Dear Deer Park Families:
Welcome back to the 2022-23 school year! We hope that each of you have had an amazing summer and we trust that our students are rested and ready to tackle the new school year.
We have been extremely busy this summer here in Deer Park preparing our schools to welcome students on their first day tomorrow! As everyone has been able to see, our Jr./Sr. High School has gone through some major renovations this summer. We’ve installed new windows on the front side of the building facing Plainfield Rd. We’ve expanded our parking lot on the south side of Crawford Auditorium and relocated our bus compound to the southwest corner of the parking lot. We’ve also renovated 5 science classrooms, which look fantastic and are going to be great new learning spaces for our Jr./Sr. High School students this school year. Lastly, we are in the process of adding a secured vestibule entrance to the front side of the Jr./Sr. High School. Due to supply and shipping delays, this front entrance has been pushed back two weeks, but it should be completed by the end of August. I want to thank our contractors and architects who worked tirelessly on these projects this summer to ensure substantial completion for the start of the school year. I also want to give a big heartfelt thank you to our custodial staff who have been working very long days and weekends to ensure the building is clean and ready to go for the start of school.
As we head into the 2022-23 school year, we have a renewed focus on two of our biggest goals; focusing on high expectations for student success and learning and providing a safe and secure learning environment for all students. We will be working closely with students to help them set their individual learning growth goals, working with them so they can measure their progress towards meeting those goals, and ultimately allowing students to have buy-in and ownership over their individual learning progress. We will also be working hard to make sure students know and have a clear understanding of our behavior expectations. With that, students will be held accountable for meeting those expectations and we will also celebrate those students who are able to meet those expectations and become clear examples of how we want our Deer Park students to represent our school and our community.
Last but not least, I want to briefly talk about student health expectations. Just as in any school year, students who are sick with the flu, respiratory viruses, infections, or fevers including those testing positive for COVID-19, should stay home and follow the recommended protocols from your doctor. Staying home when sick lowers the risk of spreading illness or viruses to others. Click HERE for the 2022-23 Deer Park Schools Health Alert for more detailed information regarding our health and safety updates.
Here’s to a great 2022-23 school year!
Sincerely,
Jay Phillips
Superintendent