Waukegan Community Unit School District #60 honored 43 employees, with a combined total of more than 1,025 years of service, at the annual Board of Education Retirement and Recognition Dinner held last week. The event recognized the dedication and contributions of District 60 employees who will retire at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. The ceremony celebrated the careers and lasting impact of educators and staff who have served Waukegan Public Schools, its students, and families over many years.

Earlier this week, our Board of Education hosted the first of three budget workshops, where staff discussed the factors that go into the annual budget development process ahead of final adoption in September. During the session, the District’s finance department provided an overview of the proposed Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget, including student enrollment, staffing, revenue, expenditures, and the overall financial outlook.

Waukegan High School will celebrate its 153rd commencement ceremony on Friday, May 15 at 5:30 p.m. at Weiss Field, with more than 950 graduates expected to take part. Gates will open at 4 p.m., and each graduate will receive four tickets for the ceremony. The event will also be streamed live on the District’s YouTube channel. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be rescheduled for Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m.

On May 12, 2026, the Board of Education will meet for its regular monthly micro meeting. The meeting will be conducted in open and closed sessions beginning at 6 p.m. at the Educational Service Center, 214 Washington Street. The Board’s monthly Student Achievement and Operations Services committee meetings will follow the micro meeting at approximately 7 p.m. in the Board Room. Budget Workshop #1 for the Board of Education will be held on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at 6 p.m.

As we wind down the school year, our commitment to supporting families continues. Waukegan Public Schools invites you to join us for the final sessions of the Academia 60 Parent Education Series, designed to provide helpful information and resources to support your child’s success. We hope you can join us for one or more of the following sessions. Childcare and interpretation services will be available at each event, and families may attend either in person or virtually.

Waukegan Public Schools will be launching new District and school websites, along with a new communication system designed to make it easier for you to stay informed and connected. As part of this transition, we will introduce a new two-way messaging tool called Rooms. Additionally, the District will be transitioning to a new Board of Education platform called Community, as Diligent (the provider of BoardDocs) moves districts to this updated system.

Waukegan Public Schools invites families to join us for our annual Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Festival this Thursday, May 7, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Jack Benny Middle School (1401 Montesano Avenue). This year’s celebration will feature an Asian Night Market theme, with food, games, and activities for the whole family.

A Special Meeting with Closed and Open Session of the Board of Education will be held on Thursday, May 7 , 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in Room 112 at the Educational Service Center. Pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (1), the discussion will be held in Closed Session. The subject will be specific personnel matters. The meeting will begin in open session in the Board Room and then move to closed session in Room 112. The meeting will adjourn from Room 112. No action will be taken during the open session.

Waukegan High School’s music program has once again solidified its place among the top programs in Illinois. This season, students across band, choir, and orchestra combined for a 3rd place finish in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class AA.

At its meeting this week, the Board of Education took an initial step in a countywide process related to a potential school facilities sales tax. The Board approved a resolution that may allow a question to be placed on the November 2026 ballot asking Lake County voters whether to approve a 1% sales tax dedicated to school facility improvements. It is important to note that this action alone does not place the question on the ballot. For this to move forward, school districts representing more than 50% of the total student enrollment in Lake County must also take similar action.

Waukegan Community Unit School District #60’s annual Elementary Art Show is now open at the Belvidere Mall, 2107 Belvidere Road, and will be on display through May 8. This year’s exhibit features more than 250 pieces created by students across Waukegan Public Schools’ elementary buildings.

District 60’s K-8 theater program, the Waukegan Performing Arts Company (WAUK-PAC), is holding auditions for its SUMMER production of Annie Jr. Auditions will take place on Thursday, May 7, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Cooke Magnet School, 522 Belvidere Road. All Waukegan Public Schools students currently in grades K–8 are welcome to audition.

The Waukegan High School Music Department invites the community to enjoy a week of live performances during its Spring Concert Series. Join us for four nights of music featuring our talented student musicians. All concerts will take place at 7 p.m. in the Trapp Auditorium at the WHS Brookside Campus and are free and open to the public.

A regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at 7 p.m. for Open Session, and 6 p.m. for Closed Session. The meeting will be conducted in person in the Educational Service Center Board Room, 214 Washington Street. Closed Session will occur in Room 112. A Special Meeting with Closed and Open Session of the Board of Education will be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in Room 112 at the Educational Service Center.

Waukegan Public Schools’ Family and Community Engagement Department invites families to its annual Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Festival. Join us on Thursday, May 7, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Jack Benny Middle School, 1401 Montesano Avenue, for an evening celebrating Asian-American culture and community. The theme of this year’s celebration is an Asian Night Market, with food and games.

Waukegan Public Schools will host its final Kindergarten Registration event on Saturday, April 25, at John R. Lewis Middle School, 600 S. Lewis Avenue, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. This event is open to families with children who will turn 5 on or before September 1, are entering kindergarten for the 2026-2027 school year, and are not currently enrolled in the District’s EPIC pre-k program.

Waukegan High School presents this year’s spring play, a thrilling, 1930s detective-style adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. Performances will be held in the Trapp Auditorium at WHS-Brookside on April 23, 24, and 25 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $8–$10 and are available at the bookstores and online.

