Update Center

Dear District 126 Families,

As we continue to see our COVID metrics improve and see an increase in vaccinations, the district is reviewing what the next steps are in our instructional model. The current metrics in all three of our communities continue to be the lowest they have been during this entire time. There now is talk of Illinois moving to Phase 5 of the Governor’s plan in the coming weeks.

As you know beginning April 7th, students will be attending school 5 days a week maintaining the current instructional time with dismissal at 1:00 p.m.

With the CDC and IDPH updating their guidance, the district feels the next steps are to have students return to full days of instruction this year. At the Board meeting last week, the Board approved a move to full regular school days beginning on May 3rd. This means students will follow a typical school schedule, will have lunch in school, and will be dismissed at the end of the regular school day (2:45 p.m. for elementary students and 2:55 p.m. for junior high students). The district will work to assure a smooth transition keeping in mind this is the best course forward for our 126 students. All health and safety guidelines will continue to be followed.

Parents will have another opportunity to choose between remote and in-person instruction in the coming days. This will be the final opportunity for families to change instructional models. Principals for each school will provide additional information as we move forward.

We thank all of our 126 families for your flexibility, patience, and support when it comes to the challenges of the 2020-2021 school year. Please feel free to reach out to your building principal or me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Craig Gwaltney

February 12, 2021

Dear District 126 Families,

At last night's School Board meeting, the Board approved a shift to our next phase of inperson instruction.

Beginning March 8th, students who are already attending in-person two days a week will attend in-person four days per week (Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday). Families will continue to have the option to remain remote. Wednesdays will remain 100% remote for all students. Our current daily schedule will remain unchanged with students attending school from 8:15 AM - 1:00 PM.

Principals will be contacting remote only families next week to see if they want to make the switch to in-person learning for their child. When making this decision, we encourage families to carefully consider the impact that changing instructional models will have on their child. Families should make the decision based on what is best for their child and family.

Upon our return from Spring Break on April 7th, the district anticipates returning to a full five day in-person instructional model following the 8:15 AM - 1:00 PM schedule for those families who choose the in-person learning model.

Once again, we thank all of our 126 families for your flexibility, patience, and resilience when it comes to the challenges of the 2020-2021 school year. Please feel free to reach out to your building principal or me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Craig Gwaltney Superintendent

January 12, 2021

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Staff,

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and that you are as excited about the prospects that 2021 will bring us as I am. At the November Board Meeting, it was decided that we would return to in person instruction the third week of January.

We are scheduled to begin our hybrid/remote learning model on Thursday, January 21st. In October, families of students in grades K-8 indicated whether they wanted their students to participate in a hybrid model or continue with the full remote model. The choice that parents made in October will still be used for students returning to in person instruction on January 21st. Students will also remain in the originally assigned hybrid group. Instructions for how to access this information and other specific information for the return will be sent out by building principals. If you have any questions, please contact your child's building principal.

We look forward to welcoming students back into our buildings. Our district is doing our best to deliver quality instruction to our students in the safest way possible. The shift to this plan will not be easy, but I know that we will do whatever we can to support our students and families. We appreciate your continued support of our staff and students of District 126.

We thank all of you for your support and patience during this unprecedented time.

Stay safe and well.

Craig Gwaltney

Superintendent

November 13, 2020

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Staff,

I hope you are all doing well and staying healthy. At the Board Meeting last night, it was decided to
continue with our remote learning plan through the month of December and the first two weeks of January following winter break. The current positivity rates are the highest they have been all school year andcontinue to rise.

With the health and safety of our students, families, and staff at the forefront of each decision we make,
the hope is that we will begin our hybrid learning model on or around January 19th. I know that this
announcement may not be what you want to hear, but at this point it is more likely our metrics will
continue to rise in the coming weeks.

Our goal since day one has been to allow our students to participate in an in-person learning
environment. We continue to be concerned about the impact this pandemic has had on our students and
families. We continue to talk about this as a district and these concerns remain a high priority for us.

We thank all our stakeholders for your support, ideas, and patience during this unprecedented time.
If you have any questions, please continue to reach out to our District 126 Administrative Team.

Stay safe and well.

October 20, 2020

Dear Parents, Guardians and Staff,

At the October Board Meeting, it was decided to begin hybrid learning on Monday October 26th. Since that meeting, our community has seen a significant increase in COVID positivity rates. The current positivity rates are the highest they have been all school year.

With the health and safety of our students, families and staff at the forefront of each decision we make, we will continue with the current remote learning plan for the coming weeks. The School Board will discuss steps moving forward at the November 12th meeting.

As always, our utmost concern is the health and safety of District 126 students, staff, and community. We share your disappointment that our students are unable to return to in person learning. Please understand that no decision or plan is perfect, and this decision was a very difficult decision.

With the decision to continue with our full remote learning model, the student school day will remain the same for now. We will continue to follow our regular school day from 8:15 AM - 2:45 PM. Thank you to our families for practicing our district student self-certification process this week. We will discontinue practicing this process for now.

If you have any questions, please continue to reach out to our District 126 Administrative Team. We thank all our stakeholders for your support, ideas, and patience during this unprecedented time.

Sincerely,

Craig Gwaltney

Superintendent

September 11, 2020

As we have previously communicated, we continue to monitor our Remote Learning program and safety conditions both in our schools and communities. Last night at its regular meeting, the School Board discussed our remote learning plan and how we will proceed to the next phase of hybrid/remote learning. Recently, our 3 communities (Alsip, Oak Lawn and Worth) have seen an uptick in both COVID-19 cases and positivity rates. This appears to be a trend, with some ebb and flow, but with general increases overall. In short, the numbers seem to indicate that we will continue with our full remote learning plan for the time being.

