Shepard News & Notes
February 24, 2017
Hello Shepard Families:
Erin’s Law (House Bill 6193) was signed by Governor Pat Quinn on January 24, 2013. This law requires schools to implement an age-appropriate sexual assault and abuse awareness and prevention curriculum for grades pre-K through 12. At Shepard, we meet this requirement during the third quarter of health class, when your child will be presented with various teen issues and health-related topics. The information will be presented by health and physical education teachers, and will cover the following developmentally appropriate topics:
6th grade: Alcohol and drugs, human reproduction, stress, anxiety, healthy relationships, and conflict resolution. Additionally, sixth grade classroom teachers will use Botvin LifeSkills within the curriculum.
7th grade: Suicide prevention, medicine, alcohol use, and tobacco use.
8th grade: Healthy relationships, decision making process, resistance skills, and harmful substances.
Students also will have the opportunity to hear from guest speakers who either have personal experience on a topic or are experts in their field, providing a perspective that enhances the relevance to the students and their understanding of these important topics. Speakers will include:
Julie Filler, co-founder of the Jordan Michael Filler Foundation in memory of her son who died of a drug overdose. The Filler Foundation provides partial funding of the Botvin LifeSkills curriculum in District 109. Mrs. Filler will work with small groups on sharing her family’s story and focusing on what causes substance use disorder.
7th grade uses a local organization called Angles to helps reinforce the topics of suicide prevention and drug use.
Requests to Opt-Out: If you prefer that your child opt-out of this prevention education session, please email me or the team leader for the Physical Education/Health Department, Mr. Steven Brown (sbrown@dps109.org).
If you have any questions about specific content or the general nature of our program, please do not hesitate to contact these teachers or me.
Warm Regards,
John
1st/FINAL Posting - Revised PTSO Flyer
1st Posting - Standards Based Grading Parent Event
District 109 aligns our curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices with identified learning standards. As part of that alignment, this year, we implemented standards based grading and reporting (SBGR) in our middle schools, which has been in place in the elementary schools for the past four years. As part of our continuing efforts to educate parents about SBGR, we are holding parent education sessions with one of the nation’s leading experts on standards based learning, grading, and reporting, Rick Wormeli.
Please mark your calendar for March 8; Rick will hold two identical parent sessions, one in the afternoon (12:30pm-2:00pm) and one in the evening (6:30pm-8:00pm). As part of Rick’s presentation, there will be time reserved to address parent questions and concerns specific to District 109’s implementation and ongoing progress with SBGR. District administration and building staff will be part of those discussions.
Click to RSVP to a March 8 session
We will chose the best location for these workshops based upon the number of RSVPs we receive.
On March 20, Dr. Jeff Zoul, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning, and a team of teachers and administrators, will make a presentation to the Board of Education about the transition to standards based learning, grading and reporting in our middle schools. Kathryn Anderson, principal of Deerfield High School, also will share the high school perspective and progress on SBGR.
2nd Posting - DPS 109 Summer School
Registration for 2017 Summer School will open next week, on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
At that time, you'll be able to log in to RevTrak and register your child. Meantime, please visit the Summer School website and view the great course offerings for this summer!
Incoming kindergarten families, to register for Kindy Summer Fun, please contact Brandie Roark on or after February 21.
If you have any questions about summer school, please contact Summer School co-principals Kristen Paul and Sam Kurtz, or Summer School secretary Brandie Roark.
2nd Posting - Botvin Lifeskills Parent Program: Only Two Sessions Left!
Please join us for the remaining parent LifeSkills sessions on 2/28 and 3/7 at Shepard Middle School at 7:00pm. Here's a link to the complete schedule. The speakers for each session are:
- 2/28, Effects and Warning Signs of Substance Use: Dr. Adam Rubinstein, physician who specializes in treating addiction and physician advisor of Live4Lali
- 3/7, Taking a Clear Stand on Drugs: Barbara de Nekker, executive director of Community - The Anti-Drug (CTAD). After this final session, CTAD will be hosting a dessert reception so we can gather to celebrate the completion of this great program, and continue our conversations.
