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Week of February 16 to February 20 2026
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Update from Superintendent Bentsen
Dear Fenton School Community,
We honored Black History Month by continuing our new tradition of hosting an Evening of Black Excellence. I am proud of Fenton’s Black Student Union and the families and staff who supported this initiative of recognizing culture and empowerment.
Excellence is about continuous improvement and never giving up. The future matters because it's about what our students are capable of, and along their journey they can look back on those who paved the way before them and know that anything is possible.
Our February 19 event was a meaningful evening, rich with personalized experiences around the theme of music - “Feel the Soul.” Our BSU students took turns sharing their favorite facts about influential black musicians, followed by radio personality Daniel “Big Poppa” Dees sharing more insights on musical excellence that struggled at first but eventually rose to prominence.
Thank you to the Fenton choir and Jazz Band for sharing your talents in honor of Black Excellence.
And finally, thank you to School Board President Cary Lewis for continuing to show your support for our Black Student Union and the shared goal of empowering our students.
We had numerous other School Board Members who graciously set aside time to attend and support this cause.
Sam Bentsen, Ed.D.
Superintendent
5Essentials Parent Survey
The best method for gathering wide-ranging feedback is through the 5Essentials Survey, which is operated by the University of Chicago. Through various questions, the survey is intended to measure these five indicators that positively affect school success:
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Effective Leaders
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Collaborative Teachers
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Involved Families
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Supportive Environments
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Ambitious Instruction
This survey is handled by an outside organization and they do not share your email address or your answers with Fenton High School. University of Chicago asks if you would like to submit your email address in case you don’t finish the survey and want to continue later. Names are not collected.
The data sent to Fenton is also shown on our State School Report Card if a required number of parents participate, and the information includes general percentages of responding parents who agree or disagree with the stated questions or a percentage of responding parents who selected the multiple choice answers. No identifying information is revealed.
These are just a sample of the survey questions, but they show a good variety of areas where your feedback would be helpful and could make a difference moving forward:
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What grade your student is in,
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Technology available to parents at home,
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How parents think their students feel about school,
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How often parents interact with their student’s teachers,
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How parents feel about the relationship with their student’s teachers,
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If parents believe our school is preparing their students for college,
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How often our school provides updates or invites parents into the school,
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What communication methods (email, phone, text messages) do parents prefer,
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What life factors prevent parents from attending school events,
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How often do parents volunteer for school events or programs,
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Parent opinions on the quality of our facilities,
Please take a few minutes to click on the link below and take the 5Essentials Parent Survey.
SEL/PBIS Monthly Newsletter
Welcome to our mid-winter update! It’s been a busy start to the new year here at Fenton. Through our PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) and SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) initiatives, we are focusing on the whole student—balancing academic discipline with the digital wellness necessary for success in 2026.
Topics in this latest newsletter include:
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January Recap: Building Skills for Success
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February Focus: Digital Wellness & Connection
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A "Sweet" School-Wide Celebration
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At-Home Discussion Starters
Click here to continue reading the January/February newsletter from Ms. Melissa To, Fenton’s PBIS and SEL Coordinator.
Drive Thru Food Pantry on March 5
Fenton High School and the Bensenville-Wood Dale Food Pantry have a Food For Families distribution on Thursday, March 5, 2026 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Fenton High School.
This unique opportunity is open to anyone in the area who is in need of food; supplies are limited and will be distributed on a first-come first-served basis while supplies last. Please drive through our bus lane, remain inside your car, and open your trunk when you approach our teams.
Please do not line up until after 3:30 p.m. so our buses and students can leave campus normally.
March 3 Deadline to Buy Senior Ads in the Yearbook
Editors at the Highlights Yearbook Club have begun designing the senior tributes section. Senior advertisements and yearbooks themselves are only sold online. Search "Fenton High School" on yearbookforever.com.
Senior ads are a great way to cement your favorite memories and accomplishments in a book that's archived forever. Simply choose your desired advertisement size, write your custom message, and upload your picture(s).
The “Guess Who” senior baby pictures are another fun way to contribute to this school-wide celebration and they only cost $10. Start looking for your best picture! Once you find one, send an electronic version to Mr. Kambic (kambic@fenton100.org) AND Ms. Dantona (dantona@fenton100.org). Drop off your $10 cash or check (made to Fenton High School) with Ms. Dantona in the ARC -- place your payment in an envelope with your name and student ID number. If your preferred photo is only in print form, drop it off with Ms. Dantona and the Highlights Yearbook Club will scan it.
Don’t miss out on buying your copy of the 2025-2026 Highlights Yearbook. Walsworth Publishing allowed for guaranteed yearbook orders through January. Now yearbooks are sold while supplies last.
Again, search "Fenton High School" on yearbookforever.com to get your copy.
