Bunker Hill District

Attention Coaches! Join the #BHill8 Team! If interested in any of the listed coaching vacancies, please apply today!

This morning (Wednesday, 3/8) at 10:30 AM, our district conducted an unannounced K9 sweep of the BHHS campus in order to detect and deter possession of substances violating our Student Handbook and Board Policies. As you can probably understand, in order for this operation to be effective, it was impossible to notify parents/guardians in advance. K9 sweeps have always been, and will continue to be, unannounced but families will always be notified afterward. As a result of the sweep, students were asked to remain in their classrooms for approximately one hour while law enforcement conducted a very thorough search. However, at no point during the sweep did students have contact with the dogs. Although cannabis (marijuana) has been legalized in Illinois and other states, it is not legal for those under the age of 21 and it is absolutely not allowed at our schools. Today’s efforts were a coordinated effort two months in the planning, and required a significant amount of manpower, both from our own administrators at Bunker Hill CUSD 8 and our law enforcement partners at the Illinois State Police, Carlinville Police, the Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bunker Hill Police Department. Although we wish it wasn’t necessary to even consider these types of proactive measures, we are committed to ensuring that our school district remains the safe and healthy environment for our students and staff deserve. Thank you in advance for your understanding and continued support of our schools.

Check out BHHS Career Fair coming up on April 14th!

The following Coaching Vacancies are now open for the 2023-2024 school year. To apply, visit https://www.bhcusd.org/page/employment

Any #BHill8 athlete participating in the BHHS Trap Team, see the attached opportunity to obtain the needed Safety Education Course prior to the season. Also open to anyone from the BH community!

At its regularly-scheduled February meeting, the Bunker Hill 8 Board of Education approved the 2023-2024 school calendar for BH8 schools. This calendar is being shared with families early to assist with planning vacations, trips, appointments, etc. https://5il.co/1phw2

Join the Bunker Hill CUSD #8 Team! We currently have coaching and certified teaching vacancies for next (2023-2024) school year. We also have a leave of absence and a coaching opportunity for this year. For more information, please visit: https://www.bhcusd.org/page/employment

Bunker Hill #8 Families -- You have been invited to participate in our annual 5Essentials Survey. A few minutes of your time provides valuable feedback to guide school improvement. Visit this link to complete the survey: https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/?target_name=parent You may enter your email address for confirmation of your submission. Then enter "Macoupin" into the county field and search for "Wolf Ridge Education Ceneter" or "Bunker Hill High School" to find our schools. Thank you for your feedback!

Due to icy road conditions, Bunker Hill 8 schools will be closed on Monday, January 30, 2023. Stay safe!

Due to winter weather conditions in our rural outlying areas, school is cancelled for Wednesday, January 25. This is a traditional "snow day" with no e-learning. BH8 students that attend SMASE schools will follow their serving school's e-learning plans.

Good Afternoon Bunker Hill 8 Families – I would like to provide families with an update regarding last night’s and this morning's school safety response: First, I would be remiss if I didn’t express my gratitude to those who helped ensure our response was appropriate and timely. Our faculty, staff, and principals did an outstanding job today ensuring that school occurred safely. Every entrance was secured, and as you probably noticed, there was a heavy law enforcement presence at both schools. We are fortunate in Bunker Hill to have such dedicated first responders, and the cooperation from Bunker Hill Police Department, the City of Bunker Hill, and the Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office was extremely thorough and professional. I would also like to thank the many students and parents who shared information with us, allowing us to properly react to the situation. Next, I would like to provide a few additional details. However, because this situation deals with a minor, and also because it involves student privacy, the District cannot and will not publicly comment on details regarding specific discipline. However, here is what we can share: -- Last evening, our District Threat Assessment team met regarding an allegedly threatening statement shared via Snapchat audio as well as screenshots taken from social media -- After meeting at approximately 4:00 PM, the Threat Assessment Team determined that it warranted referral as a threat to local law enforcement officials. -- Bunker Hill Police Department informed us at approximately 7:35 PM that the threat had been investigated, and that while further investigation was required, the school district was not in danger from a credible threat the following day Finally, I would like to inform parents that for the foreseeable future, you can expect to see an increased police presence at both schools. Safety protocols will be reviewed at each building. The District will conduct an internal investigation in order to determine appropriate school discipline in accordance with Board Policy and Student Handbooks. In the meantime, the District understands that these events can cause or increase anxiety, so any parent that wishes for their child to receive counseling is encouraged to contact your child’s building principal. In the meantime, I encourage you to talk to your children about school safety, appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, expectations, and healthy practices as well as personal communication. Any type of threat toward a school, school personnel, and students is a serious matter and will be handled accordingly either by school discipline (including suspension and/or expulsion) or charges filed by law enforcement. Again, thank you for your understanding and support. Unfortunately, these types of events, while completely unacceptable, are becoming far too common. However, we will always do whatever is needed to ensure Bunker Hill schools are the safe and secure environment that our students and staff deserve. Respectfully yours, Todd Todd Dugan, Superintendent

