7th grade math students are studying geometry and ratios. While these concepts may seem very different, students this week discovered that the irrational number pi represents a proportional relationship, which is a special type of ratio. They also learned about key elements of a circle, including diameter, radius, circumference, and area, and used their knowledge of circles to solve real-world problems.

7th grade accelerated math students just finished up our integer exponent unit. Students learned to apply properties of positive and negative exponents as well as the application of powers of 10. Students also learned to express large and small numbers in both scientific and standard notation forms and how to compute with scientific notation.

The 6th graders just finished their unit on Ancient Greece.  During the unit, students researched an Ancient Greek God or Goddess and designed a throne for their God/Goddess. Their thrones were constructed and decorated with colors and symbols based on information from their research.

In ELA, we just finished reading the novel, Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech.  This novel was part of our StudySync Unit.  The essential question of the unit was: How do relationships shape us? Many of the discussions and activities the students participated in throughout the unit revolved around the idea of relationships.   Students have been working on a final project of their choice.  These projects will be presented at the end of this week.

Music in our Schools Month finished with another great round of concerts from our VIM team! Congrats to all who kept practicing to make the songs better. Earlier this week, we also hosted our Solo & Ensemble Contest where students worked on a special piece of music and performed it in front of their class or a judge! We even had our first "Conducting Boot Camp" where students could learn the basics of conducting a large ensemble!

Raffle winners from today's drawing of #MAChasPRIDE gear! Every six weeks we pull PRIDE cards out of the basket and hand out the gear! One more drawing at the end of April for another chance for bucket hats, pop-sockets, and tie-dye shirts!

We played a radio call-in game today to celebrate over 600 PRIDE cards for the year! At various times throughout the day, songs were played over the intercom as classrooms tried to the be 7th caller with the correct answer. It might not have been free Taylor Swift tickets but it sure was fun!

Mr. Alms met with the Principal Advisory kids this week during lunch to discuss updates from his D214 Marketing intern. They were looking for feedback on some new hallway messaging that relates back to our Positive Behaviors Framework (PRIDE).

This week our Algebra students had a guest teacher from Engineers Teaching Algebra. They learned how traffic engineers plan the timing for stop lights at intersections, and were able to test their abilities to come up with a safely and efficiently timed light. Students found that perfect answers were not always the best possible answers. One student even eared an A++++ on a 10th grade problem. Way to go Demetri Ninis!

The 2024 Olympics are in the books! Through all of the competitions and challenges, the Trekas Trolls came home with the over all 1st place finish!

Last week, 12 participants shaved their heads for St. Baldrick's! Over $7,000 was raised for pediatric cancer research! In addition to the shavees, funds were also generated from the sale of hair extensions and raffles for various prizes. I even got to have lunch with the raffle winners of "lunch with a Principal" today! Our Student Senate included Ross and Sullivan in the fundraising opportunities and prizes as well. Thanks for the support, future Marauders! A special shout-out to Bennet Rasar for being our top fundraiser!

Two weeks ago, we participated in the first ever Polar Plunge Cool School Challenge. Special Olympics of Illinois brought the cold water to MacArthur and Keller Junior High (SD54) to allow for on-site plunging. Together, both schools combined for 130 plungers and raised close to $45,000 for Special Olympics of Illinois! Thanks to all of those who participated in the efforts and the event!

A 10th place finish at the IESA state meet in DeKalb! Great job to all our wrestlers for great season! We had three wrestlers make it to the podium, Jackson Travis, Joey Romano, and Tommie Katz!

Thank you for taking the time to complete the Parent portion of the survey, we have our highest response rate ever! If you have been busy and still want to provide us your perspective, there is still time left for you to complete the survey before it closes next Friday.

The 5Essentials Survey provides insights into schools’ organizational strengths and areas of opportunity across the five essential factors for school improvement. We use the feedback from this survey to improve our school environment! Thank you in advance for taking time out of your already busy schedule to complete our survey.

End of Year Dates:

8th Grade Parade: 5/22/24

8th Grade Dance: 5/23/24

Promotion: 5/24/24 @JHHS

8th Grade Picture Retakes are April 4th! If you didn't like that first one, be ready for April 4th!

On April 8, a total eclipse will be visible in the Chicagoland area. We are planning on capitalizing on this educational opportunity, within safe guidelines.  We are grateful for the support of the D23PTO who provided the necessary funding to purchase the safety glasses required for viewing the eclipse.

The following is the timeline for the total solar eclipse in the Chicagoland area:

12:51 pm Eclipse Begins

2:08 pm Max Point of the Total Eclipse

3:22 pm Eclipse Ends

Because it can be damaging to our eyes to stare directly into the sun during a total eclipse, we wanted to reach out to you to let you know our plan for that day to ensure the safety of our students and staff:

• No recess or Physical Education during the timeframe of the total eclipse (unless the weather and cloud coverage permit)
• We have developed a schedule that allows teachers to take their classes outside to experience the total eclipse.
• We will supply each student with the proper protective eyewear should their class decide to go outside during the total eclipse timeframe.
• Students MUST wear the protective eyewear in order to go outside during the total eclipse timeframe.
• You will have an opportunity to opt your child out of that experience. Should you decide to opt your child out of that experience, they will be provided with an alternate activity.
• We will ask all students to wear their protective glasses during dismissal and while riding the school bus home.

Opt-Out

Please email your child’s homeroom (elementary) or advisory (MacArthur) teacher should you want your child to not participate in this experience. You may also choose to arrange an early pick-up or keep your child home if you are uncomfortable with them traveling home wearing the protective glasses. 

Your Help

We will speak to the students about how to responsibly experience the total eclipse and about the necessary safety precautions when going outside during a total eclipse. Talking with your child about the responsibilities of observing a solar eclipse and reinforcing wearing the protective glasses during dismissal would be helpful to further ensure the safety of our students.

The following are some resources should you want to learn more about the Total Solar Eclipse | 2024:

National Science Teaching Association

Parent Handout

Please feel free to reach out to your school office with any questions.

OMG...it's EDP

The 2024-25 EDP Registration will be conducted separately from the D23 School Registration. Included is a link to express interest in EDP for the 2024-2025 school year. If you are interested in using the Extended Day Program next year, please click on and complete this 2024-25 Extended Day Program Interest Form link. Additional information will be shared with interested families later this Spring!

Updates to 2023-24 Calendar

At the November Board of Education Meeting, the following necessary changes to the current 2023-24 School Year calendar were made:

Tuesday, March 19 will now be a Day of Non-attendance for Teacher Institute Day.

Tuesday, April 2 will now be a day of attendance.

CLICK HERE to view the revised "At-A-Glance" Calendar

-School Improvement Days: 5/10

-Holidays: No School

-Spring Break: 3/25-3/29

-Memorial Day: 5/27

-Additional Non-Attendance Days: 4/1

-8th Grade Promotion (tentative): 5/24

-Last Day of Student Attendance (if no emergency days used): 5