Good afternoon, Raiders,

I hope the school year is off to a great start for you. All of our classes are getting into their stride and students are hard at work. As I stop into classes, it is great to see our students discussing, reading, working collaboratively, cooking, conducting lab experiments, designing with graphics, speaking French or Spanish to peers and so much more. The energy is palpable in the halls, classrooms, courts and fields.

We held a successful Activity and Athletic Fair in our gym during all lunch periods on August 23rd. Students were able to talk to other student leaders, sponsors and coaches and sign up to get involved. The fall athletic season is off to a great start for all of the teams, with several of the programs significantly growing in participation rates. Thank you to all of those who organized and participated in this important event.

We are also a few weeks into our inaugural school year of our new schedule. We have had five advisory sessions and tomorrow will be our first agency session. Students signed up for their choice of teacher session on Friday through our new app during advisory. We are working through some issues with our new app, nevertheless 95% of students were signed up for a session by the end of the day on Friday. We will help the few that haven’t during 1st and 2nd period classes Monday, before our first Raider Hour Agency day. It is required that students are signed up for and attend that location for every agency date. For more information on what is available for students and how to sign up please review this presentation. There are videos embedded throughout the slide deck.

Finally, please consider joining us for our Facility Planning Community Forum on September 28th. We hope we can count on your participation in the planning process. The community voice is important in this process. See below for the flier with more information.

This newsletter is full of important information about upcoming events. I look forward to seeing you soon!

With Raider Pride,

Principal Santee

Learn about our long-range facility plan at community forum

As part of our facility planning process, Glenbard South will host a Facility Planning Community Forum to share information about our district-wide facility needs and development of a new 10-year facility plan to address those needs.

South’s Facility Planning Community Forum will be an open house format from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Sept. 28 at Glenbard South. Please plan to join us.

Glenbard’s four high schools, which range in age from 50 to 100 years old, continue to have numerous capital improvement needs. We are excited about developing a new 10-year facility plan. The plan will consider instructional best practice, safety and opportunities to connect and collaborate. Additional funding will be necessary to implement the new facility plan.

Learn more at this link.

Development of new 10-year facility plan

• Necessary warm/safe/dry projects (roofs, parking lots, boilers, cooling units, etc.)

• Safety and access upgrades (doors, hardware, entrances, access to administrative offices, etc.)

• Renovation of science labs and restrooms

• Wold Architects & Engineers and Performance Services, Inc. will maintain community asset.

Funding Sources

• Through sound fiscal stewardship, we continue budgeting dollars for the new ten-year master facility plan.

• Alternate revenue source (ARS) bonds will accelerate projects from the 2013 master facility plan, such as renovations to science labs and restrooms.

• Our ARS bonds are expiring, and we approved issuing a new series of ARS bonds that will total about $29 million of debt within our operating budgets.

• Will not increase the district’s tax rate

• A referendum is necessary to provide the remaining needed funds.

Key points:

• Facility improvements are necessary to support instructional environments.

• Without a large, one-time revenue source, some improvements are not possible.

• Construction costs will increase, but efficient borrowing yields a high return on investment.

• Instructional spaces demand attention, but lack of funding postpones improvements.

• D87 facilities – particularly entrances, cafeterias and collaboration spaces – are behind peer districts.

• In 2014, D87 committed to $100 million over 10 years; however, we exceeded that commitment by spending $154 million over the past 10 years ($35 million from 2014 referendum) while maintaining balanced budgets.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL OF OPERATION

Mr. Taff Nielsen

Appointment Options:

• Please call Prestige Photography for an appointment at (800)736-4753. Photos will be taken at Glenbard South.

Remaining Available Senior Dates:

• September 25 from 3-7pm

• September 26 from 3-7pm

• September 27 from 3-7pm

Last Chance Yearbook Picture Date:

October 17 will be the last opportunity to take yearbook pictures. Pictures will be taken in the Champion Hallway from 10am - 2pm. Students should take their photo during their lunch period.

Students that are eligible for bus transportation will find their route number as well as pick-up and drop-off information on their schedules. Bus route numbers can also be found on their student ID cards. Students are required to present their student ID to their bus driver upon request. Students should only ride their designated bus. Additional transportation information can be found on Glenbard’s Bus Information page.

