Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020

Seal of Biliteracy Exam Registration Deadline Feb. 13
Stevenson offers students the opportunity for recognition through the state’s Seal of Biliteracy program by demonstrating a high level of proficiency in English and a second language. Testing in various languages will take place from 8-10:15 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20, which is a late arrival day, in Room 6110. Check-in begins at 7:30 a.m. The deadline to register is Thursday, Feb. 13. Students testing in Polish or Hebrew must register online via this link. All other languages must register in the World Languages Office, Room 2434. The cost of the AAPPL exam is $20, payable by cash or check to Stevenson High School.

Students Can Update Their iPads
Apple released an update on Tuesday for iPads. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors should update to 13.3.1, while seniors should update to 12.4.5. If you have questions, stop by the SMARTdesk in the Link Lab.

ATHLETICS

The girls track and field team will have an informational meeting from 3:45-4:30 p.m. Monday in the West Auditorium. If you cannot attend, contact Coach Degen at edegen@d125.org.

The boys tennis team will have an information meeting at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6 in Room 1634. If you cannot attend, contact Coach Stanhope at tstanhope@d125.org.

ILLINOIS EDUCATION NEWS

Northern Illinois University announced Wednesday it will eliminate the use of standardized tests in undergraduate admissions and merit scholarship decisions next year. Any high school graduate who applies to NIU with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above will be guaranteed admission to the university in DeKalb.

Thirty Catholic schools in Chicago are set to receive $92.4 million under a 10-year agreement that will ensure the schools’ survival, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Wednesday. The money — coming both from the charitable organization Big Shoulders Fund and the archdiocese — will be be shared among the 30 schools, which have about 5,600 students, the archdiocese said.

Students’ high school grade point averages are five times stronger than ACT scores at predicting college graduation, according to a new study by University of Chicago researchers. The study examined 55,083 students who graduated from the Chicago Public Schools between 2006 and 2009 and immediately enrolled in a four-year college.

Highland Park-Deerfield High School District 113 officials have abruptly halted a policy that allowed students to fulfill its health education requirement during the summer rather than taking it during the school year. Officials halted the popular exemption after recently discovering the district’s policy was at odds with state law, which requires that students participate in a physical education course a minimum of three days per five-day school week.

With three schools closing over the next two years, Galesburg District 205 leaders are trying to determine how many administrators are needed. Superintendent John Asplund said the decision is complicated because of the teacher evaluation load administrators carry, and the district has no plans to reduce the size of its teaching staff.

The superintendent of a downstate school district died last weekend, according to a statement from the district. Midland Community Unit School District 7 Superintendent Bill Wrenn had been the superintendent for four years. The cause of death was not released.

NATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS

A Maine native is donating $100 million to Northeastern University to establish a graduate school and research center in Portland in hopes of transforming the city into a technology hub and sparking economic growth, officials said Monday. The Roux Institute, opening in the spring, will be narrowly focused on artificial intelligence for life sciences and digital industries.

California’s experiment of allowing community colleges to grant bachelor’s degrees shows promise of benefiting students but partnering with universities may be a better alternative. That’s the conclusion of a state agency report that says there may be other more effective options to meeting students’ needs and improving California’s workforce than the colleges awarding bachelor’s degrees.

The University of Missouri is expanding a program to track students, including athletes, using their phones to monitor when students are in class and when they are not. The ACLU says the Spotter app is invasive. Mizzou is among dozens of schools across the nation using similar technology to monitor students’ academic performance along with their comings and goings.

The principal of a school in Arlington, Texas donated one of her kidneys to the ailing father of three students. The man’s wife mentioned the diagnosis to the kids’ teachers and casually told Sarah Schecter about it in case any of the three seemed distracted in class. For months, the man’s condition tugged at Schecter’s heart. She approached the family about becoming a donor, and the transplant took place earlier this month.