The Board of Education for Waukegan Public Schools will meet in a Special Meeting on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at 6:00 pm at the Educational Service Center, 214 Washington Street. The meeting will begin in open session in the Board Room with a special presentation regarding the proposed sales tax increase. The Board will then move into closed session in Room 112 to discuss personnel matters. No official Board action will be taken at this meeting.

Tickets are no longer available for Friday's Mary Poppins Jr. performance, but you can still catch our talented Wauk-PAC performers during two shows on Saturday. Presented by District 60’s K–8 theater program, the Waukegan Performing Arts Company (Wauk-PAC), this production features more than 50 students from eight elementary and four middle schools.

Graduation and promotion events for Waukegan High School seniors and Waukegan 8th graders are just a month away. Parents of seniors and 8th graders will receive information regarding planned graduation and promotion events for their child. Please see below for further information.

On April 14, 2026, the Board of Education will meet for its regular monthly micro meeting. The meeting will be conducted in open and closed sessions beginning at 6 p.m. at the Educational Service Center, 214 Washington Street. The open session will be held in the Board Room. The closed session will be in Room 112. The Board’s monthly Student Achievement and Operations Services committee meetings will follow the micro meeting at approximately 7 p.m. in the Board Room.

Waukegan Public Schools’ Middle School Music Festival is back! The popular event will be hosted on Tuesday, April 14 and Wednesday, April 15 at the Genesee Theatre in downtown Waukegan. The event will feature performances by band, choir, orchestra and mariachi students from all five Waukegan middle schools.

Waukegan Public Schools will host its next Kindergarten Registration event on Saturday, April 11, at Jack Benny Middle School, 1401 Montesano Avenue, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. This event is open to families with children who will turn 5 on or before September 1, are entering kindergarten for the 2026-2027 school year, and are not currently enrolled in the District’s EPIC pre-k program.

Our April Black Parent Network meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 21, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Families are invited to join us in person at the Waukegan High School Brookside Campus library or participate virtually via Zoom. This month’s meeting will feature important updates from the African American Male Achievement Initiative (AAMI), a continued discussion on the creation of the BPN Scholarship, and a conversation around summer school/camp opportunities to support our students.

District 60’s K-8 theater program, the Waukegan Performing Arts Company (Wauk-PAC), will debut its next production, Mary Poppins Jr., later this month. Moe than 50 Waukegan students representing eight elementary and four middle schools make up the cast and crew of the production.

Little Fort Elementary School invites elementary families across Waukegan Public Schools to learn more about Project Discovery, a program designed for students who benefit from accelerated and enriched learning opportunities.

Waukegan High School has been named one of just 24 SkillsUSA chapters nationwide to earn the prestigious Models of Excellence designation for 2026. This honor represents the highest level of recognition from SkillsUSA and highlights the nation’s most outstanding chapters. WHS is the only school in Illinois to receive this distinction this year.

Waukegan Public Schools’ Bilingual and Multicultural Department invites families to attend the next session in its Academia 60 Parent Education Series, focused on supporting bilingual children and understanding the benefits of learning more than one language. This session will be led by Psychotherapist Sandra Gomez, and will help parents understand how children learn two languages and why being bilingual is a strength.

The Waukegan Community Unit School District Board of Education is seeking two students to serve as Student Board Members for the 2026-2027 school year. Any student who will be a sophomore, junior, or senior next year is eligible to apply. The Board selects two students to serve one-year terms, with one representative from each campus (Brookside and Washington). The term runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027.

The Board of Education for Waukegan Public Schools will meet in a Special Meeting on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at 6:00 pm in Room 112 at the Educational Service Center, for the purpose of discussing the annual evaluation for the superintendent. Pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (1), the discussion will be held in Closed Session. A brief open session with Public Comment will precede the closed session portion in the Board Room. The meeting will adjourn from Room 112. No action will be taken during the open session.

See below for a special Spring Break message from Superintendent Plascencia... As we head into Spring Break, I want to take a moment to wish all of you a well-deserved pause from the busy pace of the school year. I hope the days ahead offer an opportunity to rest, spend time with loved ones, and enjoy whatever brings you happiness.

A regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, at 7 p.m. for Open Session, and 6 p.m. for Closed Session. The meeting will be conducted in person in the Educational Service Center Board Room, 214 Washington Street. Closed Session will occur in Room 112. Note: This meeting is on the third Tuesday instead of the fourth Tuesday, due to Spring Break.

A special workshop meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at 6 p.m. for Open Session. The meeting will be conducted in the Educational Service Center Board Room, 214 Washington Street. The subject will be a review of employee separation procedures.

The Board of Education approved school calendars for the next three academic years during its meeting last night. Sharing multiple years in advance helps families and staff plan ahead, and we appreciate everyone who contributed feedback throughout this process. The calendars include a few adjustments, such as slightly later start dates. As in recent years, Waukegan High School will continue to hold first-semester final exams prior to Winter Break. Linked below are the calendars for the 2026-2027, 2027-2028, and 2028-2029 school years.