09-17-2025

Dear District 128 Families and Community Members,

As we complete the first month of the school year, I want to share how thrilled and grateful I am for the incredible start we have had across our schools. The energy, positivity, and commitment to excellence I have seen from our students and staff have been nothing short of inspiring.

Over these opening weeks, I have had the privilege of spending time in classrooms, visiting school buildings, and attending countless events—from morning arrivals to after-school athletics and activities. I have also been actively engaged in community listening and engagements where I have had the opportunity to meet with parents, community leaders, staff, and students to hear thoughts, hopes, and expectations for our schools.

One theme has come through loud and clear: this is a community that deeply values education, trusts its schools, and takes great pride in the people who make District 128 so exceptional—especially our teachers and staff. I couldn’t agree more. We are fortunate to have an incredibly dedicated team of educators, support professionals, and administrators who care deeply about our students and go above and beyond to help them thrive.

And speaking of our students—what an extraordinary group of young people we have the privilege to serve. Whether it’s the creativity displayed in our arts programs, the drive and discipline shown on our athletic fields, the curiosity and collaboration happening in our classrooms, or the compassion our students demonstrate through service and leadership—they continue to show us what is possible when they are supported, challenged, and empowered.

District 128 students are not only capable of achieving at the highest academic levels—they are empathetic, thoughtful, and engaged citizens who are ready to lead and make a positive impact in their communities and beyond. I have seen this firsthand already this year, in both big moments and small including:

• Serving as the guest conductor of the Libertyville High School Marching Band during the Star-Spangled Banner at a Friday night football game—an unforgettable experience that reminded me of the pride and spirit that defines our schools and community.

• Participating in High Five Friday at Vernon Hills High School, where students greeted the day with joy and enthusiasm that was truly contagious.

• Joining our Transitions Pathways students in making homemade pasta and sauce—a moment of connection, learning, and life skill development that reflects the heart of our mission.

These are just a few examples of the engagement happening every day in District 128. And the most exciting part is—we’re only at the beginning of the school year.

As we move forward together, I remain committed to listening, learning, and working in partnership with all of you to ensure every student in our district is known, valued, and given the opportunity to reach their full potential. Thank you for the warm welcome you have extended to me, and for the trust you place in our schools. I am honored to serve this incredible community.

Marc Schaffer, Ed.D.

Superintendent

The D128 Board of Education will hold its regular monthly meeting on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the VHHS Library. Watch for the meeting posting on Friday that will include agendas, related items and a link to the live stream.

Congratulations to the D128 seniors who have been named 2026 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists:

​LHS (pictured at left): Claire Weadick, Abigail Neff, Finley Weinstein, John Joyce, Andrew Trob, Liane Lin, Shriteja Patil, Eli Cui, Timothy Courneya, Ian Li

​V​HHS (pictured at right): Drew Lanscioni, Stephen Chan, Eva Zhang, Kaviya Ramesh, Anjali​ Arun, Jaydon Nathan Chua, Michael Deng

Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the PSAT - NMSQT in October of 2024. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of US high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Semifinalists will apply to become Finalists and have the opportunity to earn one of 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26,000,000 that will be offered next Spring.

The College Board National Recognition Program awards academic honors to high-performing students to help them stand out to colleges and celebrate their hard work. Students are eligible in the 10th and 11th for their exceptional academic performance on PSATs/AP exams and GPA.The College Board National Recognition Program is neither affiliated nor endorsed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation or the National Merit Scholarship Program.

VHHS 2025 National Recognition Award Recipients:

Ayesha Alang, Nina Anand, Ved Angadiyavar, Anjali Arun, Anunay Arun, Dev Beniwal, Joshua Benson, Megan Bernheim, Connor Brockway, Sophia Brown, Jairus Randy Buque, Jonah Burton, Olivia Bush, Zachary Cattapan, Edgar Chan, Stephen Chan, Evan P. Chen, Nolan Cheng, Jaydon Nathan Chua, Caleb Cioata, Paige Collier, Evan Cwikla, Tripp Davis, Meera Davuluri, Michael Deng, Ryan Dharampal, Timothy Dobin, Tessa Dubin, Madison Eres, Ethan Fay, Connor Finn, Harrison Fischoff, Francesca Gaus Ehning, Rohan Ghattamaneni, Karthik Gudapati, Elijah Herbst, Reina Hsieh, Filip Janeski, Emma Jazbutis, Kathryn Jefferson, Anara Katzman, Maruthi Kavuri, Lauren Kendrick, Hyunjin Kim, Ken Kim, Kyle Kim, Noah Kim, Tuhinaa Kochar, Alyssa Kopanytsa, Konstantin Koychev, Ian Krupnik, Harrison Kwon, Caleb Lai, Christine Lee, Marissa Lee, Sion Lee, Noelle Leja, Tyler Ling, Graham Lis, Tamara Lopez, Henrik Lundberg, Yohan Malhotra, Kautik Mandve, Advit Mangal, Laasya Manikonda, Charles McGrath, Kailey Moon, Srishanth Muppaneni, Harper Noble, Joseph Otto, Arushi Panda, Lillian Parr, Kaveh Patel, Nathaniel Perritt, Emilee Qin, Diya Rajan, John Ramanathan, Kaviya Ramesh, Julia Romosan, Taylor Schmidt, Mohith Sendil Kumar, Vidyut Senthilkumar, Rani Sethuraman, Aarav Sheth, Shourya Shrivastava, Ayaan Sial, Annabelle Smith, Kian So, Payton Sobacki, Tyler Starke, Ryan Stukel, Annika Talaty, Lukas Teresko, Trevor Todd, Akshay Tyagarajan, Anika Verma, Ella Viets, Aidan Vollen, Evan Weiss, Mohammad Yusuf, and Eva Zhang.

