WISE FALL REGISTRATION OPENS ON TUESDAY 9/1!

Whittier Is Enriched (WISE) is our PTO’s very own after school program, offering amazing classes for kids of all interests. Registration for the fall session will open this Tuesday Sept. 1 at 9:00am, and class spots fill up fast! Get ahead of the game and set up your account on our registration site Homeroom by clicking this link to be ready to enroll when registration is live. We have a packed course catalog this session that includes chess, cooking, sports, nail art, and more

See the Fall 2026 WISE Course Catalog Here!

Note that we have a limited number of need-based scholarships available for WISE. Families can apply for one scholarship per child, per session. For more information on scholarships, please email WISE@whittierpto.org.

We're also looking for volunteers to take attendance for the Fall WISE session Volunteers who commit to taking attendance one day per week will receive 25% off a WISE course of their choice (including the more expensive course, if your child is enrolled in multiple).

Volunteers should plan to arrive 10 minutes before school lets out, and taking attendance only takes about 15 minutes. Please reach out to WISE@whittierpto.org if you're interested!

Introducing Your 2026-27 PTO Leadership Team

Here’s the crew! We are thrilled to have several new faces join us this year: Co-VP of Fundraising David Hopp (Aiden, 1st), Communications Leads Lindsey McNeil (Milo, 4th), Nick Huels (Joey, 4th), and Stefanie Morrison (Frances, K; Everett, 5th), WISE Lead Lauren Pandel (Charlie, 1st), and Co-Treasurer AnnaMarie Sintetos (Franny, K). We also are excited to welcome back some returning vets from previous years: co-VP of Engagement Sarah Swagler (Frances and Caleb, 3rd), VP of Diversity (DIVCO) Anne McNamee Keels (Henry, 2nd), and co-Treasurer Chris Murray Underdown (Liam, K). And rounding out the team returning from last year are: co-Presidents Mike Smith (Sofie, 2nd) and Brittany Tyler (Eli, 5th), co-VP of Fundraising Courtney Tyler (Emmie, 1st), VP/Staff Appreciation Lead Noemi Mata (Mia, 4th), Webmaster/Whittier At The Movies/Yearbook Lead (whew!) Chris Mickens (Lucien, 3rd), VP of Enrichment Erin Woods (Arlo, 2nd; Elliot 4th), Advocacy Lead Jaci Devine (Annie, 5th), Secretary Katie Stipanovich (Dom, 2nd), and Book Fair Lead Suzanne Griffin (Dane, 4th). It isn’t too late to join the team, or help lead an upcoming event! See what roles we have open here.

Not all of the above positions are on our PTO Board, but those that are will meet once a month to make sure our programs are running smoothly and within budget and to vote on any programmatic or budgetary decisions that arise. You can find minutes from those meetings here.

From PTO and Staff: THANK YOU!

BIG THANKS to everyone who contribute to Monday’s Welcome Back Luncheon for all Whittier Staff! We had quite the spread (half desserts as usual, no complaints heard!) and the staff were so appreciative. Special thanks to volunteers and contributors Jane Borjon, Anna Burandt, Hannah Currier, Amy Daly, Marlene De Jesus Veach, Jaci Devine, David Hopp, Kim Jursa, Livia Kenney, Lyndsay Legel-Carmody, Mark Manalli, Chris Mickens, Chris Murray Underdown, Lauren Pandel, Aditi Panosh, Aisling Rogers, Laura Rogers, Maggie Santos, Carrie Schwarz, Kruti Shah, Mike Smith, Katie Stipanovich, Erin Woods, Sarah Yaffe, and Sarah Yale. And of course an extra special thanks to Noemi Mata for coordinating everything!

First Parents’ Night Out 9/25

Our first Parents’ Night Out will be on Friday Sept. 25th at One Lake Brewing. Plan to get a sitter, or better yet sign up for the Kids Night Out at the Park District Gymnastics Resource Center which is just a block away! For $30 you can drop the kids off at GRC for three hours of pizza, games, crafts, and open gym time. GRC limits Kids Night Out to 30 spots and they do fill up every month, so sign up today! We’ll be hanging out at One Lake from 6:30 - 9:30 — hope to see you there!

Check Out Next Year’s Events Calendar!
Subscribe and Sign Up to Help!

We’ve got next year’s PTO calendar ready to roll and couldn’t wait to share it with you all ASAP! Not only did we want to give you all the chance to save the dates early, we also wanted to call out a few events in particular that we’ll need some help with planning. Want to step up and help with (or lead!) an event? Click the button below. And don’t forget to subscribe to the calendar (available in Google, Apple, or Outlook format) so you don’t miss anything—note you’ll need a Membership Toolkit account in order to access the calendar subscription. This calendar will update automatically with any changes and new additions. Note that we don’t yet have start times set for all events, so these will show up as all-day events on your calendar for now.

We wanted to point out some highlights for this year in particular:

We’ve added more low-cost family get togethers, including a free family hangout at Taylor Park, an Ice Skating night, and we’ll be bringing back family nights at Urban Air and Fleetwood Roller Rink again along with an outdoor Bears game watch and potluck.

The Annual Adults-Only Fundraiser is happening earlier this year on February 6th, which is over Mardi Gras weekend… so there’s your theme!

More family enrichment nights, including a fall Science Night, two book clubs, and a return of Math Night with Mathnasium!

We’re also doing more adults-only social events this year, and while we know at least one will be at One Lake Brewing to coincide with the GRC’s “Parents’ Night Out”, the others are TBD—sign up below to help plan them!

Find Event Specific Roles

The PTO Needs YOU!

We’ve got a number of open leadership positions for the coming school year, which means more opportunities to make your mark on our school community! While many of these are listed as single positions, any can be split up or co-led. Have a friend join you in leading one of our PTO areas! Here are some of the biggest needs:

WISE Co-Lead: Help keep our PTO-run after-school program running smoothly with excellent low-cost enrichment options for our kids.

VP of Engagement: For the event planners! Help make sure our events are well-planned, organized, and most of all fun to keep our families engaged.

Treasurer: Help us ensure we’re within budget and track our expenditures.

Ready to step up and make a difference for our school community? Click the button below to see our open roles! Want to help out with one of the roles but you’re a little short on time? Let’s talk!