Good Afternoon Bunker Hill 8 Families – I would like to provide families with an update regarding last night’s and this morning's school safety response: First, I would be remiss if I didn’t express my gratitude to those who helped ensure our response was appropriate and timely. Our faculty, staff, and principals did an outstanding job today ensuring that school occurred safely. Every entrance was secured, and as you probably noticed, there was a heavy law enforcement presence at both schools. We are fortunate in Bunker Hill to have such dedicated first responders, and the cooperation from Bunker Hill Police Department, the City of Bunker Hill, and the Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office was extremely thorough and professional. I would also like to thank the many students and parents who shared information with us, allowing us to properly react to the situation. Next, I would like to provide a few additional details. However, because this situation deals with a minor, and also because it involves student privacy, the District cannot and will not publicly comment on details regarding specific discipline. However, here is what we can share: -- Last evening, our District Threat Assessment team met regarding an allegedly threatening statement shared via Snapchat audio as well as screenshots taken from social media -- After meeting at approximately 4:00 PM, the Threat Assessment Team determined that it warranted referral as a threat to local law enforcement officials. -- Bunker Hill Police Department informed us at approximately 7:35 PM that the threat had been investigated, and that while further investigation was required, the school district was not in danger from a credible threat the following day Finally, I would like to inform parents that for the foreseeable future, you can expect to see an increased police presence at both schools. Safety protocols will be reviewed at each building. The District will conduct an internal investigation in order to determine appropriate school discipline in accordance with Board Policy and Student Handbooks. In the meantime, the District understands that these events can cause or increase anxiety, so any parent that wishes for their child to receive counseling is encouraged to contact your child’s building principal. In the meantime, I encourage you to talk to your children about school safety, appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, expectations, and healthy practices as well as personal communication. Any type of threat toward a school, school personnel, and students is a serious matter and will be handled accordingly either by school discipline (including suspension and/or expulsion) or charges filed by law enforcement. Again, thank you for your understanding and support. Unfortunately, these types of events, while completely unacceptable, are becoming far too common. However, we will always do whatever is needed to ensure Bunker Hill schools are the safe and secure environment that our students and staff deserve. Respectfully yours, Todd Todd Dugan, Superintendent

Bunker Hill 8 Families: The safety of our students, faculty, and staff is our highest priority at Bunker Hill Schools. As a practice, the administration takes ALL threats seriously. This afternoon, we learned of a possible threat made toward BHHS tomorrow (Friday, 1/13) accompanied by some allegedly inappropriate social media posts. By 4:00 PM, the district had convened a Threat Assessment Team to evaluate the facts. At this point, it was determined that our local law enforcement needed to be involved. We have just received word from BHPD that they have investigated the incident. While we cannot publicly comment on an active investigation without risk of compromising it, we can assure parents that BHHS will be a safe and secure environment tomorrow (and every day). Because we take all threats seriously, there will be law enforcement present periodically throughout the day tomorrow. Student or students affiliated with the threat will of course not be in attendance as the school conducts its own investigation. Sadly, in this day and age, no threat can and should be dismissed. This is true tonight and will always hold true. However, what I can confidently say is that we take all threats seriously and do not consider these types of actions to be a joking matter. When a threat occurs, the District will investigate, we will find out, discipline will be issued, and charges will be filed when warranted. School will be in session tomorrow albeit with law enforcement present periodically throughout the day. I apologize for the delay in this message; however the District was not able to publicly comment in the midst of an active law enforcement operation. Enjoy your evening, and as always, thank you for your continued support and partnership. Respectfully yours, Todd Todd Dugan Superintendent

