• Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley's Weekly Update - January 8, 2021

Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley's Weekly Update - January 8, 2021

Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley's Weekly Update - January 8, 2021

Dear District 30 Family,

We join our community in mourning the loss of Glenbrook North High School senior Dylan Buckner, who was a standout District 30 and GBN student. He will be missed, and please don’t hesitate to reach out for support as the need arises. 

We hope that everyone had a good first week back. We are grateful for your continued partnership and know that we will reach the other side of this global pandemic together. We will return for one more week of remote learning on Monday, January 11, 2021. As you recall, Northbrook Schools took an adaptive pause due to rising and substantial COVID-19 spread rates, a recommendation from the Cook County Department of Public Health, and the holidays. We remain committed to resuming our in-person phased operations models that reflect 2021 placement decisions on Tuesday, January 19. 

From the beginning of this year’s journey, we have said that we would take reasonable risks to run in-person learning to the extent possible, permissible, and practical. We are all also aware that what is a reasonable risk for some is not acceptable for all. We maintain our commitment to every child and family within our care. Our students will continue to be at the center of every decision we make.

Here are a few notes as we continue this journey together:

Resume In-Person Learning on January 19: We continue to target Tuesday, January 19 as our in-person models’ return date. It is important to note that travel guidance remains in effect. Students who have traveled outside of the State of Illinois must complete the 14-day quarantine before returning for in-person learning.

Lessons Learned from the 2020 School Year:

We Share Commitment to our Students: The established relationships between our students and staff serve our students well. We committed to and maintained current class assignments for the majority of our students. The only exception was adding a fifth-grade remote section, which was needed to handle students who moved to remote learning for the rest of the school year. Our parents’ partnership has been incredibly appreciated, and our students and staff will continue to benefit from our civility, collaboration, and shared responsibility. We respect the shared commitment to this year’s phased operations.

Additional Resources are Available: As we all know, every year of life offers challenges. Although 2020’s events were unprecedented, these times have brought us together in new and positive ways. Reaching out for help is a sign of strength, and we are blessed with robust resources within District 30 and our communities. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your principal for support. We will continue to get through this by working together!

Mitigation Efforts Matter: The advice we have received from experts to wear masks, remain distanced, and wash our hands always matters. We cannot eliminate the risk of COVID-19 transmission, but employing these with fidelity reduces the risk of spreading this illness.

Follow Mitigation Strategies Outside of School: We have been fortunate that none of our COVID-19 positive cases appear to have originated within our schools. Many of the cases occurred when individuals expanded their bubble. Our shared responsibility makes a difference. Gatherings outside of school generate risk and disruption inside of school. Please follow mitigation strategies when you are in public or when gathering with individuals outside your immediate household.

Free COVID-19 Testing in Glenview: Free testing has been established in Glenview at Flick Park. Read more about this here.

COVID-19 Positive Cases: Thank you for continuing to fill out our Ruvna form. We will continue to send out any positive cases that include an individual within our schools. This week included four positive COVID-19 cases for individuals who have not and were not within our buildings. Remember that we are a resource. We also saw COVID-19 Metrics rise throughout the week. Please stay vigilant in following the safety guidelines.

Partner to Lower Positivity Rates - Be a Safety Ambassador

Thank you for helping us work together to control the spread of COVID-19. We have seen fluctuation of metrics this week and hope to return to a downward trend in all local COVID-19 rates as Glenbrook hospitalizations continue to drop. Please continue to wear masks and socially distance when you gather with anyone outside of your household. I join the plea of Glenbrook Hospital President, Mr. Jesse Hall. He asks all of us to pledge our help:

When we curb the rise in positive cases, that means we’re helping to keep our communities, families, and friends safe.

I am asking you, your family, and staff to consider becoming COVID Safety Ambassadors with this goal in mind. You can pledge to keep yourself and the ones you love safe from COVID by signing the COVID Safety Promise.

You can access the Safety Ambassador toolkit and pledge here:  https://www.northshore.org/covid-19-information-resources/covid-19-safety-toolkit/

We look forward to another good week of full-remote learning, and we look forward to resuming our in-person models on January 19!  

Warmly,

Dr. Brian K. Wegley
​​​​​​​Superintendent