Friday Fanscout, August 23, 2024

• Confidential Reporting Tool
  

• 2024 Graduates (Yearbook Pick Up)

• LFHS Reads

• New Varsity Field State of the Art Scoreboard Donation

• Special Weeks Calendar

• Athletics
  

• Croya

• City of Lake Forest News: Old Elm Rd. Closed for Union Pacific Work from September 5-11

• LFHS Parent Organization Social

• Congressional Art Competition
  
• Illinois State Board of Education Moves from SAT to ACT
  

• LFHS APT Meeting Dates

• Student One Pager

• 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People FAN Event with Dr. Montgomery and Author David Yeager
  

Need the Fanscout translated? Please see the translation button on the upper right corner of this communication! ¿Necesitas traducir el Fanscout? Por favor, vea el botón de traducción arriba a la derecha!

Dear Lake Forest Community High School,

It’s Friday–and the first Friday of the Best. Year. Ever! We have lots of fun events on the horizon–One Acts, scrimmages, and so much more. The start of the year is always busy–who am I kidding? The entire year is busy, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

I recorded a video this week for our community–a couple of quick reminders, but mostly, I am breaking the seal on something that is outside my comfort zone. I hope to become more tech savvy, bring in guests from time to time, and talk about some pressing concerns that may be out there.

One reminder is our Communication Flowchart. It is important for your student to stay engaged in their learning and practice advocacy skills, and it is just as important that our staff is given the opportunity to hear directly from students when there are concerns. The flowchart is intended to foster a culture of respectful dialogue among everyone in our community, and since we launched it two years ago, it has quite literally opened our lines of communication. Thank you for supporting this work.

Finally, and on a more serious note, I wanted to take a moment to write about vaping. As you are well aware, the “vape scene,” is one that has exploded over the past 7 or 8 years. Vapes can be nicotine, THC, and who knows what else, but what is most important is that We. Stay. Vigilant. The challenge? Manufacturers are creating vapes that look like everyday items. Here is an article that shows images of items that are vapes in disguise. Please help me help our students by having a conversation with your student about the dangers of vaping. Here is information from our CDC that you might consider to help guide the conversation.

Wishing you a great weekend,

Erin

We want to reassure students, parents, staff, and the community that maintaining a safe learning environment is our highest responsibility as a school community. We encourage anyone with concerns about misconduct, past or present, to use the LFHS Confidential Reporting Tool or to contact local law enforcement. The crisis hotline Text For Help is also available as provided by LEAD at 844-823-5323 (community code: LAKECO).

August 24: One Acts 7:00-8:30 PM (RMA)

August 29: Senior Virtual Parent Night Presentation (College Application Process) 7:00 PM

September 2: Labor Day - No School

September 4: Student Portraits

September 5: Student Portraits

September 6: Senior Pano

September 11: Community Safety Series: Role of SRO @ Croya 9:30-10:30 AM

September 12: Counselors Meet with Freshman Parents 6:00-7:00 PM

September 12: Open House 7:00 - 10:00 PM

September 13: Late Start

Attention 2024 graduates! You can pick up your yearbooks in the commons vestibule from 8:00-3:00 PM. If you have not picked them up yet please swing by the high school and pick them up!

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the anonymous donor who generously donated a new state-of-the-art varsity field scoreboard. This incredible addition will enhance the experience for our athletes, students, and fans, making every game more exciting and memorable.

Your support helps us continue to provide the best for our community, and we are deeply appreciative of this outstanding gift. Thank you for your generosity and commitment to our school's athletic program!

Starting on Thursday, September 5 Union Pacific will begin replacing the at-grade vehicle crossing located on Old Elm Road (just west of Sheridan Road). Old Elm Road will be completely closed at the railroad crossing between Sheridan Road and Western Avenue for six days beginning on Thursday, September 5 at 7 am through Wednesday, September 11 at noon (weather permitting). Detour signs will be posted. Learn more.

You're invited!

LFHS Parent Organizations are co-hosting a Back-to-School Fun with Friends Event

When: September 7th

Time: 7:00-10:00 PM

Location: 28 Mile Distilling, 454 Sheridan Rd, Highwood, IL

Live music from Goat Rodeo, cocktails, beer, wine, hummus and crudités plus all-you-can-eat pizza.

Congressman Brad Schneider would like to invite students to showcase their creativity in the Congressional Art Competition. The deadline for this competition would be sometime in March 2025.

This year's art competition will be an open theme in order to encourage and truly showcase students’ creativity! Students may submit artwork of any form with a theme of their choosing. The selected winners will have their artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol and will then be invited to attend the 2025 Congressional Art Competition Reception in Washington DC.

Earlier this summer, the Illinois State Board of Education announced it is switching from the SAT to the ACT for the yearly high school assessment required by and paid for by the state.

LFHS Assistant Principal Frank Lesniak presented information about this change to the District 115 Education Committee on Tuesday. Highlights of that report are shared below:

• The State of Illinois will now use the ACT as the College Readiness and High School Proficiency indicator, and all Illinois schools will follow suit.

• The shift was sudden and surprising, but our team has worked behind the scenes this summer to make sure our structures provide opportunities for our students to do well.

• ECRA, one of our data providers, has provided correlation data to the ACT for students who already have PSATs. We are using this in our first year.

• We have developed our own in-house tool that we plan to provide to our juniors, as well. More to come on that.

• We will still administer the PSAT/NMSQT to juniors, and it will be optional. This is a merit and scholarship qualifier, so we don't want to limit this opportunity.

There is more to share and more to plan, and Mr. Lesniak will provide an update as the fall progresses.

Don't forget to join us for our APT meetings!

APT WEBSITE

Here is the updated student one pager.

Student One Pager