November 7, 2025

Hello Hawk Families,

We can't believe we are already a whole week through November! We have had so much fun this school year, and there are many more memories to be made. Featured in the photo is Oakley, the incredible search dog who helps keep places like Highcrest safe! So many students and staff loved meeting Oakley and his handler during their visit a week or so ago!

In this week's newsletter, we focus on:

Upcoming Events
Notable Notes: November Menu Change
HMS PTO Updates
D39 Updates
Community News [Last week of book drive!]
Hawk Handbook Highlights

We hope that you all have a fantastic weekend ahead!

Go Hawks!

Anthony, Linda, + Susie

On the Horizon

November 11 - Veteran's Day [School is in Session]
November 17 - Conference sign-ups close at 11:55 pm
November 19 - 21 - HMS Conferences
November 24 - 28 - Fall Break; No School

Menu Change for Remainder of November

A new exhaust fan has been ordered and is on its way to our school! Once here, it will take about one day to get installed. In the meantime, here is our revised menu for this month. Special thanks to our food service team for working to offer appealing options for students with limited cooking skills. We are excited to get back to our usual menu service soon!

D39 Spelling Bee!

Bzzz, Bzzz! It’s that T-I-M-E of year to prepare for our D39 Spelling Bee! Between December 1–17, HMS homeroom teachers will conduct classroom bees—the first round of the spelling bee. That means 32 HMS students will advance to our district bee, occurring Thursday, January 22 to Friday, January 23, here at HMS! Next week, study lists for the classroom bees will be posted in your child’s Schoology Lunch course. Bzzz, Bzzz, have fun S-T-U-D-Y-I-N-G!

*Please note that students have the option to opt-in or opt-out of the classroom bees.

Athletics Updates: Wilmette Wrestling (5th-8th)

The Wilmette wrestling team will hold its first official practice on Monday, December 1st. Practices will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Gym A at Highcrest. Join us for a great season of hard work, wrestling, and fun. Please bring a change of clothes to practice. Everyone is welcome to come and give wrestling a try. You can find more information on our website wilmettewrestling.com. If you have any questions, you can reach out to Coach Lee at wjhswrestlingcoaches@wilmette39.org

Moms Comedy Night Out Next Friday!

Highcrest Moms! Join us for a hilarious night featuring great comedians, good company, and maybe even a few mom jokes we can all relate to. Grab your best mom friends and leave the laundry behind—it’ll still be there tomorrow!

Get your ticket now on the PTO website! (Log in for purchase).

https://www.highcrestpto.org/form/m/360419

When: Thursday, Nov 13 7:30pm (door opens at 6:30)

Where: Women’s Club of Wilmette (930 Greenleaf Ave, Wilmette)

Support Highcrest’s dedicated staff throughout the year! The PTO stocks the staff lounge with snacks and drinks throughout the year. Each House takes a turn purchasing requested items from the sign-up or donating to fund purchases.

This month (November), it is Grade 6/House 2 turn: Jansyn Gust Dubs Espinoza.

Next month (December), Grade 6/ House 3: Flitz Heyde Eakley Facchini.

Please visit the SUG to contribute items or visit HERE to donate.

'Tis the giving season! There's nobody more deserving than our incredibly hard-working HMS teachers and staff.

Please consider donating to the Teacher and Staff Holiday Gift Fund. The suggested donation of $25 per student ensures every HMS teacher and staff member is gifted by the student community this holiday season. Contributions are completely voluntary and any amount is greatly appreciated. The more we collect, the more we can give. All Highcrest staff members are included in the holiday gift fund, from our teachers and janitors to our crossing guards. Click HERE to give (must be logged in).

We are thrilled to announce our fundraising partnership with Minted this holiday season. Please support the Highcrest PTO by using our unique promo code FUNDRAISEHIGHCREST to purchase your holiday cards and gifts from Minted this year. You’ll receive 20% off your order and 10% of each purchase will be donated back to us at the end of the year. Happy holidays!

