Monday Memo

Dear Washburne Families,

We hope you had a nice weekend! On Friday, we concluded our annual Autumn Fest with students and staff. It was a wonderful way to end the week and a great opportunity for our community to come together and have some fun.

As we begin this week, we encourage staff and students to wear Washburne gear or our school colors. This will be a nice way to kick off the week and show our school spirit.

Luke Livingston

Principal

Ben Horwitz

Assistant Principal

October:

Thursday, October 16 | New Trier Band Festival Concert 6:15pm

Monday, October 27 | Washburne Safety Week

Wednesday, October 29 | Lockdown Safety Drill

Thursday, October 30 | Conferences

Friday, October 31 | Conferences

November:

Tuesday, November 4 | Picture Retake Day

Wednesday, November 5 | Fall Vocal Showcase 7pm

Thursday, November 6 | Remote Practice Day (Devices go home and return Thursday)

Thursday, November 20 | Winter Band Concert 7:30

Friday, November 21 | End of Trimester 1 & Thanksgiving Break Begins

Monday | Washburne Spirit Wear:

On Mondays, staff and students are encouraged to wear their Washburne gear or wear our school colors.

Conferences

Fall conferences across the district will be on Thursday, October 30th and Friday, October 31st. Families will be able to sign up for a 20 minute conference with your child’s advisor beginning on October 3rd at 12:00 PM.

Last year, Washburne changed its fall conference model to five-minute sessions with individual teachers since these conferences took place at the end of the trimester. With a return to earlier conferences this year, we are shifting back to our traditional advisor conferences in the fall. Individual five minute conferences will remain the model for our winter conferences.

Instructions on how to access for our new conference scheduling platform, Parents’ Meeting, were sent to families on September 25. We encourage you to attempt logging in ahead of time so that you’re ready when scheduling begins. These instructions have also been placed in your PowerSchool Parent Portal Document Library in case you cannot find the email or the link has expired. Conference sign-ups will be available from October 3 at 12:00 PM through October 28 at 12:00 PM (CT). If you experience any difficulty with logging in, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at help@winnetka36.org.

Monthly Observances | October | Disability Awareness

In October, Americans observe National Disability Employment Awareness Month by paying tribute to the accomplishments of the men and women with disabilities whose work helps keep the nation’s economy strong and by reaffirming their commitment to ensure equal opportunity for all citizens. At Washburne it is also a time for our learning community to focus on a culture of inclusion and learn more about disabilities.

Parent Survey: Calendar

In consideration of the 26/27 School Year, the Winnetka Public Schools Calendar Committee is seeking feedback from Winnetka families. Creation of a school year calendar is dictated by the collective bargaining agreement between the School Board and the Winnetka Education Association as well as requirements from the state. This feedback will provide the committee with a sense of families’ priorities when it comes to planning for a new school year.

The survey window will be open from October 1 to October 17.

Join the Washburne VEX Robotics Club!

Calling all engineers, inventors, and innovators! The Washburne VEX Robotics Club kicks off Wednesday, October 22, and runs through February 11 from 3:30–4:30 PM in Room N102 (The CW CoLab). Students will work in teams to design, build, and code robots for real engineering challenges. Open to all Washburne students — no experience required! Registration opens at 9am on Tuesday, October 14th. Register here: District Web Store

Dance Marathon Club:

The Dance Marathon to raise funds for Lurie Children’s Hospital is back! Keeping in line with our district’s progressive philosophy, student voice is a major component of this event. Each year we’ve had a vibrant, dedicated student steering committee who helps plan, promote, and run the event. These students do everything from designing the logo, to creating posters and videos promoting the event, and running the booths at the actual event. This committee meets on Thursday mornings at 8:00, starting monthly in October, then twice a month, then weekly as we near the spring event. If your child wants to be on this exciting committee who plans a fun event for a great cause, please sign up your child via the district website by October 31st.

Click on this link: Dance Marathon Link Then click on Washburne Non-Sports.
Questions: Email Rachel Hirsh, DeAnna SaLander, and Tracy Silverman

Boys & Girls Basketball:

This registration is for our interscholastic, competitive boys basketball team tryout. Tryouts will be 2-3 days (all days required attendance) the week of October 20th (more details in the Monday Memo). Practices will occur Tue/Wed/Thu from either 3:30-5:00 or 5:00-6:30 and Friday from either 7-8 am or 3:30-5. Games are all during the week, Monday through Friday starting at either 4:00 or 5:00. We will have 2 teams (Green and White) consisting of 11 players each. Each team will also keep up to 4 kids on the practice squad. Refunds will be issued for students not continuing on with the program. Contact AndyBecker@winnetka36.org with questions. Boys Basketball is live on the District Web Store. Registration opens at 9am on Tuesday, September 30th.

2025-26 Basketball Tryout Dates/Times are set. Students need to be registered online for basketball and should attend all tryout dates to be considered for the team. Families will be emailed the results of tryouts to the address used during registration. Contact AndyBecker@winnekta36.org for more information.

Monday, Oct. 20

2:30-4:00 7th Grade Boys

4:00-5:30 8th Grade Boys

Tuesday, Oct. 21

3:30-5:00 7th Grade Girls

5:00-6:30 8th Grade Girls

Wednesday, Oct. 22

3:30-5:00 8th Grade Boys

5:00-6:30 7th Grade Boys

Thursday, Oct. 23

3:30-5:00 8th Grade Girls

5:00-6:30 7th Grade Girls

Friday, Oct. 24

3:30-5:00 - 3rd day for teams that may need it

Student Ambassador Program (8th Gr Only):

As a means to honor the student experience and elevate the critical importance of student voice and civic contribution, The Winnetka Public Schools will be introducing a Student Ambassador Program at the start of the 2025/2026 school year. Participation in the Student Ambassador Program will involve simultaneous membership in a chapter of the National Junior Honor Society.

Program Overview
Applications go live Monday, September 22: Students Apply Here. 8th grade students were emailed the application and can access it via their email. Parents should check-in with their student to view the application.

8th Grade Students will be receiving this application via schoology and their student email.

Washington DC Trip 8th grade

We are sharing information from World Strides about next year's 8th grade Washington DC Trip (please note, this is not a school-sponsored trip).You can register for the trip here.

Questions? Reach out to DJ Barraca or Teri Knaff.

Otus Data

While benchmark testing is occurring, we have limited family access in Otus to benchmark scores as new scores are being processed and updated. Once everything is up to date and clean, we will reactivate these scores for families. You may still log in during this time but will not be able to view your student’s data until October 20.

This year students in Grades K-8 will participate in academic benchmark assessments of literacy, math and social emotional learning starting September 25-October 10. On October 20, results will be emailed home, available in the PowerSchool Parent Portal, as well as online via Otus.com.

Winnetka Parent’s Institute (WPI) Schedule 25/26

Progressive Tenets in Action: Whole Child Approach

October 15, 2025

9:30 A.M.

Location: SK Community Room

Join the first in a three-part series that will explore the District’s Progressive Education Tenets. Learn about what a Whole Child Approach means and how it comes alive in our classrooms.

Interested:

RSVP for this event here

Following the event a link will be provided to the taped presentation on the website.

Feedback Link