Huntley 158 Newsletter

Dear Huntley 158 families,

Thanksgiving Break is upon us and as you prepare to spend this holiday week with your families and loved ones, I want to pass on a note of my own gratitude. This time of year presents a timely opportunity to reflect and scan for the positive in our lives, to remember what we are thankful for and share that with those around us. As I have reflected over the course of the 2022-23 school year so far, I am incredibly proud to see our students continue to grow in their learning. As parents and members of our community, I hope you know how much we appreciate your continued partnership in our work to support students on their own pathway to success. Your continuous support shapes our efforts to achieve excellence in education. I am so thankful to live and work in a community such as ours.

I hope you will take a few moments to scan through the updates below, both the reminders and the celebrations. While there is always more work to be done, I am excited to share the wonderful things happening in our classrooms, across on campuses and even on our school buses every day. I hope you can agree that there is much to celebrate in Huntley 158!

I look forward to ending this semester and the 2022 calendar year on a high note with positivity and the continued success of our students. I wish all of our students, staff and families a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

Scott Rowe, Ed.D.

Superintendent

As we head into another midwestern winter, we wanted to remind our community of the factors we utilize in making decisions about whether or not to close school. We would also like to remind our staff and families of the E-Learning Plan that our district approved for use during inclement weather. The expectations for students PreK-12, modified schedules, and remote instruction model is included in our plan here. If Huntley 158 cannot hold a traditional day of school due to weather conditions, we will notify our families of the transition to an E-Learning day or a school closure as early as possible. In order to facilitate an E-Learning day, students should continue to bring their 1:1 devices home with them each day.

Please see some of our decision making factors below. More details and a Snow/Cold Weather FAQ can be found on our website here.

With Thanksgiving break upon us, many students and families may spend more time online during this break from school. Take advantage of this downtime and sign up for your FREE VIP (Very Informed Parent) account through SmartSocial! Huntley 158's partnership with SmartSocial.com, the leader in online training videos and resources, provides parents and families with access to more than 130+ resources that teach us about the most popular social media apps and trends our students are using. Help your students shine online!

Huntley 158 would like to gather input from families regarding your child's learning. The information provided will allow families to have a voice in improving their schools. If you have not already completed this survey during parent teacher conferences, please do so for each child. Thank you in advance for your time and feedback!

At Leggee Elementary School, a group of 5th grade students have been selected to lead the school's first ambassador program. A group of student ambassadors are tasked with greeting their peers every morning with smiles, high fives and compliments to start their day on a positive note. Ambassadors were chosen by their teachers as students who display strong leadership qualities at Leggee, show kindness to others and are responsible members of the school community. Take a look below to meet these outstanding student leaders and hear why they love their role as an ambassador!

On Friday, November 11, students and staff at Marlowe Middle School were thrilled to continue our long-standing tradition of the annual Veterans Day breakfast and ceremony at MMS. We invited local Veterans from all across the Huntley area community, as well as their families, to take part in this special day honoring their service and bravery. Students from Marlowe's orchestra, band and choir performed a collection of songs and a spoken word poem honoring our nation's fallen heroes and the sacrifice of so many men and women have made to protect our country. Led by Marlowe's principal, Mr. Bill Johnson, who is a Veteran himself, the day was a special reminder of what it means to come together as a community. Thank you to all of our students and staff who made this morning a success. And on behalf of all of Huntley 158, thank you to our Veterans for your service and leadership in the community!

This past weekend, students and staff at Huntley High School volunteered to come to campus on a brisk Saturday morning to take part in our solar panel installation with our solar energy partners, Forefront Power. At HHS, students in Mr. Allen's Geometry in Construction class have been working to build a shed over the course of this semester that will house the panels. During the installation process, students worked with three certified electricians to begin the solar panel installation on the shed while gaining valuable experience learning about solar energy, hands-on electrical installation, wiring and more. As part of Huntley 158's partnership with ForeFront, students are able to engage in hands-on curricular initiatives that expose them to the energy professionals and career opportunities in the field of renewable energy. Through the use of solar on all three Huntley 158 campuses, our students have tailor-made access to the field of renewable energy, direct support from our energy partners and the resources to expand learning all across the district.

Students from Huntley High School's robotics and drones class was present to collect drone footage on Saturday, as well as representatives from Forefront Power. Stay tuned on our channels for more footage of this project as it comes together!

Thank to our all of our students and families who attended this month's community event! We were thrilled to celebrate the culture of Indigenous Peoples alongside the Trickster Cultural Center Group and special guest, Chef Jessica, from Chicago's very own Ketapanen Kitchen. Be sure to check out huntley158.org/rad to stay up to date on all things RAD.