In January, District 86 announced the formation of the Portrait of a Graduate steering committee. The committee, which is made up of students, staff and parents/guardians, is charged with developing the profile of a District 86 graduate. This profile will feature the qualities and characteristics we want our students to possess when they leave our district. It will also guide the efforts we undertake to ensure that our students have the knowledge and skills they need to successfully pursue their ideal future.

 

During its first two meetings, which were held on Feb. 28 and March 23, the committee explored and discussed several topics, including:

 

 

The committee also talked about ways to involve the community in the creation of the profile. The group decided it would begin this phase of its work by inviting community members to complete a brief survey and/or participate in focus groups. 

 

The survey, which can be accessed by visiting https://forms.gle/A8fvoYUtjA8syPY46, asks people to provide up to five attributes that describe the ideal District 86 graduate. It also asks people to convey their interest in taking part in a focus group. 

 

All community members who would like to weigh in on this important topic are asked to please complete the survey by April 22 at 4 p.m. Those who want to participate in a focus group session will be contacted about next steps after the survey closes. 

 

The district and committee want to thank the community for its participation in this process, and for its continued support of our schools and the students we serve. 

Reminder - we will be administering several assessments to our students on April 13 and 14. These assessments include the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), PSAT 9 and 10, and the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA).

Below is the testing schedule for these two days. If you have questions or need more information about the assessments, please contact the assistant principal for curriculum and instruction (API) at your child's school. The API for Hinsdale Central is Jessica Hurt (jhurt@hinsdale86.org), and the API for Hinsdale South is Eric Martzolf. (emartzolf@hinsdale86.org).

Sophomores will be dismissed at approximately 11:45 a.m.; buses will depart 15 minutes after their exam finishes. Juniors will be dismissed at approximately 1:15 p.m.; buses will depart 15 minutes after their exam finishes.

Students will be dismissed at approximately 11:45 a.m.; buses will depart 15 minutes after their exams finish.

*If your student will be receiving testing accommodations on either day, you will be sent a separate email with additional details.

The latest “Inside the Classroom” video, which you can access by visiting https://youtu.be/it1qIJnl050, takes us to Hinsdale South for a social and emotional learning (SEL) lesson that is based on the RULER program developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. RULER is an acronym for the five skills of emotional intelligence - Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing and Regulating.

In District 86, freshmen take an SEL/RULER class twice a month in conjunction with physical education. During our visit, teachers Mia Tritch and Mary Rounce helped students explore the concepts of positive and negative self-talk. They also had the students review different examples of positive self-talk and select some they could integrate into their morning routines.

We would like to thank Ms. Tritch, Ms. Rounce, freshman Heather Stephens and the rest of the students for sharing valuable tools that anyone can use to start their day on a positive note.

The world language teachers from Hinsdale Central select a Star Student two times per semester. These are students who:

Below is the list of individuals who have recently been named Star Students. We congratulate them on this accomplishment.

Hinsdale South's theatre program took third place at the state tournament for its production of "Torch Song Trilogy," and won the Critics Choice award in the Musical Theatre Review event for its production of "Mean Girls." In addition, students Cameron Chamberlain, Mitchell Hanson, Darrell Mondaine, Izzy O'Neill, Joseph Chen, and Henry Sullivan were named All-State Actors and Technicians.

We congratulate the Hornets on these incredible accomplishments.

The Hinsdalean's latest student-athlete profile featured a Q&A with Hinsdale Central senior Aishvarya Godla, who is a member of the girls badminton team. In the piece, Aishvarya talks about how long she has played badminton, what she enjoys most about the sport and the ways her game has improved since freshman year. She also shares details about her goals for the season, her pre-match rituals, what else she is involved in at Central and her plans for next year.

You can check out the profile on Aishvarya by visiting https://bit.ly/3jluXhi. Photo credit to Jim Slonoff from The Hinsdalean.

On April 5, Hinsdale South alum Emil Wakim (class of 2016) made his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Emil is a stand-up comedian and writer who opens on a regular basis for Nikki Glaser and Michael Rapaport. He has also opened for Kyle Kinane, Todd Glass, Moshe Kasher and Roy Wood Jr.

We congratulate Emil on his appearance on the show, and wish him continued success going forward.

In honor of National Assistant Principals Week, which was held April 4-8, we recognized and celebrated the following individuals for their hard work and dedicated service.

We greatly appreciate all that they do on behalf our students, staff, schools and community.

Below is information about recent honors that were earned by staff members from Hinsdale South.

We congratulate Lexi, Alex and Barb on their accomplishments, and thank them for all they do on behalf of the school and our students.

The Hinsdale Central Drama Club will be performing "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" April 22 and 23.

The award-winning musical centers on a fictional spelling bee set in the geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley Middle School. During the event, a group of eclectic and anxious young spellers reveal things about their personalities and backgrounds while vying to win the big trophy. 

The performance on April 22 will take place at 7 p.m., while the one on April 23 will take place at 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. They can be purchased at the door on the day of the show, or in advance by visiting ticketpeak.co/hcdrama.

Break a leg, Red Devils.

Students who receive educational and support services from the district's deaf and hard of hearing department will be part of the cast and crew for the Deaf Drama production of "The Hallmarks of Horror."

The performance will take place in the auditorium at Hinsdale South on April 29 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $6, and voice interpretation will be provided. You can access a flyer for the show by visiting https://bit.ly/3tggdpB.

The College of DuPage (COD) will be hosting its annual STEMCON event on April 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. During this event, COD staff and industry experts will provide attendees with information about some of the most in-demand and cutting-edge career opportunities.

You can learn more about STEMCON by visiting https://cod.edu/stemcon.

The next District 86 Board of Education meeting will be held on Thursday, April 14. The agenda and packet of materials for the meeting will be posted on BoardDocs (https://bit.ly/394u9as) and shared via email tomorrow (April 12).

Please visit https://bit.ly/3d93aws to access the latest COVID-19 data for our district, community and county. As a reminder, below are the metrics we plan to update on a weekly basis.