Dear District 39 Community,

Here are some D39 updates:  


Express Bus
We successfully launched our pilot express bus on January 26th. It is providing a quicker ride at the end of the day for 25 Highcrest students to Central School; they walk home from there. Feedback has been great! Soon we will be exploring whether this idea can be expanded for next year.

School Calendar
At the January Board of Education meeting the calendar for 2017-18 was approved. There will be a minor adjustment at the February meeting. However, the first day of school for students will be a half day on September 5th, after Labor Day; the last day will be a half day on June 15th, assuming no snow days. This is a change for D39, but will more closely align with New Trier High School.

Assessments
District 39 is moving to a new assessment system that will replace Performance Series– the Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measures of Academic Progress (MAP). MAP is compatible with all devices, and provides enhanced features as well as access to similar districts, which will help to construct a local model for student growth comparisons. By 2017-18 all New Trier sender districts will be using MAP. More detail can be found in the January Board report.

Fee Payments
Fees for the 2017-18 school year were approved at the January Board of Education meeting. We received very positive feedback when we eliminated the credit card transaction fees from lunch deposits this year. As a result, for 2017-18 we are expanding this concept so there will also be no credit card fees when paying for any optional student activities. Required instructional materials fees continue to have a credit card processing charge. You also now have the option to pay by e-check, and cash and regular checks are also welcome.

 

Your partner in education,

Ray
Dr. Ray Lechner
Superintendent
Wilmette Public Schools District 39