Upcoming YouTube Restriction on District Devices

District 39 continues to focus on intentional use of technology in support of teaching and learning. Beginning after Winter Break, our D39 network will restrict open access to YouTube for students on district-issued devices. In the event that YouTube access is required for an active learning lesson inside our classrooms, our educators will share a specific link through Edpuzzle, a trusted third-party app that is accessible by our students. Additionally, access to YouTube on your child’s district device will be restricted outside of our network through Securly Home.

Nominations Are Now Open for the District 39 Educational Foundation’s Innovative Educators Award!

Nominations are now being accepted for the D39 Educational Foundation’s Innovative Educators Award! The Innovative Educators award will recognize teachers who demonstrate excellence in innovative teaching and learning practices in their classrooms and who model the characteristics of the D39 Educational Foundation’s mission.

Parents/Guardians can nominate qualified educators online through this brief Google nomination form. The nomination window will remain open until early December and all nominated educators will receive recognition from the Educational Foundation. Winners of the award, which carries a cash prize, will be announced to our community in February. Please contact Beth Karnes, Chair of the D39 Educational Foundation, with any questions.

Sign Up Now for Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences

If they have not already, families are encouraged to sign up for our fall parent/teacher conferences. Conferences will take place Nov. 19-21, immediately preceding Fall Break (Thanksgiving week) and will be held virtually through the Meet the Teacher platform (in-person appointments are available by request). Login credentials for Meet the Teacher were sent out last Thursday (Oct. 30) via email.

Reminder: Building Procedures Regarding Outside Visitors

As always, it is our duty and highest priority to maintain our schools as safe places for students, staff, and families. During the school day, our schools are not open to the public. We have designated specific areas as private and restricted during the school day (including areas beyond our controlled front foyers as well as our playgrounds), which is applied to all visitors to our schools. Our protocols for visitors and for granting entry to our schools apply to all guests and help us to maintain safety and security for all. Thank you for your partnership as we all work together to keep our learning community safe.

Parent Education Events

Thank you to everyone who attended our wonderful Parent Education event on Wednesday night, a presentation and meet-and-greet with acclaimed children’s book author Derrick Barnes. Mark your calendars now for our next Parent Education event, a discussion of Jonathan Haidt’s book “The Anxious Generation,” set for Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 11 am. This discussion, co-led by the Family Service Center and the lead organizer of Wilmette’s “Wait Until 8th” organization, will be a virtual event held via Zoom. Registration is open now to reserve your space. Please visit our D39 Parent Education webpage for our full 2025-26 schedule as well as recordings from previous events.

District 39 Angel Fund

The District 39 Angel Fund is a donation-based community fund which helps other D39 families in need cover school and activity fees, including extracurricular activities such as athletics, band/orchestra, and school-sponsored clubs. The fund is supported entirely through contributions from families, residents, and community businesses and your contribution can make a real difference!

Donations to the Angel Fund are tax-deductible and can be made online via RevTrak. Contributions of any dollar amount are appreciated and 100% of all donations go towards District 39 families in need. Please visit our Angel Fund webpage for more information.

The Big Book Drive: Rotary Club

The Wilmette Rotary plans to resume our Big Book Drive this fall, October 1 through November 14, 2025. They request donations of gently used books (excluding textbooks, old atlases, encyclopedias, and dictionaries) for our Book Drive in the fall. Check out the Big Book Drive page for more details.

Donations can be made to the HMS Book Drive Box beginning October 1. Our Bin(s) will be located in our main lobby for students to drop them off until November 14.

HMS Handbooks

Ahead of the school year, it may be helpful to take a moment to review the following handbooks:

In particular, we emphasize taking time to review the following from the HMS Student Handbook:

As a homework assignment, we request that students sign and return the letter of agreement and D39 Mobile Learning Contract. We appreciate your family reviewing these with your child this school year.

Hawk Headlines will be sent weekly on Fridays!

Next Edition Scheduled for Friday, November 14, 2025

November 7, 2025