109 News

Last year, we sent these newsletters weekly on Fridays. This year, expect them every other Tuesday. The purpose of 109 News is to keep you in the loop on important district-level updates, resources available to you, and take you inside our buildings and show you the amazing learning taking place! These are complementary to the building newsletters you will still receive. Elementary schools will continue weekly Friday emails, while our middle schools will send out newsletters every other Friday. Please reach out to communications@dps109.org if you have any questions!

Side note: we are still making improvements to these sites and the 109 app!

Please make sure to check out www.dps109.org/Fall2021. Just in the last few days, we have updated:

-Our Frequently Asked Questions

-COVID Case Notifications

-Testing for Symptomatic Students

Step 1: Check to see if they have any of the symptoms on this list (provided by IDPH).

Step 2: Fill out the daily health certification (even if your child is NOT attending school that day) and note the symptoms that your child is experiencing. The daily health certification will be emailed to you each morning and is also conveniently found as a button on each school’s website.

Step 3: Do not send your child to school. Wait for the school nurse/administration to reach out to you to follow up on your case. Per the current exclusion guidance, students must be excluded from school until a negative COVID test result or alternative diagnosis.

FAMILIES WITH MULTIPLE CHILDREN IN THE DISTRICT

If one of your children is symptomatic, all unvaccinated children must be excluded from school until the symptomatic child gets a negative test result or alternative diagnosis from a medical provider.

If there are siblings that are vaccinated and their parent/guardian has voluntarily disclosed their child’s vaccination status with the school (using the optional form in Family Access), those student(s) would be able to attend school if they are asymptomatic. Any student who is symptomatic must remain home regardless of their vaccination status.

1. Close contacts will still receive a direct email and/or phone call from the district.
   
   

2. Unlike last year, we will not be sending out classroom/proximity notifications, because if we are following all protocols, there should be no quarantines except for a positive individual. Sending a note to the rest of the class would be, by default, potentially identifying the positive individual.
   
   

3. We will update the dashboard whenever we have a case connected to a school, but will not send out a community-wide email informing people. We received a lot of feedback last year that these emails became overwhelming. Principals will include reminders about the dashboard and COVID information hub in their communication with you, and the district will remind you about it in our bi-weekly newsletters.

We are looking for a few more individuals to expand our crossing guard crew! Please share the application link below with anyone that you think may be interested!

APPLICATION LINK

This week's meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the District Office. All meetings will now be streamed on the district's YouTube channel. Click the logo below for agenda & link information.

After a year of learning remotely, working online and socializing virtually, seeing people in-person again can feel uncomfortable. The theme of CTAD's August newsletter is reconnecting - how to feel less awkward and be more meaningful in our connections with family and friends. Get tips from a DHS student, the Youth and Family Minister at Deerfield's Christ United Church, and a psychologist on how to make the most of our reunions. In this issue:

• The Awkwardness of Reconnecting
• How Parent Attitudes Can Make A Difference (webinar recording)
• Making Everyday Moments More Meaningful
  
• Tips from DHS & HPHS Students on Reconnecting