A meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. for Open Session, 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.

Today’s graduation ceremony will be held as scheduled, and will begin promptly at 5:30 p.m. at Weiss Field. We are aware that some forecasts are predicting rain for Waukegan this afternoon, however, the risk is low enough that continuing with the ceremony remains a possibility.

Waukegan Community Unit School District # 60 honored five dozen employees, with combined service of more than 1,200 years at the annual Board of Education Retirement and Recognition Dinner on Wednesday, May 18. The dinner celebrated the accomplishments and dedication of all District 60 employees who will be retiring at the end of this academic year. A total of 60 employees, with a combined 1,206 years of service in Waukegan Public Schools, have announced their retirement this year.

The returning student online registration period for the 2022-2023 school year has been extended to Tuesday, May 24.

Waukegan High School will host its 149th commencement exercises on Thursday, May 19 and Friday, May 20. The events will begin each evening at 5:30 p.m. at Weiss Field. An expected class of more than 800 students will make up Waukegan High School’s Class of 2022.

On May 23, District 60 students in grades K-8 will be given test score reports summarizing their performance in reading, math, and science as measured by our local assessments. These are local assessment scores, as State test score results will be distributed in the fall.

As part of our District's ongoing efforts to foster bullying-free learning environments in our schools, this week we are asking our students, staff and parents to share their thoughts and experiences by completing a brief bullying survey. This data will be instrumental as we tailor our anti-bullying education efforts for the 2022-2023 school year, as well as help us gauge our school communities’ perception and definitions of bullying.

A Special Meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. for Open Session, and 5:30 p.m. for Closed Session. The Special Meeting will precede the regularly-scheduled Student Achievement and Operation Services Committee meetings.

All 8th grade promotion exercises for Waukegan Public Schools middle schools are being moved outdoors to Weiss Field. The events will remain on the same dates/times. Please see below for additional information on ceremonies, as well as health protocols for the events.

The Waukegan High School graduation ceremonies are fast approaching, and we are excited to begin the celebration of Class of 2022. While COVID rates have dropped in our community since the height of the pandemic, we have seen a recent increase in COVID cases, and there will be precautionary measures taken during this year’s graduation to ensure we are honoring students safely and responsibly.

14 Waukegan High School teachers were recently awarded more than $40,000 collectively for their classrooms after being selected as recipients of the 2022 Mothers Trust Foundation (MTF) Classroom Enrichment grant. Each teacher was surprised with the news by representatives from MTF and WHS staff throughout the school day on Thursday, May 12.

The Board of Education voted to purchase two (2) Ford Sprinter Vans for a total amount of $124,826 from Golf Mill Ford for use by the WPS60 Child Nutrition department.

Registration is ending soon for students to Waukegan Public Schools for the 2022-2023 school year. The last day to register online will be May 13. Returning students not registered by Friday, May 13 will need to wait until the week of July 25 to complete the process.

A Special Meeting with Closed and Open Session of the Board of Education will be held on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. in the Room 120 at Lincoln Center. Pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (16) the discussion will be held in Closed Session. The subject will be self evaluation, practices and procedures or professional ethics, and the meeting conducted by a representative of the Illinois Association of School Boards. No action will be taken during open session.

Waukegan Public School’s D60 Dads of Great Students (D.O.G.S) will host its final meeting of the school year this Thursday, May 12.

A meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. for Open Session, 5:30 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 High School senior Kennet Amaya was honored as one of College of Lake County's Dual Credit Students of the Year during a ceremony on May 3 at the Washington Campus. Kennet is just one of three students selected out of the 24 participating high schools.

Waukegan Public Schools elementary and middle schools will be hosting summer school this year through an invitation process. Spots are limited, and each school will use their school-wide student data to drive decisions around which students they will choose to provide additional instructional support to. ​ Summer School for grades K-12 will run from June 6 to June 30, 2022.

Waukegan Public Schools will host a special Facebook Live event to help guide parents through the student registration process on Thursday, May 5. Parents can tune into the District's Facebook page at 6 p.m. to learn how to register their child for the 2022-2023 school year from a mobile device.

