WJHS Highlights
11/15/2024
A Message from the Administrative Team
Dear WJHS Families,
Student progress reports became visible last Friday and we encourage you to check out your child's progress. Students at WJHS receive mid-semester progress reports, and final grades at the semester mark. Below are the instructions to access your child's PowerSchool account. Looking at this before your conferences with teachers can help make your five minutes as productive as possible.
Powerschool - Our Student Information System where students and parents can look for attendance, grades and report cards. This is where final grades can be found. As a reminder, this is a method of communication that our teachers use to keep you informed of your child’s progress in each class. Please contact your child’s teacher with questions about any grade or reported assignment in the Parent Portal. Students at WJHS receive mid-semester progress reports at each quarter and final grades at the semester mark. Staying informed of your child’s progress throughout the year will help you support your child and partner with your child’s teachers to reach their academic goals.
Click HERE for a quick start guide on how to login/create an account.
Click HERE for a video tutorial on using PowerSchool for parents.
If you still have problems, call the building secretaries for assistance at 847-512-6600.
Students can access Powerschool:
Use this link: wilmette39.powerschool.com - Also located under Students on our WJHS website.
Student username is the beginning of their school email address before @wps39.org (ex. 21josephs)
Their password is their school email password (ex. 12345pop)
OR students may use PowerSchool Mobile App (Tutorial Video) to check their grades (Progress Reports and Report Cards are only viewable through a browser)
Download the App from Self-Service
Use District Code HMKF
Student username is the beginning of the student’s email address before @wps39.org (ex. 22josephs)
Student password is student email password (ex. 12345pop)
If you have questions, please email:
7th grade - Lindsay McNaught - mcnaughl@wilmette39.org
8th grade - Michael Donhost - donhostm@wilmette39.org
Technician - Andrew Radakovitz - support@wilmette39.org
Our teachers are excited to meet with you all next week and talk about your child's progress this school year!
Sincerely,
Kate, Jeff and Rob
Eighth Grade Families Only - New Trier Placement Testing Reminders!
New Trier placement testing will continue this Saturday, November 16th. Families should have received a confirmation email (sent as a Google form confirmation email) of their testing date directly from New Trier.
New Trier sent out, via email, specific testing instructions and reminders for those students who are testing tomorrow. Please review this information carefully. Below you will find a general summary of the information contained in their communication.
- Testing begins at 7:45 am sharp. Doors open at 7:15 am; students will enter through either door N16 or S2. Students will need to head to the third floor of the Winnetka campus to find their testing room location.
- Students will be using their school-issued iPad to complete the placement test. Please ensure your student's iPad is completely charged to be ready for testing. D39 will be providing an IT technician on-site in the event any student encounters technical issues on the day of testing.
- Students should bring with them a water bottle, snack, and a few pencils. The writing portion of the test is completed using pencil and paper.
- If you have any questions, please reach out to testing@nths.net
For additional information about New Trier and important dates, please see New Trier's incoming freshman website, linked here.
We are wishing our students good luck on their placement testing! You've all got this!
Wrestling Begins Soon!
Buzz, buzz! The 2024 WJHS Spelling Bee is just around the corner!
This year, we will use the Scripps National Spelling Bee’s online testing platform to hold our grade-level spelling bee via an online spelling test.
The first step to spelling bee participation is registering for the online testing platform by visiting https://online-test.spellingbee.com.
Here is a video tutorial that will walk you through the registration process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ThKRsffiFc
Tests can be taken on any device with a web browser, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smart phones. Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge are our preferred browsers. We do not support Safari for desktop or Internet Explorer.
The students from each grade with the highest scores will move on to compete in the district bee. This year, our school-level competition will be administered via an in-person bee at WJHS in January 2025
Our district champion will then move on to represent Wilmette District 39 in the next level of the regional spelling bee program, which may include online tests instead of in-person spelling bee events.
Remember, the first step to participating in the spelling bee is to register at online-test.spellingbee.com. Please register your student as soon as possible, as I will begin assigning tests soon. If you have already registered another child in the online testing platform, you can log in to your account and add an additional child to that same parent account. There is no need to register a different email address for each child in your household.
Please reach out to me if you have any questions about our school spelling bee program.
Mary Kate Lubawski - Lubawskm@wilmette39.org
Wilmette Junior High School
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for November 20-22 (Wednesday-Friday). Families received an email from the district with their login credentials on Friday, November 1st. If you didn't receive an email, please check your Junk or Spam folders before reaching out to the office. Sign-up for families began on Monday, November 4 at 9:00 AM and ends on Monday, November 18 at 11:59 pm.
Highcrest Middle School and Wilmette Junior High School conferences will be done by video call using the Meet the Teacher platform. All video conferences will be conducted via the built-in video conferencing software inside Meet the Teacher and not via Zoom. No special software or app is needed, as the video runs in your web browser. A video link will be sent to you with your appointment confirmation. Meet the Teacher has a support page with detailed information should you need it.
