Important Safety Alert

We want to make you aware of a growing trend among middle and high school students known as the “Splash Game,” “Senior Assassin,” or “Paranoia.” This off-campus activity involves students using water guns to “tag” others, often in public spaces. While often viewed as a lighthearted tradition, some of these water guns closely resemble real weapons, which can cause serious safety concerns and fear within the community.

While not on District property, it is our understanding that some Evanston/Skokie students are engaging in this "game". We encourage you to speak with your student about making safe and responsible choices. Also, as a reminder, any look-alike weapons or items that can be used as weapons are not allowed on school property. Thank you for your continued partnership in helping us keep our school and community safe.

We want to make you aware of an increased concern at Nichols. Unfortunately, we have seen a recent increase in bathroom vandalism, including very offensive messages being written and significant damage to property. These incidents are not only deeply disappointing but also costly—both in terms of repairs and the time it takes our team to clean and restore the facilities, which pulls us away from other important work around the school.

In response, we are implementing some temporary changes to help maintain a safe, respectful, and clean environment for all students:

• Staff members will be monitoring bathrooms every period.

• During class time there will be designated bathroom break time.

• The second floor bathroom will be closed until further notice.

• Students who experience emergencies will still be allowed to use the restroom, and we will ensure those needs are met with care and understanding.

We recognize that these changes may be inconvenient, but they are necessary to protect our school environment and prioritize student safety and responsibility. We appreciate your support as we work to address this issue with the seriousness it deserves.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

On behalf of our District 65 Technology Team, we want to make you aware of a dangerous social media trend emerging in some school districts, where students are encouraged to intentionally damage their school-issued Chromebooks—particularly by puncturing lithium batteries or tampering with charging ports to cause short circuits.

Thankfully, we are not currently aware of any District 65 students participating in this trend. However, we want to be proactive in reminding our students and families that this type of activity is extremely dangerous and can be especially hazardous to our students and schools. Lithium battery damage can result in fires that are fast-spreading, hard to extinguish, and pose serious risks to students and staff.

Please take a moment to talk with your student about the importance of using school technology safely and responsibly. Deliberate damage to devices is a violation of our Acceptable Use Agreement and would be considered as vandalism according to our student handbook. It may lead to disciplinary action and replacement fees due to intentional damage as defined in our Device Protection Plan and Replacement Procedure.

We appreciate your partnership in keeping our school community safe and informed.

A nombre de nuestro equipo del depto. de tecnología, queremos que tengan conocimiento de que está emergiendo una peligrosa tendencia en redes sociales en algunos distritos escolares, en la cual se anima a los estudiantes a dañar intencionalmente los chromebooks proporcionados por las escuelas -particularmente perforando las baterías de litio o alterando los puertos de carga para ocasionar cortos circuitos.

Afortunadamente, no tenemos noticias de que algún estudiante del Distrito 65 esté participando en esta tendencia. Sin embargo, queremos ser proactivos recordando a nuestros alumnos y a las familias que este tipo de actividades es extremadamente peligroso y puede ser especialmente peligroso para nuestros estudiantes y escuelas. El dañar baterías de litio puede resultar en incendios que se propagan rápido, son difíciles de extinguir y representan un riesgo serio para estudiantes y personal.

Por favor, tomense un momento para hablar con sus estudiantes acerca de la importancia de utilizar la tecnología de la escuela de manera segura y con responsabilidad. El daño deliberado a los dispositivos es una violación a nuestro ‘Acuerdo de uso aceptable’ y podría considerarse como vandalismo de acuerdo con nuestro ‘Manual del estudiante’. Esto puede llevar a una acción disciplinaria y a una multa para reemplazar el equipo dañado debido a daño intencional tal y como está definido en nuestro Plan de protección para dispositivos y procedimiento de reemplazo.

Apreciamos su colaboración para mantener segura e informada a nuestra comunidad.