Glenbard South has implemented FirstView, a First Student bus tracking and communication app for your smartphone or desktop. FirstView will allow our students and families the ability to know where their First Student bus is before school and after school. You may register at any time. Use this LINK to learn more.

The safety and security of our students and staff are a priority. Glenbard South has a secure entrance to help verify all visitors are properly checked in. We also actively participate in required drills to ensure that students understand their role in the event of an emergency. Our drills are conducted in partnership with the DuPage County Sheriff's Office and the Lisle/Woodridge Fire Department. In addition, all students and staff started the school year with a safety video to review our lockdown and evacuation procedures. The most important part of school safety is to remind our students to report suspicious activity or anything that appears to be out of the ordinary. If You See Something...Say Something!

If you have any questions about our drills or school safety, please do not hesitate to contact me at (630)942-6700 or taff_nielsen@glenbard.org.

Mr. Sean Byrne

Thank you to all of our Raider families who were able to join us for Raider Open House on 8/31/23. Many families joined us for an optional session on the P/SAT Suite of Assessments, Dual Credit, and AP Classes. Please see the slides for discussion here, and feel free to reach out to Mr. Byrne with any questions.

Over the summer, we shared information for students logging in to their College Board accounts to get specific information about their latest score on the P/SAT Suite of Assessments. If you would like another copy of this information, please reach out to Mr. Byrne (sean_byrne@glenbard.org). Additionally, we suggested several free resources to support your students as they prepare for their P/SAT exam this year:

1. KHAN ACADEMY

Khan offers a variety of FREE courses in all Subject areas (not JUST Math and Reading/Language Arts!).

• Students can use a Get Ready Course to prepare for a course they are planning to take in the fall.

• Students can review an Academic Course they have already taken, to build up their skills.

• Students can use the SAT Prep Course to prepare for standardized tests this year.

Linda B. Gambrell, Distinguished Professor of Education in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson University, and former president of the International Reading Association, points to research suggesting that reading “four to five books during the summer was potentially enough to prevent a decline in reading achievement from spring to fall.”

• Our school librarian, Mrs. Mankowski has made more than 1,200 titles available for students on Sora, our school e-reader. Students can continue using Sora for reading throughout the year and request new titles if they don't find one they are looking for. Sora is often used for reading in class but can also be used by students outside of specific coursework. Check out the Glenbard South Library Webpage for specific instructions for using Sora.

• The Glen Ellyn Library (https://gepl.org/) has many great books available.

• The Bookstore of Glen Ellyn has several titles on their Teens/Young Adult Recommendation list: https://bookstoreofge.com/lists/E02SnnrpZ7s.

• Finally, don’t forget that all Glenbard South students have digital access to the New York Times. Many students have already activated their accounts; if your student has not yet done so, instructions are available on Schoology and on the Glenbard South Webpage. Reading the paper every day is a great way to build reading skills and stay informed about the world around us.

• A simple (and fun) way to incorporate math into everyday lifeis by playing games and cooking/baking with family and friends.
• Yahtzee is a great way to practice mental math.
• Paper or online sudoku or Nerdle are great options to help students work on their problem-solving and logic skills.
• YouCubed (https://www.youcubed.org/resource/parent-resources/): You Cubed is an organization whose mission is “to inspire, educate and empower teachers of mathematics, transforming the latest research on math learning into accessible and practical forms.” There are many, many great resources for all learners on the Parent Resources.
• Flipped Math (www.FlippedMath.com): Flipped Math is a free resource, based on the flipped classroom approach; students watch a video and take notes on the math concept seen from that video. They then practice the concept, followed by an application practice, and end with a mastery check. Courses available: Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus.

All Juniors will be participating in the PSAT/NMSQT exam on Tuesday, October 10th. (PLEASE NOTE: this is the correct date). This will be a non-attendance day for the 9th, 10th, and 12th grade students. Juniors will be registered through the school and do not need to do or pay anything to take the exam. This is an important exam to prepare for the SAT in April.

Parent-teacher conferences will be held on October 25 and 26. Both school days will be early release days for students (1:10 dismissal). On October 25, conferences will be virtual (on Zoom) from 4 - 8 pm. On October 26, conferences will be in person in classrooms, from 2 - 6 pm. Friday, October 27 is a non-attendance day for all students.

