BUILDING 73.5
News and information from our district and schools
Scroll to view District updates and news from Meyer, Middleton, and McCracken!
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SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH
The Superintendent Search Survey remains open until 11:59 p.m. TONIGHT, April 4th. Thank you to everyone who has completed the survey. We are currently at 153 parent responses. If you haven't already done so, please take a few minutes to complete the survey before it closes. The survey is available in multiple languages and all responses will be kept anonymous and confidential.
We appreciate your feedback, input, and participation in this important step of the hiring process.
INTRODUCING "Building 73.5"
Building 73.5 Needs Help Developing a Plan to Improve Our School Facilities
Building 73.5 is a community-led public engagement program that brings families, staff, and community members together to address key facility challenges. All district residents are encouraged to participate and provide input to help develop a vision for the future of our schools! Help us plan for the future by addressing challenges such as:
- Safety and security updates
- Aging and deteriorating buildings
- Outdated classrooms
- Changing learning needs of today’s students
Join us at a Community Engagement Session, where you will learn more about these challenges, participate in interactive activities with fellow community members, and help set priorities to move our schools forward. Each session is an opportunity to learn about, and to provide your input on our schools’ needs. We are working toward plans and recommendations for the School Board that will support our students for years to come.
SPRING Session 1: April 21
Our School Buildings’ Strengths, Challenges, and Needs
John Middleton Elementary
8300 St. Louis Avenue, Skokie, IL 60076
7-9 p.m.
SPRING Session 2: May 20
Understanding Educational Needs: Priorities for Our School Facilities
Oliver McCracken Middle School
8000 East Prairie Road, Skokie, IL 60076
7-9 p.m.
FALL: Provide Feedback on Designs
(Dates will be announced in August.)
Visit sd735.org/building735 to register to attend. Registration is not required, but RSVPing here will be helpful for planning.
STUDENT SERVICES
For children residing in school districts 67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 73.5 & 74....
Parents who are concerned about their preschool-aged (ages 3-5) child’s development can make an appointment to attend a developmental screening on Monday, April 14 OR Monday, May 5, 2025.
To make an appointment, please contact Connie Gusek at NTDSE: 847-965-9040 ext 841.
CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION & ASSESSMENT
K-5 LITERACY PROGRAMMING. Last year, our teams took an important step in strengthening our students’ literacy learning by successfully implementing a foundational phonics program, From Phonics to Reading, in all kindergarten through 2nd grade general education classrooms. This year, we seek to further expand our students’ literacy learning by including other comprehensive literacy skill domains in addition to phonics, including other elements of reading (phonological awareness, word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension), oral language, writing, speaking, and listening, as well as knowledge building, in all kindergarten through 5th grade general education classrooms.
As part of this effort, between April 2 and May 9, we are excited to pilot two literacy programs in our kindergarten through 5th grade classrooms: Collaborative Literacy (from Collaborative Classroom) and ARC Core (from American Reading Company). In each grade level, approximately half of the classrooms will pilot Collaborative Literacy while the other half of the classrooms will pilot ARC Core.
These programs were selected for pilot by our district’s Literacy Leadership Committee, which is composed of 29 representative educators and administrators from all three of our buildings. The Literacy Leadership Committee worked diligently to identify possible comprehensive, research-based, culturally responsive, and well-vetted programs, to evaluate their alignment to our students’ needs, and to envision a positive, engaging, and meaningful pilot experience for our students. The aim of the pilot is to gather experiential data from both students and teachers that the Literacy Leadership Committee can use to make a decision about a possible program adoption for the 2025-2026 school year.
During the pilot of these two programs, you can expect that your child’s experience with English Language Arts will remain consistent, coherent, rigorous, and responsive. Your child’s teacher has been fully trained on the use of each program and is fully prepared to ensure that your child experiences the same high impact learning they have all year. Because we are piloting unique programs, your child will be interacting with some new resources in the classroom and may bring some of them home from time to time. We encourage you to ask them about their experiences along the way!