Our District will host its 3rd community meeting to discuss the Transitions to Support Student Access Plan at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3, in the Lincoln Center Board Room.

Budget Workshop # 1 for the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be conducted in-person in the Lincoln Center Board Room, 1201 N. Sheridan Road. Attendance at the meeting will be determined based upon capacity limits. Attendees will be required to comply with COVID-related health and safety protocols.

On Friday the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated Lake County’s community spread level from “low” to “medium”. With Lake County moving into medium, some of our mitigations will be adjusted in our buildings, based upon our Mitigation Table, which outlines precautions we will incorporate as we transition through various levels of COVID-19 spread.

Our District will host its next community meeting to discuss our new Transitions to Support Student Access Plan this evening, Thursday, April 28 in the Welcome Center.

Registration is ending soon for students who will be returning to Waukegan Public Schools for the 2022-2023 school year. The last day to register online will be May 13.

The Board of Education approved three modifications to the 2022/2023 school year calendar during its regular meeting on April 26, including changing the dates of Spring Break. Families and staff are asked to please take note of the changes below.

Yesterday evening our Board of Education voted to extend my contract as Superintendent of Schools through the 2026-2027 school year. I am humbled by this decision, and I am excited to continue the important work of educating our community’s children.

The Board of Education voted to accept the Notice of Funding Opportunity and sign all other associated documents from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a fiscal appropriation for capital improvement funds to support the proposed Waukegan WrapAround Center, recommended to be located at 214 Washington Street in downtown Waukegan.

Waukegan Community Unit School District #60’s annual Elementary Art Show is again being hosted digitally this year, with more than 260 amazing pieces of student art available for viewing.

Waukegan Public Schools will host a one-day Kindergarten registration event for new students on Saturday, April 30. The registration event is for incoming kindergarten students who are not currently enrolled in District 60’s EPIC preschool program. It will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Miguel Juarez Middle School, 201 N. Butrick Street.

Waukegan Public Schools’ first community meeting to discuss our recently-announced Transitions to Support Student Access plan will be tonight, Monday April 25, at the Brett Theater at the WHS-Brookside Campus, 2325 Brookside Avenue. Tonight’s event begins at 6 p.m. in-person, as well as on our YouTube Channel

A meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. for Open Session, 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.

As a result of the continued rise of COVID cases at the building, the mask requirement at the WHS-Brookside Campus will remain in place through at least April 30. The extended requirement is a precautionary measure, and is intended to help reduce the potential spread of the virus.

Waukegan Public Schools is still accepting questions from parents, students, staff and community members about our recently-unveiled Transitions to Support Student Access plan. Stakeholders can click here to ask questions using ThoughtExchange about the facility and programmatic transformations outlined in our plan.

THIS MEETING HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO MAY 11

The Waukegan High School Fine Arts Department will perform its production of the musical Annie, on April 21 to April 23 in the Trapp Auditorium of the WHS-Brookside Campus. Based on the popular comic strip, Annie tells the story of a little orphan seeking her biological parents after being adopted by Depression-era billionaire Oliver Warbucks.

Masks will be required for the week of April 18 for all staff, students and visitors at the Waukegan High School Brookside Campus, WHS- Washington Campus, as well as the District’s Lincoln Center administrative offices. The mask requirement is a precautionary measure as a result of connected COVID-19 cases from those three buildings, and is intended to help reduce the potential spread of the virus.

On April 19 the regularly-scheduled Student Achievement and Operation Services Committee meetings will be held beginning at 6 p.m in the Lincoln Center Board Room. No formal Board action will be taken during the meetings. ​ Attendance at the meeting will be determined based upon capacity limits. Attendees will be required to comply with COVID-related health and safety protocols.The Committee Meetings will also be broadcasted live on the District’s YouTube channel.

