The Amboy School Board took a first look at the school district calendar for the 2026-27 school year at the board’s February meeting.

“It is very similar to this year. We kept the things that people seemed to like, the week at Thanksgiving, parent-teacher conferences being at the end of the first quarter in October,” Amboy schools superintendent Joshua Nichols said to the board members.

“This is just a reading, we are not going to take action on it tonight,” Amboy School Board President Katie Pratt said. The board will approve a final school calendar for 2026-27 later this year.

Nichols told the board that students who attend Whiteside Area Career Center will start there a few days earlier than the rest of the students at Amboy.

“We are off of WACC’s a little bit because those kids will start that Wednesday. That felt very early, so we kept the first day of school as Friday, Aug. 14, with a two-day teacher institute before that. The tradeoff for the Whiteside kids is they will be done May 13, 2027,” Nichols said.

After a longer executive session, the board voted on personnel matters. Those included the resignations of:

• Gregory Wolf, Amboy Junior High School seventh/eighth-grade science teacher, effective at the end of the year
• Adeline Doyle as cook, effective Feb. 23
• Erica Boyle as Amboy Junior High track coach

The board approved hiring Anthony Aseves as a 240-day custodian at Amboy High School and hiring Donnie Medora and Nichole Helm as bus aides.

Central School Principal Jessica Meusel said Central students are boosting daily attendance numbers for the district and Central.

“We have 24 students at Central School who still have perfect attendance. That’s amazing. I think last year we ended the year with three, so hopefully we can grow those numbers each year,” Meusel said.

Meusel said those students will receive an ice cream party for their perfect attendance so far.

Meusel reminded the board and the public that the Central School PTC pancake breakfast is from 8 to 11 a.m. March 8. Service is drive-thru and carryout only, and tickets are $7 in advance and $8 at the door.

All proceeds from that event go to benefit the Central School PTC. Tickets are available from any Central School student and from any Central School PTC member.

The Central School Young Authors Club has 35 students. She said the school planned for 30 students but expanded the program for an additional five students.

“How can you say no to kids who want to write?” Meusel said.

Central School preschool screenings are scheduled for March 18 and 19.

“We have 25 students signed up, and that is a great day when we get to welcome our new students coming in,” Meusel said.

Amboy Junior High School Principal Andrew Full said Julius Jones represented Amboy Junior High School in the Lee County Spelling Bee on Feb. 19 in Dixon.

“He did really well. He got out in the third round. I still haven’t found the word, so I can’t even spell it right,” Full said.

The AJHS seventh- and eighth-grade girls basketball teams each placed first at the Amboy seventh- and eighth-grade girls basketball tournament Feb. 14.

Amboy High School Principal Beth Crownhart reminded high school students and parents that it’s time to think about college money.

“Lots of scholarship forms are starting to be available,” Crownhart said.

Amboy High School’s cheer team placed second at a competition in Sterling, competing against six other teams.

Amboy High School students learned about bicycle safety and earned their school some money, Crownhart said.

“We completed our bike safety quiz. That is funded through IDOT, and for each person who takes it, they send us $2. It does help with bike safety and how to drive if you are in a place that has bikes on the road and what you need to watch out for,” Crownhart said.