Huskie Howler
January 8, 2024
Good Morning Huskie Families and Happy New Year!
We have such a fun semester ahead for all students! Senior Class - this is your chance to finalize your legacy at NNHS and create those lasting memories during your ending semester of high school.
Here are a few important reminders for everyone as we get underway:
Attendance: While we have made progress in reducing the number of students who are considered federally “chronically absent,” we have work to do. We are asking families to partner with us in getting – and keeping – students in classrooms throughout the second semester.
Attendance and student outcomes have long been studied, but they are being studied now more than ever due to the COVID pandemic. During that time, many students did not attend school buildings regularly and developed poor habits when it came to accessing class information, completing work, and engaging with teachers and peers in a daily, authentic forum. More and more students missed a class here and there, particularly when a grade freeze was initiated by the state legislature.
Some of the recent findings indicate that poor attendance to school leads to elevated levels of delinquent and aggressive behaviors, anxiety and depression, and lower levels of cooperation and self-control. Additionally, students tend to display lower levels of math and literacy achievement, have undeveloped – or under-developed – executive functioning skills, and are the most at-risk of grade retention and drop-out (National Library of Medicine). None of these outcomes is positive, and Naperville North High School is committed to lowering the rate of chronic absenteeism as a school.
First, we would like to share the Compulsory Attendance Law in the state of Illinois: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=010500050K26-1. Although some caveats exist, the law, simplified, states that students between the ages of 6 and 17 are required to attend school.
Naperville North High School has a very liberal attendance policy – one that is designed to accommodate most students’ and families’ needs. Let’s review the attendance expectations as we begin semester two:
- Students should attend school each day - and continue to develop skills of persistence, reliability, and punctuality;
- Students have a ten-day leeway per semester: meaning that each student is allotted ten absences, per period, per semester. These absences are to be used for illness, emergencies, college visits, religious purposes, or bereavement;
- Absences that exceed the allotted ten days will not be excused from school unless appropriate (clinical or otherwise) documentation is provided, explaining the need for the absence;
- Students are no longer able to submit missed work for grading once ten absences have been reached unless documentation is on file;
- Students that continue to violate the NCUSD 203 Attendance Policy will be referred to the DuPage Regional Office of Education Truancy Department
Naturally, the school tries to resolve attendance matters in-house prior to using truancy officers. It is our hope that parents and school administration have open dialogue about student needs and barriers to regular, sustained school attendance so that we may work together to find viable solutions. We are not here to “get families in trouble;” we are here to provide each child that walks through the door access to a quality education and subsequent co- and extra- curricular programming. Sporadic attendance, however, limits student opportunities.
Families are encouraged to keep an open dialogue with students’ assigned deans when it comes to attendance and behavior. The 2023-24 Deans of Students are as follows:
- A-Fak: Greg Hodges (ghodges@naperville203.org)
- Fal-Lez: Sean Williams (swilliams@naperville203.org)
- Lf-Roa: Jeffery Farson (jfarson@naperville203.org)
- Rob-Z: Denise Gomez (dmgomez@naperville203.org)
First Hour Tardies:
School begins at 7:45 AM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Wednesdays – unless otherwise communicated – classes begin at 9:00 AM. Students that drive to school (but do not have parking passes) often find spots on Benedetti or Fifth Avenue. These spaces, however, tend to fill-up by 7:10 AM. Additionally, the traffic in the morning – particularly from 7:30 to 7:45 AM – is rough on Mill Street and Ogden Avenue. We are asking that students plan accordingly, as first hour lateness causes unnecessary interruptions to instruction, presentations, and assessments. Parents are encouraged to use the BUS LOT (the east parking lot) to drop-off students after 7:30 AM.
Academic Integrity:
Young people have grown up in a world where information is a click away. We can find out which country was the first to use paper money – or who invented scissors – in a matter of seconds. And now, with the continued development of artificial intelligence and computer-based technologies that can “do the work” (write papers or complete math problems step-by-step), it is important that students understand the academic integrity policy on pages 149 and 150 of the student handbook. We have seen increased instances in students using ChatGPT, Photomath, or language translators that can provide correct answers in many cases, but simply using these applications do not show growth in student understanding or mastery of concepts. They do not take into account an individual stance on a novel, nor do they provide explanation as to how students arrived at a conclusion when formulating a persuasive essay. Guidelines for “doing your own work” are explained and reinforced frequently in classes.
Cell Phones:
Cell phones are to be put away during class and can be accessed by students before and after school and during lunch periods. They are disruptive – and unproductive – in the educational setting. According to Inside Higher Ed, 90% of all students “admit to using their phones for non-class activities during class.” The constant use of cell phones and Smart Watches breaks streams of concentration and contributes to “high school drama” that is both unhealthy and anxiety-producing.
Students should not be worrying about SnapChat stories when studying photosynthesis, nor should they be engaging in the latest TikTok Challenges – which, in many cases, are extremely dangerous (eating Tide pods) or criminal (ripping paper towel dispensers off the wall). Additionally, parents are asked not to text their kids throughout the day. This is generally the explanation, whether true or not, when a student is caught using a cell phone in class.
Finally, students are not allowed to take devices to the washroom during the school day. First and foremost, there is no acceptable reason to have it in the restroom. Secondly, we have seen students use them to look-up answers during an exam, text friends information about “what’s on an exam,” take photos, or post on social media. None of these is acceptable in school. Students receive detentions for cell phone violations in accordance with the policies listed on pages 138 and 139 in the student handbook.
Thank you for entrusting your students to our care,
Stephanie Posey
Principal