We look forward to sharing more about these pilots in the coming weeks! If you have any questions about your child’s individual learning, as always, please contact your child’s teacher. If you have any questions about literacy programming at your child’s school, please contact your child’s building administration.
ILLINOIS ASSESSMENT OF READINESS (IAR) TESTING. Through April 9, students in grades 3-8 will participate in the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR). IAR is aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards (which include the Common Core Standards). It is designed to provide teachers and families with information about student progress in Mathematics and English Language Arts.
On April 9, students at McCracken only will be participating in an IAR "field test." Each year, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) randomly selects a small number of schools across the state to participate in an IAR field test. The ISBE uses these field tests to improve students' experience with the IAR. The field test simply adds an additional 90-minute section to the English Language Arts portion of the existing IAR test.
Additional information about IAR testing is available at www.isbe.net/iar.
ILLINOIS SCIENCE ASSESSMENT (ISA). Beginning April 14, students in 5th and 8th will participate in the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA). The ISA is aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards for Science (which include the Next Generation Science Standards). It is designed to provide teachers and families with information about student progress in their learning of science concepts and skills.
Additional information about ISA testing is available on the Illinois State Board of Education website.
To provide flexibility, each school will develop its own testing schedule. Our test coordinators are working diligently in preparation, and we anticipate a smooth testing experience. Please keep an eye on the Middleton and McCracken sections of The Weekly over the coming weeks for school-specific information.
PTO NEWS
The PTO welcomes the community to TASTE OF 73.5 on Sunday, April 6 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at McCracken Middle School. Click or tap the flyer and visit the PTO website for more information!
Content posted on the PTO website is managed by the PTO
Visit district735pto.org and get to know your PTO!
Questions about this calendar or events? Please email [email protected].
DISTRICT DATES
BINGO SNAPS!
Thank you to everyone who came out after a very rainy day for the 2nd Annual BINGO Night! So many games, so many prizes, and so much fun! Thank you to America Torres, Maggie Price, and Margaret Page for their hard work and help to plan and set up for the evening.
AROUND TOWN
Skokie Public Library newsletter
NTDSE Family Events and Community Events
Meyer families are invited to join us for Meyer’s Story Night next week on Thursday, April 10 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Meyer School. Bring the whole family and stay for a cozy story hour with Meyer staff members, featuring stories that are ”Out of This World.”
April 10 is also Pajama Day, so students are encouraged to wear pajamas to school and then to Story Night. We hope to see all Meyer families there!
- Students, wear pajamas to school and then to Story Night.
- Enter Story Night at Door 6 by the parking lot.
- Bring new or gently used book to donate to Bernie’s Book Bank (more info below).
- This event is for the whole family and siblings are welcome.
- An adult should stay with children at all times.
CHILDREN'S BOOK DRIVE
Are you spring cleaning and decluttering your house? Meyer School will be collecting new and gently used children’s books, ages birth through 6th grade, from April 7-22 for Bernie’s Book Bank.
Bernie’s Book Bank collects high-quality, new and gently used children’s books and then delivers them directly to children in school districts and early childhood programs in the Chicagoland area. In 2024, local children attending over 950 Title 1 schools and early childhood programs received 2,409,599 free, age-appropriate, high-interest, and culturally relevant books.
Please have your child bring in any books you’d like to donate to Bernie’s Books, or you can drop them off at Meyer’s Story Night on April 10.
Children’s picture books, board books, recent non-fiction, graphic novels, and chapter books are all appreciated. Please note: Bernie’s Book Bank cannot use activity books, coloring books, dictionaries, textbooks, religious books, over-loved, or foreign language books other than Spanish.
This YouTube video explains what is accepted.
For more information about Bernie’s Book Bank, please visit berniesbookbank.org.
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION FOR NEW STUDENTS
Kindergarten registration for the 2025-2026 school year is now open for students NEW to Meyer. Current preschool students RETURNING for kindergarten next year will NOT need to complete any forms. Please watch for an email from Gay Kanda that was sent on March 11 with next steps. If you have questions, please contact Ms. Kanda at [email protected].
