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2020 Summer Learning Program
All D181 students and interested age-appropriate students outside the D181 community are invited to enroll in the 2020 Summer Learning Program, which will be offered online this year. Classes are $100 each and will be held Mondays through Fridays from June 10 to July 30 (a total of 15 sessions). Registration ends Wednesday, June 3.
For more information, visit the
Summer Learning Website, browse the catalog linked below, and view registration directions for details on how to sign up.
Middle School Celebrations & Elementary School Field Day
We can't wait for our middle school celebration day and elementary school field day on June 1! Our P.E. teachers made this awesome
Field Day Preview Video to get students hyped up about Field Day.
Each middle school has a special day of schoolwide remote learning celebrations and a drive-through parade planned for eighth-graders on June 1. We'll feature all the highlights in our June eNewsletter!
Field Day Preview Video
School Celebrations
Walker Students donate bandanas and toys to Angel the Service Dog as they learn about business
Walker third grade students first met Angel the Service Dog when they were in first grade and they learned about how Angel helps those who are in need.
Students recently learned Angel is having trouble visiting her clients because of the restrictions placed on hospitals and nursing homes as a result of COVID-19.
The students were tasked with coming up with a plan to help Angel. They decided they were going to decorate and donate bandanas and create toys out of repurposed T-shirts to give to Angel, so that when she is able to visit her clients again she has everything she needs.
Students wrote a Kids Grant to the D181 Foundation to purchase the bandanas and used their own T-shirts to create the toys. The week of May 18, Angel and her handler walked to students' houses to stop and wave from a distance and pick up the bandanas and toys from a designated safe location (the student's mailbox/front porch).
Hinsdale Middle School Newspaper Club: The Spartan Star
The HMS newspaper club has been publishing monthly issues of its student newspaper The Spartan Star throughout the 2019-20 school year. Students write about what interests them and edit, format, photograph, photoshop and draw images to accompany their articles.
Students have focused on everything from formatting to headline writing to improve their skills this year. They even had a foreign correspondent (a student who moved to Sweden)!
Oak School staff sends collage message to students
Oak staff created signs, snapped a picture and sent this impressive collage message to students!
D181 Neighborhood Preschool: We love our preschool teachers!
The Matar family sent special thank-yous to their D181 preschool teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week.
The Lane Virtual Chorus Performance
The Lane School chorus virtually performed
The NeverEnding Story featuring students in B Chorus and G Chorus. Great job students!
Monroe Re-Earns Earth Flag
Monroe just re-earned its Earth Flag! Green Club sponsors Karen Schuppert and Liz Braun created this video for students who have been involved in Green Club all year.
Elm Students Get Special Delivery
Elm teachers Mrs. Soofi and Mrs. Guzaldo dropped off strawberry plants, donated by Proven Winners thanks to Dave Konsoer, at the environmental club members’ homes.
Madison Students Enjoy Author Zoom
Madison classes had the awesome opportunity to do an Author Zoom with Jerdine Nolen, author of
Eliza's Freedom Road, a novel read aloud from materials that students just finished.
Prospect School hosts virtual Studio 100 Night
Prospect students enjoyed an evening of art and jazz that included:
A live painting session with Lewis Achenbach, where students painted along using iPads and pages of his ePub.
Students improvised with digital art in the Jazz Occurrence Coloring book.
Students joined Mr. Lew on Instagram live for Thursday Night Life Music with the CHMSl Jazz Band.
English Language Learners Poetry Winners
Madison School had many winners in the Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages/Bilingual Education (ITBE) 16th annual Elementary Poetry Contest in February. The contest is open to English language learners in grades 2-5 throughout Illinois.
Kolja Hirsch (3rd grade) and Aamna Umrani (4th grade) each won the Best of the Best Award for their grade level. This is the judges' choice for the best poem among the first place winners in each grade.
All of Madison's winners are as follows:
Grade 2
Rosie Sun - 2nd Place Haiku
Grade 3
Kolja Hirsch - 1st Place Acrostic Poem
Karina Zemblys -1st Place Haiku
Jun Dalton - 2nd Place Haiku
Grade 4
Aamna Umrani - 1st Place Haiku
Timur Turba - 2nd Place Haiku
Grade 5
Max Merian - 1st Place Acrostic Poem
Zhuoyan Chen - 1st Place Diamante Poem
Yuxuan Xie - 1st Place Haiku
Daniel Ponakala - 2nd Place Haiku
CHMS Student Wins Music Scholarship
CHMS student Chelsea Boruff submitted her excerpt of a Mozart Horn Concerto to The American Wind Band contest. She was named a finalist and will receive a scholarship to further her studies in music. Congratulations Chelsea!
D181 Orchestra Creates 'Lean on Me' Project
D181 orchestra students from all nine schools put together this "Lean On Me project" to give the chance for everyone to play together since students were missing their May concerts.
Students sent in a "quarantine orchestra selfie" and practiced and recorded a specific segment of "Lean On Me" arranged by Mrs. Pearson Nerad. Mrs. Pearson Nerad layered audio recordings and added pictures to create the final video.
D181 Beginning Band students performing together virtually
Students from all D181 elementary schools performed Reign by Robert W. Smith together virtually. Included in the video is a message to students from the composer, a congratulatory message from the band teachers, and most importantly, the performance itself from our fine young musicians!
HMS Virtual Battle of the Books Winners
The HMS annual Battle of the Books competitions were held remotely this year.
Champions were Aanya, Brynne, Maddie, and Sameea of The Page Turners. The second place team consisted of students Yazmin, Greg, Ruben, and William. Congrats to all for your hard work!
HMS & CHMS National French Contest Results
We're excited to celebrate that students from CHMS and HMS ranked nationally in the 85th annual Le Grand Concours (National French Contest). Le Grand Concours is a national competition sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French. Students were evaluated for their written, oral, and listening comprehension skills in French. Nearly 70,000 students in all 50 states competed in the 2020 event. Congratulations to all!
HMS Award-Winners
Level 01: 7th grades
Abigail AuYeung (Silver)
Catherine Yan (Silver)
Leah Packer (Silver)
Xavier Sohovich (Honorable Mention)
Level 1: 8th graders
Claire May (Gold)
Kavya Ravi (Honorable Mention)
Level 2: 8th graders
Aurelie Valls-Rodriguez (Platinum, National Rank 1)
