From the Desk of Mrs. Kelly Hilton

Over the years, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned as a school counselor is that there is no single textbook, Google search, or video that can fully prepare us to “fix” the struggles that students share with us. Instead, the most meaningful guidance comes from listening, learning, and allowing our students themselves to show us what they need.

At Marian, I continue to be inspired every day. Our students teach lessons that go far beyond anything learned in a classroom or graduate program. One lesson stands out time and time again: the quiet, powerful courage of simply continuing to show up.

I see it in…

Students who carry the weight of mental health challenges, yet still walk through our doors each day—showing up.
Students with learning differences who work tirelessly for every bit of progress—showing up.
Students navigating grief and loss while still engaging in school life—showing up.
Students longing for connection as they find their place among peers—showing up.
Students facing uncertainty or instability at home—showing up.
Students who give generously of their God-given talents, dedicating long hours to grow and excel—showing up.
Students who support their friends, even when they themselves are struggling—showing up.
Students managing chronic or long-term health challenges—showing up.

This simple act—showing up—reflects resilience, hope, and faith in brighter days ahead.

To our Marian Central Catholic students: thank you. Your perseverance, your courage, and your willingness to keep showing up, even in life’s most difficult moments, inspire us all. We are deeply grateful to you.

Mrs. Kelly Hilton
Director of Guidance

From the Head of School

Staff Changes

Cody O’Neill will not be returning as the Athletic Director for Marian Central beginning in the 2026-27 school year. We wish him the best in all of his future endeavors.
Andrew Fern, counselor, will not be returning to Marian Central for the 2026-27 school year. Mr. Fern is relocating and would be unable to make the commute to our school. Once again, we wish him the best in all of his future endeavors.

FYI

Marian Central recently completed a school fundraiser for the Vincent DePaul Society in McHenry County. The students and staff collected close to $1,000 to help all those in need of necessities. Well done students and your families!
Spring sports have begun. It may not be a good idea to store all your winter outerwear just yet. Watching Spring sports can get a little chilly. Play Ball!
Our CollegeStock was a great success this year! We had a total of 31 colleges attend Marian Central for our students this past week with all four military branches also in attendance. It should be noted how well the colleges in attendance spoke of our students and how they all stated they love our students because they are so well prepared for success in college.

From the Finance Office

Thank you to everyone who has finalized their payment plan for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year! Many of our families have voiced that they would like to continue paying by check or in cash, and we have heard your requests and will be making exceptions for families to be billed via invoice.

There are three invoice options:

Pay in Full
Semi-Annual (Semester)
10-Month Payment Plan

If families opt for 1-2 payments (this would only include the Pay in Full or Semi-Annual), they will incur a $25 FACTS fee. If families opt-in to the 10-Month Payment Plan, they will incur a $55 FACTS fee.

The email linked to your FACTS account will receive a reminder 20 days before your pay date to inform you of the upcoming payment due date. There is a three-day grace period for late payments, after which a $25 late fee is added to your balance.

Invoice plans can be converted to ACH payments at any time. The FACTS customer service team would be happy to walk you through how to make that change in your account! You'll be able to see payments reflected on your account in real-time and at the end of the year, will be able to print or download the tax documents necessary to receive education credit.

If you are interested in being billed via invoice, written requests must be emailed to Mayra Fabian (mfabian@marian.com) by the end of next week (March 27th) before your payment plan is automatically converted to a 10-Month finalized invoice agreement.

Student Super Raffle

Last Friday, your child was sent home with a Super Raffle ticket—if you haven’t seen it yet, you may want to check the bottom of their backpack 😉.

As part of fundraising for our Gala, Marian Central is holding a Super Raffle featuring five cash prizes, including a Grand Prize of $7,500! Students are encouraged to sell tickets—to family members, relatives, neighbors, or friends.

If the entire school collectively sells 260 tickets, all students will earn a day off school on the dates listed below.

Each student received one ticket, and additional tickets are available in the Advancement Office or online at mariangala.givesmart.com. Tickets should be returned to the school with payment by Wednesday, April 8.

Prizes:

Freshmen & Sophomores: Excused from school (Friday, April 24)
Juniors & Seniors: Excused from school on Prom Day (Friday, May 1)

Thank you for supporting Marian Central!

Mentor Application Open

The New Mentor Application is open until Friday, March 27th for all soon to be juniors and seniors who are NOT currently mentors. Students need to join the Google Classroom (code: iehtz3ru) and fill out the application to apply. Students who are currently mentors, have been given instructions for their re-application in the Mentor Google Classroom for this year.

If there are any questions, please reach out to Miss Olivia Arza (oarza@marian.com).

Category 5: Hurricane Preparedness Camp!

We have exciting news this year for incoming freshmen! In the past, new freshmen

who wanted a little extra help could participate in Mrs. Littner’s summer Study Skills

Camp. Well, next year ALL FRESHMEN will learn these skills during the year in the

required Seminar Class! Many of the topics that were covered in Study Skills Camp

will be explored and practiced in this class.

With that said, some parents are still looking to help prepare their incoming freshman for the first couple of weeks of school. For this reason, we are offering the Category 5: Hurricane Preparedness Camp. Please click the document below for additional information.

Service Hours - FINAL CALL

As we approach the end of the school year, we ask that all community service hours completed during this academic year be reported to Mrs. Diamond no later than Monday, April 13, 2026. Please send documentation or verification of service hours directly to Mrs. Diamond at jdiamond@marian.com or drop them off in Guidance so that we can ensure all hours are properly recorded.

If you have any questions about reporting service hours, please do not hesitate to reach out to Mr. Wochner or Mrs. Diamond in the Guidance Office.

April School Day ACT – Required for all Juniors

To give our students the best opportunities for college admissions and scholarships and to provide valuable data to improve instruction at Marian Central, we will be having our juniors take the ACT (paper-and-pencil format) during the school day on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. The test will begin at 8:00am and end by approximately 12:15am at which time juniors will eat lunch and return to their regularly scheduled classes for the remainder of the school day. The Enhanced ACT consists of 3 sections: English, Math. And Reading. The students will also be taking the Writing and Science portions of the exam. Scores will be available from 2-8 weeks after testing and will be college reportable for students who wish to submit their scores to any of the colleges and/or universities that they plan to apply to senior year.

Additional information about the ACT, including free test preparation options can be found here. Also, the PreACT results from the October test can be useful to juniors (and free) to prep for the ACT. PreACT score reports indicate student answers to each test question as well as correct answers. Students can look up these questions in their test booklets and see where they went wrong and what types of questions they need to work on to improve scores once they take the ACT.

No registration is necessary for juniors for the April 21, 2026 school day ACT test.

Please contact Mrs. Hilton (khilton@marian.com or 815-338-4220, ext. 121) or Mr. Fearn (afearn@marian.com, ext. 122) if you have any questions regarding the ACT.

Spring Break 2027

11-Day Trip visiting Spain, France, Italy, the Vatican

Departure Thursday, March 25, 2027 - Return Sunday, April 4, 2027

An information meeting for all interested students and parents will be held on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in Room 217

*If you attended the first meeting on 3/12, you do not need to attend this one*

This educational opportunity is organized by Dr. Pinnau, Mr. Palak, and Ms. Hess