A Special Closed Session Meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. The meetings will precede the Board's regular monthly committee meetings.

Tickets are now on sale for the Waukegan High School JROTC Drill Team’s annual Drill Team Benefit Luncheon. Proceeds from the fundraiser benefit the award-winning drill team, and help offset costs of travel to competitions.

We are continuously striving to meet the needs of our students and families, and your input is invaluable in shaping the future of our programs. Our EPIC Pre-K program offers five full-day Pre-K sections across the district and 42 half-day sections. The development of full-day options in recent years has been extremely popular with parents. While these opportunities are currently limited, we are constantly exploring ways to expand as funding allows.

District 60 will be hosting an online informational presentation later this month designed to help Diverse Learner families learn more about the various resources and options available to their child as they prepare to transition out of high school.

PowerSchool recently notified us of a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to data through its PowerSource customer support portal. The breach, which was discovered on December 28, 2024, affected certain users of PowerSchool’s Student Information System (SIS). However, Waukegan Public Schools does not use PowerSchool SIS, and our systems and data were not impacted by this incident.

Cooke Magnet School is now accepting applications from parents wishing to enroll their children in the school for the fall. The online application can be accessed here. The deadline to complete the application is March 31, 2025.

State assessment season begins this month, and we want to inform you about the upcoming ACCESS testing for our English Learner (EL) students. ACCESS for English Learners is an annual state assessment that measures students' progress toward English proficiency.

Waukegan Public Schools will host two special Safe Haven presentations focusing on immigration-related topics, designed to provide clarity and support for students and parents. The events will be led by Belany Contreras, a Staff Attorney with the North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic, and will be held in person and live-streamed on the District’s YouTube channel.

A regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at 7 p.m. for Open Session, and 6 p.m. for Closed Session. The meeting will be conducted in person in the Lincoln Center Board Room, 1201 N. Sheridan Road. Closed Session will occur in Room 120.

District 60’s Diverse Learner Department is partnering with local organizations on a series of online presentations beginning this month. Each session is designed to educate families on a variety of important topics and programs related to their child’s rights, and the various programs available to them. The sessions will be led by a variety of representatives from community organizations and are open to all.

Waukegan Community Unit School District #60 has earned a credit rating upgrade from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings, improving from an A to an A+ with a Stable Outlook. This milestone reflects the district’s strong financial management and responsible resource allocation, despite economic pressures and the expiration of federal ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds.

Join District 60’s Family and Community Engagement (FACE) department for an Infinite Campus Parent University on Wednesday, January 15, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Glen Flora Elementary School, 1110 Chestnut Street.

We are writing to share some updates to our January calendar. Please take note of the following important dates:

On December 17, 2024, the Student Achievement and Operation Services Committee meetings will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Lincoln Center Board Room, 1201 N. Sheridan Road. No formal Board action will be taken during the meetings.

Waukegan High School senior Victor Hinojosa has been awarded a full four-year scholarship to the University of Chicago through the prestigious QuestBridge National College Match program. The scholarship, which covers tuition, room, board, and other essential expenses, is awarded to fewer than 10% of applicants nationwide.

Little Fort Elementary was recently honored with the Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Award for significant gains in several targeted areas as part of the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence (BRSE) program.

As a proud and diverse school district, we want to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to ensuring that all our schools remain safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments for every child and family—regardless of immigration status.

Waukegan Public Schools will host nearly two dozen local community impact leaders as guest principals during its annual Guest Principal Day on Thursday, December 12. Now in its fifth year, this special event celebrates the important contributions of nonprofit and social service leaders who make a profound difference in the lives of Waukegan students.

A regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at 7 p.m. for Open Session, and 6 p.m. for Closed Session. The meeting will be conducted in person in the Lincoln Center Board Room, 1201 N. Sheridan Road. Closed Session will occur in Room 120.

Waukegan Public Schools will host a free meal distribution event on Saturday, December 21 at the Waukegan High School-Brookside Campus. Meals will be available between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Families can pick up food by driving up to door 29, which is located at the back of the Brookside Campus. Families will be asked to stay in their cars, and students are not required to be present to pick up meals.

