Club Lead at Holmes created posters all about spreading kindness in the building.

Beginning Band is in full swing at Maercker School with 106 students learning new band instruments!

In 8th‑grade science, students are learning about the roles of macromolecules in the human body. 

Maercker D60 Families, 

We are excited to once again be partnering with Humanex Ventures® to administer surveys to our staff, students, and families to aid us in our commitment to continuous improvement. In the coming weeks, you will see more information about this survey and how to participate. The data collected will be used to measure our progress over the survey from the spring of 2025 and another survey in spring of 2026 will continue that measurement.

Your opinions are valued and welcomed in our schools and that your engagement is crucial to our success! This survey will be used to better understand family perceptions regarding every aspect of our district. This survey will be completely anonymous and confidential. No individual responses will be reported. Rather, the responses will be reported in an aggregate fashion.

Staff members and students will also participate in similar surveys. The survey is specific to each school, so please plan to take the survey once for every school that you have a student enrolled in.

The survey will be open for a two-week window beginning on Monday, Nov. 10 and links will be shared at that time. 

Thank you for your continued commitment to our district!

Thank you to everyone who joined D60 BPAC on Tuesday, Oct. 28 for the incredible Día de los Muertos event at Holmes! It was a wonderful celebration of family and culture that taught great lessons about the traditions of this important day. Families were able to get involved with crafts, visit ofrendas and hear some great live music!

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has updated the proficiency benchmarks for the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) to better reflect students’ progress toward real college and career readiness expectations. These new benchmarks ensure that student scores more accurately represent what students know and can do. Beginning this school year, all state assessment, including the IAR, will use four unified performance levels:
- Below Proficient
- Approaching Proficient
-Proficient
-Above Proficient

Because of these changes, you may notice differences in your child’s score report compared to previous years. The new benchmarks provide a more accurate picture of your child’s learning and growth, but proficiency rates cannot be directly compared to past years’ results. Your child’s Individual Score Report will be sent home on Friday, October 31. This report includes your child’s score, performance level, and growth information. Please take time to review it and discuss the results with your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

The Illinois Assessment of Readiness Family Portal is for parents/guardians to have online access to their child’s performance on the IAR tests for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics.

The IAR Family Portal is expected to become available for use at the end of October 2025. You will need your child’s State Student Identification Number (SSID) to login to the Family Portal. You can find your child’s State Student Identification Number (SSID) on the paper copy sent home with your child for future access into the portal.

Learn more about these changes from ISBE

We loved being able to celebrate our incredible Principals during Principal Appreciation week! In case you missed our features on social media, we wanted to shout out our two newest leaders. 

Elisa Maldonado is new to the district this year and is leading the team at Holmes Primary School. She has elementary teaching experience in a variety of suburban districts and CPS and has 14 years of school leadership experience as an assistant principal and principal in Minnesota and Illinois.

She says that she loves the diversity of the community and the students at Holmes and that she is really enjoying spending time with the young learners at such a fun age. She was drawn to administration because she loved the impact that she could have on students as a teacher, but wanted to do that at a larger scale. She collaborates a lot with the other principals in the district and says that the team works well together because they have different strengths and support each other through guidance and collaboration.

“I don’t think there’s a more rewarding job at the end of the day,” she said. “We are in the people business so it’s all about supporting the people connected to our school. You may not see an immediate impact, but we really do help to make an impact. There is no training that you can really receive to prepare you for being a principal because you have to be open and be a listener and mostly be willing to learn and grow as you go!”

Dr. Juan Corona also joined the district for the 2025-26 school year as principal of Maercker Intermediate School. He says that everything is going great so far and that he spends a lot of time getting to know staff and students, as well as the PTA. Some initiatives he is excited about include bringing more fun engagement opportunities for students and continuing to share his heritage with staff like when they recently made authentic tamales.

After 10 years of being a Bilingual Director, he wanted to find ways to reconnect with students and staff at the building level which led him to the Maercker Principal job. He says that he works closely with the other principals in the district and that they are just a phone call away.

“It is an amazing feeling to see our students learn and grow and see staff continue to further develop their craft,” said Dr. Corona. “My advice for anyone wanting to become a principal is to keep your passion for learning active with professional reading and networking. Set a goal every year and stay true to your vision. Always listen, ask clarifying questions and don't forget to reflect on your leadership and learn from the feedback you receive!”

District 60’s food service provider, Whitsons Culinary Group, is asking our families to share their thoughts on our school nutrition program. Your opinions are valued and will help Whitsons Culinary Group to continue to make improvements to better serve our school community.

Please take the short survey, which is open through Friday, Oct. 31. 

Your membership donation goes directly toward funding events and programs at all three schools. Simply joining helps make a difference for your child and their school experience.

👉 Join here!

Join the Maercker PTA for a fundraiser at Padrino's in Darien!

Visit on Tuesday, Nov. 5 between 4-8 p.m. and the PTA will receive 20% of the sale.

Tell the cashier that you're there for the fundraiser or type Maercker PTA into the notes if ordering online.

Get more information

The next meeting of the Maercker PTA takes place on Thursday, Nov. 13 at Maercker School from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Can't make it, you can join the meeting online! 

Get more information and RSVP

Has a member of the D60 team done something amazing? Tell us about it!

We make it easy for members of our community to recognize and celebrate the incredible teachers and support staff that make Maercker D60 a safe, inclusive community that empowers and inspires life-long curiosity for learning.

The Gold Standard is a way to show your appreciation and pride in members of our staff. Anyone in our community can submit a recognition for staff members which sends an instant message of appreciation to the staff member.

On November 5 at 7pm, Community Speaker Series will be hosting Dr. Jonathan Singer for a virtual event on youth mental health. 

Today's adolescents are facing more mental health challenges than any previous generation. In this webinar, Dr. Singer will discuss how to tell the difference between everyday stress and more serious conditions like anxiety or depression, how to recognize warning signs of crisis, and how to talk with kids about these sensitive topics. 

Dr. Singer is a Professor at Loyola University Chicago's School of Social Work and the founder and host of the award-winning Social Work Podcast. He is a well-regarded international speaker who has given hundreds of continuing education workshops, keynote addresses, and presentations on youth suicide, ethics, technology, adolescent development and attachment-based family therapy.

Jonathan B. Singer, PhD, LCSW

Youth Mental Health: Signs, Safety, and Success

Wednesday, November 5 from 7 - 8:30 p.m.

Register here

The Village of Westmont is preparing a strategic plan, which will help set goals and priorities for the community.

Residents of Westmont are invited to take their community survey, and the results of the survey will be used to guide the next steps of the Strategic Plan process. Take the Survey Online

During the new Strategic Plan process, the Village will recruit members of the community to serve on several focus groups. Some of the focus groups will be comprised of persons who fit specific demographics such as business owner, senior citizen, families with students attending a local school, etc. If you are interested in being considered for participation in a focus group, please click on the following link and fill out the sign-up form. 

Maercker D60 isn't just a great place for students to begin their educational journey, it's also a great place to work!

We are always looking for substitute teachers, instructional assistants and recess supervisors to join our team right now.

Our mission is to foster a safe, inclusive community that empowers and inspires life-long curiosity for learning.environment. This can be seen throughout our schools as our talented staff go above and beyond on a daily basis.

Visit the Employment Page to learn more.

Don't forget to download the mobile app for Maercker D60!

With the app, you can access documents, events, news updates, and even emergency notifications.

• Download for Android

• Download for iPhone