday, March 13 teachers will be working collaboratively in their academic divisions preparing for our e-Learning days. Students will have a Non-School Day on Friday, March 13. 
• E-Learning Days will begin on Monday, March 16. 
• Spring Break will still be observed March 23-27. 
• Our tentative plan is to return to on-campus classes on Monday, April 6.

Here are important details all families should know:

1. As you know, we have the finest faculty of any high school in America. We are confident that they will deliver outstanding instruction to our students online using our e-Learning strategies. Please visit our e-Learning Days web page at https://www.d125.org/academics/elearning-days to familiarize yourself with our procedures.
2. Teachers will be using our learning management systems Canvas & Google Classroom to support our e-Learning days. If you are unfamiliar with Canvas, please watch the short video about it on our Parents web page at https://www.d125.org/parents. The page also contains information on signing up for a Canvas account if you have not already done so.
3. We will continue to follow our regular class schedule during e-Learning days. Teachers and students will be expected to be online and available to one another during the times when they would normally be accessible.  (e.g. Early Bird, 1st - 8:30-9:21, 2nd - 9:26-10:13, etc)  Teachers will invite students into online classes through the Conference function in Canvas, Zoom, or Google Chat.
4. A tutorial on how to use the Conference function in Canvas can be found here. A tutorial on how to use Zoom can be found here.
5. On Monday morning, March 16, students should look for an email from their teachers with specific directions for the day, and be ready to log-in to Canvas or Google Classroom at the start of each regularly scheduled class period.
6. Attendance will be taken each day, and daily instructions, directions, and activities will be sequenced by each teacher and their curriculum teams.
7. If your student has a medical appointment or some other circumstance that will interfere with participation in their classes, please send an email to your teacher. 
8. Starting Saturday, March 14, all co-curricular activities, including athletics, will be postponed or cancelled until further notice. For further information please contact your coach or club sponsor.

Students may come to the school on Friday, March 13 between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. to collect items they may have left in their lockers. Beginning Saturday, March 14, we will be closing the school building.

While we know this is an unprecedented decision, these are unprecedented times. We are committed to following CDC recommendations and to do our part in taking preventative measures to mitigate the impact of this pandemic. While we have not been notified of any staff or students being diagnosed with COVID-19, we believe the evidence that makes it increasingly clear that it is better for schools to close sooner rather than later to slow the spread of the disease. Although it seems that the coronavirus has primarily impacted people 60 and older, the reality is that even if our students are less likely to be adversely affected, they still could be carriers of the disease. Closing the school reduces the incubation effect that occurs when 4,300 students, and more than 600 adults gather in the school on a daily basis. 

The decision to close school is not one we are making lightly. We are fully aware of the complications that this will cause in the lives of our students and their families — and for our faculty and staff as well. Whatever the downsides of closing school may be, we believe that as a public school we have a shared responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff and the larger Stevenson community.

We will continue to share information and update families throughout the days and weeks ahead. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate these challenging times.

Dr. Eric Twadell
Superintendent

To All Parents and Guardians:

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is pushing schools in many parts of the country, including Stevenson, into unchartered waters. In our more than 25 years of education, we have dealt with pertussis and flu outbreaks, including this year, as well as the SARS epidemic of 2002-03. However, the speed with which COVID-19 has spread, and the uncertainty that still surrounds it, have made for an unprecedented situation.

While there are no confirmed cases among our students or adults as of now, the rapid spread of the disease makes it likely that we will be impacted before the end of the school year. In light of this reality, we wanted to share with you some of the issues our leadership team has been discussing.

Who Informs Our Decision Making? While our nursing staff does extraordinary work in helping to maintain the health of our students — and has been invaluable in dealing with the pertussis situation this school year — we will continue to look primarily to local, state and federal health departments for guidance in addressing the coronavirus outbreak. They are experts in this area, and we are not.

What If Someone Has COVID-19? If we become aware that a student or staff member has been diagnosed with COVID-19, we will notify the Lake County Health Department and then notify our Stevenson community. We also will share if and/or how the academic and co-curricular schedule may be impacted. Notifications for students, parents and staff will occur in the same way that we would announce other emergency closures, using a combination of phone calls, emails and website/social media announcements.

