We hope that everyone had an absolutely amazing summer! The Maercker D60 team is so excited to start the new school year as we welcome back students on Thursday, August 24.

Be sure to be at your bus stop about five minutes early and feel free to share back to school photos that can be shared with d60communications@maercker.org so we can build more excitement about the first day of school!

All D60 schools are fully air conditioned and ready to open as scheduled. Students are always allowed to bring their own refillable water bottles and take advantage of bottle filling stations at every water fountain. Students will not have outdoor recess or PE during periods of excessive heat. Middle school sports teams will communicate with families directly about any changes to after school schedules.

Get more updates from each school below.

Greetings! And welcome to the 2023-2024 academic year. Our teachers and staff have been working so hard to get everything just right for our students this Thursday. It was fun to see so many D60 families file in to pick up their school supplies on Monday, and then, of course, our students were so excited to meet their teacher on Tuesday night. If you haven’t had a chance to do so, please be sure to review our most recent parent newsletter, and to review our pick-up and drop-off procedures.

Enjoy our welcome back video from staff. We are so grateful to you for entrusting us with your children. See you all tomorrow!

PTA Hosts Tears and Cheers Breakfast

The Maercker PTA is hosting the Tears and Cheers Breakfast where all kindergarten parents are invited to join in the cafeteria after drop off on the first day of school. Come meet some of this year's PTA board members, Superintendent Dr. Nugent, Principal Kassir, and other parents. Light refreshments will be served while parents get to mingle and hear a short presentation about all that the PTA does for our schools. Learn more about Tears and Cheers.

We had a great turn out for Meet the Teacher yesterday. It was so much fun seeing our new 3rd grade students coming in with big smiles. As a staff, we have spent the last 3 days getting ready for tomorrow our 1st day of students!

Maercker School hours are remaining the same as last school year.

• Arrival is from 8:30 - 8:45 a.m. (Students are marked tardy if not in the building by 8:45 a.m.) The closer the students enter the building to 8:30 AM the better.
• Dismissal is at 3:30 p.m..
• Every Wednesday is Early Dismissal at 2:30 p.m.

Bus information was already sent home to parents. Drop off and pick up times will be updated as routes are finalized based upon need and family requests. Most changes will be small.

Car Arrival and Dismissal procedures

Please help us keep everyone safe and be efficient by following our procedures. If we all follow the procedures, our school is usually done with arrival/dismissal within 10 to 12 minutes.

Watch for more information from Principal Sepich!

At Westview Hills we are excited to welcome students to the 23-24 school year. During the first couple of weeks, we will spend time building relationships with students, and building classroom culture.

A few first day reminders

• School opens at 7:30 a.m. and first block starts at 7:45 a.m. The first day of school is a blue day.
• Students need Pen, Pencils, and notebook.A binder is provided by the school.
• Students should not bring their Chromebook on day one. Bring your Chromebook charged on day 2!

We encourage parents to:

• Ensure that you can use Family Access, to view students’ grades.
• Speak with your student about school and the importance of attending school.
• Ensure that you are getting email communication from the school.

Daily attendance is so important for students and their learning! Did you know that missing 10%, or about two days per month over the course of the year can make it harder to learn to read?

Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school, and themselves!

What you can do to help:

• Schedule dentist and doctor appointments outside of school hours or select afternoon appointments that do not require your child to be marked absent for the day.
• Set a regular bedtime and morning routine. Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.
• Avoid planning family trips, vacations or other special events during regularly-scheduled school days.
• Do not send your child to school sick or with a fever. Students must be fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medicines before they can return to class.
• If your child seems anxious about going to school, please reach out to their teacher or the school social worker.