April Newsletter

Spring is here, and we have a busy month ahead at Waltham!

Here’s everything you need to know for April:

• March 31st – IAR Testing begins for students in grades 3-8.

• Tuesday, April 1st – Election Day Reminder: Our Waltham referendum question is on the ballot. Please remember to vote!

• Wednesday, April 2nd – Kids Heart Challenge wrap-up for students;

• Early Dismissal: K-8 students dismiss at 2:10 p.m., preschool at 3:10 p.m.

• Friday, April 4th – Progress Reports available for parents to view in Teacherease;

• Registration for the 2025-2026 school year opens in Teacherease.

• Monday, April 7th – PTCC meeting at 6:00 p.m.

• Thursday, April 10th – Spring Dinner for students in K-8. (information below)

• Friday, April 11th – Early dismissal at 2:10 p.m. for Spring Break.

• Spring Break: No school from April 14th - April 21st. Classes resume on Tuesday, April 22nd.

• Wednesday, April 23rd – 5th & 8th Grade State Science Testing and Board of Education meeting at 6:00 p.m. - Pictures for 8th Grade Graduation, Track, Bowling, and Band.

• Friday, April 25th – 4th Grade field trip to Utica;

  • Band-o-Rama Concert at Oglesby Washington, 7:00 p.m.

• Monday, April 28th – 7th Grade field trip to Springfield.

• Tuesday, April 29th – April AttenDANCE Celebration!

Let’s make April a fantastic month! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

Go Hawks!

Attention families! Registration for the 2025-2026 school year opens Friday, April 4th in TeacherEase and will close on Friday, May 2nd. All PreK-8th grade students must complete registration.

If you submitted a packet for a 2025-2026 preschool or kindergarten student, you are considered a returning family and will still need to complete this online registration.

Important: Registration is not complete until all required forms are submitted (either uploaded in TeacherEase or turned in as hard copies to the office) and fees are paid. Families who need to set up a payment plan, or have questions about registration fees, may contact the office.

If you have any further questions, please contact Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Hewitt. Thank you for your attention to this important process—we look forward to another great school year!

Spring is in the air, and that means it’s time for one of our most cherished traditions—Spring Dinner! This year’s theme is Groovy Spring Dinner, and we can’t wait to come together as a school community for an afternoon of great food, laughter, and connection.

A huge thank you to Melinda Magerkurth, her crew of volunteers, and our amazing PTCC for organizing this special event. So much hard work happens behind the scenes to make this meal possible, and we truly could not do it without them! This is the one meal each year where our entire school—students, staff, and faculty—gets to sit down together, share a meal, and enjoy each other's company.

A Sign-Up Genius has already been sent out, but there’s still room for more volunteers to help make this the best Spring Dinner yet! If you’d like to lend a hand, we’d love to have you join in.

Looking forward to a groovy time with our Waltham family!

Eighth grade students attended the Regional Science Fair on Saturday, March 22nd at NIU Rockford.

Those representing our school were Mason Setchell, Avery Hamilton, Ashley Nave, Sofija Dimitrijevich, Carson Truty, Devyn Henneberry, Marissa Reinmann and Erin Grzywa.

Every student who attended the Regional Science Fair from Waltham received a gold rating. Mason Setchell received the Thermo Fisher award, which is given to the students who score in the top ten percent.

Those who scored high enough to move on to the state competition in May, which will be held at U of I in Champaign are: Mason Setchell, Avery Hamilton, Ashley Nave and Sofija Dimitrijevich.

Seventh grade students took part in the Northern Regional History Fair Competition Saturday, March 15th. A total of nine Individual Exhibit projects overall were promoted to the State History Fair Competition which will be held on May 1st. Waltham students earned four of those nine spots.

The four students representing Waltham at the State Competition are:

Mazzy Withey - Elizabeth Freeman

Evie Pappas - Valentina Tereshkova: First Woman in Space

Quinn Krug - Nelson Mandela: From Prisoner to President

Gemma Sobkowiak - The Americans With Disabilities Act

The First Grade Superkids wrote persuasive letters to Mrs. Eager about things they would like to see added to Waltham School. Their ideas ranged from a wood shop class to a soccer field to class pets and even a classroom treehouse for reading books (our Magic Treehouse book series had a little to do with that idea) oh - and hot lunch with pizza every Friday. It was so amazing to watch them develop their ideas, write about them and then share them with the “boss” :) --- Mrs. Linnig

Maddy Whalen’s Mom came to teach us all about her job - building Wind Turbines and Solar Farms. We so enjoyed learning about all of the work it takes to build and maintain Wind Turbines and how solar farms are working to create a cleaner, greener environment! ---Mrs. Linnig and Ms. Voss

Don't forget to download the Waltham app and follow our social media pages (listed below) to stay updated on school and classroom happenings! We love sharing our story with our school community, so check in often and follow along—it's always a great day to be a Waltham Hawk!