Canceling Classes or Events: Our first and most important responsibility is to safeguard the health and well-being of our students, staff and community. To that end, we will follow the Lake County Health Department and the Center for Disease Control’s guidance and direct recommendations when considering any cancellations.  At this time, our public health officials have not recommended nor directed us to cancel or reschedule classes or other school events.

Will We Use e-Learning Days? Yes. We are confident the use of e-Learnings days and Canvas (our Learning Management System) is our best opportunity to support student learning during what may be a challenging time.

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to much uncertainty. Our team has had numerous planning sessions on how we will react if, or when, the virus touches our community. While we have tried our best to be proactive — including an even greater intensity to daily and nightly cleaning of our school building — there may be situations and circumstances that make for difficult decisions. Once again, in those cases our primary concern is the safety and well-being of students, supported by the latest recommendations and directives from public health officials.

In the meantime, we would like to remind you of these basic steps that everyone should be taking to minimize the spread of this and any respiratory illness:

• Stay home when you are sick.
• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. 
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

We will continue to monitor this situation and keep our Stevenson community informed of any new information as it develops. If you have specific questions please do not hesitate to reach out to one or both of us.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Dr. Eric Twadell            Mr. Troy Gobble
Superintendent            Principal
 

This message was sent to all parents and guardians via email on Thursday, Feb. 27:

Tuesday’s announcement by the Centers for Disease Control about the likely spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) throughout the United States has understandably caused concern in the Stevenson community.

Although the number of diagnosed cases in the United States was 53 as of Tuesday, Feb. 25 (including two cases in Illinois), we are making preparations for the virus’ expected spread throughout the country. Here are steps we are taking to prepare:

• Earlier this month, we advised families that any student who had returned recently from mainland China should not attend school for 14 days after the return date. We also encouraged family members of these students to not attend work if they also traveled to mainland China. This precaution will remain in effect for the foreseeable future.
• We are reminding our faculty and staff about our eLearning Days procedures in the event that a COVID-19 outbreak should force us to close school. At this time, neither federal nor state health authorities are recommending that schools cancel classes. Should the situation worsen and warrant the closing of school, the District 125 Board of Education has authorized the use of up to five eLearning Days per school year, which count as official attendance days. This would be our preferred course of action rather than canceling classes and making days up after Memorial Day.
• Our nurses will remain vigilant in monitoring the student body, especially in cases where students exhibit symptoms associated with the virus. The nurses are in frequent contact with the Lake County Health Department to receive the latest guidance. Currently, public health officials are not recommending the use of masks or gloves in public settings.
• Sodexo, which provides our custodial and culinary services, continues to follow the recommended processes for cleaning and disinfecting with products registered with the Environmental Protection Agency. As a worldwide organization, Sodexo is at the forefront of employing preventive sanitizing measures in hundreds of secondary schools and universities.

While the coronavirus news is concerning, we believe it is important to point out that, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, there are other respiratory viruses like influenza currently circulating in Illinois. Fever, coughing and difficulty breathing are symptoms associated with all of them. Therefore, anyone exhibiting these symptoms should not be assumed to have COVID-19. If your student, or anyone in your family, develops such symptoms, we urge you to contact your medical provider immediately. In the meantime, we reiterate the following common sense actions that you and your family can take for protection:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Also, if you or anyone in your family has traveled to or from mainland China within the past month, we ask that you contact our nurses at nurses@d125.org or 847-415-4039.

Here are links for more information on the coronavirus outbreak:

Centers for Disease Control:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Illinois Department of Public Health:
http://dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/diseases-and-conditions/diseases-a-z-list/coronavirus

Lake County Health Department:
https://www.lakecountyil.gov/4377/Coronavirus-Disease-2019-COVID-19

Dear Student and Parent/Guardian:

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a multiple-choice test administered by The United States Military Entrance Processing Command and used to determine qualifications for enlistment in the United States Armed Forces. In addition to being used as an enlistment measure, the ASVAB may be used to provide students with information regarding career options.

