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Dear Barrington 220 Community,
I hope you had a wonderful summer! We’re just one week away from the first day of school for students in grades 1-12+ on Monday, August 19, and then we’ll welcome our early childhood and kindergarten students on Wednesday, August 21.
This will be an exciting year in the district as we celebrate many firsts. Starting this year, we are excited to offer our community free full-day kindergarten at all our elementary schools. In addition, we can’t wait to launch our innovative Kindergarten Lab Program at Barrington High School, which will be the first of its kind in the state!
This year we are also implementing a fully integrated pre-K through 12+ social emotional learning program called Character Strong. While the district has utilized various social emotional programs at different grade levels through the years, this marks the first time we have a pre-K through 12+ program. This will enable a unified approach across the district to support student and staff belonging, well-being, and engagement.
This school year we also have four early release days for students. This is in addition to the Wednesday early release days for grades K-8. This will provide staff with more opportunities to review student data, plan instruction, and engage in professional development. The four early release days for the 2024-25 school year will fall on Aug. 30, Sept. 27, March 20, and April 17. There is no school for the Early Learning Center on these days. Click here to view all school hours for each level.
Lastly, as we welcome our students for the first day of school, it will be the first time since 2019 that we are starting the year with all major construction from our Build 220 initiative completed. It has been amazing to see the new spaces transform the educational experience for our students and staff, and we are truly grateful for the community’s support of the $147 million referendum that made it possible.
Stay tuned as we reveal our district theme for the upcoming school year later this week! I look forward to working together to make this a great school year for all!
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