District 60’s K-8 theater program, the Waukegan Performing Arts Company (WAUK-PAC) is holding auditions for its upcoming production of Moana Jr. Auditions will be held at Cooke Magnet School, 522 Belvidere Road, on Tuesday, December 17 from 5 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. All K-8 students are welcome to audition.

As we enter the last stretch of the school year before Winter Break all students across the district will be participating in Middle-of-Year assessments. This time starts an important series of district-wide check-ins where student progress is measured in a few ways and communicated to you. Student attendance will be important. Individual school schedules will vary and may be communicated to you by the building principal. Individual student results will be sent home with students in January.

As winter settles in, we want to remind families of our District’s cold weather policies and procedures to ensure the safety and well-being of all students.

District 60’s Family and Community Engagement (FACE) department is hosting a Cyber Security Parent University on Wednesday, December 11, at Clark Elementary School, 601 Blanchard Road. This free event begins at 6 p.m. and is designed to help families protect themselves from cyber threats.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for school concerts, and Waukegan Public Schools students have several shows planned in the upcoming weeks to fill you with holiday cheer.

Waukegan High School will host its second Transformation Plan feedback session on Tuesday, December 3 at the WHS-Brookside Campus, beginning at 5:30 p.m. This session is an opportunity for families, staff, students, and community members to collaborate to help shape the future of Waukegan High School.

The Board of Education for Waukegan Public Schools will meet in a Special Meeting on Monday, December 2, 2024, at 6:00 pm in Room 120 at Lincoln Center, 1201 North Sheridan Road, for the purpose of discussing annual performance goals for the superintendent arising out of her evaluation. This meeting will be held in Closed Session. A brief open session with Public Comment will precede the closed session portion. No formal action will be taken during the open session.

A regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, November 25, 2024, at 7 p.m. for Open Session, and 6 p.m. for Closed Session. The meeting will be conducted in person in the Lincoln Center Board Room, 1201 N. Sheridan Road. Closed Session will occur in Room 120. The meeting will be on Monday due to Thanksgiving Break.

The Winter sports season is underway, and Waukegan High School basketball will host its annual Meet the Bulldogs event on Friday, November 22 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Dog Pound.

Earlier this week our District publicly presented important information related to both our End of Year (EOY) student data from the 2023-2024 school year, as well as Beginning of the Year (BOY) student data for 2024-2025.

On October 15, 2024, the Student Achievement and Operation Services Committee meetings will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Lincoln Center Board Room, 1201 N. Sheridan Road. No formal Board action will be taken during the meetings.

District 60’s K-8 theater program, the Waukegan Performing Arts Company (WAUK-PAC) is holding auditions for its next production, Frozen, next week. Auditions will be held at Cooke Magnet School, 522 Belvidere Road, on Thursday, August 22 from 5 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. All K-8 students are welcome to audition.

Waukegan Community Unit School District # 60 schools are again participating in Professional Learning Days this school year. These days will allow for additional professional development opportunities for staff members and will result in altered bell schedules on these days.

Last week our Board of Education voted to approve updates to two important policies that impact students academically. The most significant policy is the re-introduction of our promotion/ retention policy, which affects how students move from grade to grade each year, based on academic performance. Below are more details on this policy, as well as more minor changes to our grading policy. Please take a moment to read up on these changes, and be on the lookout for more information on these policies in the near future.

District 60’s K-8 theater program, the Waukegan Performing Arts Company (WAUK-PAC) is holding auditions for its next production, Seusseical Jr. next month. Auditions will be held at Cooke Magnet School, 522 Belvidere Road, on Thursday, May 16, from 5 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. All K-8 students are welcome to audition.

Parents new to District 60 looking to enroll their children in kindergarten for the 2024/25 school year still have time to reserve a time slot to complete the registration process during one of our upcoming New Kindergarten Registration events.

A Special Closed Session Meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, for the purpose of discussing negotiations and litigation. The meeting will be in Closed Session beginning at 6 p.m. in Room 120 at Lincoln Center, 1201 N. Sheridan Road. No official Board action will be taken at this meeting. The meeting will precede the Board's regular monthly committee meetings. On November 21, 2023, the regularly-scheduled Student Achievement and Operation Services Committee meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Lincoln Center Board Room.

Waukegan Public Schools is excited to announce we will soon be rolling out a new facility scheduling and work order software. Later this summer FMX will officially replace SchoolDude. Our district-wide launch will take place in August.