Specifically, the ASVAB:
• Assists students to identify strengths and opportunities for growth
• Allows students to meet with an Education Services Specialist to review results immediately after the assessment
• Shares information with students about the option of joining the military following high school

The ASVAB consists of three main components:
1. Multiple Aptitude Test—This portion of the test covers eight areas including science, word knowledge, mathematics, and mechanical comprehension. It assesses a student’s ability to learn new skills and is a predictor of success in training and education programs.
2. Interest Inventory—This portion of the test consists of a 90-item interest inventory based on John
Holland’s theory of career choice.
3. Career Exploration Tool—This portion of the test contains information about 400+ occupations and
provides students with occupations that align with their interests and personality traits.

Stevenson High School will offer the ASVAB assessment to sophomores, juniors and seniors
on Thursday, March 12, 2020 and a results interpretation session on Friday, March 13.

Please sign the attached permission slip to indicate that your child is allowed to take the ASVAB
and meet with an Education Services Specialist. This form must be returned to East Student
Services, Room 6064, by Friday, March 6. Students will not be able to take this
assessment without parent permission.

Important Information for the ASVAB:
• The ASVAB will be given on Thursday, March 12, 2020 in Room 6110 (East Building). Please arrive by 10 a.m. The test will begin at 10:30 a.m. At the conclusion of the test, students will be provided
pizza and then will return to class.
• The ASVAB results reports will be available on Friday, March 13, 2020. Students are welcome to visit the College and Career Center (Room 1123) at the start of their lunch period. Pizza will be provided and students will review their individual results with an ASVAB Education Services Specialist. Students will then return to class.
• Students must bring their school ID or driver’s license to the test.
• Students may not use a calculator for any portion of the ASVAB.
• Students will take a computer version of the ASVAB. Pencils and scratch paper will be provided.
• No testing accommodations are available for the ASVAB.
• ASVAB results will be released to students and SHS counselors the day after the examination.
• Stevenson High School will not release score reports to military recruiters.
• Available to sophomores, juniors and seniors only.

Dear Parent/Guardian:

At SHS, we are committed to supporting the physical, mental, and emotional wellness of all students. While the adolescent years are often characterized by a roller-coaster ride of emotions, it is important to identify students who may be experiencing more significant concerns that could be indicative of depression. Depression is a mental illness which must be taken seriously as it is a risk factor for suicide; however, it is also the most treatable of all mental illnesses.

To proactively address these concerns, all junior students will be participating in a depression awareness and suicide prevention program called Signs of Suicide (SOS). This program educates students about the symptoms of depression and resources available for support. It encourages students to seek help from adults if they are concerned about themselves or their peers. Listed on SAMHSA’s (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices, SOS showed a reduction in self-reported suicide attempts by 40-64% in randomized control studies (Aseltine et al., 2007 & Schilling et al., 2016).  The SOS Program is brought to us by Elyssa’s Mission, a nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention. More information on suicide prevention specifically for parents may be found on their website (www.elyssasmission.org).

Our goals in participating in this program are straightforward:

• To help students understand that depression is a treatable illness

• To explain that suicide is a preventable tragedy that may occur as a result of untreated depression

• To provide students with information about the symptoms of serious depression and potential suicidality

• To encourage students to seek the help of adults when concerned about themselves or a peer

• To help students know the resources available for support at SHS

SOS will be taught by counselors during your child’s English class according to the schedule below. (Look for your child’s English teacher’s last name and the period of their English class to find the date the SOS program is scheduled). As part of the program, students will complete a brief depression screener (survey) to assess their risk of depression. The depression screening tool does not provide a diagnosis of depression, but rather alerts school staff to those students who may require further support. Any student identified as potentially needing more support will meet with an SHS counselor, social worker, or psychologist, and parents will be contacted regarding any needed next steps.  

If you do not want your child to participate in the SOS Program, please complete this form no later than January 31. If we do not hear from you, we will assume your child has permission to participate in this program. If you have further questions/concerns, please contact a member of your child’s Student Support Team (SST). 

