Half Day

Half Day School was filled with Halloween excitement as students showed off their creative costumes during the school's annual parade as seen in these photos and video! From spooky characters and superheroes to imaginative costumes of all kinds, students and their teachers brought plenty of personality and fun to this favorite school tradition. Families and friends lined the parade route to cheer, wave, and capture special moments as students proudly marched by. The colorful celebration, captured in these photos, brought the Half Day community together for a snapshot of Halloween fun! In the Harvest festival students celebrated fall and made fun crafts.

This week, the Administrative Team, teachers, students, Board of Education members, and community representatives came together for the third and final session of our strategic planning process. Building on feedback from an earlier Board discussion this month, the group worked to develop a shared understanding of each proposed goal and identify the observable “look-fors” and “feel-fors” that will help us recognize successful implementation.

We also continued our work to refine D103’s core values. These shared principles will guide how we make decisions, set priorities, and allocate resources across the district. Our values are intended to guide the decisions and actions of the adults in D103, including the Board of Education, administrators, school leaders, and staff. They are distinct from our Portrait of a Graduate, which describes the knowledge, skills, and attributes we want our students to develop. Our values help guide the choices we make to create the learning environments and opportunities that support those outcomes.

What’s Next? The Administrative Team will now finalize the proposed strategic goals and success criteria to present to the Board of Education. Following Board approval of the final strategic plan, the team will work through the first half of 2027 to develop action plans that outline the specific strategies, steps, and measures needed to bring the goals to life.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed their time, feedback, and perspective throughout this process. Your input is helping shape a strategic plan that reflects our shared priorities and keeps student learning and well-being at the center of our work.

Please take a moment to share your feedback on the Fall 2026 conferences by completing this conference survey. The survey will remain open through Thursday, November 12, 2026. Your input is valuable and will help guide decisions about conference formats in the future.

If you are new to District 103 or if your oldest child just started school at Half Day, this is a perfect opportunity to have Principal Jill Mau answer questions you may have about the school. Join us for an informal coffee with Mrs. Mau at 9:30 a.m. Friday, November 6, in the school's Loft. Please register for this PTO sponsored event through our Google Form. Tours of the school are not given during these events.

District 103 is offering a discount to families to purchase its retired iPads on Thursday, Oct. 29.

• The sale is being conducted by the district's partner company, Secured Tech Solutions, which is where families may view the iPads for sale.
• The 15% discount code LPV15 will be applied to one iPad only.

Please be aware that all devices available for sale have been previously used, but they are fully supported with a 90-day warranty from Secured Tech Solutions. When looking at the options for iPads, I would not recommend any model older than the 9th generation iPad, because that is the oldest model that can still receive the newest operating system updates. The newer the iPad, the more longevity you will likely get from it.

There will be an option to choose different "grades" on the iPads, such as "Excellent," "Good," and "Proven." Their grades are based on cosmetic issues, not on functionality of the device.

Looking for a fun reading challenge for your student? Try the Mensa Excellence in Reading Challenge!

• Loom Video for families
• MENSA Reading Challenge PDF

Half Day would like to honor veterans during a special student assembly on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 9:15 a.m. for their service. If you can attend please fill out the Veterans Google Form. Form closes Tuesday, Nov. 2. As part of our ceremony, we would love to highlight this veteran with a photo of them from their time of service.

Join District 103 Sunday, Nov. 15, for a day of fun at a Chicago Wolves hockey game. Everyone will receive a free Chicago Wolves hat and be seated together in the same section. Our group name will also be on the LED boards during the game. Join us after the game for an autograph session from select Wolves players.

Purchase tickets today at d103pto.org. Purchase tickets today at d103pto.org. Act now; ticket sales will close on Friday, Nov. 6, at 11:00 p.m. After the completion of the sale, tickets will be emailed to your address on file with Membership Toolkit.

We are excited to announce that Key Club is hosting its Annual Community-Wide Trunk-or-Treat Celebration on Friday, Oct. 30, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at Adlai E. Stevenson High School (Lot C). Please join us at this event, a safe environment for children in our surrounding area to enjoy Halloween by dressing up and trick-or-treating from creatively decorated cars. There will also be entertaining games, music, snacks, and activities like face painting, fake Halloween tattoos, and a Halloween costume parade.

SHS is offering a Youth Patriettes Clinic for grades K-5! This clinic series is designed to introduce dancers to the technique, skills, and spirit of the Stevenson High School Patriettes through instruction from Stevenson dancers and coaches. Throughout the clinics, dancers will learn a variety of dance styles and a short routine that they will have the opportunity to perform at the Stevenson Dance Competition on Saturday, Dec. 12. Clinic starts 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, and meets four times. Register through the SHS Youth Patriettes website.

Register now for Vernon Area Public Library for adult AI classes.

• Beyond the Bots: A Tour of the AI Landscape, Sunday, Nov. 10, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Drop by the Vernon Area Public Library between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, for a fandom celebration! There will be activities for all ages, including gaming, crafts, STEM stations, cosplayers, storytime, and more. This year features special guests: award-winning comic book artist Gene Ha and Anne and Luke Horwath from LEGO Masters season 5. Costumes are encouraged, but not required. Get all the details at VAPLD.info/MiniComicCon.

• Half Day Calendar
• Archived newsletters
• Facebook
• YouTube
Principals

• Principal Jill Mau
• Assistant Principal Laura Delagrange
Reporting an Absence
• 847-634-1484
• Hd_attendance@d103.org