Stevenson Begins 55th Year of Service to the Community
Stevenson High School began its 55th year of service to the District 125 community today.
Among the changes greeting students are an expanded East Building with 22 learning spaces, and an online learning management system called Canvas that combines coursework and grades in one location.
Parents and guardians will have an opportunity to meet their students’ teachers during the annual Open House Nights this month. The nights are scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 21 and Thursday, Aug. 29. The school will be mailing home detailed information.
Science Olympiad Sixth in Nation
Stevenson placed sixth at the 35th annual Science Olympiad National Tournament this summer. Eight Patriots earned medals, including national champions Emily W. Liu and Sneha Mohan.
Transfer Parent Night Wednesday
Parents of transfer students in grades 10-12 will have the opportunity to attend an “orientation” of their own from 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14 in the Recital Hall portion of the Performing Arts Center.
Visiting Artists, ARTalks Announced
The Stevenson High School Foundation and the SHS Fine Arts Division have announced their Visiting Artists/ARTalks lineup for the 2019-20 school year. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Women Artists.”
Click here for today’s athletic schedule
What You Need to Know About Stevenson Athletics
With the beginning of fall sports practices today, Stevenson Athletics offers this list of 10 things every Patriot student-athlete and parent should know. The list includes these points:
Multiple sport participation helps decrease the likelihood of injuries, reduces burnout, exposes kids to a wider variety of teammates, broadens athletic skills, and is very appealing to many college coaches looking to recruit athletes. (However, athletes can participate in only one sport per season.)
Students do better in school when they are playing a sport. In fact, the average semester GPA of an SHS student-athlete is 3.324. When in season, student-athletes tend to be more focused and have better time management skills. Grades also are monitored on a weekly basis.
Talent alone is not enough to succeed. Effort, hard work and discipline are the primary keys to attaining excellence in athletics and academics at SHS.
Quick Hits
2013 state champion Alexxis Kiven (Class of 2014) is Stevenson’s new girls tennis coach. She takes over a program that finished third in Illinois last fall and has finished in the state’s top three in each of the past five seasons. … Four members of the school’s water polo teams earned All-America honorsover the summer, as did seven members of the boys swim team. … Former varsity baseball assistant coach Patrick Conlin has been chosen to lead Dundee-Crown High School’s program.
STUDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Click This Link to See More Announcements
Would you like a hallway locker? Check your SHS email on Thursday for the hallway locker survey. You’ll have the chance to request a locker in a hallway that’s convenient for your schedule. The locker survey deadline is Sunday and lockers will start to be assigned on Monday, Aug. 19.
CLUBS
Freshman Class Board will hold its first meeting at 3:35 p.m. Thursday in Room 6018. The board meets on Thursdays throughout the year.
FINE ARTS
Audition workshops for the fall musical, Chicago: High School Edition, will be held Thursday (vocal) and Friday (dance) after school. Anyone who filled out the audition packet before July 15 must fill it out again. Important information was missing, and the form has been updated. Here is a link to the audition packet. You will not be able to audition until the form is complete. Visit d125.org/auditions for more information.
ATHLETICS
Fall tryouts for Spirit Revolution (cheerleading and Patriettes) will be held from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday in the Field House. Athletes eligible for the tryouts include transfer students, and students who were unable to try out in April due to injury. All students must be registered for athletics and have a current physical on file in the Nurses’ Office before they can try out. Click here to register for athletics.
ILLINOIS EDUCATION NEWS
Last school year, almost a third of Chicago’s schools had at least one regular education or special education teacher position open all year long, according to WBEZ. The problem was most acute at schools serving low-income and black students. All schools with majority white student populations had no yearlong vacancies.
The state’s teacher shortage could be eased by a new law signed last week by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Under the law, teacher candidates no longer have to pass a basic skills test to receive an educator license.
Gov. Pritzker also signed into law last week a bill that requires history classes to include a study of the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Illinois and in America. The law goes into effect in July 2020.
Police Blotter: A recently retired counselor and coach from St. Viator High School was charged with sending inappropriate texts to students, the Daily Herald reported. … Also from the Herald, a 64-year-old elementary school substitute teacher was found guilty Friday of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old student. … CBS 2 reports on the case of a former Orland Park junior high school basketball coach accused of molesting students. The case is unresolved five years after charges were filed.
NATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS
Texas education officials want to oust Houston’s school board after an investigation revealed alleged trustee misconduct. An investigation by the Texas Education Agency found some trustees violated the Texas Open Meetings Act, inappropriately influenced vendor contracts and made false statements to investigators.
Head Start’s long-term effectiveness is being called into question by a new study. Previous studies relied on data from children born in the 1970s and ’80s, while the newest research looks at those born between 1986 and 1996.
Some New Jersey teachers accused of serious misconduct have been able to continue working for years due to a state credential review system. A review of more than 100 recent cases found a typical case takes more than a year to move through the system.
Rhode Island’s state education commissioner announced last week her plan to take control of Providence schools. Authority currently rests in the hands of the city’s mayor, city council, schools superintendent and school board.
Stevenson Daily Digest 