We use a positivity rate for Alsip, Oak Lawn and Worth as a metric for guiding our decisions for remote, hybrid or in-person learning. With the longitudinal data now available for September and based on the Illinois Department of Health data as of today, the rate was 11.2% for Alsip, 9.5% for Oak Lawn and 8.6% for Worth, (click here and enter zip code). The State of Illinois considers an overall positivity rate under 8% to be acceptable. We will continue with remote learning until we feel conditions are safe enough to allow students into our buildings again.

We will of course continue to monitor conditions on a weekly basis. The School Board has moved up the regularly scheduled October meeting to October 1st in order to review and discuss our plans moving forward. Hopefully we will see the metrics move in a positive direction so we can begin to move to our next phases. Any start date to hybrid/remote learning will be announced at least 10 days to 2 weeks prior to beginning hybrid/remote. While we understand that this announcement may disappoint many of you, this seems the most prudent approach given current conditions.

Thank you for your continued support in these difficult times. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Regards,

Craig Gwaltney

District 126 Superintendent

July 30, 2020

Dear Parents, Guardians and Staff,

During the Special Meeting of the District 126 Board of Education on Wednesday, July 29th, the Board voted to begin the 2020-2021 school year in a full remote-learning format, and postpone the option for hybrid learning temporarily. The Board of Education will regularly reevaluate the learning options for students based upon the status of the pandemic. The target date for reevaluating the full remote learning plan is scheduled for October 5th. At that time, the School Board will determine whether students will continue in a full remote learning model or transition into a hybrid/remote learning option. As always, our utmost concern is the health and safety of District 126 students, staff, and community. We understand that no decision or plan is perfect, and this decision was a very difficult decision.

Thank you for participating in the surveys and providing so many great questions. The information provided is very important and we have taken your thoughts under consideration.

Remote learning this fall will be more robust and very different from the emergency remote learning students participated in last spring. As much as possible, our goal is to mirror our regular classroom instruction, including in-person learning with teachers teaching remotely throughout the regular school day from their classrooms. More specific information including daily schedules, student material distribution and an update to our FAQ document will continue to be updated in the coming weeks.

The District 126 School Board also approved an amended 2020-2021 school calendar. Students’ first day of school is Monday, August 31st. Students will begin their remote instruction on this day. The amended calendar is to allow additional time during the week of August 24th for teacher and staff preparation for remote learning. As we prepare for the start of the new school year, please remember to register your child(ren) for the 2020-2021 school year.

Attached to this email are the public questions and answers that were submitted prior to last night’s Special Board Meeting.

If you have any questions, please continue to reach out to our District 126 Administrative Team. We thank all our stakeholders for your support, ideas, and patience during this unprecedented time.

Sincerely,

July 8, 2020

Dear District 126 Families,

I hope this email finds you and your families well.  Using the guidance from The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) we are planning for the safe reopening schools for the 2020-2021 school year. 

Under these less than ideal circumstances, the school district continues to work as quickly as possible to determine how best to implement the state's ever-changing guidance based on our own set of specific circumstances.   

At this time, we are offering families the choice of two different instructional models for the 2020-2021 school year. Parents must read our District 126 Reopening Guidance to be able to make an informed decision for each of your District 126 students. After reading, please take a few moments to fill out a short parent survey choosing the option you are committing to for the 2020-2021 school year.  Please understand The District 126 Reopening Guidance is subject to change based on guidance from the state.  

We ask that you please respond to this survey by Monday, July 13, 2020.  The survey can be found by clicking on the following link: https://forms.gle/ApJkNE6x3mD2F8qM9

Thank you for your continued support and patience.

Stay well,

Craig Gwaltney

Superintendent of Schools

School Reopening Update

June 24, 2020

Dear District 126 Families, Staff and Community,

I hope this message finds you and your families safe and well. Today, the Illinois State Board of Education released guidance for schools on the 2020-21 school year.

This 60-page document has been much anticipated and will go a long way toward answering critical questions all of us share about what the 2020-21 school year will look like in terms of in-person learning, scheduling, transportation, wearing masks, social distancing and other measures intended to keep everyone safe and healthy, while also re-engaging students in the learning process.

Right now, we don’t have all the answers to those questions as this document was released to school districts at the same time it was released to the public. Therefore, we kindly ask for your patience as our staff thoroughly reviews this detailed guidance and implements the suggestions into our district’s own transition plan.

The District is very aware of the urgent need to communicate to families about what to expect next school year and anticipate releasing our own transition plan in the coming weeks.

The district will be forming transition teams and has already been discussing options. This guidance will accelerate those conversations, and I’m confident our district can put forth a plan that prioritizes the health and safety of our students while maintaining a dynamic learning environment.

Thank you again for your patience, understanding, and flexibility as our entire district navigated a situation together that none of us could have imagined. I will be in touch soon. In the meantime, stay safe and enjoy your summer.

Sincerely,

Craig Gwaltney Superintendent

Good afternoon,

Please take a moment and complete the parent survey intended to help us better serve our students through e-Learning.  We will be collecting responses through next Friday, May 15th.

Because we know there are many factors that can impact student learning at home and our amazing staff has been forced to navigate a digital instructional format for students, the survey is intended to help us better understand some of the learning at home success and challenges. 

As always, District 126 appreciates all of the support our wonderful families continue to provide.

Be safe and stay healthy. We miss you!

e-Learning Parent Survey