Prairie Point Panther Press
Newsletter for Prairie Point Elementary School
Friday, February 5, 2021
Welcome to the Prairie Point Panther Press!
Principal's Letter
Prairie Point Families:
It has been another great and snowy week of learning at Prairie Point. I continue to be so impressed with the hardwork and perseverance that all of our students have demonstrated during Phase Two. I am also very grateful for the creativity and dedication that our teachers are showing as they transition to teaching hybrid students in the morning and remote by choice students in the afternoon. I see how hard everyone is working and see the many ways that our staff members are going the extra mile to support our students and families. I am so grateful for our school community!
One area that continues to run very smoothly is our arrival and dismissal procedures. Thank you to our parents and car riders for continuing to pull all the way up in the line to drop off and pick up. This is essential in unloading and loading as many students as possible in and out of cars. As we move to our next phase and have more students in person each day, we will need to continue to have cars move all the way forward to load and unload students. Thank you for cooperating!
I do have one additional reminder for dismissal. In order to ensure that all students exit the building in an orderly and safe manner, we need all students to go directly from their classroom to the door that they exit from. We have had a number of siblings stopping by our kindergarten and first grade classrooms to wait for siblings. While I love that our older sibs are looking out for their little brothers and sisters, we are unable to have students waiting by classrooms. Please remind older siblings to wait at their dismissal doors (walkers) or outside (car riders and bus riders) to connect with little brothers and sisters to go home. Thank you for understanding.
Finally, I would like to bring a couple of things to your attention for next week. First we will be celebrating Valentine’s Day throughout the week with a Valentine’s Day Spirit Week. As a reminder, we will not be exchanging Valentine’s Day cards this year. Please do not send your child to school with Valentine’s Day cards to distribute. Students are encouraged to dress up throughout the week with the following theme days:
Monday, 2.8.21 - Show your love for Mondays by wearing pajamas
Tuesday, 2.9.21 - Show your love for Prairie Point with spirit wear
Thursday, 2.11.21 - Show your love for your favorite sports team
Friday, 2.12.21 - Show your love for Valentine’s Day by wearing red or pink
Secondly, you should have received a communication from the district outlining the plan for our School Improvement Day on Friday, February 12th.
There is no school for early childhood students.
Kindergarten - 5th grade students will ALL participate in remote instruction on Friday (2.12.21) from 9:30am - 12:30pm. There is no afternoon instruction for students.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this communication. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly. I hope that everyone has a great weekend and stays warm!!!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jennifer Groves
Principal
Elementary Student Attendance Update During Phase 2
Valentine's Day Spirit Week
Valentine's Day Update
Due to COVID-19 restrictions and the safety protocols that we continue to follow, elementary schools will not be exchanging Valentine's Day cards or items this year. Thank you for understanding.
Come Work With Us!!
Prairie Point is hiring for the following positions! #mustlovekids
Elementary teaching assistant (sped) (Job #9872)
Early Childhood teaching (sped) (Job #10025)
Dedicated building substitute (Job #10231)
Please apply online:
https://www.applitrack.com/d308/OnlineApp
Questions? Please contact Dr. Groves (jgroves@sd308.org) or Mrs. Fahey (nfahey@sd308.org).
To view job postings:
Dinner Night: Tues. Feb 9th at Lou Malnati's 4pm - 10pm
Home & School Board Positions Open
We need YOU for the home and school board next year! Openings will be available for all 5 board positions. Our bylaws demand a minimum of three board members.
We have the following positions:
*President: The President serves as the primary contact for the Principal and represents the organization at meetings, coordinates work of all officers and committees
*Vice President: The Vice President shall assist the President and carry out the President’s duties in his or her absence or inability to serve.
*Recording Secretary: The Recording Secretary shall keep all records of the organization, take and record minutes, prepare meeting agendas and ensure that corporate records are maintained.
*Treasurer: The Treasurer shall receive all the funds, keep an accurate record of receipts and expenditures, pays out funds, present a financial statement at every meeting and make a full report at the end of the year.