I am very excited today to announce a new Waukegan Public Schools’ infrastructure initiative which will better utilize our District spaces, and improve the services we offer to students, staff and families. At our April 12 Board of Education meeting we introduced a multi-year Transitions to Support Student Access plan. In this message I will share a lot of information about this plan, and how we feel it will benefit our District and the community as a whole.

The Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of new playgrounds at Oakdale, Lyon, Cooke, McCall and Clark from Team Reil Inc. through the Sourcewell Purchasing Cooperative at a total cost not to exceed $596,154.

Graduation and promotion events for Waukegan High School seniors and Waukegan 8th graders are fast approaching. Parents of seniors and 8th graders should have received information regarding planned graduation and promotion events for their child. Please see below for further information.

District 60 is inviting families to transform their gently used household possessions into new useful items during its Earth Week Community Repurposing event later this month.

A meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. for Open Session, 5:30p.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.

Our District's Black Parent Network (BPN) will host its next meeting later this month for parents interested in learning more about the BPN’s mission and resources and connecting with other WPS60 families.

Waukegan Community Unit School District # 60’s online kindergarten registration for the 2022/2023 school year is officially open.

District 60 is inviting all District 60 Diverse Learner families to learn more about the various resources and options available to their child as they prepare to transition out of high school.

Registration is now open for students who will be returning to Waukegan Public Schools for the 2022-2023 school year. All Returning Students will be registered through the Parent Portal.

Our District's voluntary COVID-19 testing program with our new testing partner, Achieve Health Management (AHM) begins next week. As we prepare to launch this new program, we want to share some important reminders and details about the process, as well as share information about employment opportunities for parents.

The next meeting of Waukegan Public Schools’ newly formed D60 Dads of Great Students (D.O.G.S) will be hosted on Wednesday, April 6.

District #60 will host its second meeting of its newly-formed Parent to Parent Special Education Network April 12.

We are happy to announce that we are in the final stages of planning for our voluntary weekly COVID testing program for students and staff. We want to thank our parents and staff members who completed our recent survey, and indicated your interest in weekly testing. This response helped us determine the scope of our testing program, so that we can properly allocate our resources, and those of our testing partner, Achieve Health Management (AHM).

Waukegan Public Schools will soon administer the annual state-mandated Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) to all students in grades 3-8. The IAR consists of two sections of English Language Arts and three sections of Mathematics. It is administered over 3-5 days. Assessment results will be shared with families in the fall.

A Special Meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. for Open Session, 6:00p.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 Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of a 66-passenger yellow bus and two (2) 14-passenger activity buses. The buses will be used to shuttle between high school campuses, athletics, field trips and other transportation services as needed, at a cost of $147,500.

During the week of March 14, students in grades 5, 8, and 11 will participate in the Spring 2022 Illinois Science Assessment administration. The Illinois Science Assessment is given yearly to measure student proficiency in general science. The results of this assessment will provide information that district staff can use to inform appropriate curricular decisions.

As COVID-19 metrics continue to improve in Waukegan, Lake County and beyond, our school District will eventually begin to transition some of its COVID mitigation strategies. One potential change is our current requirement, which mandates that masks be worn inside all District 60 buildings. In advance of any change, we are seeking parent, student and staff feedback through a short survey.

A Special Closed Session Board Meeting to conduct individual interviews with the finalists for the Student Board Member position on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be held virtually in closed session.

The Board of Education voted to approve the Emergency Contract Amendment request from Preferred Meals effective January 1, 2022, and ending on June 30, 2022. The amendment's estimated value is $330,877 based on projected meals counts for the Spring 2022 semester. The request is necessitated by industry cost increases for food, packaging, labor and transportation for delivery of goods.

A Meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, January 11, 2021, at 7 p.m. for Open Session, 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.

A Special Equity Workshop for the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. for Open Session. The meeting will be conducted in-person in the gymnasium of Whittier Elementary School, 901 N. Lewis Avenue.

We are inviting you to attend a virtual Finance Information Session where our District’s finance team will present an overview of the District’s strong financial condition, and answer questions that you might present on the subject. These remote meetings will take place on the following dates and times: