Mission Statement

The mission of Summit Hill District 161, in collaboration with the family and the community, is to provide our students with the highest quality educational opportunities in a safe, supportive,and stimulating learning environment which will empower them to become productive global citizens and successful lifelong learners.  

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Emergency Closing Procedures

This year we have added a "One Hour Delay" option in the event that school could begin safely after the roads are cleared and made serviceable. In the event that we utilize this option, school would begin exactly one hour later at all schools and bus pick-ups would also be scheduled for one hour later.

It never seems soon enough to communicate our plan concerning inclement weather or a school building heating or power emergency. Should the need arise, school closing will be communicated in a variety of ways:

• Parents can receive alerts via text, voice, or e-mail.
• Closing information is on www.emergencyclosings.com.
• Local radio stations: WGN 720, WBBM 780
• Local television stations: Channels 2, 5, 7, 9 (WGN), 32 (FOX), & CLTV

General Guidelines

•   We review wind chill chart from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
•   If the air temperature reaches -10°, we will strongly consider closing school.
•   If a sustained wind chill of between -25° and -30° is forecast, we will strongly consider closing school.
•   We will generally make a decision and communicate with parents around 5:30 a.m.
•   A status update will be provided to parents the evening before.
•   If schools are closed, all school-related activities are cancelled.

District News

As we begin the 2017-2018 school year, we would like to highlight a few curricular initiatives:

• Assessment and Grading: There are no changes to our 75/25 grading procedure – 75% of a student’s overall grade will come from Summative assessments and 25% will come from Formative assessments. We will continue meeting with the Assessment and Grading Team throughout the year and our Supt. Advisory Committee for Board Goal 1.


• Curricular Checklists: The ELA and Math committees will be working to complete new K-8 quarterly topic checklists. The new checklists will add consistency and better represent the scope of topics taught at each level.


• Elementary school students throughout the District are participating in a new science program called STEMscopes. The program aligns with the new Illinois Learning Standards for Science which emphasize science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEMscopes promotes project based, hands-on learning. Students explore topics with guidance from their teachers. Throughout the year, students will participate in various projects such as "Pop Fly Launchers." In this project, students build a prototype launcher that a little league team could use to practice catching fly balls. To be successful, the prototype launcher has to make a marshmallow fly at least one meter high and one meter in length.


• District 161 is adding additional support for students and teachers as it continues to focus on the seventh year of its plan for seamless technology integration in student learning. This fall, an additional 550 student tablets will be deployed into Summit Hill classrooms, 300 of which were funded by the Summit Hill Educational Foundation through fundraising efforts this past year. This infusion of tablets brings the total number of devices in Summit Hill classrooms to over 2,000 tablets. Additional support for teachers and students follows the deployment of tablets. Beginning this fall, building technology teachers will be available to provide enhanced service in supporting classroom teachers in the creation of powerful learning environments using research-based strategies that effectively use technology in lesson planning. Newly hired building technicians will focus on ensuring that tablets and other technology equipment are readily available to teachers and students daily. We continue to support District 161’s vision to develop 21st century technology competencies in students by building and supporting a learning environment that is reliable, effective, and evolutionary.