Kind regards,

Sarah Bowen
Director of Student Services

Signs of Suicide Schedule - By Teacher Last Name

Baron - Feb. 24
Cullen - Feb. 24
Demarakis - March 3
Foley - March 16
Forde - Feb. 19
Fritz - Feb. 25
Heller - March 19
Keller - Feb. 18
Kenney - Feb. 25
Kim - Feb. 24
Lockowitz - Feb. 18
Lukens - March 5
Mack - March 16
Maxwell - Feb. 24
Musolf - Feb. 18
O’Reilly - March 3
Smith - March 16
Sternberg - March 5
Svihra - March 3
Voelker - March 11
Ward - Feb. 19
Zagorski - Feb. 25

*Aseltine, R. H., Jr., James, A., Schilling, E. A. (2016). The SOS prevention program: Further evidence of efficacy and effectiveness. Prevention Science, 17(2), 157-166.
*Aseltine, R. H., Jr., James, A., Schilling, E. A., & Glanovsky, J. (2007). Evaluating the SOS suicide prevention program: A replication and extension. BMC Public Health, 7, 161.

January 14, 2020

Dear Parent/Guardian:

Stevenson High School maintains a strong commitment to success for every student. We know that students require an academically and emotionally supportive environment in order to thrive. Our faculty and staff strive to meet these needs in a variety of ways.

Stevenson has a long-standing dedication to substance abuse prevention. We consistently aim to implement new, evidence-based strategies that are responsive to the unique health and safety needs of our students. In order to gather the data necessary to implement such programming, we have developed a survey to better understand Illinois youth risk and protective behaviors as they relate to student wellness and academic success.  

Both students and parents are being asked to complete this online survey that will be confidentially administered (no names or identification numbers). The student survey will take approximately 30 minutes, and the parent survey will take approximately 10 minutes. Participation is completely voluntary and privacy will be strictly protected. If there are any questions you or your child do not wish to answer, you are free to skip questions and may stop taking the survey at any time. 

For students, the survey will be administered during an existing activity period on February 12, 2020. There will be no loss of instructional time. Students will be reminded of their rights immediately prior to participation. Parents may access a parallel survey created by Stand Strong Coalition by clicking here. The parent survey will also be available until February 12, 2020. We encourage you to consider participating.

The student and parent surveys include questions regarding:

• student use of alcohol and other drugs, perception of risks, consequences of use, approval or disapproval of use
• students’ feelings about their school experience
• family and personal characteristics
• family communication about substance use
• student feelings about self and moods
• student health behaviors – food intake, exercise, height, and weight

If you have any questions regarding the content of the survey or your child’s rights as a participant in the survey, please contact our Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator, Dr. Cristina Cortesi. She may be reached via email at ccortesi@d125.org or telephone at 847-415-4529. If you do not want your child to participate in the survey, please send notification via email to Dr. Cortesi by January 27, 2020. Should you choose to deny permission for your child to participate, it will not in any way influence your future relationship with Stevenson High School.  

Kind regards,

Sarah Bowen 
Director of Student Services
 

December, 2019

Dear Junior and Parent(s)/Guardian(s):

We’d like to invite you to our college counseling activities that occur during second
semester. We kicked off our program in November when we hosted “College Night for Junior
Families.” If you missed this introductory evening to the college planning process, the
powerpoint slides are published on the CCC website, which you can access under the Documents
and Downloads section toward the bottom: https://www.d125.org/academics/college.

As you may remember, Student Services invited underclassmen and a parent/guardian
to a SCoPE meeting (School Counselor Parent Engagement Meeting) with the student’s
counselor during their freshman and sophomore years. We now would like to invite you to join
us in a Post Secondary SCoPE meeting, which is a 45-minute individual family appointment
with a post secondary counselor. In order to accommodate every student in the Class of 2021,
we will make one such appointment per student. We are available through the middle of June;
for the convenience of some of our families, we also have appointments available on five
Saturdays between January to April.

