Harper Happenings
4.20-24
What's Happening
Important Upcoming Dates-
Monday, April 20: "Grey" Day during remote learning (information below)
Tuesday, April 21: 7:00 pm - A digital webinar to provide families with strategies for connecting kids virtually at a time when they cannot be physically connected. (Registration below in the newsletter)
Wellness Wednesday, April 22nd: at 1pm on Zoom. Jessica Reynolds is offering a 30 minute stretch class. Take time to focus on you, reset & recharge. Free to all the Harper community. Joining instructions listed in Announcements
- PTO General Meeting via Zoom Wednesday, May 20th: 2-245pm. Zoom details to be posted the week before the meeting in the Harper Happenings. Topics: Vote on PTO roles for 2020/2021 and Approve PTO budget for 2020/2021. Please join if you can.
Monday, April 27: "Grey" Day during remote learning (information below)
Principal's Message
Hello Harper Families,
We continue to be so impressed by all the students during remote learning. We know this is not how any of us envisioned our April to go but we are thankful for the students perseverance, hard work, and flexibility during this unprecedented time in all of our lives. Keep up the hard work, keep up the flexibility, keep spreading thank you’s and kindness around.
In the spirit of spreading kindness, Harper and District 39 will be participating in what we are calling #D39EarthWeek and have specific activities and challenges for you. HERE is a flyer of information for next week. Good luck, have fun, and can’t wait to see all the pictures throughout the week!
HERE is some additional resources and activities for you related to Earth Week.
Also, HERE is a great resource from Common Sense Media with activities for kids.
Last night District 39 hosted a webinar on Stress Management During the COVID-19 Crisis. If you were unable to join, here is the presentation so you can watch on your own: https://youtu.be/oa3hPwVvmSA. What struck me the most is trying to think about everything we are going through from a "trauma-informed lens." What we are all going through is unprecedented and extremely challenging so reflecting on how we are coping through all of this continues to be of the utmost importance:
- Self care for parents is important too as you are the lifeline for your kids
- Pause, reflect, and make purposeful decisions
- Routines and schedules are important (sleep, meals, e-Learning, outdoor time, exercise, downtime, family fun time)
- Boundaries and balance and keep the human connection (maintain positive/healthy interpersonal relationships)
- Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are related to each other. If you change one, you likely change the others
- Practice Gratitude!
- Be creative and plan things to which you can look forward!
Have a relaxing and fun weekend. Stay safe and be well!
Aaron
Building Our School Community
- Harper Reading Madness CELEBRATION: THANK YOU ALL for participating in the reading madness. I hope you enjoyed all of your reading, accomplished some goals, had fun, and also enjoyed the mystery reader videos each day. Look for a fun surprise on Monday to celebrate...!
- HERE is a google form to submit the total number of pages each student (or parent) read during the Reading Madness Challenge.
- Please check out SeeSaw or Google Classroom for many mystery reader videos over the past 2 weeks including a special one from Dr. Cremascoli today!
Social-Emotional Resources
- The next addition of Medsker's Mindfulness, a newsletter from our school social worker, Erin Medsker, is out providing you with social-emotional tips and resources. This week focuses on places to go to find some "calm". Check it out!
- Tuesday, April 21st at 7pm, please join us for a digital webinar on Connecting Kids: How to Virtually Connect Kids at a Time When They Can’t Be Physically Connected. Tony DeMonte from Wilmette School District joined by Dr Dominguez from Family Service Center will talk about strategies on how to maintain social relationships during these unique times. Tips on how to facilitate digital connections and example apps/tools will be discussed. Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UyPcgLKEQYW0TfiIQ5DrKw
Staying Virtually Connected
Staying virtually connected during a time when we cannot be physically connected can have a positive effect for your child’s emotional well-being. Connecting virtually can be as formal or informal as you’d like. Even a spontaneous call, chat or video can help kids feel close to one another. Please consider this information and adapt it to your families rules and comfort level.
Parent Planning Notes
District 39 Remote Learning FAQ: Informational resource HERE and it is constantly being updated.
