March 18, 2022

Dear Palos 118 Families,

At its monthly board meeting last Tuesday, the Board of Education assisted Palos South school administrators with distributing the President's Education Award for Academic Excellence to 89 very deserving students. It was wonderful to see the gymnasium full of proud parents once again to celebrate the continued success of our Palos 118 students.

According to the most recent data released by the Illinois State Board of Education, Palos 118 is performing in the top 10% of all elementary school districts statewide. In the South Cook region, our students ranked first in math and second in reading. Our special education students, English learners, and low-income students are all top performers in our region compared to their peers. Just recently, the school district was notified that one of our schools was nominated for a prestigious national award for consistently high student performance.

Throughout the pandemic, Palos 118 has been a leader in providing high-quality education during a public health crisis. We were one of the first school districts to return students to the classroom for full-day instruction and were able to do so because our board, administration, teachers, and parents knew how important in-person learning was for our students, particularly our most vulnerable students. By working together, we were able to minimize learning loss while keeping our staff and students safe.

With COVID-19 statistics remaining favorable, Palos 118 will continue to safely transition our schools out of pandemic mitigation measures as appropriate. We are excited to welcome back visitors and volunteers to our schools for the 4th and final quarter of the school year. I hope to see you at one of our spring events soon!

Portrait of a Graduate Update

Thank you to the members of our Portrait of a Graduate planning committee who participated in our workshop meeting on March 3. The group spent the night synthesizing the feedback from our public forums, focus groups, and online survey into a short list of the key traits our Palos 118 graduates will need to be successful. Their work has been given to a graphic designer who is now creating our portrait.

Palos 8th Grad Volleyball Wins Tournament Championship

Congratulations to our 8th grade volleyball team and Coach Martin Duggan. The team took first place in the Southwest Interscholastic Conference tournament on March 12. 8th grader Bella Macino was named MVP for her 20-point serving streak which pushed the Cardinals to win in a 2-set match against the Oak Lawn-Hometown Mustangs. The Cardinals finished with a 16-3 regular season record.

Palos South Teams Finish on a Winning Note

Other Palos 118 teams also finished strong this season with the 7th grade volleyball team placing second in the tournament on March 12, 8th grade basketball finishing 2nd in the North Division and 3rd in their tournament, and the 6th & 7th grade basketball team finishing 3rd in the North Division and also winning the consolation championship over the weekend.

Say Something Week at Palos South

All week, the students and staff at Palos South have been celebrating 'Say Something' Week to highlight the importance of identifying trusted adults who kids can talk to and to help foster a culture that prevents school violence. Students in the Save Promise Club decorated windows, created a video to kick off the week, volunteers wrapped trees in with green ribbons, and everyone wore green for the 'Lucky to be 118' parade on Thursday morning. You can see more photos from the parade on our Facebook page.

Palos 118 Teachers Present at State Conference

Kudos to our preschool teaching staff who presented this week at the State Pre-K conference in Schaumburg. This is the 8th year that Palos 118 staff have presented at the conference. Jill Rafter, Stephanie Daley, and Suzi MacLeod presented on the topics of creating an engaging learning environment and how to keep students engaged during read alouds.

2022-23 Registration

Registration for the 2022-23 school year has begun. You can find all of the information needed to register on our website, palos118.org. Families who register and pay their student fees by June 8 can receive a $25 discount per student.

Happy Spring Break!

I hope everyone has a safe, restful, and happy spring break. I look forward to seeing our students and staff back on March 28 rested and ready to go as we get ready to finish out the 2021-22 school year.

Board Recap

The Palos 118 Board met on Tuesday night. You can read a recap of the meeting here.

Best regards,

Dr. Anthony Scarsella

Superintendent of Schools