On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, United States, and Canada. An eclipse is a celestial event that drastically changes the appearance of the sun and moon. People can experience solar eclipses when Earth, the moon, and the sun line up. 

While this is an exciting event, we also want to remind our community that safety is the number one priority when viewing a solar eclipse. On Monday, this will be especially important for our students, staff, and community during dismissal time. As a result, we are sharing important safety information provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) that will help our school community take proper precautions to protect your health and safety during the event.

One of the main areas of concern is eye safety. IDPH reminds people that looking directly at a solar eclipse can cause serious or permanent eye damage. 

Be Prepared:

• Never look directly at the sun without proper eye protection
• Use safe solar viewing glasses (eclipse glasses).
• Eclipse glasses are NOT the same as regular sunglasses, which are not safe for viewing the sun.
• Your regular sunglasses are not safe for viewing the sun.
• Only view for a short time when the moon completely obscures the sun (period of totality).
• If you don’t have eclipse glasses, you can use an indirect viewing method, such as a pinhole projector, which projects an image of the sun onto a nearby surface. Do NOT look at the sun through the pinhole!
• Viewing any part of the sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter will instantly cause severe eye injury.
• Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and ought to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. IEMA-OHS does not approve any particular brand of solar viewers.
• Inspect your eclipse glasses or handheld viewer before use; if torn, scratched, or otherwise damaged, discard the device.
• Always supervise children using solar viewers or eclipse glasses.

For more information, please click here.