Please visit our webpage with instructions on how to book your appointment.
In order to access the system, you will need the login code that will be sent on Friday, November 1 as well as the date of birth of one of your children.
If multiple parents are attending the conference, please only sign up once, so as not to clutter your teacher’s schedule. Once scheduled, you may invite another parent/guardian to join your appointments.
If you have any trouble using the system, please contact your school secretary for scheduling questions or enter a support ticket for technical questions.
SEL News
As we look to November we look forward to the many holidays that occur during this upcoming season. Monday, November 1 begins the Indian holiday of Diwali, the Festival of Lights. It celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. Happy Diwali to all of our families celebrating.
Thanksgiving, which occurs later this month, is a wonderful time to celebrate our families. The Theme that we observe across the district is “Our Families are Important.” We encourage our students to share about their families, their family traditions, and what makes their family special to them.
Families and the community are also a crucial part of the social-emotional development of our students. While we have lessons about understanding our emotions, building relationships, understanding others’ perspectives, and making good choices and decisions, these lessons at school alone, are not as effective as they are when supported at home by the families that surround our children. Spend time as a family over this month celebrating one another, and engaging in activities that are fun! The Wilmette Public Library has regular events for families, and check out this list of opportunities to spend time together by catching a show, apple or pumpkin picking, heading to a museum and more!
🍁📋THANK YOU PARENTS FOR ATTENDING OUR MEETING 🍁📋
For those of you who took the time to come to our PTO General Board meeting last night, thank you! We were pleased to hold the first in person meeting since Covid! Don’t worry if you missed it, there will be another one in the spring.
🦃GIVE BACK OPPORTUNITIES 🦃
✅Volunteer to help serve lunch. It’s rewarding and very much appreciated! For more information click HERE and thank you!
✅Help plan the 8th Grade Graduation Party Please consider volunteering to help implement a great set of party plans for our graduating 8th graders! Email studentprograms@wjhspto.com to be added to our list.
✅Donate to the Teacher/Staff Holiday Gift Fund (one-time yearly gift). Thank you!
📣8TH GRADE PARENTS: “CLASS OF 2029” SWEATSHIRT 📣
Our SpiritWear partner HumanKind is again offering sweatshirts for purchase for this year’s 8th graders- the “Class of 2029” (if graduating from New Trier high school) HERE. Makes a great holiday present too!
📘2024-2025 WJHS YEARBOOKS ON SALE NOW 📙
Yearbooks can be purchased online through Membership Toolkit on the WJHS PTO website this year, www.wjhspto.com, under the PTO Store button. Click HERE to go directly! We changed how parents can purchase this year to make it easier for you to check later if you purchased a yearbook or not! Please purchase early and cross this off your list of things to do!
District Update
Gripp Grant
Yesterday, the D39 Educational Foundation awarded two Gripp Grants to District 39! We are grateful to the Educational Foundation for their ongoing support of innovation within our schools as we continue to provide a well-rounded education for our students. Congratulations to the following Gripp Grant award recipients.
Audio-based learning tool at McKenzie - This grant will be used for a Yoto device, a versatile, audio-based learning tool that offers students a screen-free alternative to engage with educational content. The Yoto device offers audio stories and music that can significantly improve students' listening, comprehension, and language skills, just one of the many ways that this tool can support District 39’s vision for diverse learners.
Toniebox audio players and accessories at Romona - These audio players will be available for our EC-4 students to access auditory media. Access to these devices will support auditory comprehension, calming strategies, academic independence, and reduce segregation of students with disabilities. These devices will allow students to auditorily access education curriculum that they previously were not able to access. The Tonies will fit into literacy, math, science, social studies, and our SEL curriculum standards across the EC-4 grade levels.
The awarding of these Gripp Grants for auditory learning tools will encourage collaboration and information sharing between the two schools, as D39 continues to strive for creative and innovative ways to support all learners.
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Fall parent/teacher conferences will take place on Nov. 20-22, immediately preceding Fall Break (Thanksgiving Week). The sign-up window for families to schedule their parent-teacher conference appointments remains open and will close at 11:59 pm on Monday, Nov. 18. Please visit our D39 webpage for more information.
Parent Education Event
Make plans to join us on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 11 am for our next Parent Education event titled “Substance Use Trends Parents Should Know About.” Families can join us in-person at the Mikaelian Education Center or virtually via Zoom. Registration for this event is open now. Please visit our Parent Education webpage for our full schedule of events as well as archived recordings of past events.
Wilmette Junior High School
Email: office-wjhs@wilmette39.org
Website: http://wjhs.wilmette39.org/
Location: 620 Locust Rd, Wilmette, IL, USA
Phone: 847-512-6600
Instagram: @wjhswolves39
Twitter: @hawkwolf39
Principal at Wilmette Junior High School; love being an educator and working with young people; value spending time with friends and family