Calendar Updates: The calendar is updated for the month of April. Monday Grey Days afford students the opportunity to work independently on assigned work. Students may focus on longer project-based activities, wrap up unfinished work from the previous week, work independently on enrichment activities, or complete service learning projects. Our K-4 students will also be provided lessons and projects for Science and Social Studies on these Grey Days. While teachers will maintain office hours on Grey Days, there will not be synchronous (live) core instructional meetings scheduled on these days. Your classroom teacher will email you the independent activities for the day before Monday.
April events/parent teacher conferences: As part of our collective focus on remote learning for our students, all parent events scheduled for April have been cancelled, including K-4 parent/teacher conferences.
- Review Expectations for the Instructional Day: Finding a healthy balance between home and work remains a key priority for our entire school community. The emotional health and well-being of all members of our community is critically important. We include Monday Grey Days within our remote learning calendar in order to afford our students (and supporting parents) ample time and flexibility to complete work together as schedules allow. Additionally, we remind all members of our community of our teachers’ posted office hours (typically between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.).
Giving and Receiving Support in D39: Wilmette Public Schools support the academic, social-emotional and physical needs of each child through a collaborative partnership with the greater Wilmette community. Through the generosity of families, businesses and affiliate organizations, District 39 is able to provide additional support to families when they need it the most.
Playground Reminders: As the weather gets warmer, it is so refreshing and beneficial to be outside. We encourage all to take walks, safely ride bikes, and play in your yard. However, we want to remind you that school playgrounds are closed.
The Community Playfields/Village of Wilmette water storage project has begun behind Highcrest Middle School. Fencing is currently being installed, and adjustments to the entrance to the parking lot are being made to accommodate deliveries throughout the day while school is not in session. Please stay aware of this project and follow the signs and fencing posted around the area to keep your children and you safe. The path is still accessible, and flaggers will be there to help manage the traffic, but staying vigilant when in the area will also help the project stay safe. At this time, we recommend that bike and walking traffic stay only on the path, and refrain from entering the parking lot.
Announcements
- EduKits- School EduKit Ordering starts Friday, May 1st. Don't spend your summer running around trying to find school supplies at the last minute! Pre-order your child's kit and supplies will be waiting for them on the first day of school! All D39 schools use EduKits for school supply kits and can be purchased in a single transaction. Ordering will run May 1st - May 15th. School supply kits are separate from the instructional materials fee paid during registration. Questions? schoolkits@harperpto.com
- Yearbook-YEARBOOK has been submitted for printing! Please order yours, as there are now limited numbers. If you are not sure if you have already ordered one, email yearbook@harperpto.com to check. http://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A09862418
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED PTO:
Open PTO positions for 2020/2021 in a snapshot below. Please consider volunteering and support the overall objective of PTO to enhance the learning experience of all students at Harper Elementary.
Thank you to all parents who have volunteered to date. We couldn’t do this without you.
Open Positions:
1. Book fair assistants x 3 positions
2. Enrichment 4th grade x 2 positions
3. Environmental Affairs x 1
4. Garden Committee x 1
5. Harper Hoedown assistants x 4
6. Hospitality x 2
7. Chorus x 1
Wellness Wednesday, April 22nd, at 1pm on Zoom.
Jessica Reynolds is offering a 30 minute stretch class. Take time to focus on you, reset & recharge. Free to all the Harper community.
Joining instructions:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8488282407?pwd=RWJDTDMyUnRYbXhuNlhPeDhDVytrdz09
Meeting ID: 848 828 2407
Password: 2gtcFX
iGNITE
http://harperpto.com/ignitetaxletter/
If you have not made a donation, it is never too late! We are still short of our goal that assures all enrichment activities are funded for our kids.
http://harperpto.com/ignite-donation/
If you have any questions or can't remember if you made a donation, please reach out to Jill Huebsch, jillhuebsch@gmail.com
Community News
- Wilmette Food Pantry is open every Tuesday 10:30-11:30 am at Trinity United Methodist Church.
- The Center for Gifted hosts summer programs. View flyers for details.
- NSSRA offers Campyardigans for Summer 2020. See flyer for details.
All announcements to be included in the Harper Happenings should be sent to Kelly Maggio via the Communication Request Form by Mondays at 9 am. If you do not receive an email response within 24hrs, please send an email to kwmaggio@gmail.com to confirm your Communication Request Form was received.
For more school information, visit the Harper PTO website.
For additional D39 community events, visit wilmette39.org