A panel of Evanston Township High School/District 202 administrators explained changes to the 2021-22 academic year during a Thursday webinar, emphasizing a “culture of care” as students plan on returning to full in-person learning this fall.
“We don’t intend for (full in-person instruction) to look and feel exactly like it was felt in the past,” District 202 superintendent Eric Witherspoon said. “We have a great opportunity here to also create that new normal.”
Following the announcement of changes to the 2021-22 academic year, the district distributed a poll to students, staff and families to assess questions and concerns. During the webinar, administrators answered frequently asked questions from the survey.
Evanston Now
Half of high school students are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine shots.
(Shutterstock)
Now that 16-and-17-year-olds in Illinois are eligible for the coronavirus shot, officials at Evanston Township High School are hoping to have a mass vaccination event at the school.
District 202 board member Pat Maunsell noted Monday night that “at least half of our students are eligible.”
Superintendent Eric Witherspoon told the board Monday night that “we want to do it, we have initiated conversations” with the City of Evanston and its health department, but he also added “I would be surprised if we get it in the near future.”
Evanston Now
Evanston Township High School has been proposed as a site for the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination process.
Evanston Township High School has been proposed as a site for the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination process.
District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon told the Board of Education in its virtual meeting Monday night that he has offered use of the school to health officials. Witherspoon said ETHS could be used during the next phase of vaccinations, which includes essential workers such as educators, from Evanston and from other districts. There has not been a decision yet on whether ETHS will indeed be used.
The building will be ready for students and teachers, however, once ETHS goes from fully remote schooling to a hybrid model. Administrators told the board that a variety of health and safety upgrades have been made due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Evanston Now
Says testing agency is tone deaf to stresses students face during pandemic.
Peter Bavis.
A top administrator at Evanston Township High School is accusing the agency that runs the Advanced Placement testing program of being “tone deaf” to the challenges students face during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pete Bavis, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, told the District 202 Board of Education earlier this week that “our AP students are very stressed out,” and the College Board, which administers the exams, is being “inflexible” about the amount of content to be tested.
AP exams give students the opportunity to earn college credit while in high school, by taking advanced level courses and then getting a certain score on the tests. For the first time, AP exams were given remotely in the 2019-2020 school year due to the pandemic.