Longfellow Weekly News: January 11th 2018
Happy New Year Longfellow Community,
The new year is about making resolutions. Resolutions are promises we make to ourselves, to each other, and to our children. Our promise to you is that we will continue to commit ourselves to creating a positive learning environment for all students that is equitable, inclusive, and focused on the whole child. We are partners in this together. As part of our commitment you will find a special section of this "Weekly News" dedicated to sharing information about supports we provide to students at our school. As you can see from the first section below we will begin by highlighting "Sunrise Study Hall". These supports are just some of the ways that we address the various needs of our students and families. If you ever have any questions or would like more information about these supports, do not hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher, our school office, or me.
Yours in education,
Maggie Cahill, Asst. Principal
Supports at Longfellow School
There are a variety of supports that our students can access at Longfellow. Over the next several weeks we will be highlighting one support in depth to help our community understand what it is, who it serves, and how it can be accessed. This week's featured support is:
Sunrise Study Hall: Sunrise Study Hall provides a quiet space in the library for students to visit before school begins. Students read or work on homework and then report to class to begin their day. This support is offered to all students in grades K-5 from 7:30-7:55 am every morning. It is supervised by our Media Assistant, Mrs. Hess. Students do not need to sign up for this and can simply arrive at the front entrance of the school between 7:30-7:40, get a pass from the bookshelf, and report to the library.
Teach Us All Information Panel
On Monday, January 22nd our PTO Diversity Committee will host a screening and panel discussion from 7pm- 9:30 pm in the Longfellow Auditorium. The focus of the panel will be on two key questions: “How can Educational Equity be a PROBLEM in our diverse village?” and “How do we build capacity in our community to take action?” LeeAndra Kahn, Isaiah Makar, Marcus Croom, Terry Keleher, Nadine Naber, Angela Dolezal, Jackie Moore, and Samina Hadi-Tabassum will be our panel members and we encourage YOU to come and invite your friends to this engaging, important event! Click here to register today for your seat and for childcare. For more information e-mail [email protected].
5Essentials Survey
Please provide input by completing the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. Currently only 8% of our families who have completed this survey and we need 20% for our parent voice to be documented. This survey is based on the Five Essentials for School Success, an evidence-based framework developed by the University of Chicago. This framework identifies how school performance on five factors or “essentials” can lead to important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains. Prior research has shown that schools strong on three or more of the 5Essentials were 10 times more likely to improve student learning gains than schools weak on three or more of the Essentials. Those 5Essentials are: Effective Leaders, Collaborative Teachers, Involved Families, Supportive Environment and Ambitious Instruction. These reports will be sent to schools and districts this Spring and will be included in each State School Report Card which is released by ISBE in the fall of 2018. 5Essentials Reports for our school will also then be publicly available via the Illinois 5Essentials website. Please help us get an accurate representation of our parent perspectives by completing the survey before January 31st. The survey can be accessed by visiting https://survey.5-essentials.
Student Recognition
We would like to recognize students and adults who make a difference at Longfellow School! If you would like to nominate an individual who makes a difference at our school, please fill out this form. The individual you nominate will receive a printed form with a description of their contribution to making Longfellow a great place to be. Have you observed a child making an effort to improve our school, to make a positive impact on another student, or contribute to the community? This is a great way to recognize them!!
Second Step
During our Second Step time this week we taught students the expectations of our Longfellow Buddy Bench. Students watched this booster video and discussed how they could support their peers and the use of the buddy bench on the playground. Students were also re-taught expectations for being Safe, Respectful and Responsible as a refresher for the new year.
Next PTO Meeting: Jan. 16, 2018
The next general PTO meeting will be on Tuesday, January 16th, at 7 pm in the Longfellow library. We invite you to join us and hear from our Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools (FLES) teachers Señora Liza Lynch and Señorita Esmeralda Ojeda to hear about Spanish instruction at Longfellow School. You'll have an opportunity to hear about the history of FLES in the district, language learning targets and program details. We hope to see you there!
Math-a-thon
Every year our school partakes in the Mathathon where students practice their math skills and raise money for children at St. Jude Children's Hospital. Depending on how much money student's raise, they can also earn prizes. Consent forms/donation submission form with more information regarding prizes were sent home on Friday, December 8th. Students are able to participate online or by doing their math in funbooks. (These do not need to be returned.) Students get sponsors to donate a flat amount or pledge a certain amount per math problem they complete. All checks are made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Money is due to Ms. Bennett by January 30th (in an envelope that was connected to the consent form along with the donation submission form). If you'd like to donate by credit card, please visit our event page. The class that raises the most amount of money TOTAL by Jan. 30th will earn 10 bear necessities each. You can register your child online using the following link.
Science Night
Science Night is Wednesday, January 17th from 6-7:30 pm. This year's theme is "Snowy Science Night". Join us in creating snowmen, igloos, ice castles, snowy slime, and more! Volunteers are also needed. Please Click here to sign up!
PTO Winter Carnival on Feb. 10
The PTO Winter Carnival will be on February 10th. New This Year: A Facebook page dedicated to all things Winter Carnival! It’s your one stop for Volunteer Opportunities, Pre-Sale Ticket info, Pie-in-the-Face updates, Auction and Raffle prizes, and much more!! Like our page: @LongfellowPTOWinterCarnival for the latest news. The volunteer sign-up genius link is open (http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080b4ea5ad2fa0fa7-longfellow) and ticket sale info will be coming soon! Over the break… hang on to those gift cards and unwanted holiday gifts. We can use them for prizes and the raffle! Direct any questions or donations to [email protected] or message us on the FB page.
Upcoming Events
Monday, January 15th: No School- Martin Luther King Day
Tuesday, January 16th: Winter ALL Classes Begin and PTO General Meeting at 7pm in the Library
Wednesday, January 17th: Science Night from 6-7:30 pm
Thursday, January 18th: Fun Run Prize Distribution
Monday, Janurary 22nd: Teach Us All Panel from 7- 9:30 pm in the Auditorium
Friday, January 26th: No School- Institute Day
Tuesday, January 30th: Mathathon Donations Due
Monday, February 5th- Friday February 9th: Parent/Teacher Conferences
Thursday, February 8th & Friday, February 9th: Half Days, Dismissal at 11am
Saturday, February 10th: Winter Carnival