Dear District 64 Community, 

On November 5, the District 64 2024 Bond Referendum passed overwhelmingly, with 64% of voters approving the $89.1 million referendum. We are very thankful for the support shown for our students and staff.

In total, we did 65 community engagement sessions, tours, and conversations over the past six months. Thank you to everyone involved in some way who helped inform our community so they had the correct information to make their decision. Our students have a bright future ahead!

As we progress through the construction process, we will continue to post updates to our website and at community coffees. The 2024 Referendum webpage will also stay up so you can revisit the information anytime.  

Sincerely,

Dr. Ben Collins

Superintendent

Now that the referendum has passed, the plan is to finish construction within two years. To help with this, we have adjusted the school calendars for 2025/26 and 2026/27 to allow crews more time to work in the buildings.

You can always find the most up-to-date calendars on our website.

November 7 Regular BOE Meeting

The District 64 Board of Education held a regular meeting on Thursday, November 7. The recording of the meeting is available on our YouTube page. Next week, a recap will also be posted on our website.

Upcoming Board Meetings

The following are the next Board meetings:

• December 19, 2024 - 7 p.m. - Hendee Rooms at the Jefferson Early Childhood Center

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.

Elementary, Early Childhood, and Middle School Parents, 

District 64 staff---administrators, teachers, and support personnel--are currently reviewing the middle school structure, schedule, and programming. In order to make better informed decisions, we are asking for feedback from parents or caregivers. Please think about your child's current or future middle school experience and offer insight into the topics within the questions. Please keep the mission and vision statement in mind as you complete this survey.

Vision Statement: 

• District 64 middle schools will provide a safe and nurturing environment where everyone is inspired to learn, collaborate, grow, and care.

Mission Statement: 

• The middle school community of District 64 will foster a safe, supportive and inclusive school environment. The community will value diversity, student growth, social-emotional learning, and respect for self and others. Staff, families, and community members will work collaboratively to empower middle school students through exploration, choice, and strong relationships while providing rigorous and differentiated curriculum that includes real-world learning experiences and extracurricular opportunities.

You can find the link here. This survey will close on Sunday, November 24th. We thank you for your time!

To gather your feedback, we're using a tool called ThoughtExchange. All of our voices matter, so your participation is crucial and valued. You'll be asked to respond to survey questions. In addition, you'll be asked to answer one open-ended question, consider and assign stars to some of the ideas shared by others (20 to 30 is ideal), and learn what's important to the group.

Your responses, thoughts and stars are confidential. You can come back as often as you'd like to participate and, in fact, we ask that you do come back to star some of the new ideas shared since you first participated. The ratings will help us understand the most important areas to focus on.

If you need technical help, please call ThoughtExchange at 1-800-361-9027 ext. 4 or email help@thoughtexchange.com. 

Join D64 and Dr. Devorah Heitner for a discussion on shifting the conversation from just “internet safety” to helping our kids understand who they are. Dr. Heitner is a global speaker on topics such as digital well-being, parenting, screen time, digital citizenship, mindful technology use, and raising empathetic children in a connected world.

The event is for parents/guardians and will be on Tuesday, December 3 at 6 pm inside the Hendee Rooms at the Jefferson Early Childhood Center (8200 W Greendale Ave, Niles).

Click here to RSVP or scan the above QR code.

The annual Kiwanis District 64 Holiday Food Drive is now open and runs through November 30th!

Donations of all sizes will help fund grocery gift cards for families in our District. Help us support children in our community. To donate, go to www.KiwanisPR.org.

We're off to a solid start, but we need your help to get to our goal of $8,700!

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

#engageD64