Registration for Parent-teacher conferences will be done in Power PTC, which is accessed through PowerSchool. Families will be sent information about specific registration dates as soon as it is available.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL OF STUDENT SERVICES

Ms. Marina Kosak

We will celebrate Homecoming at Glenbard South the week of September 18th. This year’s theme is “Glow Big or Glow Homecoming”. We have a lot of fun activities planned for all of our students throughout the week, please encourage your students to attend as many as they can that fall under their class.

Sunday, September 17th-

• Senior Parking Spot painting 1pm-4pm (students MUST turn in their design to Ms. Kosak in the main office by the end of the day on Thursday 9/14 for approval to participate)

Monday, September 18th-

• Games Night 7pm (all students are invited to participate with their grade levels and compete in different games against the other grades at the Raider Stadium)
• Dress up day: Class Colors (9th grade-blue, 10th grade-red, 11th grade-white, 12th grade-black)

Tuesday, September 19th-

• Hallway Decorating 2:00-3:45 pm
• Dress-up day: BBQ dads and Soccer moms

Wednesday, September 20th-

• Raider Flag Football at Raider Stadium 5:00 pm
• Pep Rally 7 pm. We welcome our families and community members to celebrate Homecoming with us in the Raider Gym.
• Dress up day: Dress like your hallway theme (9th grade-enchanted forest, 10th grade- Cityscape, 11th grade- 80s, 12th grade- Space)

Thursday, September 21st-

• Dress-up day: Teacher-student swap or twin like a teacher day

Friday, September 22nd-

• Dress-up day: Raider Pride day
• Homecoming Football game 7 pm at Raider Stadium

Saturday, September 23rd-

Dance will be held in the Raider Gym 6:30 pm- 9:30 pm (tickets will go on sale during all lunches on Wed 9/13 and we will send out information on how to buy tickets online as well. Tickets will be $25 if purchased ahead of time or $30 at the door.)

Gratitude Day is a fun and rewarding opportunity for our students to write letters of gratitude and appreciation to school faculty and staff, or anyone who has made a difference to them. Boosters is in need of a few parent volunteers the afternoon of November 15th to set up supplies for writing, help serve pizza, collect students’ notes and clean up. They are also collecting donations of water to go with the pizza. Please sign up here if you'd like to help out: Sign Up Genius - Gratitude Day

Glenbard South College, Military and Career Visits open to Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors

We are excited to have students back this fall and have been planning programming to assist them in college and career exploration. College and Military visits are starting this week for sophomores, juniors and seniors. We are hosting both in-person and virtual informational sessions with representatives during the school day. This is an excellent opportunity for students to speak with a college or military recruiter about their programs and get their questions answered.

Virtual Campus Tours open to all students

You can also visit a campus without leaving your house. Check out these links for virtual tours of hundreds of college campuses.

Virtual College Tours, Virtual Reality Education

http://www.ecampustours.com/

CampusTours

Mr. Tim Carlson

On September 14th, the Glenbard South Athletic Hall of Fame will induct its second class. The Hall of Fame banquet will be held at The Carlisle in Lombard. The event begins at 5:30PM. Tickets for the event are available at: https://gofan.co/event/1013591?schoolId=IL15488. This year's are inductees are: Meghan Barkman, Class of 1999, Terry Gaughan, Class of 1975, Lee McGinnis, Class of 2004, Libby O'Brien, Class of 2009, Tanya Peterson, Class of 2000, Chris Sutter, Class of 1987, Coach Bill Voves, Coach Mary Grady, and the 2012 State Champion Softball Team. The Hall of Fame class will also be recognized at the home football game on September 15th.

The purpose of the GBS Boosters is to encourage and promote all extracurricular activities at Glenbard South. GBS Boosters supports music, arts, academics (scholarships), and after-school clubs in addition to athletics.

GBS Boosters raise money through membership fees, donations, concessions, Raider Wear sales, and social events throughout the year.

All GBS families, alumni, teachers, staff members, and members of the community are invited to become part of the Boosters.

Please consider becoming a Glenbard South Booster. Click on the link below for more information.

Website: www.glenbardsouthhs.org
Location: 23W200 Butterfield Rd, Glen Ellyn, IL, USA
Phone: 630-469-6500
Twitter: @GBSraiders