KINDERGARTEN MUSIC "INFORMANCES"
What is an Informance? An informance is a way to inform parents of what a typical music class is like. It is similar to a performance in that there is an audience, but instead of rehearsing set pieces, the students demonstrate what they do during music class. The setting is smaller and more intimate than a larger performance. Parents see firsthand how their child experiences music at Meyer School.
Informances are scheduled for Wednesday, May 14. Each Informance will last approximately 25 minutes. Seating is limited so we ask that each child invites a maximum of 2 adults. View the Informances flyer for classroom performance times. We hope to see you there!
If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Castellini at [email protected].
FAMILY CONNECTION
At Meyer, we learn about the ZONES OF REGULATION, a program designed to help children identify and self-regulate their emotions. We learn about four different zones: blue, green, yellow, and red:
- When you are in the blue zone, you may feel sad, bored, tired, or sick.
- When you are in the green zone you feel calm and happy. When you’re in the green zone, you do your best learning.
- When you are in the yellow zone you might feel scared, silly, worried, excited, or frustrated.
- When you are in the red zone, you might feel mad or out of control.
We also teach students to pick a calm down strategy to help them get back to the green zone, so that they are calm and ready to learn.
It is important to note that everyone experiences all of the zones and that the blue, red, and yellow zones are not “bad” zones. All of the zones are expected at one time or another.
At home, you can help your child gain awareness of his or her zones and feelings by pointing out when you see them experiencing feelings at home. “It looks like you are feeling sad and in the blue zone because you are frowning.” You can also have your child choose a strategy that they can use at home to return to the green zone, if they are ever in the blue, yellow, or red zone.
PETE THE CAT IN PRESCHOOL!
MEYER DATES
MEYER SUPERSTARS
Ms. Mpistolarides' & Ms. Zaccone's Kindergarten Superstars
Ms. Sanfilippo's Preschool Superstars
RECESS REFRESH! For the first five outdoor recesses after spring break, Middleton students are rotating with their class through the five zones at outdoor recess for a review and refresh of recess options, boundaries of the play space, and expectations. These stations are run by our recess supervisors, and all Middleton Bulldogs are helping one another by being inclusive of everyone who wants to join a game!
Students are encouraged to try something new during rotations, especially when they are playing in an area they don’t typically choose, like playing 4 Square on the blacktop or kickball in the field. After rotations, regular open choice recess will resume.
IAR ASSESSMENT
Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) testing for math and English language arts will take place at Middleton from April 2 through April 7.
IAR is the state assessment and accountability measure for Illinois students enrolled in a public school district. Students are encouraged to get a good night’s rest on the nights before testing, eat a healthy breakfast on the mornings of testing, and–very importantly–bring a charged Chromebook to school each day. We are excited for our students to show what they’ve learned!
FAMILY CONNECTION: ZONES OF REGULATION
At Middleton, we continue the ZONES OF REGULATION learning students are introduced to at Meyer. Zones of Regulation is a program designed to help children identify and self-regulate their emotions. We learn about four different zones: blue, green, yellow, and red:
- When you are in the blue zone, you may feel sad, bored, tired, or sick.
- When you are in the green zone you feel calm and happy. When you’re in the green zone, you do your best learning.
- When you are in the yellow zone you might feel scared, silly, worried, excited, or frustrated.
- When you are in the red zone, you might feel mad or out of control.
8th GRADE GRADUATION AND STAFFING UPDATES were shared with 8th grade families this week. The links to those documents are below. Please read through the graduation letter carefully as there are deadlines for the submission of graduation ticket orders, permission forms, and optional graduation t-shirt orders. Please reach out to the McCracken office or administration with any questions at 847-673-1220.
