The July 9, 2025 Board of Education meeting video is now available.
Meeting Video Includes:
Open Session Meeting
Superintendent & Committee Reports
JULY 2025 Highlights:
New Superintendent Transition Update
End of Fiscal Year 2025
Administrator Reports:
Mrs. Kim Maher
The Will County Regional Office of Education will be hosting their first county-wide Administrative Professional Learning Days at Manhattan Junior High School on July 30th and August 6th. Will County administrators, our team included, will have the opportunity to participate in Administrative Academies as well as team learning and workshops.
Manhattan 114 PTO would like to invite the Board of Education to participate in their 2nd Annual Back to School Bash on Friday, August 15th at Manhattan Junior High School. The board is welcome to host a table or activity to help celebrate the beginning of the school year with our Manhattan families.
Mrs. Cheryl Donovan
During the month of June a review of our literacy practices was completed for grades K-8. Thank you to our grade level representatives and to Joy Kamp, Will County Regional Office of Education Literacy Coach, for leading our work at each building. We look forward to continuing the great practices we have in place and growing in the areas identified through the review.
Curriculum refinement and reflection is always ongoing but this spring a great deal of work was done in preparation for next school year. Thank you to the staff for engaging in this work and ensuring we are prepared to welcome our students back for the 2025-2026 school year.
ISBE is in the process of realigning cut scores for IAR (Illinois Assessment of Readiness) as well as in the initial steps of reconfiguring how annual summative designations are determined. I look forward to sharing this in more detail.
Mrs. Julie Hantson
ESY is off to a great start. We are about half way through and will be wrapping up in the middle of July.
Ms. Cari Rohe
Camp Invention was held at Wilson Creek June 16th-20th! Camp Invention was a busy and fun filled week for all of the kids and staff! There were 152 campers this summer, 35 high school helpers, 15 jr high helpers and 11 staff! "Discover" was this year's theme at the week-long STEM camp. Students were taught STEM skills from the instructors and helpers. They used upcycle items to make their own inventions to take home as an inspiration for creating all summer! Kudos to Brianne Kaluzny for running this camp each year!
One Kindergarten and one 1st Grade teacher represented Wilson Creek for the Literacy Audit with Cheryl Donovan! Representatives were able to identify and share the amazing things we have happening at The Creek and identify some areas to grow in without it being an overwhelming process. Thank you to Cheryl and Joy Kamp for conducting the audit with our staff! Additionally, a group of Wilson Creek Kindergarten teachers and administrators met last week to review the report card descriptors given the new Eureka curriculum to see what changes needed to be made!
Assistant Principal Megan Conlin transitioned out of Wilson Creek last week and new Assistant Principal Tara Schoppe transitioned into the role this week! Tara was able to spend time with Megan to learn more about her role and Tara is happy to join Wilson Creek as the new Assistant Principal!
We are working on preparations for the new school year! At this time, Wilson Creek is fully staffed with certified positions and is looking for 2 instructional assistants. The jobs were posted last week and interviewing will occur soon!
Mrs. Elise Kirk
Anna McDonald Doors- The exterior door project is underway at Anna McDonald. They are looking great! The new gym floor project is scheduled to begin this month as well. Thank you to Ryan and all the crew for keeping our building and grounds maintained over summer.
Curriculum work- Thank you to Kristi Bolbat and Jessica Patterson for your continued effort to ensure our literacy curriculum is aligned to standards.
Mr. Ryan McWilliams
MIS
Cleaning was completed on June 23rd and Pure Bright staff did a nice job!
Building & Grounds
The Pure Bright crew is currently cleaning Wilson Creek. The Anna Mac door project is taking a bit longer than expected but it’s moving along. The Anna Mac gym floor demo and install is slated for July 7-25. Blacktop repairs at Wilson Creek will be complete in early July. Sealcoating of Manhattan Intermediate School will begin on July 17 and MJHS sometime prior to school starting (Peppers Construction will coordinate with us). Preparations are being made for removal of the modular at MIS on July 28th. All district departments should be in their new spaces by the end of July, early August.
Mr. Vince Perillo
2025 - 2026 Scheduling: Thank you to Mrs. Leppin for everything she does each summer to get the students with the proper schedules. At the Junior High, this is a task that requires a lot of time and effort to accomplish when you factor in students in advanced classes, students with IEPS, students in specific programs such as Spanish or Human Performance P.E., students receiving interventions, etc. Each year, we try to place students in classes where they can experience the most academic and personal growth and success, and Mrs. Leppin makes that happen for us. Thanks to all the other staff members involved in scheduling of students, including Julie Hantson, Tara Schoppe, Nicole Klaric, Natalie Worth, Meghan Petschinsky, Gina Burlison, Amy Goberville, Joyce Watson, and many, many teachers.
Activities: The MJHS Demons Fishing Club would like to thank St. Croix Rods, who offered members 50% off rod purchases this spring. We would also like to thank Bass Pro Shop in Bolingbrook for their generous donation of quality fishing rods to the club as well. Thanks to these two companies, our fishing club members have extra equipment to expand their skills and continue to learn more about fishing! Thank you to Mr. Hannig, our Fishing Club Sponsor, for working with these companies to provide more opportunities for our students!
Athletic Summer Camps: Thank you to all the coaches and staff members who made our summer athletic camps successful again this year! A special thank you to Courtney Kurzawa for keeping all camp information organized and working with parents. Thank you to our coaches, Nicole Klaric, Paul Galassi, Anthony Marotta, Dave Van Dyke, Nick Stadter, Ryan McWilliams, Nicole Campos, Traci Ethridge, and for making their camps happen again this year for our student-athletes! We couldn’t host these without the dedication of the coaches. We had approximately 200 students attend the eight camps we offered this year and look forward to expanding our offerings as we continue to grow.
Music Summer Camps: Music Summer Camps will begin on August 11th and go through August 22nd, with a performance that evening. Thank you to Mrs. Pedziwater, Ms. Perkne, and Mr. Quiaoit for always preparing for camps and instilling the love of music into our students early on!
Upcoming Camps: MJHS is excited to host its fifth Summer Bridge Program August 11th - August 14th for select incoming 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students! Students are identified as candidates for the program based on areas such as grades, attendance, other student data, and recommendations from staff members. During the Summer Bridge Program, students will rotate through sessions led by MJHS staff members on topics such as study skills, executive functioning skills, Google suggestions and tips, team building, and Manhattan 101 (things like going over your schedule, getting your locker set-up, etc.). Invitations have been sent out to parents, and as of the end of June, we already have over 30 students registered for the Program!