District Update – Sept. 12
First District 39 Parent Education Event
District 39 believes in the importance of connecting with our families to offer informative and relevant Parent Education events. Our first Parent Education event of the year, titled “Navigating School Safety Scenarios: How Would You Respond?,” is set for Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 11 am and will be held virtually via Zoom. During this presentation, we will review some student safety scenarios and our presenters will share best practices for handling various situations. We will be joined by representatives from Family Service Center, KEY Coalition, Wilmette Police Department, and Be SMART.
Registration for this event is open now. Please
visit our Parent Education webpage for our full 2025-26 schedule of events as well as archived recordings of past event.
D39 Parent Portal
District 39 utilizes the PowerSchool Parent Portal as an information hub for our families. We encourage all families to
watch this short video that walks you through all of the available resources available on the Portal and familiarize yourself with everything that the Portal has to offer. Listed below are just some of the features inside the Portal:
• Attendance update for children
• Fee balance (view outstanding balances and submit payment online)
• Lunch accounts (monitor your child’s lunch account and view purchased items)
• PLS Vault (District 39’s secure home for assessment reports)
• Current grades (Highcrest and WJHS students only)
• Report an absence
• View report cards and forms
• Setup your email notification preferences
Wilmette Stars / Special Olympics
The Wilmette Stars, District 39’s Special Olympics team, are looking for student-athletes and volunteers who would like to participate in our basketball skills season starting October 7. Any D39 student in grades 3-8 with an intellectual disability is eligible to participate. Volunteers help coach the athletes and must be at least 14 years old. If you would like more information, please
contact Joe Taylor.
District 39 Angel Fund
Supported through generous donations from our D39 families, residents, and community businesses to assist families who are facing financial hardship, the District 39 Angel Fund helps to cover the cost of activity fees, such as athletics, band/orchestra, and school-sponsored clubs, to help ensure that all students can fully access and participate within all aspects of school. Donations to the Angel Fund
can be made online and are tax-deductible. Contributions of any dollar amount are appreciated and 100% of all donations go towards District 39 families in need. Please
visit our Angel Fund webpage for more information.
Board of Education
Committee of the Whole Recap
This past Monday, the Board of Education gathered for its monthly Committee of the Whole meeting. These committee meetings, which are characterized by dialogue and an exchange of ideas, inform the Board’s monthly business meeting and offer the group an opportunity to review, discuss, and provide valuable insight on District initiatives. At this meeting, the Board heard a review of the 2026 summer construction project budget, was presented with a
draft of our 2025-26 Strategic Plan action steps, and received
an update on technology use in D39.
Business Meeting Preview
The Board will gather on Monday evening, Sept. 15, for its monthly business meeting. In addition to committee reports and final readings of several Board policies, the Board is expected to review and approve the 2025-26 action steps for D39’s Strategic Plan and will be presented with a review of our Summer Enrichment Program.
Board of Education and Committee of the Whole meetings are open to in-person attendance and also streamed live on
our YouTube channel. Recordings of both meetings are also made available for viewing later.
Agendas and materials for Board of Education meetings are posted online the Friday prior to the meeting.