*Corresponding Secretary:The Corresponding Secretary shall handle all correspondence for the organization, send notices of meetings to the membership and assist with the release and coordination of the organization’s information to the school newsletter.
WE NEED HELP!
There are around 20 committees and over 11 events that are put on for the benefit of your Prairie Point Students and families every school year. After the year we just had, we would hate to have to disband the board and not have any of these events we have all come to know and love so much, especially when we will hopefully all be back together in the Fall.
PLEASE help us if you are able.
If you have any questions, would like to find out more about a position or put your name in as a candidate to join the board PLEASE send an Email to homeandschoolprairiepoint@gmail.com
Thank you so much for your consideration.
Your 2020/21 board.
Home & School - Konstella
Join us on Konstella!
For all communication and news from Prairie Point Elementary's Home and School Board, please follow the link below to begin the new sign in:
https://www.konstella.com/cd/0UJE2V
Sincerely,
Your 2020-2021 Home and School Board
Angela McCumber, President
Erin Szostak, Corresponding Secretary
Coreen Sedlacek, Treasurer
Other Ways to Earn for Prairie Point Home & School Organization
Young Rembrandts
FEBRUARY DRAWING CLASSES
Learn to draw a L-O-V-E Bunny during Family Drawing Night at 7:15pm on February 8. Only $10/household.
FEBRUARY 14 @ 6PM
I'm NUTS About You!
90-minutes Valentine's Day Family Dinner & Drawing. Learn to draw this adorable chipmunk who can't resist this giant acorn. We will enjoy a virtual dinner together @ 6pm and begin drawing at 6:20pm. Party games too. Fun for the entire family.
$12 / household.
All ages invited.
Register just one elementary aged child. Everyone else living in the same household gets to draw for free.
Join us on President's Day at 11am February 15 for another 90-MINUTE NO SCHOOL DAY PARTY and learn to draw our Founding Fathers AND play fun games!
Only $12/household.
QUICK QUESTION FOR YOU ...
Are your kids are missing afterschool drawing club?
I am too. So, until that magical day when we return to hosting afterschool activities at school, SIGN THE KIDS UP for my 60-minute virtual Daily Dose of Drawing weekly classes. They won't be disappointed and YOU will get 60-minutes of quiet time. You can sign up for the entire session OR pick-and-choose the dates that work best for your family. Only $8/household/class. Siblings draw for free!
On behalf of Young Rembrandts, THANK YOU for your continued support and helping me keep the kids connected to one another. I'm looking forward to drawing with you, your kids, your entire family soon.
Artfully yours,
Tess Gutkowski (MRS. G.)
Youth Drawing Director
Young Rembrandts Southwest Suburbs
(815) 242-2259 Text or call
Chess Scholars/After school Enrichment
: • Live, interactive weekly sessions with expert instructors o Chess and STEM live sessions are divided by grade level.
• Video lessons with step by step instructions to complete hands-on projects • Project workbooks to reinforce learning concepts
• Access to online Chess tournament play with other Chess Scholars students
Our live class times are held both in the morning and afternoon throughout the week to accommodate your schedules.
Video lessons are available 24/7. Learning is Fun with these engaging enrichment programs!
To learn more, please visit: afterschoolenrichmentsolutions.com ———————————————————————————————————————–————–————
Prairie Point Care Closet
If you are in need of any items please send your message to the following confidential email PTCares@sd308.org
News from the Nurse's Office
Kindergarten students:
A completed physical and immunization record (dated after 8/24/2019) is due by October 15th 2020.
A completed vision exam form and dental exam form are due in March of 2021.
2nd grade students:
A completed dental exam form is due by March of 2021.
We can accept any of these forms at any time. They may be emailed (dacuff@sd308.org), faxed (630-636-3612), or left on the drop off table in the school’s vestibule.
Voluntary 24 hr Student Accident coverage plan for the 20/21 school year
"Peachjar" Communication
Oswego CUSD 308 has launched a new communication tool called "Peachjar." School-approved flyers will now be sent to you electronically and posted on the school website. Simply click flyers you receive via email or on the Prairie Point homepage click Digital flyers then Peachjar flyers.