LHS 2025 National Recognition Award Recipients:

Sajid Abdullah, Ryder Allan, Jacob Allen, Kaitlin Andersen, Sarah Barbee, Wyatt Bartee, Luca Bascioni, Carolyn Brzezinski, Anne Buchert, Milijana Bursac, William Carey, Kai Chamnankit, Lainey Chung, Madeline Chung, Timothy Courneya, Eli Cui, Will Davis, Tnisha Desai, Connor Desiron, Richard Dombrowski, Maggie Joy Fabisiak, Alexandra Gamburg, Jack Gershtenson, Cameron Greenhouse, Caitlyn Griffith, Aryaman Hati, Nina Hernandez, Elliot Hillback, Tyler Houglum, Emma Johnsson, John Joyce III, Joseph Kim, Mathias Klemp, Eddy Li, Ian Li, Charles Lindsey, Calli Liu, Partho Maitra, Alyssa Merchant, Yehia Mohamed, Sridatri Mukhopadhyay, Ardra Nair, Abigail Neff, Chethan Nickerson, Callum OConnell, Imose Osayimwen, Shriteja Patil, Shagun Poonia, Bailey Powell, Kajal Sagar, Maxwell Seiberlich, Aditya Senthilkumar, Wael Shaaya, James Sims, Lukas Slesers, Keerthana Sridhar, Maaz Suglatwala, Dion Sui, Mark Swanson, Eva Thomas, Emma Thompson, Andrew Trob, Shubh Varshney, Ava Vestal, Olivia Vinas, Claire Weadick, Finley Weinstein, Angela Xiao, Sydney Yu.

LHS Senior Cecily Hamburg and VHHS Senior Samantha Boos Calderon have been selected as the 2025 Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Good Citizenship Award recipients for their schools. This award is presented by the local DAR chapter to two D128 seniors, each representing LHS and VHHS. The faculty and staff at each school vote for the student who best demonstrates the pillars of DAR -- truthfulness and loyalty; cooperation, courtesy and consideration of others; personality, self-control, inspirational to others; and an unselfish interest in family, school, community and country. Congratulations, Samantha and Cecily!

D128 invites community partners and local professionals to participate in our annual DARING Day activities, where all sophomores from LHS and VHHS engage in career exploration and planning activities.

• Date: Oct. 9, 2025
• Locations: Libertyville High School and Vernon Hills High School
• Time: Approximately 9 AM - 12:30 PM (this may shorten as we finalize the number of participants)
• Complete details and to sign up

Be sure to read the latest issue of the College and Career Readiness in D128 Newsletter.

The D128 Foundation for Learning will host its annual BIG EVENT --Denim and Diamonds--on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 7:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. at Austin's Fuel Room in Libertyville. Join the D128 Foundation for Learning for a casual, fun evening featuring:

• SIDEWAYS - an LHS alumni/parent band
• Annual Alumni Achievement Award Presentation
• Silent auction
• Students in Need fundraising
• 50/50 raffle
• The amazing emcees for the evening - Drew Russell (VHHS) and Kevin O'Neill (LHS)

All proceeds benefit the students of LHS, VHHS and Transition Pathways through DARING Innovation Grants, Students in Need, and Senior Scholarships.

Purchase your tickets at special earlybird pricing of just $75 through Oct. 25. Regular ticket price of $90 goes into effect Oct. 26.

Please join us for a special QPR Suicide Prevention Training hosted by the Libertyville Connect Coalition. This free, 90-minute program will give you the tools to recognize the warning signs of suicide, ask the right questions, and guide someone you care about to help and support.

Event Details:

Where: Cook Memorial Public Library – 413 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville

When: Tuesday, September 30, 2025 | 7:00–8:30 PM
Who: Open to the community – space is limited to 30 participants
Register Online Today