Community Relations

National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA)

• 2023 Award of Excellence for This is District 54 Video
• 2023 Award of Merit for Black History Month Social Media Campaign
• 2022 Golden Achievement Award for Substitute Recruitment Campaign
• 2022 Award of Merit for #54Staff Spotlight Social Media Campaign
• 2022 Award of Excellence for Elevate Student Success Video
• 2021 Award of Excellence for new District 54 Website
• 2021 Award of Excellence for Impact the Future Recruitment Materials
• 2021 Award of Excellence for Positive Impact Videos Social Media Campaign
• 2021 Award of Honorable Mention for District 54 Reopening Special Purpose Guide
• 2020 Award of Honorable Mention for #54StepsUp Social Media Campaign
• 2020 Award of Honorable Mention for WeAre54 Video
• 2020 Award of Honorable Mention for Open Enrollment Schools Brochure (Special Purpose Publication)
• 2019 Award of Honorable Mention for #54Happiness Social Media Campaign
• 2018 for #WeAre54 Communication Campaign Golden Achievement Award

Illinois Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association (INSPRA)

• 2021 Award of Excellence for new District 54 Website
• 2021 Award of Excellence for Positive Impact Videos Social Media Campaign
• 2021 Award of Excellence for District 54 Reopening Special Purpose Guide
• 2021 Award of Merit for Impact the Future Recruitment Materials
• 2020 Award of Excellence for Open Enrollment Booklet
• 2020 Award of Merit – WeAre54 Video of Student Amelia Jablonska
• 2020 Award of Excellence – Careers in District 54 Video
• 2019 Award of Merit for Visions Newsletter
• 2019 Award of Excellence for Stephanie Veit #WeAre54 Video
• 2018 Award of Excellence #WeAre54 Social Media campaign
• 2018 Award of Excellence Ensuring Student Success Winner Sharon Barrick Video

Interested in receiving news about District 54 schools and events? Subscribe to our mailing list by entering your email address in the field below and clicking “Subscribe.”

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Freedom of Information Act requests can be emailed to [email protected]. Questions can be addressed to Chief FOIA Officer Terri McHugh at [email protected] or (847) 357-5028.

Please visit the FOIA page for more information.

District 54 uses a platform called ParentSquare to communicate with our families in a variety of ways. Principals use ParentSquare to email weekly newsletters, and to send alerts through phone calls and text messages for priority communications. The district will use ParentSquare to call, text and email parents/guardians with informational and emergency updates. Some District 54 teachers and other staff are also using ParentSquare for classroom and club/sports communications.

All families and staff will receive calls, texts and emails whether or not you create a ParentSquare account. However, by creating an account you will be able to change your notification preferences, interact with requests, change your language preferences and see all of the messages previously sent to you, as well as staff directories and other information.

To create a ParentSquare account, go to parentsquare.com/signin and enter the email or cell phone number you provided to your school. ParentSquare also has a free app available on the Apple Store for iPhones or the Google Play Store for Androids.

After logging in, click on your name at the top, and then My Account to see the contact information we have on file for you. Contact your school to update any information that may need to be changed. 

If you need additional help, review this step-by-step guide to setting up your ParentSquare account.

The Community Relations Department supports the Board of Education in recognizing the accomplishments of all members of our school community: students, staff, volunteers, parents, former students and community members.

To learn more about how you can nominate someone for Board recognition, please visit the Board of Education page and scroll down to the Recognition section.

There are occasions when District 54 may have to close one or more schools. When that happens, the district will use many communication tools to reach parents and staff. District 54 is not equipped to handle large numbers of incoming calls on these days, because there are more than 12,000 families in our district and switchboards must remain open for emergency purposes.

Visit our School Cancellations page, for more information on phone notifications, email preferences and texting.

District 54 shares information about community events with our students and families through our Virtual Backpack.

We know that parents are interested in extracurricular activities. At the same time, we don’t want the homework, letters from the teachers, school news and other important district information to get lost among the countless other pieces of paper in our students’ backpacks.

Organizations wishing to post a flyer on this site should review the District 54 Flyer Guidelines and then email a link to the flyer on the organization’s website to Meagan Kasper.