While students may be excused from class to attend a Post-Secondary SCoPE (P-SCoPE)
meeting, please make every attempt to schedule the meeting during a time when your child will
not have to miss class, such as before school, free period, lunch or study hall. Should your
family require a translator, please contact the CCC as soon as possible and no later than two
weeks prior to the meeting. The deadline for scheduling a Post-Secondary SCoPE meeting by
mid-June is Thursday, April 9, 2020.

Steps to scheduling your Post-Secondary SCoPE meeting:

• Complete the College/Post Secondary Planning Worksheet mailed to you in November. There are additional copies of the worksheet at www.d125.org/college. The Post Secondary SCoPE meeting link is located on the right rail. Families should complete the worksheet and return it to the College Career Center (Room 1123). The worksheet can also be faxed to: 847-634-6015 or emailed to shs_collegecareer@d125.org.
• Once we have received your completed worksheet, we will email you a link to the appointment calendar to schedule your meeting. You will schedule the appointment with one of the post-secondary counselors.
• Completing an SAT or ACT prior to our appointment, while helpful, is not mandatory.

Participating in a Post-Secondary SCoPE meeting during your junior year can only enhance our ability to assist you in the college admission process in the fall. We hope this meeting will greatly support you in the college planning process.

We hope you take advantage of all our programs including the Post-Secondary SCoPE meeting so that your decision of where to attend college is enhanced by collaborative conversations with a Stevenson post secondary counselor. Please know that together with your school counselor, we are here to serve as a resource for you during this process.

Most Sincerely,
Ms. Sara English and Mr. Dan Miller
SHS Post Secondary Counselors

December 2019 

Dear Parents/Guardians of the Class of 2024: 

We would like to take the opportunity to welcome you and your child to the Stevenson family! We know that your child's transition from eighth grade to high school is both exciting and filled with many questions. Please know that SHS staff are here to answer your questions and support your family in navigating the exciting high school opportunities that await! 

In January, Stevenson will host Orientation and Course Selection evenings for eighth graders and their families. 

Orientation: These evenings are an important part of the transition to high school as they provide families with information shared by our curriculum directors and students regarding course offerings and co-curricular activities. Families will also receive information regarding the online enrollment process, which must be completed for all freshman students by January 31, 2020. Directors, teachers, and Student Services staff will be available before and after the Orientation evenings to discuss your questions regarding the course selection and enrollment processes. 

Dates:
January 7 (Student last names A-H) 
January 9 (Student last names 1-P)
January 15 (Student last names Q-Z) 

Times:
6 p.m. Packet pick-up near the Performing Arts Center (PAC) - information packets 
containing a password for online enrollment, a 2020-21 course book, summer school catalog, co-curricular catalog, and health forms will be available for pick-up. 
6 p.m. School tours starting at the Forum (Point Entrance) 
7 p.m. Presentation in the PAC 

Course Selection: Eighth graders and their families will be able to meet individually with a school counselor for a brief conversation about freshman course choices. Student Services staff will also be available during these evenings to answer questions related to enrollment. Prior to the Course Selection Evenings (and after the Orientation evenings), families will receive a mailing from SHS sharing the course recommendations for their child. 

Dates:
January 23 (Student last names A-L) 
January 28 (Student last names M-Z) 
Time: 4-7 p.m. 
While we ask that you please attend the date that corresponds to your last name so that we may try to balance numbers, choose an alternate date if necessary. There is no need to inform us of the change. 

Interpreters in Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Russian, and Spanish will be available for these events. Please email Suzanne Paloian at spaloian@d125.org no later than January 3 if you require an interpreter in one of these languages. 

The Student Services Division has prepared a resource for students and families entitled Transitions, This guide, which is enclosed in this mailing and also available on the SHS website (click here to download), provides a comprehensive outline of the transition to high school process and addresses frequently asked questions.

If you have any questions regarding Orientation, course selection, and/or enrollment, please contact Regina Anderson (reanderson@d125.org/847-415-4502) or Suzanne Paloian (spaloian@d125.org/847-415-4500). 

We look forward to meeting you and your child! 

Kind regards, 
Sarah Bowen
Director of Student Services