Hello!

I’m Lisa Small, Superintendent of High School District 211.

It has been a great start to the school year. 

We are already past the six-week checkpoint of the first semester.  As a reminder, there are two 18-week semesters for the school year with informal checkpoints at 6 and 12 weeks within each semester.  

These checkpoints are a great time for families to formally check-in with how classes are progressing.  Through Infinite Campus, you can always see a detailed in-progress grade any time during the semester. If you are unable to log into Infinite Campus, please call your school’s main phone number for assistance. 

We’ve just wrapped up our homecoming celebrations across the District. Our athletic teams are continuing their winning traditions. Classes are in full swing, and our performing arts groups are preparing to showcase a variety of fall and early winter performances. 

Many of you were at our open houses in September, the First Generation College Symposium online, the Directions College and Career Fair at Harper College and our recent District 211 College Night hosted by Palatine High School. 

Thank you for taking the time to attend these sessions and connect with our administrators, teachers, student services staff and representatives from colleges and universities.

I hope the information you received will create additional conversations at home regarding your student’s classes, progress and success after they leave our high schools. 

Throughout the year, you will hear more about our career explorations opportunities that occur during the school year including site visits, internships and our career fair webinars. 

One of the reasons I chose education as a profession was for the excitement and creativity that evolves when you bring teenagers together. As I walk through our schools and talk with students and staff, there is a positive energy that can be heard and felt. 

Today, I’m at Schaumburg High School and am being filmed by students involved in the broadcast program. We have more than 60 activities and 30 sports offered at our schools allowing our students to get involved beyond the school day. 

Thank you to today’s crew from the Schaumburg High School Broadcast Media class.

In District 211, we believe in the power of student involvement. We know that students who are involved are more connected to their school, and that connection is so important to us. 

Through involvement, students can build connections with peers, meet new people and interact in positive ways with adults in our building. Students engaging in afterschool sports and activities develop lifelong skills that go beyond the classroom and create trusting relationships.

If your child is not currently involved in an afterschool connection and needs assistance finding something of interest, have them see their counselor, administrator or the school’s activity or athletic director. There are many activities that have flexible time commitments depending on the afterschool availability of the student. 

There is something for everyone and if there isn’t, our activity directors are ready to work with groups of students seeking an afterschool connection. 

A  list of opportunities for activities and athletics is on our school websites.

We also have a new opportunity for our parents and community members to become involved.

This year, in line with the communication goals within our Strategic Plan, we are inviting you to be a part of the parent Communications Advisory. This group will help our Communications Department determine what our community wants to hear and how you want to hear it. 

We will meet as a group a few times a year in the evening.

There is a form at the bottom of this newsletter for those who are interested.

September was National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month. We hosted activities throughout our schools to help with awareness and prevention of depression and suicide.

These are very real issues affecting people of all ages.

As always, our goal is to equip students and families with the tools and resources they need.

We have wonderful support available for students and staff. As I have mentioned in previous communications, we also have safety reporting buttons on each school website and every District-issued ipad. These allow you to report issues of concern, including mental health issues.

I encourage you to talk to your child about these resources.

At the end of September, we hosted our second District Equity Forum for the students and staff who lead our Equity teams at each of our buildings. It was an extraordinary day of brainstorming and collaboration, and our teams left prepared to make real change in our schools.

We are committed to equitable teaching and learning in all our buildings. We hope to create a sense of true belonging in each of our schools, where everyone feels welcome and accepted.

More information on the District’s Equity Plan is at the bottom of this newsletter. 

We are so grateful to have you all as part of our District 211 learning community.

By moving forward together, we are helping our students reach their full potential and make the most of their high school experience. Thank you for taking the time to stay connected with us.