DATE CHANGE: Help Us Give Teachers and Staff a Warm Welcome with a Back-to-School Luncheon on Monday, 8/24!

Teachers are gearing up for school and will be in the building officially for D97 Institute Days next week. In order to help our teachers and staff feel welcomed and ready for a new class of students, we want to provide a Welcome Back Luncheon for the Whittier Wildcat team.

Please help us celebrate the start of a new school year by clicking the button below to sign up to bring cold drinks, savory snacks, sweet treats, fruits or veggies, or a favorite family dish on Monday, August 24th. Simply drop off the dish at the community room door on Harvey before 10:30am, and please label any homemade items with ingredients.

Questions? Contact Noemi Mata at vp@whittierpto.org.

Luncheon potluck sign up!

Let’s Give Our Wildcats a Colorful Welcome!

Chalk the Walk: Brighten Up the First Day!
We’re calling on all families to join in on a Wildcat tradition and help us give the students a big, bright welcome back! On the evening of the 25th or the early morning of the 26th, bring your family and some chalk out to cover our school's sidewalks (and yours!) with uplifting words and beautiful doodles. It's the perfect way to bring smiles to our students' faces as they walk into the building!

WISE FALL REGISTRATION IS COMING!

Whittier Is Enriched (WISE) is our popular after school program, offering amazing classes for kids of all interests. Registration for the fall session will open soon, so keep an eye out for the catalog and official dates. Classes will likely begin on September 8, and spots fill up fast! We use the Homeroom app for registration and course information. Get ahead of the game and set up your Homeroom account now by scanning the QR code above or clicking this link to be ready to enroll on the week of 8/23. We’ll send out a text blast at least one day before registration opens to give you the heads up.

A limited number of need-based scholarships are available for WISE. Families can apply for one scholarship per child, per session. Stay tuned for more details as registration opens.

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!