Wildcat Country News!
Jefferson Newsletter - Week of May 3, 2021
Para español, haga clic en "TRANSLATE NEWSLETTER" en el panel derecho y seleccione el idioma que prefiera del menú.
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W przypadku języka polskiego kliknij „TRANSLATE NEWSLETTER” w prawym panelu i wybierz swój język z menu.
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للغة العربية ، انقر فوق "TRANSLATE NEWSLETTER" في اللوحة اليمنى وحدد لغتك التي تختارها من القائمة.
From the Principal's Desk
It goes without saying that last week was challenging for students, parents, and staff. With the water main break in our community during the day on Monday followed by another one on Tuesday morning, our staff had to quickly pivot to adjust to continue providing students with the instruction they needed. We would not be able to all that was accomplished if not for the help and support of our parents. Thank you all for pitching in and helping us by adjusting to numerous unavoidable demands on you. We know this was not an easy adjustment for many families and we greatly appreciate your help. I'm sure we all look forward to even better days ahead as we begin May 2021.
Raul Gaston, Principal
Teacher Appreciation Week
This school year, #ThankATeacher. Let’s face it. This school year has been weird. But we’re getting through it, in part thanks to our nation’s amazing educators. Take a moment to #ThankATeacher during Teacher Appreciation Week, May 3-7.
Teachers change the lives of millions of children every day—and in a year where instruction could be virtual, in-person or a mix of both, their immense work and impact have provided a much-needed sense of community and connection. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, educators across America are working hard to ensure every student has the tools they need to reach their full potential.
How You Can #ThankATeacher
Get creative! And post how you honor your teachers using #ThankATeacher. We love seeing all the awesome ways you celebrate the “T” in PTA!
- It’s never too early to plan with your PTA unit! Check out 5 Ways to Plan for Teacher Appreciation Week from BAND
- Email heartfelt letters, cards and messages of appreciation
- Create artwork, poems and video messages to celebrate your teachers
- Send your teacher a virtual award
- On Thursday, upload a #TBT of you and your favorite teacher and thank them using #ThankATeacher
Find more unique ways to virtually celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week on PTAOurChildren.org.
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At Jefferson, we are celebrating all week with treats and gifts from the Jefferson PTA, District 45, and Jefferson Administration. We are all very proud of our teachers and welcome all our community to share in our appreciation and gratitude on all their accomplishments this year. Thank you Jefferson Staff for being the best. It's a great day to be a Wildcat!!!
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Source: National PTA
May the "4th" be with you!!!
Special Schedule on Thursday
On Thursday, May 6, 2021 we will be running a special schedule school-wide for all students in-person and remote. The time will remain the same, but the order of periods will be as follows:
6th Grade:
- Advisory - 1 - 2 - 3 - [Lunch - 4] - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
7th Grade:
- Advisory - 1 - 2 - 3 - [5 - 4] - Lunch - 6 - 7 - 8
8th Grade:
- Advisory - 1 - 2 - 3 - [4 - Lunch] - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
Why is this schedule change needed for one day? See below regarding the Illinois Science Assessment in 8th grade. Thanks for you understanding.
Illinois Science Assessment for 8th Grade Only
8th Grade In-person Students:
- On Thursday, May 6, 2021, Jefferson will be administering the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) in 8th Grade. The ISA will be administered during the school day to all in-person students during their schedule with their Advisory teacher. There are three 45 minute tests to complete. There is no action needed from parents of students in-person as the assessments will take place in their regular Advisory classroom during our regular schedule. All 8th grade students will still attend their regular PE, FPA, Lunch, and Free-time as scheduled. Remote 8th grade students will receive asynchronous work for math, science, social studies, and ELA for the day. Live instruction will not take place in these 8th grade classes since all 8th grade staff will be administering the test. However, 8th grade remote still need to log-in and attend their Advisory, PE, and FPA classes.
8th Grade Remote Students
- On Tuesday, May 18, 8:30-10:50 am, all 8th Grade Remote Students are welcomed to take the ISA in-person in the cafeteria along with any in-person students that were absent on May 6th. All students will be kept 6' apart and follow all safety guidelines during their testing. Parents are responsible for transportation to and from school. Students taking the assessment on this day are excused from all classes from Advisory through period 4 to allow for travel to/from school. All other students are expected to attend all classes as scheduled. All remote 8th grade students are automatically registered to take the ISA and parents do not need to do anything other than make sure their student comes to school at 8:30am on 5.18.21 with their fully charged Chromebook and headphones. If for some reason your 8th grade Remote student will not be able to attend on 5.18.21 to take the ISA, please call us at 630.516.7800 to notify our office.
IAR Testing, May 10 - 14
The Illinois Assessments of Readiness (IAR) will be administered at Jefferson the week of May10 to May 14. The following letter was provided to parents in ENGLISH or en ESPAÑOL Registration for the tests are now closed. All in-person students are automatically enrolled and all remote students who registered to take the tests have a reserved seat. The testing schedule is below and the letters attached provide greater details on the testing. If you have any questions regarding the IAR test, or would still like to register if your student is remote, please call the office at 630.516.7800.
Take the D45 Pulse Survey
Thank you for providing feedback to the District by participating in the previous Pulse Surveys. This will be the last Pulse Survey for the 2020/2021 school year. As the year progresses with both In-Person and Remote Learning in place, we continue to value feedback from parents/guardians. These surveys are being sent to parents, staff, and students so that we may understand how to adjust our programming and supports.
Please take a moment to complete this parent/guardian pulse survey before May 4. Students in grades 3-8 will take this survey as part of their morning meeting or advisory. Students in PreK-2 will not receive the survey. Parents/guardians are encouraged to take a survey for each child in their household.
