Message sent to all DGS students and families on August 10:
Pick Up PPE and Self-Certification Slips on 8/13 or 8/14
Greetings South High students and families,
I am extremely excited to send you this informational email about the start of the 2020-2021 school year. I am sure of one thing - I miss the Downers Grove South family and look forward to seeing everyone.
Be on the lookout for the first video message of the year later this week. We will spend some time looking at the progress of the Master Facility Plan and provide some last minute reminders about the start of the school year.
Students walking to school from the North and East will notice that work has begun on a new drop off circle off of Dunham Road. Please stay on the sidewalk as you go past construction. Students will need to enter the building from one of the two doors on the south side of the building or through the West Events entrance.
The safety of our students and staff has always been our number one priority. As we return to school during the coronavirus pandemic, this will continue to be our focus. For the safety of all, everyone must wear a mask at all times. Every effort must be made to maintain a proper social distance - six feet or greater between you and someone else. When social distancing cannot be maintained, individuals must also wear a shield. While on the bus, in the halls before or after school, and during passing periods, shields should be worn.
The district has purchased two face masks and two shields for each student and staff member. As explained in the previous paragraph, it is important that the students have these items at all times. Additionally, parents will need to certify each day that their student is not exhibiting symptoms of the virus. To make sure that students are ready when they come to school, we will hold two sessions to distribute the personal protective equipment (PPE) and the self-certification slips. Below are the dates that we will hold this drive-through or walk-through event; whichever is more convenient for you. It will be helpful if you please have the student’s first name, last name, and ID number clearly written on a piece of paper to hand to the attendant. For cars, please enter the bus lot from the east end of the lot and pull into the lane assigned to the alphabet slice of your last name. Each student will get two face masks, two face shields, and a booklet of self-certification slips. We will also be requiring students to wear their student ID this year, so each student will also receive a South High lanyard. For your own protection and for the protection of others, please wear face masks when you arrive.
Date: Thursday, August 13 - 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Date: Friday, August 14 - 8:00 am - 12:00 pm
Seniors - During the PPE Drive Thru event, you will have the opportunity to purchase a Senior shirt. In order to purchase a shirt, you will share your t-shirt size and student ID number with the staff member. You will receive the shirt during the event and then afterwards a $10 charge will be added to your HAC account to cover the cost of the shirt. This eliminates the need to exchange money and/or handle credit cards on that day.
First week schedule:
Schedules will be available on the Home Access Center on Wednesday, August 12, 2020. Because of the complexity of creating an 8-period day schedule for nearly 3,000 students, and then adjusting it for a balanced split to accommodate social distancing, schedules are set. Schedule changes at this time cannot be made. If there is a glaring error on the schedule, please reach out to your school counselor via email. Students should print a copy of their schedule, have it available on their phone, or be prepared to access it via HAC on their Chromebook for the first day of school.
Freshmen will attend school in person on Monday, 8/17 and will follow this schedule. Students with the last name A-L will attend in the morning, and students with the last name M-Z will attend in the afternoon. Tuesday-Friday they will participate in virtual orientation activities in the morning and will attend the remote sections of their classes in the afternoon. Please note that freshmen will attend each of their classes in the afternoon, regardless of which Group is assigned to meet that day. This allows our teachers an additional opportunity to interact with them and for us to take attendance. The links to the virtual orientation sessions will be emailed to the students on Monday during the late afternoon.
The bus routes can be found here. Simply identify the closest spot to your home and ride that bus. Freshmen attending in the afternoon can expect their busses to pick them up four and a half hours later than what is listed on the regular route schedule. For example, if the route normally starts at 7:00 am, it will start at 11:30 am on that day only.
Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors will complete virtual activities on Monday and attend school in person Tuesday-Friday (8/18-8/21) mornings following this schedule. Remote learning activities for Monday will be emailed to the students by the end of this week.
Students who have already applied for a parking pass will receive an email if their application was approved. Other students interested in parking on campus should read, complete and submit the application here. Priority will be given to seniors and those students enrolled in programs that cause a need to come and go from campus. We will process requests as quickly as possible.
We also want to provide these additional tips for students during the first week of in-person school.
- Students will not be allowed to use their lockers and/or the locker rooms.
- We recommend that students bring a backpack with them during the first week of school to assist in carrying their books and materials home.
- Students may want to bring a refillable water bottle. The bubbler portion of the drinking fountains have been disabled, but the bottle fillers are available for use.
- Lunch will obviously not be served and eating is prohibited (unless medically necessary).
- During Remote Learning time, periods where students are assigned lunch, resource, and/or study halls, will not require them to report to a virtual space. Students can use that time as they see fit.
- It is important to note that students who have opted for Remote Learning Only should be sure to complete all orientation activities and attend all remote learning class sessions (even for the opposite groups) during the first week. Additional information will be shared soon as to how Remote Only students will receive their classroom materials.
If students are in need of help with technology, they can email the IT staff at southcb@csd99.org, or call the school at 630-795-8500 during regular business hours.
Stay well and we look forward to seeing you all soon,
Mr. Schwartz
DGS Principal