CAMP MacLEAN
We’re getting excited for Camp MacLean! The Camp Teaching Team has begun planning for the May 14-16 trip to Burlington, Wisconsin. Seventh grade families, remember to complete the Participation/Medication Form and submit the $195 fee via RevTrak by Monday, April 21. Families in need of financial assistance or fee waiver information should contact Karen Hayes at 847-676-8317 or [email protected].
IAR ASSESSMENT
The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) for math and English language arts will take place at McCracken from April 2–April 7. IAR is the state assessment and accountability measure for Illinois students enrolled in a public school district. Students will learn more about their daily schedules and testing locations from their teachers and we will follow modified schedules on all of the testing days. Most students will test in their advisory classrooms. Students are encouraged to get a good night’s rest on the nights before testing, eat a healthy breakfast on the mornings of testing, and–very importantly–bring a charged Chromebook to school each day. We are excited for our students to show what they’ve learned!
6th GRADE AUTHOR VISIT
On Tuesday, April 8, award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson will visit with McCracken's 6th graders. Anderson will discuss her new book, Rebellion 1776, and share about her creative process and the research that goes into writing historical fiction. Students who would like to order an autographed book can visit this link. The deadline to order a book is 12:00 noon on Monday, April 7. Books will be delivered to school on the day of the event to be signed by the author.
Laurie Halse Anderson is a New York Times bestselling author known for tackling tough subjects with humor and sensitivity. Rebellion 1776 is a historical fiction middle grade adventure about a girl struggling to survive amid a smallpox epidemic, the public's fear of inoculation, and the seething Revolutionary War.
APRIL SHOW-ERS OPEN HOUSE
Save the date to attend our new and improved McCracken Middle School April Show-ers family event on Thursday, April 17 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. The purpose of April Show-ers is to share our students’ learning and connect with our school community members. April Show-ers promotes community engagement and pride! Our teams have developed updated student-centered creative sessions. Families will be given a “Passport” with a menu of available activity sessions to attend with their student and collect stamps along the way. Both adult and student partners must be present to earn a stamp! At the end of the night, head to the gym to enjoy a performance by Hornet Harmony and turn in your passport to be entered into raffles for fun prizes! The performance will begin promptly at 7:15 p.m.
McCRACKEN GARDEN
Attention families and community members! The NEW McCracken Garden needs your expertise! Learn how you can help our 6th graders create a new International Garden. If you are interested in being a community expert, please complete this form.
McCRACKEN DATES
McCRACKEN GAMES
District Priorities
WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT. We will welcome and engage staff, students, families and community members in our schools.
HIRING & RETENTION. We will recruit, hire, and retain a diverse workforce and improve our human resource processes, procedures, and materials.
INFRASTRUCTURE & FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY. All financial decisions and investments will meet the needs of our diverse learners and staff and promote academic and social growth. We will provide a safe, inclusive, flexible, and innovative space for teaching, learning, and growing.
TEACHING & LEARNING. All students will engage in learning experiences that are cohesive and articulated across PreK-8, flexibly designed to engage all learners and leading to rigorous outcomes for all. We will be a future-focused, real-world learning environment that is responsive, accessible, and meaningful for all. We will become a model district on the use of data for making instructional, curriculum, and programmatic decisions.
Equity Mission Statement
WE BELIEVE that inclusivity and belonging is the foundation for equity.
ALL CHILDREN CAN LEARN, at high achievement levels, when equity is infused into every aspect of education.
WE ACKNOWLEDGE the systemic inequities present in school systems and recognize the impact they continue to have on marginalized communities.
WE COMMIT to teaching, learning, and growing in order to identify and dismantle inequitable systems and to create a community where barriers are removed so that everyone can reach their full potential.
WE BELIEVE that students succeed when they can see themselves represented in our staff, curriculum, opportunities, and our shared environment. We accomplish this through professional development, curriculum revision, community engagement, and systems evaluations.
WE RECOGNIZE the need to teach our students to identify the origins of unjust systems and empower them to use their critical thinking skills and agency to responsibly disrupt the policies and practices that perpetuate inequalities.
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