To help our community better understand the state of our facilities, we have made video tours of our buildings, the first one of which is a look at Lincoln Middle School. You can watch the video by clicking the link below.

Superintendent Dr. Ben Collins sent a message to families on Thursday that read in part:

For the past six months, we have been taking a hard look at our Master Facilities Plan and the needs our students and staff have now and in the future. Through many meetings with staff, community stakeholders, law enforcement, and our architects, we have identified areas where our safety, security, health, critical infrastructure, and, in some cases, classrooms are not meeting our current and future needs. Our school district has done everything possible to address these issues without our current budget, and we are at the point where we are considering doing major renovations in these areas with additional funding in the form of a referendum in the future.

The School Board will make a decision later this summer about which path we will take forward, and to be transparent about our needs, we are hosting the following community engagement events, where I will lay out the issues we face and our proposed solutions. Each one of these sessions will include time for Q&A. 

We have also designed a webpage that provides information, past presentations, and other useful tools that we want to share with you. Those resources can be found at d64.org/2024proposal. As we continue exploring this possibility, you can always reach out to me directly with any questions at bcollins@d64.org.

Your first opportunities to hear more from Dr. Collins are next week! We are hosting a Beans, Brew and Ben on Tuesday, April 9th at South Park Rec Center (833 W Talcott Road, Park Ridge).

Then later on Tuesday evening there will be a tour and presentation at Lincoln Middle School starting at 7 pm.

Looking ahead we're also hosting a presentation before the D64 Jazz Fest on April 11th and a PT3 Meeting that is focused on Special Education on April 16th.

Please let us know if you plan on going to one of these events so that we have an idea of what the set up needs to be. RSVP for the upcoming meetings and presentations.

The 2024 Proposal page has the most up-to-date list of events, their locations, and their times.

Upcoming Board Meetings

The following are the next Board meetings:

• April 18, 2024 - 7 p.m. - Hendee Rooms at Jefferson
• May 16, 2024 - 7 p.m. - Hendee Rooms at Jefferson

Looking to catch up on past meeting highlights? A summary of each meeting is available on our Current Board News webpage.

Please confirm meeting dates and times on the Board meetings webpage.

District 64 is celebrating a significant achievement as it has been honored once again with the prestigious Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) Award. This is the 2nd straight year we have won the BCME Award. The recognition highlights the district's commitment to providing outstanding music education opportunities to its students.

The BCME Award, presented annually by the NAMM Foundation, is a symbol of excellence in music education. It acknowledges school districts across the United States for their efforts in offering comprehensive music education programs that enrich students' lives and contribute to their overall academic success.

Way to go! Congratulations to our tremendously talented students and dedicated staff! You can read more about the award on our website.

On Monday, all of North America will experience an eclipse of the sun. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon blocks any part of the sun. This is the first time since 2017 that a solar eclipse will be visible on a path across the entire continental United States. Students in grades K-8 who returned a signed permission slip will go outside for a few minutes to witness the eclipse.

Here are some important safety reminders:

• Students may only view the eclipse through the special glasses provided by the District, and they should not view the eclipse through those glasses for longer than 3 minutes at a time.
• Glasses should not be used if they are scratched, wrinkled, or separated from the frame in any way.
• Because the lenses in the eclipse glasses are very dark, students will need to put their glasses on after they get outside. They will need to look at the ground until they have their glasses on to view the eclipse, and they should also look at the ground before removing their glasses to come back indoors.

When we return from Spring Break, it will be April, and Healthy Living Month will be underway in District 64! The goal of this community-wide initiative is to promote healthy bodies and healthy minds. Students will have access to healthy living resources and activities and will be given a weekly challenge relating to one of the themes below:

• Neat to Use Your Feet Week 2 (April 8-14)
• Go Green Week 3 (April 15-21)
• Screen Free Week 4 (April 22-28)

Please check out this link for more information on Healthy Living Month and the weekly challenges!

Making summer plans? Register for Worlds of Wonder Summer 2024!

The registration links are now live. The WOW page also has the schedule for each session and course description brochures.

Registration closes Monday, June 3rd.

Volunteers are needed for Career Day at Emerson and Lincoln Middle School!

Each middle school will host its own Career Day for 8th Graders on Wednesday, May 15! The purpose of Career Day is to expose students to a variety of careers in order to jumpstart their thinking about the future. We are currently recruiting parent volunteers to speak to homerooms (30 students) for 15 minutes. Parents will rotate to 4-5 homerooms. In addition to sharing information about your career, each session will include a few minutes for student questions. Career Day activities will occur between 8:40-11:20 a.m. If you, a family member, or a friend is interested in volunteering to speak about a career, please complete the forms below by Friday, April 12.

Comments and questions may always be directed to the Superintendent or Board members through these links:

Email Dr. Ben Collins, Superintendent or contact members of the Board of Education via email links.

Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 | 847-318-4300 | news@d64.org

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