Reminder - We will be following a revised schedule next week (Sept. 21-25) in order to accommodate the administration of the SAT to District 86 seniors on Sept. 23 and 24. While the seniors are taking the test on these days, all other students will engage in asynchronous learning from home that follows the Wednesday remote schedule. Sept. 25 will also follow the Wednesday remote schedule. However, students will resume typical Wednesday activities on this day – i.e., synchronous learning conducted via Zoom that features direct contact with teachers and classmates. (Please note that any seniors who do not have an approved accommodation and are not testing on Sept. 24 will follow the same remote schedule as the freshmen, sophomores and juniors that day.)

Below is information about how these days will be structured to ensure that we have enough staff members to help administer the test. 

*Seniors will take the SAT on Sept. 23. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors will engage in asynchronous learning from home that follows the Wednesday remote schedule.

**Seniors with approved accommodations will finish the SAT on Sept. 24. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors without approved accommodations will engage in asynchronous learning from home that follows the Wednesday remote schedule.

*** All students (i.e., freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors) will follow the Wednesday remote schedule on Sept. 25. On this day, students will engage in synchronous learning from home that is conducted via Zoom and features direct contact with their teachers and classmates.

Below are links to documents from the DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) and Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) that we thought you might find helpful. They feature guidance for school communities about how to address COVID-19. 

All of these documents have been posted on the COVID-19 Protocols and Information portion of our return to school website (https://bit.ly/2BRclDM).

In last week's update email, we spotlighted the outstanding performances that Hinsdale South students turned in on the world language national examinations that were administered during the 2019-20 school year. This week, we want highlight the achievements of the students from Hinsdale Central.

Students from Hinsdale Central earned 47 gold medals, 48 silver medals, 55 bronze medals and 65 honorable mentions for the scores they received on the Spanish, German and Latin national exams they took last year. We want to give a special shoutout to Latin students Madeline Czerwiec and Kayleigh Excell for earning the Maureen O’Donnell Oxford Classical Dictionary Award, which is given to students who win four gold medals. We also want to recognize Latin student Nadir Muzzafar for earning a Perfect Paper.

We congratulate the more than 200 students from Central who were recognized for their incredible success on the world language national examinations. You can access a complete list of the school's honorees by visiting https://bit.ly/3k5EGqn. We also want to thank world language teachers Amanda Ketterhagen, Sally Belter, Julie Motluck, Kristine Pohlman, Tanya Walery, Deborah Trujillo, Johanna Jurgens and Alisha McCloud for all they do to help our students learn, grow and achieve.

During the board of education meeting on Sept. 10, senior Heather Raslan from Hinsdale Central and senior Carson Kotecki from Hinsdale South were introduced as the board's student liaisons for the 2020-21 school year. You can access Heather's first report of the year by visiting https://bit.ly/3id8mRM and Carson's first report of the year by visiting https://bit.ly/2RhVNc8.

We congratulate Heather and Carson on their appointments, and look forward to their reports throughout the school year.

We are pleased and proud to announce that the following 24 seniors from Hinsdale Central have been named semifinalists in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program:

They are among the 16,000 students from across the country who were selected as semifinalists from the more than 1.5 million individuals who took the qualifying exam last fall. They will now have the opportunity to compete for the 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million that will be offered in the spring. You can access additional information about the National Merit Scholarship Program by visiting https://bit.ly/2Zup73M.

We congratulate these students on this tremendous accomplishment, and wish them the best of luck in the next phase of the competition.

Senior Keioko Haynes wrote an article for Hinsdale South's Stinger newsmagazine titled "How A Pandemic Brought About Financial Uncertainty." In the piece, Keioko explores the impact of COVID-19 on unemployment and the future of small businesses.

You can access this story by visiting https://bit.ly/3mo0e3w.

Athletics have started up at Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South. Several sports, including boys and girls golf, boys and girls cross country, girls swimming and diving, and girls tennis, have been participating in competitions. Meanwhile, a number of other teams have started their 20-day contact camps in accordance with the Illinois High School Association's plans for the 2020-21 school year.

Below are the various resources you can use to keep tabs on how our teams are doing. We hope that all of our student-athletes and coaches have very safe and successful seasons. Go Hornets. Go Red Devils.

Nearly all of our clubs and activity programs at Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central are providing students with access to a combination of remote and in-person experiences. Below are images of recent in-person sessions that were conducted by the Ping Pong Club and Art Club at South. There are also links that you can use to follow what is happening with the clubs and programs at both schools.

If you missed the edition of Board Briefs for the District 86 Board of Education meeting that was held on Sept. 10, please visit https://conta.cc/2ZsKW3z.

During this meeting, Superintendent Tammy Prentiss provided the board with an update on the district’s return to school plan.