Levy information, student achievements, district plans,community information and much more. Read it all in the Fall 2008 Paw Prints.

 Tax Levy Information Letter [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 99.15 KB]

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Parents of 6th - 12th Graders 
January 14,  2009
Registration:  6:45 p.m. Workshops:  7:00 p.m.  – 9:15 p.m.
Libertyville High School

Click here to learn more and fill out a registration form!

At its Oct. 27 regular meeting, the Community High School District 128 Board of Education endorsed a proposal to eliminate class rank for students at Libertyville and Vernon Hills High Schools.  The proposal was the result of a year-long study completed by a District 128 task force.

The elimination of listing a student’s class rank on the academic transcript is a growing trend among secondary schools.  As the District administration and staff studied the trend, they met with college and university representatives; attended sessions addressing the issue at local state and national conferences; surveyed area schools with demographics similar to District 128; and collected feedback from staff as well as parents, students and community members.

District 128 operates on the philosophy of doing what is best for students.  After consideration, we believe that dropping class rank is what is best for our students.  The competitiveness of the college admissions process puts D128 students at a disadvantage by including this measurement on the transcript.  The elimination of class rank will improve student opportunities in the college admissions process.

Colleges and universities are moving away from using individual class rank. They are now looking more holistically at a student’s transcript.  Based on research from other area schools, D128 has learned that the elimination of class rank generally aided students in being accepted in the college admissions process. 

“Class rank only compares our students to other students in their class,” explained District 128 Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and instruction Deb Larson.  “We believe this does not allow for a fair comparison of our students to other students locally or nationally.  By eliminating rank, we believe the focus will be on our students’ grade point average, activities and the reputation of District 128 schools.”

Other school districts with demographics similar to District 128 that have already eliminated class rank include New Trier High School, Lake Forest High School, Glenbrook North High School, Glenbrook South High School, Stevenson High School, Barrington High School, Highland Park High School, Deerfield High School, Hinsdale Central High School, Hinsdale South High School, Naperville North High School, Naperville Central High School, Warren Township High School, and most other private high schools including Carmel Catholic High School and Loyola Academy.

The District will gradually implement the new procedure.  The procedure will not impact current seniors who will graduate in 2009.  Current juniors (class of 2010) will have an option to include or omit their class rank from the academic transcript.  Members of the class of 2011 and beyond will not have a class rank option.

While LHS and VHHS will no longer recognize valedictorians after this year’s graduating class, they will continue the practice of honoring those students with a 4.0 grade point average.  Each school will form a committee that will develop a program for the ceremony and any selection criteria for graduation speakers.

We are happy to introduce a new website that is directed toward helping families and teens deal with important issues of safety and health. CPHY.org is the website for the Community Partnership for Healthy Youth. Inside you can find information and articles dealing with prevention and wellness for our teens, parent meetings and our discussion board for both parents and teens to talk about issues that might concern them or help others.

During the previous school year, the Community High School District 128 administration and staff discussed and carefully researched the growing trend of secondary schools eliminating the practice of listing a student’s individual class rank on the academic transcript.

To learn more about this discussion, please read the following document provided for your review:

Class Rank Letter, Proposed Plan, Frequently Asked Questions

Click on the following link to read the 2008 Back to School issue of Paw Prints magazine:

 Back to School 2008

The December issue of U.S. News & World Report Magazine features the publication's list of the best high schools in the U.S. for 2008.  Community High School District 128 is pleased to announce that both Libertyville High School and Vernon Hills High School received silver medal recognition on the list.  U.S. News & World Report worked in conjunction with School Evaluation Services to analyze academic and enrollment data from more than 18,000 public high schools in the U.S.  The top-ranking schools were placed into gold, silver and bronze medal categories.

Click on the following link to read the complete article, as well as the listing of all Illinois high schools that made the list:

http://www.usnews.com/sections/education/high-schools/

The Community High School District 128 budget for the 2007-08 school year is now available to the public (in both Excel and pdf versions.)  The budget is also available for public viewing at the District 128 Administration Office, 50 N. Lakeview Parkway, Suite 101, Vernon Hills, during office hours Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.