In inclement weather, District 70 also can enact a Late Start Protocol on days when hazardous snow conditions or cold weather alerts are expected to improve later in the morning.

The goal of this protocol is straightforward: to provide additional time for roads to be cleared or for the temperature to warm, and for staff and students to arrive safely. Staff arrive 30 minutes or earlier before the new start times.

Late Start Times
When a two-hour Late Start Protocol is enacted:

• Little Sprouts 
• The AM session will be canceled. PM will follow the usual schedule.
• Adler Park, Butterfield, Copeland Manor, and Rockland Schools
  • Classes start at 10:15 a.m. Drop-off is from 9:45 to 10:05   (two hours later than usual)
  • Your principal will share a new daily scheduleA new daily schedule will be shared by your principal. 
• Highland Middle School
  • Classes start at 10:50 a.m. Drop-off is from 10:20 to 10:50 a.m. (two hours later than usual)
  • Your principal will share a new schedule of classroom periodsA new schedule of classroom periods will be shared by your principal.
     

What This Means for You

• Bus Schedules: Bus routes will operate two hours later than their normal morning times when the Late Start Protocol is used.
• District 70-sponsored before-school clubs and activities will be canceled. 
• Dismissal Times: At this time, dismissal times will remain the same unless we communicate otherwise.
• Champions before-school sessions will be canceled.
• Communication: If a Late Start is called, you will be notified through our usual channels (automated calls/emails/texts and website/social media). We will clearly label the announcement as “Late Start – 2-Hour Delay,” to distinguish it from a full closure.

We are implementing this protocol to provide ourselves with an additional flexible option on days when a full closure may not be necessary, but early morning travel is unsafe. Thank you for your flexibility on challenging weather days.

We value the strong home-school partnership that has helped distinguished District 70 with its strong educational foundation. With high-quality instruction in the classroom, our partnership stands as one of the most significant factors in a child's education. We want to ensure that we have an open and highly collaborative relationship with all our families and that our communication is strong. In addition, we want to address any concerns you may have over the course of the year in a positive, constructive, and reasoned manner.

Parents have three ways to communicate with teachers: e-mail, telephone, and face-to-face meetings. Each of these methods can serve a useful purpose as follows:

Email

• Emails permit teachers to respond to questions that are simple and straight forward. They are efficient to transmit information. Emails are usually replied to within 24 hours.  Email, though, has its limitations is not a productive method to problem-solve with parents and leaves room for misunderstanding. Moreover, it is devoid of any affective tone to reflect the true feelings of a person. With this context in mind, teachers will welcome the opportunity to share information or give a short response. If a conversation requires more extensive interaction a request may be made for a telephone conversation or a face-to-face meeting. 

• If your message is urgent (ie: change in pickup) call the school's office.

• Telephone or Face-to-Face Meetings

These two methods permit the teacher to more effectively problem-solve a concern with parents. While either of these two methods is appropriate, face-to-face meetings are useful if more than one person may need to be involved in the conversation.  We encourage our staff to use these two methods to problem-solve concerns and topics with parents. 

Please know our teachers want to connect with you to understand and resolve your concerns. 

If you and a teacher cannot resolve the concern, please ask that the principal participate in the problem-solving process. The principal will be the final arbiter on all matters relating student concerns. In a rare case, the matter may be referred to the Superintendent or a central office administrator.

District 70 maintains an open relationship with the area news media and welcomes coverage of student events and achievements. Examples include school assemblies, concerts, plays, and special class projects. Recognized news media, including print newspapers and online affiliates, television and radio stations, may be invited by D70 to report on and take photos, videos, and audios at various student events. At all such events, children dealing with the media are closely monitored and protected by school staff. 

District 70 also works to communicate student events and achievements through the communitywide newsletter, District 70 Views, along with the D70 website (d70schools.org), individual D70 school websites, as well as D70-based, D70-sanctioned, or educationally-based teacher websites. Student projects, as well as student images, may be used on these sites. Students appearing on D70 websites are identified only by their first names and the initials of their last names.   

As technology advances and new tools to communicate are introduced, D70 will select appropriate tools to enhance communication between D70, parents, and the community.  District 70 uses social network sites in its dedication to transparency, including Facebook (Libertyville D70), Twitter (Libertyville D70), Instagram (Libertyville D70), and teacher or school YouTube accounts that are protected by being unlisted, and on occasion will post student names (first name, last initial), images, or work.

Information that D70 releases is not sold or given to commercial or non-profit groups. 

Any parent/guardian can withhold their consent for release by sending a signed letter withholding consent for the news media, along with the D70 website and D70 school websites, in the current school year within the first thirty (30) days of school to Libertyville Elementary District 70, Attn: Robin Smith Kollman, Director of Communications, 1381 W. Lake St., Libertyville, IL 60048. Parents/guardians should understand that if they withhold consent, none of the student’s information would be released.  This includes examples such as information/photographs for the school yearbook or memory book, award listings such as the honor roll in the newspaper, and classroom projects on D70-based teacher websites or links.

How is the School Calendar Created?

Annual school calendar creation is generally a multi-step process. It begins with a countywide calendar committee meeting each year, where representatives from every Lake County school district assemble to create a three-year calendar. From this group comes a recommended Lake County calendar that is sent to all Lake County school districts. Using this calendar as a guideline, District 70 works to establish consistent vacation and holiday dates. Although Libertyville High School District 128 follows its own process to create a one-year calendar, an attempt is made to keep the District 70 and District 128 calendars aligned, if possible. As such, the District 70 calendar allows for its own beginning/ending of school dates as well as conference and teacher workshop days. The District 70 Board of Education and the Regional Office of Education in Lake County then approve the District 70 calendar. State of Illinois guidelines require that the calendar include 185 school days with five emergency/snow days being deducted at the end of the year if not used. This entire process takes several months from beginning to end.