Today, Illinois Governor Pritzker announced that the school closure in Illinois will be extended through the end of the semester.

Although in-person learning has been suspended for the remainder of the year, I assure you, our entire staff remains committed to learning and engaging with all students through remote learning, as well as continuing with our food distribution program.

Like you, we are saddened by the reality that our school community will not be able to reconvene in person this school year due to this public health crisis. So many of you have worked hard to learn and grow in both the classroom and in extracurricular activities and today’s announcement may be disappointing.

However, the final chapter of this school year hasn’t been written yet. These past few weeks have proven our school community is more resilient, more capable and more compassionate than what we previously realized. I’m confident our collective strength will shine through during the remainder of the school year, and we will emerge even stronger.

We will sort out schedule details for upcoming events including athletics, spring concerts, prom and graduation. We will inform you about the plans in the coming days and weeks. I do want you to know that we are committed to having graduation. We don’t know the date and we don’t know the circumstances for how it will be conducted, but we will work hard to have a graduation ceremony that is satisfactory to the seniors and their families.

High School principal Tim Wernentin wanted me to inform the seniors that a donation has been made by Foxtail Design for all Sherrard seniors to receive a personalized 2020 graduate yard sign. Just like the cap and gowns, there will be a drive thru pick up outside the main entrance of the high school on Monday, April 20 from 1-4 PM and on Tuesday, April 21 from 2-5 PM.

This is not the school year any of us imagined, but I want to thank you for your patience and understanding as we have dealt with this unprecedented situation together. This period of Remote Learning offers us new ways to learn and grow, and out of this Pandemic, we will emerge stronger. I can't thank you enough for all that you are doing as we all work together through these trying times.