Baker Bulletin

The Baker Bulletin is our weekly communication to Baker Families for all important dates, announcements and upcoming community events.

June 13th, 2024

Since fall 2023, I have had the opportunity and privilege to engage with the dynamic people that make up the Baker community. I have worked closely with Mason and the administrative team to understand the systems that support Baker operations, the teachers and deans that help bring the program to life, and observed the students…

June 6th, 2024

Another wonderful year at Baker is almost completed! Today is the second to last day of school and the second to last bulletin of the year. We’ll have one more bulletin next week. This will be my last bulletin letter as Interim Head of School. I’ll be here at Baker…

May 30th, 2024

Tonight’s the night! 8th Grade Graduation day is here! This semester has been a whirlwind of planning, brainstorming, rough drafts and final products. In class these last few weeks, students broke into small groups and shared their speeches with each other. As we walked around…

May 23rd, 2024

This week is one of my favorite weeks at Baker every year. This week is filled with joy, passion, student centered learning, and community. Tuesday began sneaker week and tomorrow is our annual Baker 5k. At Baker we view physical education as an integral part of child centered learning. Throughout sneaker week students are able…

May 16th, 2024

While there are a myriad of activities that add excitement and anticipation to our spring schedule, the energy surrounding Middle School Science will permeate our whole building on Friday. Our 8th graders will spend their morning competing in mini physics…

May 9th, 2024

Are you ready for the aMAYzing month of May that is Baker?? Here’s a list of what happens in May: 3rd grade Trout, that have been cared for and observed the entire school year, have been released into Lake Michigan! Incubators are in full swing with duckling…

May 2nd, 2024

What do the Baker Bonfire, 4th and 5th grade Baker sports teams, Race Against Hate, Wilmette Block Party, Pride Parade, Evanston 4th of July Parade, Baker 5k snack stations, Baker Robotics teams, the Baker Benefit, the beautiful Baker gardens, new family mentors…

April 25th, 2024

One of the books in my classroom library is A Door Made for Me, by Tyler Merritt. In the story Tyler is a young boy, left alone on a porch when his white friend is invited into a house. Tyler is told to stay outside because…

April 18th, 2024

Earth Day is a reminder of the ways that education can motivate people to act for change. The first Earth Day grew out of the student movements of the 1960s. Energized by Rachel Carson’s revelations about the dangers of pesticide…

April 11th, 2024

Tomorrow, the halls and spaces of Baker will be uncharacteristically quiet as many will be supporting the LGBTQ+ community by remaining silent for all or part of the day. The Day of Silence is a national event sponsored…

April 4th, 2024

I have had the pleasure of learning about our school’s longstanding tradition of storytelling. Storytelling has a rich history at Baker and it’s more than just a wonderful form of entertainment; it’s a fundamental tool for igniting a love of learning, fostering empathy, and nurturing young…

March 21st, 2024

Here at Baker there is rarely a moment where there aren’t many incredible things happening simultaneously. The challenge is to keep pace, but also to highlight all that occurs, as each day warrants an entire bulletin of recaps, gratitude and shout-outs. Last week, for example, the 7th graders had an incredible…

March 14th, 2024

As we head into spring conferences for the end of this week, I am excited to share with you my perspective and thoughts on our conferences as well as how they position our students and families to move on to the next educational step of high school. Both conferences and transitioning to high school are crucial aspects…

March 7th, 2024

I am so excited to share about our recent 4th and 5th grade trip to Springfield. During this hallmark INT tradition, which alternates with our Outdoor Ed trip, we visit our state capital to complement our thematic unit on the origins and outcomes of the Civil War. In the words of one of our students, this year’s trip was “the ultimate bonding…

February 29th, 2024

Back in September we held our first meeting for the Baker Benefit. There was a small group of volunteers and it felt like we had all the time in the world. Now we’re just a smidge over a week away and I am giddy with excitement that it’s almost here!…

February 22nd, 2024

The joys of my role at Baker are quite unique when compared to those of other staff members. I’m lucky in the fact that it feels like I get to have a small influence in many cogs of the Baker machine—if you ask your kids what I do here at Baker, I’m sure you’d get a wide variety of answers…

February 8th, 2024

Showtime is right around the corner and Baker finds itself deep in the magical world of Matilda! Preparing for a musical like Matilda takes an enormous amount of work and patience from our students. This is the first time Baker has produced a performance of this scale, including grades 1st through 8th in almost every aspect of the production…

February 1st, 2024

Let me share with you the joy of spending my days with a class of first graders. Each and every day is an adventure filled with wonder, curiosity, and a heap of magic from September to June. This is truly an extraordinary time in a young person’s life…

January 25th, 2024

What a joy it is to have the creative freedom to express oneself through movement! Here at Baker we are doing just that, as we prepare every part of our bodies and minds for the upcoming performances in February of Matilda the Musical! Earlier in the school year the focus was on the main dance…

January 18th, 2024

We made it through our first real Chicago coldsnap mostly unscathed! We did have an issue with a heater in our Kindergarten classroom, but our quick-acting maintenance team has it back and running. Schools across the Chicago area weren’t all as fortunate, and we are not out…

January 11th, 2024

Welcome back to school! The first week back from break can sometimes be difficult as everyone readjusts to school rhythms and routines. However, it has already been a great week and it has been fantastic to have the building teeming with energy. I have a lot of exciting updates to share. While most of our faculty and staff were able to take a well-deserved break over the holidays, our maintenance manager, Juan Valdez, and…

December 21st, 2023

The building is buzzing! The bleachers are out; the chairs are set up; the sound has been tested, instruments tuned (kind of); the voices are prepared, the parking lot is filling; and the Baker Demonstration school is alive with excitement and energy…

December 14th, 2023

Baker finds itself in the midst of a myriad of winter holiday celebrations. As a culmination of all these, we gather for our annual Holiday Sing to celebrate the end of the first semester and the beginning of our holiday break. The Holiday Sing is our long standing tradition…

December 7th, 2023

There are so many aspects that go into making an independent school thrive and I’ve witnessed many of them on display this week at Baker. First, you need a strong parent community that believes in the school’s mission. There is no better indication that the community supports the mission than if they are willing to invest…

November 28th, 2023

We are surging with the Baker Annual Fund at 68% participation and I’m thrilled to announce that the 4th grade class is the first class to reach 100% participation! As mentioned previously, any class that reaches 100% will get to pick the Friday Carpool…

November 21st, 2023

I’ve talked about the importance of gratitude in a school and community before. Today, I’m going to write a gratitude note to a lot of different people. It’s a long note, but there are a lot of fantastic people to thank! At the end, I encourage you and/or your children to submit a gratitude note as well…

November 16th, 2023

Our 6th grade class recently traveled to the Indiana Dunes National Park for a multi-day overnight adventure! Whether they were life-long Baker students or recently joined our middle-school community, this trip offered a tremendous bonding experience – one where students established friendships…

November 10th, 2023

About 8 years ago, some students at Baker wanted to form a GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance). Our GSA has sponsored several annual events, such as Day of Silence in April and Solidarity (formerly Ally Week) in the Fall. We meet weekly for shared lunch, discussions, education, community and event planning…

November 2nd, 2023

I was asked recently why reading is so important? For me, books are gateways into other worlds, and thus, build empathy. Whether it’s non-fiction or fantasy, our readers form bridges of understanding as they read the plotline…

October 26th, 2023

What I truly appreciate about Baker is its strong foundation in Progressive Education. It’s a place where students learn by doing. They engage in activities together, they collaborate, and that enhances relationships and strengthens the bonds between them…

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