Six Waukegan High School Program PLACCE students in Ms. Gina Villaruz’s class got into the spirit of the season a little early this year, when the class assembled 150 holiday locket charms to be sent to veterans during the holiday season. This marks the fifth year that students in Ms. Villaruz’s classes will take part in holiday tradition, which has been established with the assistance of former WHS custodian, Ms. Liz Lawrence. Students in the program created the holiday charms during their independent skills class time, which is generally used to hone individual life and employment skills.

Tis’ the season once again, as Waukegan Community Unit School District # 60 student musicians prepare for their schools upcoming holiday concerts. Below is a full list of concerts and performances, detailing the time, date, and location of each show.

Carman-Bucnker Elementary School will host a Celebration in Life in honor of one of its namesakes on Saturday, December 14. The ceremony will celebrate the life, legacy and impact of Ms. Isabelle Buckner, a longtime Carman-Buckner principal, and will be held at the Helmholz Avenue school beginning at 11 a.m.

Students at North Elementary got an early dose of holiday cheer this week, when the school was gifted more than $17,000 worth of hands-on educational toys and winter apparel.

Waukegan Community Unit School District # 60 will host a series of community forums over the next several months to seek input from community members about the potential future use of the Lincoln Center building. The Sheridan Road Facility Redesign Committee, which is made up of parents, community members, students and staff is hosting a meeting each month between December and May to discuss space which may be opening up at Lincoln Center.

Special Recognitions and Presentations -The Board recognized Carman-Buckner Crossing Guard, Richard Baldwin for 43 years of service. Action Items -The Board of Education voted to approve all facility usage fees for LCCCA concert series dated November 24, 2019, January 18, 2020, March 14, 2020 and April 4, 2020. These events are held at Brookside Campus in the Trapp Auditorium. Total value of waiver is $6,277. -The Board of Education voted to approve a proposed contract extension for Transportation Services for Illinois Central School Bus for fiscal year 2020-2021, and authorize the Superintendent to sign associated contract extension documents. The cost of the contract is $8,641,601.

Waukegan Public Schools is once again joining the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) in the 2019-2020 statewide 5Essentials survey of school climate and learning conditions. This survey provides parents a unique opportunity to voice their opinions and ideas on improving their schools. You can take the survey here: https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/

Members of the Board of Education are dedicated to the students of Waukegan, and to the community itself. Board Members routinely attend special events throughout the school district and the community. At times a majority of a quorum of Board of Education members may be in attendance at the same event. From November 21-24 the Board will be attending the Joint Annual Conference in Chicago.

Hear ye, hear ye! Tickets are now on sale for the Waukegan High School Music Department’s annual Renaissance Feast (Madrigal Dinner) on Friday, December 6 and Saturday, December 7. Lords and ladies throughout the kingdom are invited to attend this whimsical evening full of music, food, dance and much merriment at the WHS Brookside Campus.

Waukegan Community Unit School District # 60 has been announced as a grant recipient from the U.S. Department of Education as part of its Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program. WPS60 joins 41 educational institutions nationwide which were awarded grants to assist with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education.

Waukegan Community Unit School District No. 60 is joining school districts across Illinois in celebrating “School Board Members’ Day” this week. The annual event, which corresponds with National Education Week, celebrates and thanks the elected leaders who volunteer their time to serve the students, taxpayers and employees of the communities they serve. Board Members’ Day is celebrated annually on November 15. The theme of this year’s event is “Transform Vision into Reality.”

At around noon today, an altercation occurred in one of our restrooms between two students which escalated to one student allegedly stabbing another student with a sharp object. Directly following the incident, the Washington Campus was placed on soft lockdown, and our school day continued without further incident. This incident is being investigated by the Waukegan Police Department, as well as school and district officials.

The Waukegan Community Unit District 60 Board of Education is looking for current WHS sophomores and juniors to apply for its soon-to-be open Student Board Member position for 2020.

Special Recognitions and Presentations - Representatives from Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority made a presentation in memory of Ms. Isabelle Buckner, the former Principal at Carman-Buckner Elementary School. A celebration of her life will be held December 14 at Carman-Buckner Elementary. - The Board of Education recognized District schools that recently eared Commendable and Exemplary designations with the State of Illinois. - Staff from Miguel Juarez Middle School made a special presentation detailing the schools restorative practice measures.

Waukegan High School students will perform 12 Angry People the Trapp Auditorium this weekend, on November 15-17. The play is an adaptation of the popular 1950s dram 12 Angry Men, which tells the story of jurors deliberating the fate of a teenager in a murder case.

Three Waukegan student musicians performed at the Illinois Music Education Association’s (IMEA) District Senior Festival last weekend at Grayslake North High School as part of the IMEA’s District 7 Music Festival. The students performing over the weekend make up three of the four Waukegan High School student musicians selected to participate in either the IMEA Jazz or Senior Festival concerts this month.

New designations from the Illinois State Board of Education mark a historic first for Waukegan Community Unit School District # 60, as one of its schools has earned the highest distinction possible on this year’s State Report Card, while the majority of District 60 schools continue to be rated in one of the two highest tiers.

Advanced Placement (AP) courses offer students rigorous, college-level curriculum as well as an opportunity to earn college credit through AP exam performance*. Waukegan High School strongly encourages all students to complete the AP experience by taking their AP exams in May 2020. To further support our AP students, Waukegan Public Schools will continue to fund the $94 exam fee in full for students currently enrolled in the AP course(s) for the exam(s) ordered. The College Board has made some changes to the AP Exam registration process including a new timeline for students to register for AP Exams. This year, students must register for their AP exams by November 11, 2019.

Visitation services for Dr. Terry Ehiorobo will be held at Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home, 4600 County Line Road in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, November 8. The following day, on Saturday, November 9, visitation will be held from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall, 7333 Green Bay Road, in Kenosha. A Celebration of Life will follow at the Kingdom Hall beginning at 4 p.m.

Waukegan Community Unit School District # 60 is mourning the loss of Waukegan High School Co-Principal, Dr. Terry Ehiorobo, who passed away suddenly this week. Dr. Ehiorobo worked as Principal of Waukegan High School’s Washington Campus since August 2017.

Waukegan Public Schools will again host a special workshop exploring how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) affect academic performance. The event, titled: “When You Know Better, We Do Better,” will be led by Dr. Kevin Brown, District 60’s K-8 Director of Teaching and Learning, will be October 30.

The Illinois State Board of Education recognized several Waukegan Public Schools staff members, and a Board of Education Member, during its annual “Those Who Excel” awards banquet last weekend. ISBE honored District # 60 educators in four different categories during the awards program.

In recent weeks District 60 has experienced several instances of intermittent Internet network connection. These outages have affected the Internet connectivity district wide, and have occurred for a variety of reasons outside of our control. We know the inconsistent Internet this month has caused frustrations in classrooms and offices. The lack of reliable Internet has affected testing and instruction, and it’s significantly hindered our staff and students' abilities to complete some day-to-day tasks. For this, we want to apologize, and ensure everyone that we are working diligently on these ongoing issues.

Waukegan’s Family and Community Engagement department will host four informational and/or activity-based events this month on a variety of topics ranging from family field trips to special educational presentations. More information on these upcoming events can be found below.

Cooke Magnet School STEM/ Drama teacher, Ms. Rebecca Voight, was recently recognized by the Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization for her contributions to the school’s STEM program.