Proud Hawk Community Update
February 14, 2025 💘
Superintendent's Message
February is already proving to be a busy month as we begin planning for the next school year and beyond. We’ve been carefully reviewing the feedback from our strategic planning process and are using your insights to guide our next steps. Stay tuned for some exciting developments, including:
- Expanded social-emotional learning opportunities at the high school
- Spanish language offerings for 8th graders
- Career and Technical Education (CTE) updates with Mr. Frost
- A new K-12 math curriculum on the horizon
As we continue shaping the future of our schools, we remain committed to the Vision for a Heritage Graduate. Our goal is to ensure every student becomes:
- An Effective Communicator who can express ideas clearly and confidently
- An Innovative Problem-Solver who thinks critically and creatively
- A Continuous Learner who strives for academic excellence and personal growth
- A Self-Directed Navigator who sets goals and takes responsibility for their learning and future
- A Productive Collaborator who works effectively with diverse teams
- A Community Contributor who engages positively with the broader community
We also want to address a growing concern: the increased consumption of pop and energy drinks at the high school. These beverages can negatively affect students’ health, energy levels, and focus throughout the day. We encourage healthier choices and appreciate your support in discussing these concerns at home. As per our current District Wellness Policy, parents and students are encouraged to not bring outside food to school by providing healthy school lunches and milk and by not allowing access to food or soda.
Illinois 5Essentials Survey
We value your feedback and invite all families to participate in the annual statewide Illinois 5Essentials Survey: https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/. This survey provides an opportunity to share your thoughts on important elements of school effectiveness and helps us understand areas of strength and opportunities for growth. The survey window is open from February 18, 2025, through March 28, 2025. To participate, please visit the Illinois 5Essentials Survey and select the appropriate survey to begin. Your input is confidential and vital to our continuous improvement efforts.
Our students continue to make us proud every day. We sincerely appreciate your support, especially when we need to intervene to help students make better choices—it’s a team effort, and your partnership is invaluable.
We are also exploring more ways to connect with the community. Thank you for supporting our Kindness Matters 5K. This event was an important step in spreading the message of Character Strong while raising funds for new opportunities for our students.
Finally, we invite you to share your thoughts during our last Strategic Planning Community Input Session—Pizza and Perspectives—on Wednesday, February 26th. I hope you’ll join us for this important conversation!
Thank you for your continued support.
Warmly,
Dr. Norton
The 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school calendars have been officially approved and will be posted on our website soon.
We’re excited to announce the approval of a two-year cooperative agreement with Academy High for girls’ softball and volleyball. Additionally, girls’ basketball will continue under a prior agreement next year.
Mrs. Desmond provided an update on the implementation of Character Strong at the elementary and junior high school levels. More information for families can be shared by selecting the link below.
In other news, Dr. Norton shared that staff are engaging in meaningful professional development. Last week, a few high school teachers attended an event featuring James Nottingham, author of The Learning Pit. In addition, staff members are participating in monthly book studies focused on themes from Stick Together by Jon Gordon. Special thanks to Ms. Donna Kaufman and The Ready school staff for including us in this opportunity.
Starting next week, educators across all levels will take part in a new book study, led by the Regional Office of Education, on Shifting the Balance.
Elementary/Junior High Update-Mrs/ Sanders
It’s hard to believe how quickly February is flying by! Despite the chill in the air, we successfully wrapped up our third quarter mid-term on February 7th. Valentine’s Day brought warmth and joy to our school on the 14th, as students participated in fun games and festive parties to celebrate the occasion.
As we approach the end of the month, we want to highlight our girls’ volleyball team, which has had a great season. We celebrated our 8th grader girls on February 11th, and there’s still time to show your support for our last home game on Friday, February 21st at 4:30 p.m. before regionals kick off in early March.
Looking ahead, we’re excited for the upcoming scholastic bowl and track seasons. Scholastic Bowl kicks off on Feb. 24th. Be sure to mark your calendars for March 10-13th, when our elementary and junior high school will be hosting parent-teacher conferences. Following that, Spring Break will begin on March 14th.
As the year continues to speed by, we continue to prepare for our annual state testing at the beginning of April and an array of end-of –year activities in May. Thank you for being such a vital part of our school community.
Mrs. Sanders
Principal Update-Mr. White
February may be a short month, but there have been lots of things going on at the High School in the past month. We are currently finishing up our third celebration week in a row with the end of FFA week. FFA provided farmers with breakfast on Tuesday along with a trivia challenge for the students, provided teachers with pork chops for lunch on Thursday and finished with the Ag Olympics competition on Friday with the Sophomores winning.
Last week, we celebrated FCCLA week. They had a bake sale all week with lots of delicious items as well as doing their strawberries fundraiser for Valentine's Day. FCCLA is proud of their newly elected Section officers Tatum Morgan, Jayden Schrock and Leigha Tatar.
To begin February, Student Council hosted Winterfest week. The week ended in a dance with a theme of Y2K and the outfits and music brought back memories for staff members.
We had the privilege of hosting our Regions Academic Challenge. Leroy, Fisher and Villa Grove came to the Heritage to participate. Our team took home a third place finish as well as Anthony Happ coming in 3rd for Engineering Graphics. Brenley Sands participated in the All State Honors Chorus. Loran Tate and Brennan Struck were honored at the DAR/SAR luncheon.
Our February student of the month for lending a helping hand was Kevin Orndorff.
The Scholastic Bowl team was able to participate in the conference tournament. We are proud to announce that Colby Schrock was named all conference for answering the 3rd most tossups in conference matches this year.
On the basketball court, Rylan White reached a big milestone in his career by scoring his 1000th point.
Finally, the Girls Basketball team completed an amazing season winning 20 games and playing for a Regional Championship. It has been a great month full of great accomplishments.
