Dear Lions Park Families,

This is such an exciting time of year in an elementary school! Our second graders are doing their Mount Prospect History Field Trip this week or next. The eggs have arrived in third grade and will hopefully hatch chicks soon. Fourth graders are going to Wagner Farm this week or next. I am in disbelief, but the fifth-grade alphabet countdown starts on Wednesday. That will signal only 26 days of school left this year. We continue to make the most of very day with meaningful learning and memorable experiences!

District 57 had five Special Olympians participate in the Special Olympics at Prospect High School last week. They persevered through a rainy day with the support of their coordinator, Katianne Olson, and many Lions Park staff members. Unfortunately, the event was rained out but they all got to participate in a special edition organized by Mrs. Olson and our own Mr. Shaffer. Today all students clapped and cheered for the four Lions Park students who participated in Special Olympics. This talented crew was also recognized by the Board of Education. You can view their portion of the meeting at this link at -1:09.18.

Last night at the Board of Education meeting there was a Spotlight on the Lions Park Great Kindness Challenge. Please feel free to take a look at this link and it starts just a couple minutes in at about -1:25:02. Thanks to Lurvey Landscape Supply for donating to our kindness rock challenge.

Capannari's is hosting its annual Coolest School contest. Lions Park will compete on Wednesday, April 26th. The schedule of celebrity scoopers (aka Lions Park staff) can be found at this link.

District 57 is bringing back our transition field trips. Our fifth graders will visit Lincoln on Tuesday afternoon. Please look for permission slips and return them to school on Monday. We look forward to welcoming our incoming second graders (current Westbrook first graders) on Thursday morning.

As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Warmly,

Katie Kelly

Principal

Lions Park School

Tuesday, April 25 - Ed Foundation Meeting, 7 p.m. @ FV

Wednesday, April 26 - PTO Capannari's Coolest School, 4 p.m.

Friday, April 28 - PTO 5th Grade Dance, 6 p.m. @ LP

Monday, May 1 - 6th Grade Orientation, 7 p.m. @ LMS

Tuesday, May 2 - PTO 5th Grade Paint Night, 6 p.m. @ LP

Thursday, May 4 - PTO LP Parent Night Out (see flyer below), 6 p.m.

Board of Ed Special Meeting - Board Organization, 7 p.m. @ FV

As our staff continues the important work of this school year, we are also preparing for the 2023-2024 school year. One important upcoming task will be sectioning students into classes for the new year.

Sections are created according the the following criteria:

• Strengths and areas of need are considered for each child.

• Some students are clustered by these strengths and/or areas of need to enable push in or pull out support.

• Social and emotional needs are noted and an attempt is made to balance the number of students needing support in these areas among the classrooms.

• We try to balance the number of boys and girls in each class.

We welcome your input into this process by inviting you fill out this form. Please do not feel obligated to share input. The teachers have wonderful insight into the needs of their students, and are a critical part of this process. If you choose to share your thoughts, please include information about your child's learning style and the type of learning environment you feel will be the best match for your child's style. You may also include students you feel are or are not an asset to your child's learning environment. If there is a particular child you do not want your child to be sectioned with next year, it is important to submit a form stating this. We do not automatically separate students who have had conflicts. We do not guarantee that we can honor every request, but we seriously consider all input that is provided. Because of the complexity of the process, we do not accept requests for particular teachers, and requests for a particular teacher will not be honored.

While classroom teachers and specialists are involved in this process, it is important that you submit any input you have via this form, so that I am aware in case changes need to be made over the summer when the teachers are not working. Furthermore, pertinent information will be shared with teachers, but the specific form responses will be read only by me and Mrs. Grzybek, our assistant principal.

Please complete and submit this form no later than May 1st, if you wish to provide input. I assure you that our staff takes this task very seriously and puts a great deal of time and thought into creating the most balanced sections for the following year. We appreciate your support as we make our plans.

Planning for the 2023-24 school year is underway. If your child will not be returning to Lions Park for the 2023-24 school year, please call the school office at (847) 394-7330 or email Mrs. Rizzo at lrizzo@d57.org.

Also, if you have moved during the present (2022-23) school year, please contact the office with the new address information.

We are happy to be offering the opportunity to apply for the Love for Linda Scholarship Fund once again. To honor the memory of Mrs. Linda Frahm, a Lions Park primary teacher, the Lions Park staff raises money to provide scholarships to fund learning opportunities for District 57 students to enhance their summer learning. Mrs. Frahm valued exploring the world around us through multicultural lessons, celebrating the unique characteristics of the individual child, and volunteering within the community. Please click on this link for more information and to apply for your child to receive funding for language courses, summer classes, arts workshops or sports camps.