The final day of classes has come and gone meaning that it is officially summertime for our D64 students! Thank you for a wonderful year and I hope everyone has a relaxing and safe summer break.

Emerson and Lincoln Middle Schools held their 8th-grade promotion ceremonies this week. Each event was a celebration of years of hard work that culminated with the students being promoted from middle school to high school. Congratulations to the Class of 2023 for an unforgettable time in District 64. Good luck at Maine South High School next year!

Click on the below pictures to see a photo gallery from the ceremonies.

Lincoln presented its James Blouch “Emotional Intelligence Award.”

The James Blouch Award was presented to Brooke Freedman and Madeline Welke. The James Blouch Award recognizes students who have displayed the skills of emotional intelligence during their years at Lincoln. The winners will have demonstrated being self-confident and motivated, knowing what behaviors are expected of them, curbing impulses to misbehave, being able to wait, following directions, knowing how to ask for help, expressing needs and getting along with others by demonstrating a caring attitude through their daily actions.

From left to right: Lincoln Principal David Szwed, Brooke Freedman and Madeline Welke.

The Judith L. Snow Award is presented annually to two eighth-grade students at each middle school who demonstrate ethical leadership. Ethical leadership is defined as knowing your core values and having the courage to live by them in all parts of your life in service to the common good. It aligns your internal beliefs and values with your external behaviors and values for the purpose of advancing the common good.

The winners from Emerson are Michael Maranto and Kaelyn Yager.

The winners from Lincoln are Logan Hinton Fernanda Trujillo.

As the year comes to a close, Superintendent Dr. Eric Olson wrote an end-of-the-year letter for the Park Ridge-Niles District 64 Community.

"Dear District 64 Community,

I had the pleasure of attending both of our eighth grade promotions this week and my nephew’s high school graduation last week. I’ve found these evenings to be some of the best of the year, as it’s so enjoyable to be a part of something oozing with positivity, a focus on kids, and making the important adults in their lives proud. Each of these milestones are important points in time that allow us to reflect and think about their growth since coming to District 64."

You can read the full letter on our website.

Our preschoolers had a head-start on the summer fun. On Thursday, Jefferson Early Childhood Center hosted an end-of-the-year celebration. Families and teachers gathered on the playground to honor the 4-year-old preschoolers moving on to kindergarten in the fall.

It was a great afternoon with numerous fun activities! 

Carpenter Elementary School had the final Field Day of the year. It rained a little in the afternoon but students were ready for the games once the sun started shining! If you missed pictures from any of the other Field Days you can find them here.

I loved seeing all the creative games at each school and I know the students appreciated it more!

A group of Lincoln 8th graders took a field trip to the Pickwick Theater last week to showcase some of their short films that were created during LA classes. The Film Fest included watching a dozen or so student-created movies and then coming together to see which were the best of the best.

The winners of Best Story, Best Audio/Visual Effects, and Best Overall Movie can be found online!

Washington Elementary School wrapped up its last Washington Gives Back initiative for the year, and it was in the form of Penny Wars. Students brought in their spare change, which was collected by grade level. 

After two weeks of checking every couch cushion for loose change, Washington 2nd graders were crowned the winning class and, as a result, got to pick which charity the money went to. 2nd grade raised $1,468.81 and selected PAWS Chicago as their worthy cause to help out. The Washington PTO sponsored event collected $5,071.87 and donated it to PAWS Chicago.

The District 64 Board of Education will hold a regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, June 15th, in the Hendee Rooms at the Jefferson Early Childhood Center. There will be a closed meeting at 6:00 pm, with the regular meeting starting at 7:00 pm.

The agenda for the June 15 regular meeting includes:

• Closed Meeting 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1)
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Opening Remarks from the President of the Board
• Public Comments
• Judith L. Snow Awards
• Approval of Meeting Agenda
• Approval of Assistant Superintendent for Student Learning 
• Approval of Director of Technology
• Approval of Emerson Middle School Principal 
• Discussion & Approval of Administrative & Exempt Salary Increases
• Planning for 2024 Construction 
• Approval of Recommended Personnel Report
• Consent Agenda: bills, payroll, and benefits; approval of financial update for the period ending April 30, 2023; adoption of resolution #1312 for safety hazards (transportation); adoption of resolution #1313 authorizing & directing the permanent transfer of money from the operations & maintenance fund to the debt service fund for debt certificates; adoption of resolution #1314 authorizing & directing the permanent transfer of money from the education fund to the debt service fund for VoIP & copier leases; adoption of resolution #1315 authorizing payment of bills; approval of intergovernmental agreement with Illinois department of healthcare & family services; approval of intergovernmental agreement with the Park Ridge park district; approval of District 64 FOIA officers; and destruction of audio closed recordings (none); 
• Approval of Minutes: closed meeting on May 18, 2023; regular meeting on May 18, 2023
• Other Discussions & Items of Information: upcoming meeting agenda; enrollment update; FOIA requests; upcoming 2023 IASB Joint Annual Conference; memorandum of information (none); public comments via email (none)
• New Business
• Adjournment

Upcoming Board Meetings

• July 28, 2023 - 4 p.m. - special meeting/Board workshop, Jefferson School 
• August 17, 2023 - 7 p.m. - regular meeting, Jefferson School 

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.

Pump up the volume on your summer and get into the rhythm of reading with the Park Ridge Public Library’s Summer Reading Club! Every 10 days you spend reading earns you a ticket for a chance to win prizes. Read at least 30 days and you are guaranteed a prize book. Reading is always fun, but it rocks with the Summer Reading Club!

Comments and questions may always be directed to the Superintendent or Board members through these links:

Email Dr. Eric Olson, Superintendent or contact members of the Board of Education via email links.

Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 | 847-318-4300 | [email protected]

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