Below is a sneak peak of this year's arcade-themed book...
Dance Force Wins IDTA State Championship
Congratulations to the Fenton Dance Force for an epic finish to their competitive season with two top finishes at the Illinois Drill Team Association (IDTA) state tournament on February 14 in Springfield.
Varsity took 1st place and are State Champions in the IDTA AAA Division for Hip Hop. This comes after they qualified to the tournament with a 1st place finish at the Ottawa Dance Invite on February 7.
Additionally, JV qualified to the state final for the first time in 12 years and finished in 2nd place!
Congratulations on an outstanding season!
Speech Team Members Win 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Place at State Finals
Congratulations to Angelina Varghese and Arturo Hurtado Jr. for earning medals at the IHSA Speech State Finals on February 21 in Peoria. They led the rest of the Fenton state qualifiers to a 9th place overall finish!
Angelina Varghese won 2nd Place in Informative Speaking (INFO).
Arturo Hurtado Jr. won 3rd Place in Special Occasion Speaking (SOS) AND 4th Place in Original Oratory (OO).
Other state qualifiers who competed at state include...
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Sebastian Botello and Lucia Sosa competed in Humorous Duet Acting (HDA), and
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Our Performance in the Round (PIR) cast of "Bless Me, Ultima" featuring Jacob Jordan Arguelles, Amelia Bratko, Hailey Durkowski, Emanuel Flores, Noah Joaquin, Damaris Lopez, Maria Mendoza-Garcia, Jayden Mojarro, Eduardo Perez, Javier Quinones Jr, Alonso Romero, Alita Thach, Jason Vargas, Violet Villafana, David Aguilar Zamora, and Mia Otero Roman.
Fenton held a State Bound Sendoff on Thursday, February 19 to celebrate these student competitors and wish them luck at State.
Congratulations to the Fenton Speech team on another incredible season!
Fenton Girls Bowler Wins 2nd Place in State
A huge congratulations to Denisse Astudillo for winning 2nd Place individually in the Chair Division of the IHSA Girls Bowling State Finals on February 20 and 21 in Rockford. Denisse rolled her personal best score in her last game, which sent her into 2nd Place.
Fenton held a State Bound Send Off Friday, February 20 for teammates, coaches, teachers, friends, family, and other staff to celebrate her success and to wish her luck at state.
Fenton Wrestlers Qualify for State
Congratulations to Fenton wrestlers Dereck Mazariegos and Rene Reyna for advancing through Sectionals and qualifying to the IHSA Wrestling State Finals February 20 and 21 in Champaign. Omar Diaz is an alternate.
Fenton held a State Bound Sendoff on Wednesday, February 18 to celebrate these student athletes and wish them luck at State.
Rene was 35-7 on the season en route to All Conference Honors and winning the Regional Championship in his weight class. He placed 2nd at Sectionals last weekend.
Derek was 22-9 on the season and also earned All Conference Honors before taking 2nd Place at Regionals two weeks ago.
And a huge Shout Out to Coach Brian Hastings and his incredible staff of coaches.
Cool School Plunge Raises $2,700
Thank you to everyone who participated in and donated to our Cool School Plunge fundraiser to support Special Olympics Illinois. With your help, we raised more than $2,700!!!
The Cool School Plunge is a fundraising event in which students and staff raise money by taking a chilly dip in cold water, promoting school spirit, inclusion, and acceptance for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Those who took The Plunge had to raise at least $100 each.
Major kudos to Mr. Delgado for the epic belly flop. The elevation and hang time was very impressive!
Our Special Olympics Basketball Team will be going to the Special Olympics Illinois- Region C State Finals March 13-15 and this was yet another way to celebrate their team success.
Once again, thank you to the Bensenville Fire Protection District No. 2 for filling our pool.
Click here to see more on our Facebook post
Exploring Korean Culture
Fenton's International Club enjoyed a trip to Super H Mart in Niles on Thursday, February 19 to celebrate Korean culture. Students ate, shopped, and tried their luck at the claw machines. Many Fenton Families were cooking with Korean ingredients that weekend!
Noteworthy Dates
- February 24 – Career Spotlight Series (all day)
- February 24 – Talent Show Dress Rehearsal
- February 25 – Career Spotlight Series (all day)
- February 25 – Winter Choir Concert, 7 pm
- February 25 – Board of Education Meeting, 7 pm
- February 26 – Career Fair (all lunch periods)
- February 26 – Talent Show, 6:30 pm
- February 27 – No School; Teachers Institute Day
- March 3 – Tri-District Band Fest
- March 5 – Food For Families mobile food pantry, 4 p.m.
- March 5 – Winter Band Concert, 7 pm
- March 8 – Spaghetti with a Song fundraiser, 1 pm
- March 24 – Final NHS Community Service Deadline