Message Regarding Inclement Weather Procedures at Bunker Hill 8: Whenever inclement weather is expected, I am in regular contact with our Transportation and our Maintenance Directors for updates, as well as local road commissioners and other area school districts. However, Bunker Hill #8 does not typically take a "remote learning" or e-learning day in lieu of an emergency day in the cases of dangerous wind chills and/or road conditions for a variety of reasons: -- First, I have concerns in serving our most vulnerable students with specialized needs via remote instruction -- Also, we have a significant amount of our district that lacks access to reliable broadband Internet necessary for rigorous remote instruction -- District-provided meals are required on these days, and this may potentially place staff and/or families in danger to either prepare or pick up -- Implications regarding the pay for educational support professionals (bus drivers, cooks, aides, etc.) -- Finally, I believe in the "magic" of snow days. If conditions require us to close, my wish is for students and staff to enjoy the day watching the snow fall, plowing their driveways (or a needy neighbor's), drink hot chocolate, read a book, and return when the roads are clear and safe. Hopefully our district will not need to utilize any this year, but as many surrounding districts announce their plans and procedures for this winter, I wanted families to be informed of how these days (if applicable) will be utilized at Bunker Hill CUSD #8.

Click on the link to view the Patriot Peek at the Week for next week (12/19-12/21): https://www.smore.com/9j7er We have fun dress-up days planned for next week at Wolf Ridge: Monday = Pajama Day Tuesday = Fun, Festive Sweater Day Wednesday = Elf Day (Wear holiday colors and patterns!) There will be an early dismissal on 12/21 at 2:00. Winter break will be from 12/22-1/4. Students will return on January 5th.

Click on the link for more information about Bunker Hill CUSD8 Festivities and Winter Break Information: https://d1csarkz8obe9u.cloudfront.net/embeddesigns/2ffef2d6877a58ad5c7d19eb96e03496_embed.mp4

Patriot Events for the Week of 12/12-12/21: Monday 12/12 Boys Basketball vs Mt. Olive - 6:00 HOME GAME! Tuesday 12/13 Boys Basketball vs Carlinville - 6:00 HOME GAME! Wednesday 12/14 Boys Basketball vs Gillespie - 4:00 EARLY HOME GAME (Stay to cheer on the Minutemaids afterwards!) Thursday 12/15 Band Concert at 6:30 at BHHS Friday 12/16 Jr. High Winter Dance Monday 12/19 Pajama Day at School Tuesday 12/20 Ugly/Whacky Holiday Sweater Day Wednesday 12/21 EARLY DISMISSAL 2:00 Festive Shirts and/or Colors Day PFK Cookies & Cocoa in AM K-2 Music Concert at 12:30 K-5 Class Parties 1:00-2:00

#BHill8 is so very proud of our Wolf Ridge Principal, Mrs. Shonda Ronen for receiving the Illinois Principals' Assocation - Kaskaskia Region NAESP Elementary Principal of the Year Award! Mrs. Ronen received the award on Thursday evening, December 8 at the IPA 26th Annual Member Awards Banquet in Carlyle, IL. Her dedication, hard work, and vision for excellence positively impacting the students, staff and community are just a few of the reasons she received the well-deserved award. On behalf of all of #BHill8, thank you for your exemplary leadership, Mrs. Ronen! Congratulations, and well done! 👏

As our District Calendar Committee prepares to meet in early January, we would love to hear your thoughts regarding calendar preferences for next year. Many things are not negotiable (175 instructional days, 4 teachers institutes, 1 P/T Conference Day (waiver), and 5 emergency days, plus state-mandated holidays) but how early/late in August to start, length of Easter/Spring Break, etc. are within our control. Ultimately, the Board of Education approves the calendar typically in February of each year. This feedback from parents, faculty/staff, and students will help to inform priorities as we develop next year's calendar . To provide feedback, please visit: https://tejoin.com/scroll/469943101 or scan the above QR code with a smartphone camera. This Thought Exchange will remain open until 12/21 and will be shared with the Calendar Committee prior to constructing a first draft in January.

The 2023 Trap Team Registration will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday December 11th at Brittany Shooting Park. We hope you will join! Junior High Volleyball Tryouts for 6th-8th grade students will be held this afternoon and tomorrow, 12/5 & 12/6, from 3:30-5:00 at Wolf Ridge. All athletes must have a physical on file to tryout.