2nd/FINAL Posting - Grandparent Event
We would like to invite grandparents to our inaugural District 109 Grandparent Event for grandparents of all 8th grade students on Wednesday, March 8 at 7:00 pm at Caruso (1801 Montgomery Road in Deerfield). This event, which is just for grandparents and not students, will take place in the auditorium and will include:
Introductions of the panel (students, teachers, staff, administrators and school psychologist)
A short presentation on the transition from middle school to high school
A student and teacher panel (with time for questions and answers)
We are excited to meet grandparents and share with them an overview of 8th grade students' journey and transition to high school next year.
Grandparents interested should RSVP to Kristen Paul by email at kpaul@dps109.org, or by phone at 847-945-8430 x6139, by Wednesday, March 1.
Best Regards,
The Grandparent Planning Committee
Kristen Paul, Associate Principal at Caruso Middle School
Amanda Middleton, School Psychologist at Caruso Middle School
Sam Kurtz, Associate Principal at Shepard Middle School
Jerry Witkovsky, Caruso Grandparent
3rd Posting - Traffic Reminders
We take great pride in ensuring safe and efficient drop off and pick up procedures! Please view the attached aerial map for a visual of drop off procedures. Remember that traffic in and out of Shepard moves one direction. You will approach Shepard moving south in a single file line on Grove Avenue and exit to the east on Poplar Lane. Do not park and exit your car while on Grove, in front of the school, or on Poplar. If you must exit your vehicle, you need to park in the main lot--the Buildings & Grounds lot is not open to parents.
During pick up, please be kind to our neighbors. Do not park in front of driveways and refrain from making 3-point turns in the street or in our neighbors driveways to head north on Grove. Not only do our neighbors frequently complain about their driveways being used for this purpose, this presents a safety risk to our students.
Please respect all traffic signs and stay off your cell phone. You will see your building administrators out and about in yellow vests welcoming students and directing traffic. If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask. Bottom line - obey the rules, be patient, and keep moving!
PTSO News!
Shepard Health Fair!
Come be a part of THE SHEPARD HEALTH FAIR!
On Thursday, April 6th, health care, fitness, and other related professionals will be participating in this years’ Health Fair sponsored by the Shepard PTSO.
The fair runs from approximately 8am until 11:30am, and it is a very fun event attended by all Shepard students and staff.
We are in need of Participants*. If you are a health care professional, a fitness person, a mental health specialists, or in any other health related business and you would like to have a table at the fair, please email Laura Ward (lauramward@me.com).
*(Participants do not need to be Shepard parents, but we welcome any parents interested in participating.)
Thanks for supporting THE SHEPARD HEALTH FAIR!
Box Tops
Don't throw away those Box Tops! We collect them and submit them to
raise money for the Shepard Student Council. Drop your Box Tops off in the Shepard Office.About Us!
Archived Communications
February 17, 2017 News & Notes Communication
February 10, 2017 News & Notes Communication
February 3, 2017 News & Notes Communication
January 27, 2017 News & Notes Communication
January 20, 2017 News & Notes Communication
January 13, 2017 News & Notes Communication
January 6, 2017 News & Notes Communication
December 16, 2016 News & Notes Communication
December 9, 2016 News & Notes Communication
November 22, 2016 News & Notes Communication
November 17, 2016 News & Notes Communication
November 4, 2016 News & Notes Communication
October 27, 2016 News & Notes Communication
October 14, 2016 News & Notes Communication
September 29, 2016 News & Notes Communication
September 13, 2016 News & Notes Communication
September 6, 2016 News & Notes Communication
September 2, 2016 News & Notes Communication
August 30, 2016 News & Notes Communication
August 15, 2016 News & Notes Communication
August 8, 2016 News & Notes Communication
August 1, 2016 News & Notes Communication
June 3, 2016 News & Notes Communication
Email: jfilippi@dps109.org
Website: http://shepard.dps109.org/
Location: 440 Grove Avenue, Deerfield, IL, United States
Phone: (847) 948-0620
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShepardMiddleSchool/
Twitter: @109Shepard