Baker Bulletin

The Baker Bulletin is a peek inside our classrooms. Each edition of the Baker Bulletin features articles about our Early Childhood, Primary, Intermediate and Middle School divisions, as well as news from the Baker community.

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% participationAs 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…

October 19th, 2023

First of all, let me begin by saying a huge thank you to everyone who participated in the amazing Cardboard Challenge last weekend! What a turnout and what a great Baker event we had. An especially huge thank…

October 12th, 2023

At Baker we don’t just think outside the box, we cut the box, design the box and play inside the box! Family, community, play and creativity; these things are at the heart of our mission at Baker and they will all come…

October 5th, 2023

Fall is a busy and important time at Baker. We kick off our admissions season with Tour Tuesdays, and admissions’ events. Admissions are fundamental to our school’s success. It keeps our school vibrant and growing as 8th graders graduate and move on…

September 28th, 2023

One of the great aspects of working in education is interacting with colleagues who themselves are students at heart, and care deeply about children. Here at Baker, I’m happy to say that all…

September 21st, 2023

The weather is starting to turn, the days are shorter, and leaves are starting to drop. Fall means many different things for different people…

September 14th, 2023

It has been another great week at school! With beautiful weather the bike racks are still full and slowly everyone is getting into the reassuring routines of school. As I stand by the front door in the morning…

September 7th, 2023

We are into our second week of school! While the buzzy excitement of the first few days may have tapered off somewhat, I’m happy to say that the smiles throughout the day, and thumbs up…

August 31st, 2023

What an amazing first week of school we are having! As I stand by the front door in the morning I see faces full of emotions from parents, children, faculty and staff. I see nervousness, excitement, hesitation…

August 24th, 2023

We are so excited to begin the 2023-2024 school year on Monday! It was wonderful to see students, families and teachers in the building today, and the halls, classrooms and outdoor spaces buzzing…