Holmes Primary School

September 2025 Updates

Get ready for what's coming up in the 2025-26 school year!
students in class
students in hallway
Students in cafeteria

From The Principal - Together We Roar

Greetings Wildcat Families,

We are off to a ROARING start at Holmes! Our staff and students are settling into the school year. Over the past two weeks, they have been learning about our school motto, Together We Roar, along with the core values that align with it. A special thank you to our 2nd graders, who helped model these core values in our common areas.

It has been wonderful to see our school filled with students and to hear all the exciting learning taking place. We’ve noticed many smiling faces—some of them a little tired as everyone adjusts to new routines! With September here, the weather is beginning to change. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for outdoor recess, as we try to get them outside for fresh air as often as possible.

📸 A quick reminder: Picture Day is tomorrow! Please help your child come prepared and ready to smile.

Thank you to all of our families for supporting the updated arrival and dismissal procedures. These changes are helping us create a safer and smoother transition for students at the start and end of each day.

As always, my door is open. If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I can be contacted directly at emaldonado@maercker.org.

With Wildcat Pride,

Elisa Maldonado
Principal, Holmes Primary

Tomorrow is Picture Day!

Picture day all schools Thursday, Sept. 4

This is a friendly reminder that all D60 schools will be hosting picture day tomorrow (Thursday, Sept. 4).

Make sure our Wildcats are ready to smile!

First Parent Coffee of the Year is Tomorrow

Join the principals for the first Parent Coffee of the year! The topic will focus on School Safety and it will take place on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. in the Wildcat Den at Westview Hills!

This is a great opportunity to connect with the principals of Holmes, Maercker, and Westview Hills as they share important updates on safety procedures and answer your questions. Learn how we’re working together to keep our schools safe and engage in an open conversation about supporting our students.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Parent Coffee

NWEA Map Testing Begins Next Week

Starting the week of September 8, students across Maercker D60 will take the NWEA MAP Assessment. This test helps us understand each child’s academic progress and how we can best support their learning. Your child’s teacher will be sending home the exact date and time that they will be taking the MAP assessment.

Unlike traditional tests, MAP is computer-adaptive. That means the questions adjust based on how your child responds - getting harder if they answer correctly and easier if they do not. By design, students will not get every question right, and that’s okay! The goal is to see where each student is on their learning journey and how they are growing over time.

This is an incredibly important part of the school year and we want to encourage all of our students to give it their best effort throughout the process! 

How can parents help?

  • Make sure that your student is well-rested and has a good breakfast

  • Encourage them to try their best and remind them it’s normal not to know every answer.  

We are excited to use this information to continue personalizing instruction for every student. 

Visit NWEA for 12 common questions parents ask about MAP Growth

MAP Assessments Begin the Week of Monday, Sept. 8

Reminder: Arrival and Dismissal Information

We sent home information about important changes to our arrival and dismissal procedures to ensure greater efficiency and, most importantly, safety. The last of the changes began this week. Car Rider changes are already in effect. Also a reminder that on days your child’s transportation needs to be changed you need to communicate it to our office and the classroom teacher by 2 p.m.

View the previous update

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