Dear 8th Grade Parents and Guardians,

I hope you and your families are continuing to do well and stay safe. I am reaching out to provide you with an update of our plans for Worth Junior High School’s Class of 2020. Although graduation is going to look different this year for our 8th graders, Worth Junior High School’s graduation committee in collaboration with Worth School District 127’s administrative team, have developed plans that we hope will make the graduation experience as special as possible for our graduates.

What follows are the current details of the plan we have developed:

• On Friday, May 15th, members of Worth Junior High School’s Graduation Committee will be delivering graduation lawn/window signs to the homes of our graduates between 12 noon and 2 p.m. Our staff is hoping to say hello to students and families as they place signs in lawns and/or drop them off to families who reside in apartments.  
• All student belongings from the lockers are currently in labeled boxes in Worth Junior High School’s gym. 8th graders and their families will be asked to come to Worth Junior High School to pick up their personal belongings sometime during the week of May 25th. More information regarding the date, time, and procedures for picking up individual boxes containing personal belongings will be forthcoming. 
• When 8th graders and their families come to school to pick up personal belongings, they will also pick up graduation pictures, yearbooks, caps & gowns, gold stoles for those who earned them, and graduation tee shirts.   
• The staff of Worth Junior High School is currently working on putting together a good-bye video to graduates which will be streamed on District 127’s website on Monday, June 1st.  
• On Tuesday, June 2nd, a pre-recorded 8th grade awards ceremony recognizing 8th graders who have earned individual 8th grade awards will be streamed on District 127’s web page. The presentation of the 8th grade individual awards will be followed by a video tribute of each member of Worth Junior High School’s Class of 2020.  In order to help us put together this video tribute, we are asking all of our 8th graders and their families to complete a student profile survey which can be found at the following link: https://forms.gle/7uAXsZsiFNXYSPvQ6.   
• On Wednesday, June 3rd at 7:00 p.m., a virtual pre-recorded graduation ceremony will be streamed on Worth School District 127’s website. The virtual presentation will include the formal recitation and presentation of the names of our graduates by Worth Junior High School’s 8th grade teachers. In addition, the virtual presentation will include commencement speeches provided by Dr. Mark Fleming, Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Joe Zampillo, Worth Junior High School’s Principal, and Mrs. Maureen Eichstaedt, Worth Junior High School’s Assistant Principal.  

Once again, although this is not the typical format for graduation and graduation related activities, the administration and staff of Worth Junior High School is dedicated to doing our best to make the graduation experience for our students as special as possible in alignment with guidelines provided to us by the Illinois State Board of Education. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out via email at jzampillo@worthschools.org or by phone at (708) 671-3947. Thanks and may you and your families continue to stay safe and healthy.  

Sincerely,

Joe Zampillo, Ed.D.
Principal
Worth Junior High School