Bitterly cold temperatures are expected again this week. Please bundle up, use extra caution during travel, and keep an eye out for school communications as planned programming might be subject to change. Check out the information below as to already rescheduled event dates. 

We also want to lift up our neighbors at Kingsley as they navigate last week’s difficult closure news. This is a time to lead with kindness and community—thank you for showing support, compassion, and solidarity in the days and weeks ahead.

• Thurs, Jan 29 - Family Reading Night 6pm-7pm (Rescheduled date)
• Weds, Feb 4 - Foster School "Open House" for all prospective families (5:30-7:30pm at Fleetwood Jourdain)
• Weds, Feb 4 - Early Dismissal Day (12:05pm)
• Tues, Weds, Feb 10-11 - Teacher Conferences
• Fri-Mon, Feb 13-16 - No School

Former Lincolnwood parent, Jen Munson, a researcher at Northwestern is partnering with D65 to work with teachers and school leaders at Lincolnwood to co-design an afterschool math play space for kids, the Math Playground. Our very own Ms. Meghan Thomas is on this team, They are in the midst of designing the Math Playground with the plan to launch it on Mondays afterschool at the end of February for K-5 kids. It will be an afterschool club for kids, a professional development space for teachers, and a research project simultaneously. Please email jmunson@northwestern.edu if you are interested in signing your kiddo up. 

We are so excited Lincolnwood's Second Read-a-thon is here! We hope our students grow their enjoyment of reading while raising funds - and we need your (caregiver) help!

The Read-a-thon is running through February 12! 

This year, we are asking families to track minutes read. A Read-a-thon page has been created for all students - please look for an email from Givebacks for your child's page. If you did not receive that email, please reach out to Katie Karlin (katie.anders@gmail.com). This page will allow you to easily enter the number of minutes your student has read. It also has a link to solicit support that you can share with neighbors, friends, and family! Pledges and donations can be made at any time throughout the fundraiser.

All students are encouraged to participate and enter their minutes, regardless of fundraising. We are tracking minutes by class- the class with the leading minutes logged in grades K-2 and the class with the most minutes logged in grades 3-5 will each win a prize! 

We recognize that Lincolnwood is where students learn to read- so please count all reading activities! This can be listening to a story read by a caregiver, enjoying the pictures of a book, reading along with audio- wherever your student is on their journey, feel free to encourage them to engage with reading and count those minutes!

Thank you all for your continued support and .... Happy Reading!!!

ETHS Volleyball coaches have created a FREE co-ed 4th and 5th grade volleyball league for D65 students. Lincolnwood has participated in this league for the past three years and we are hoping Lincolnwood will be a part of it again this year. The league is looking for a parent or two to help recruit and coach a group of 4th and 5th grade students at Lincolnwood. If you have volleyball experience, great! If not, please don't worry! No experience is necessary! Here are the potential dates: March 7, 14 and 21 OR April 11, 18, and 25, from 9am-12pm. They run two 1.5 hour sessions each Saturday, running skills and drills for 30 minutes and then playing games for one hour against the other schools. It is a blast! Please reach out to Liz Maday, at madaye@district65.net if you are interested.

RESCHEDULED DATE: Walker PTA invites families to Walker’s First Annual Rummage Sale (children’s items only) on Sat., Jan 31, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. in the Walker Gymnasium. Shop kids’ clothing, books, toys, games, and baby gear. PTA fundraiser—all proceeds benefit D65 One Fund. 

Julia Vaughan (parent to first-grader, Sabrina) gave an absolutely fascinating, thorough, informative presentation to Evanston’s Preservation Commission detailing why Lincolnwood is deserving of a landmark designation. When you have some time, I encourage you all to watch this amazing presentation. 

• Recording — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8XJD1XBhos

At the end of the meeting, School District 65 requested an extension of the hearing, so they could conduct additional research on the titles/deeds. 

The Commission agreed to continue the hearing, and a follow-up meeting will take place at City Hall on February 10th. Stay tuned! 

Thank you, Julia and all involved in these efforts!  Please contact Julia if you are interested in learning more. 

Below is an original sketch dating back to the 1940s found by Julia housed in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

ESCCA provides clothing, jackets, shoes and boots at no cost to D65 students in need.  Find more info at escca.org

Volunteers needed this week and beyond!

If you are interested in helping families "shop" for clothing items at the ESCCA store at JEH, we would love your support!  Anyone high school sophomore and older is welcome to volunteer.  No experience is necessary; supervisors will be on hand to guide you.  Sign up at ESCCA Volunteer Opportunities.

We are also in need of volunteers to fill roles in the Shoe Room and New Clothes Room.  Learn more and volunteer here.

Last Chance! Northwestern is thrilled to offer District 65 group tickets for the following basketball games:

• Men’s Basketball - purchase tickets

  • Northwestern vs Washington, Saturday, Jan. 31, at 7 pm

$5 from every ticket purchased will be donated directly to District 65’s PTA One Fund. With your ticket purchase, you are supporting the academic enrichment, community engagement, cultural exchange and teacher support work our PTAs are doing across Evanston. Thank you for your support!  For families where the cost is a barrier, the D65 PTA Council can provide a limited number of tickets at no cost. 

Washington School is hosting an event with Screen Sense Evanston. It is a parent education event about how we can support our kids and make decisions about technology. Everyone is invited! As you many of you know from meetings held at Lincolnwood in the Fall, these meetings are really informative and supportive.

Washington auditorium

Wed. 2/18 from 6 - 7:30pm

Event is free and registration is not required, but to get an idea of the headcount, organizers are requesting signing up:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4AA8AF23AAF8C61-61583356-screen