Huntley 158 families,
This week we saw the reality of our current situation. While we have much to celebrate, including students in our classrooms and preparations underway for year-end events, we cannot lose perspective in regard to the ongoing pandemic. The cancellation due to COVID-19 of the FVC Football Championship game between HHS and Cary-Grove that had been scheduled tonight is a prime example of the realities we still face.
As we do within our schools, we encourage our entire community to continue adhering to the public health guidance from the McHenry County Department of Health as well as state and federal agencies. In addition, we encourage all those who are eligible, including our students 16 and over, to sign up for an appointment to be vaccinated. Vaccine reminders:
- McHenry County residents who are 16 and older are now eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine at MCDH clinics.
- In addition to protecting their health, those who have been fully vaccinated get an added benefit in regard to close contact quarantine guidelines. Fully vaccinated individuals who are exhibiting no symptoms will no longer have to quarantine as a result of being a close contact with an infected individual.
- Individuals are considered “fully vaccinated” two weeks after receiving the second dose of the vaccine.
- A parent or guardian must accompany minors to the first and second dose appointment and sign a consent form during both visits. Additionally, minors must present proof of birth date at the time of their appointment.
- If you elect to have your child vaccinated, please inform the high school nurse’s office. This information will assist in future contact tracing procedures.
For information about where to get a vaccination in McHenry County, please visit MCDH’s Vaccine Locations page. To search for available COVID-19 vaccine appointments at an MCDH clinic, visit the COVID-19 Vaccine Registration page or call MCDH’s COVID-19 Call Center at (815) 334-4045.
Looking Ahead to 2021-22
Earlier this week our current families received a survey to help us gauge interest in a remote learning option for next year. If you have not yet, please fill out the survey once for each current PreK-11th grade student in your family. (Graduating seniors need not complete this survey).
Remote Learning Interest Survey
Please know that your responses to this form do not represent a commitment to a learning model. Rather, they will help us understand the needs of our families so that we can accurately plan learning models for next year and beyond.
Outstanding Educator and Employee Nominee Recognition Video
Our Education Foundation has posted video from the Surprise Squad’s visits to present our Outstanding Educator of Employee of the Year nominees. Always special, these moments have been even more meaningful this year!
Please Share our Job Openings with Your Network
If you haven’t already, you’ll likely see information about our job openings, both in the community and online. We are aggressively recruiting to fill positions both immediately available and for next year. Positions range from full-time, benefited roles to flexible hourly positions.
You can help our students by checking out our job listings for yourself, or by sharing them within your networks with people who might be interested in these opportunities. Open positions can be found at https://www.applitrack.com/mchenry/onlineapp/jobpostings/view.asp?internaltransferform.Url=&choosedistrict=true&district=677.
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22
If you or someone you know has a child entering kindergarten next fall, please visit www.district158.org/kindergarten-registration to find information and the link to complete the fully online registration process. Children must be 5 years old on or before September 1, 2021 to register for kindergarten for the 2021-22 school year.
Weekly Inspiration
Throughout the pandemic period, our students have continued to learn, achieve, and inspire us with their commitment and accomplishments. The Huntley High School Voice newsmagazine and Harmony Yearbook have continued to put out high-quality products despite massive changes in how they could operate. As one example, senior Sydney Laput, photo editor of both publications, has continued to document the life of high school students in remarkable ways.
Her work has now been nationally recognized, with two of her portraits claiming top prizes from the Quill and Scroll International Journalism Honor Society. In doing so, she became the fourth Voice staffer to take a Sweepstakes Award (top prize) from Quill and Scroll since 2011. Sample her winning work on our Facebook page.
As always, I wish good health to you and yours.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowe, Ed.D.
Superintendent