Materials Pick-up
On Wednesday, 5.12.21, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, teachers that wish to have additional resources available to students in remote learning will have them available for pick-up. Students can check with their teachers to see if there is anything they need to pick-up. If there's something for your student to pick-up, feel free to stop in and pick-up the 5 free breakfast and 5 free lunches from the D45 meal program while you're there. The final date for material pick-up this year is Wednesday, 5.26, 4pm - 6pm.
8th Grade Promotion Update (aka: grduation)
To all 8th Grade families,
As mentioned last week, we are continuing to work on the end of the year activities and promotional experiences for our 8th grade students at Jefferson. If you haven't already, please take a few moments to look over the following document to learn about the items we've been working on and preparing for your 8th grader. All 8th graders were issued a copy of the "Important Dates" list pictured below to take hoe. Further details/reminders will be sent as we get closer to each event in May. The 8th grade letter is available in ENGLISH or en ESPAÑOL! If you have any questions after reading this letter, please contact our office at 630.516.7800.
Would you like to order a 2021 Yearbook?
The Jefferson PTA is proud to offer parents the opportunity to purchase a 2021 Yearbook. All 2021 Yearbooks must be pre-ordered at:
- www.TreeRing.com/validate
- Then enter the school’s passcode: 101504272660951
Parents can either log in with their past information or create a new account. Add your students name and select this school year and pre-order your yearbook. The yearbook will be $26.59 with tax and shipping to your home. Yearbook distribution will not be until late summer due to delays from the pandemic. Any questions or issues, please email the PTA at: jeffersonPTA45@gmail.com.
THE WILDCAT PTA
We invite and encourage all families to join and participate in the great work of our Jefferson Wildcat PTA. The Jefferson PTA website is available to you with further information. Please join us at our next PTA meeting which is scheduled for May 11 at 6pm in a virtual meeting.
If you've not joined the PTA this year yet, the PTA would love to connect with you. Membership in the Jefferson PTA allows you to be involved and engage in making Jefferson a better place to teach, learn, and grow for our students and staff. Membership is also a great bargain. It is $8 for individual or $12 for family. Join the PTA with this link: https://jeffersonwildcats.memberhub.store/store?category=Memberships. Credit cards can be accepted straight from the link. We look forward to seeing you and hearing your ideas.
STAY CONNECTED
Join Remind and get weekly updates from the Principal. It's really easy.
- Take out your phone.
- Open a new text message.
- Enter the number 81010.
- Enter the message @e97chb for 6th Grade, @ea8eah for 7th grade, or @6ae9c4 for 8th grade.
- Then hit send. That's it! Easy!!!
DAILY ANNOUNCEMENTS
For our Daily Announcements, feel free to click HERE to access the announcements we read to students each morning. The tabs along the bottom are for each week of the school year and are continuously updated throughout each week. As each week ends, the tab is moved to the far right. Feel free to visit or add announcements to your PowerSchool Accounts and you can get announcements sent to your email as often as you prefer.
Grade Level Websites
The links below are additional resources for students and parents to stay up to date at each grade level.
2020-2021 Wildcat Newsletter Archieves
Week of...
- 5.3.21 www.smore.com/qs8un
- 4.26.21 www.smore.com/fdq9k
- 4.19.21 www.smore.com/umye5
- 4.12.21 www.smore.com/1xe7h
- 4.5.21 www.smore.com/gv3c9
- 3.22.21 www.smore.com/t2xgm
- 3.15.21 www.smore.com/8x3hb
- 3.8.21 www.smore.com/9abwm
- 3.1.21 www.smore.com/3rmh8
- 2.22.21 www.smore.com/6x45q
- 2.15.21 www.smore.com/zjs6a
- 2.8.21 www.smore.com/89bcn
- 2.1.21 www.smore.com/pae7z
- 1.22.21 www.smore.com/j901z
- 1.18.21 www.smore.com/xp50h
- 1.11.21 www.smore.com/jka8w
- 1.4.21 www.smore.com/2de9h
- 12.14.20 www.smore.com/md9t0
- 12.7.20 www.smore.com/5ghju
- 11.30.20 www.smore.com/bqgt2
- 11.12.20 www.smore.com/jgud5
- 11.9.20 www.smore.com/1ywfe
- 11.2.20 www.smore.com/bs380
- 10.26.20 www.smore.com/nu392
- 10.19.20 www.smore.com/n05ev
- 10.12.20 www.smore.com/tk08e
- 10.5.20 www.smore.com/tws0q
- 9.28.20 www.smore.com/8tz2f
- 9.21.20 www.smore.com/z5ky0
- 9.14.20 www.smore.com/kevqg
- 9.7.20 www.smore.com/p09bs
- 8.31.20 www.smore.com/1jth6
- 8.21.20 www.smore.com/avem7
- 7.15.20 www.smore.com/b3pcm
Jefferson Middle School
- Mr. Wes Riley, 6th Grade Team Leader (Semester 1)
- Mr. John Bratko, 6th Grade Team Leader (Semester 2)
- Mrs. Carolyn Pakeltis, 7th Grade Team Leader
- Mrs. Kathleen Kocimski, 8th Grade Team Leader
- Mrs. Christine Zaccaro, PE Team Leader
- Mrs. Jackie Vrchota, Fine & Practical Arts Team Leader
- Mr. Ryan McDaniel, Special Education Team Leader
- Mrs. Kathy Gerber, Counselor
- Mr. Paul Schweikert, Social Worker
- Mrs. Christine Osterman, Psychologist
- Ms. Gabby Clow, Assistant Principal
- Mr. Raul Gaston, Principal
Website: https://www.d45.org/jefferson
Location: 255 W Vermont St, Villa Park, IL, USA
Phone: 630.516.7800
Twitter: @D45Jefferson