The Hawk
Holmes Elementary School Weekly Update - April 6, 2018
IMPORTANT DATES/THINGS TO REMEMBER
- PTO Meeting - Apr11 8:15am
- Chipotle Dine Out — Apr 16 - 4-8pm
- Spelling Bee Finals - Apr 24 6:00pm
- 2nd Grade Specials Showcase - Apr 26 - check with teacher for show times
- HamBINGO at Hamburger Mary's — May 15 - 8-10pm
Update Regarding District 97’s Transportation Services
Update on the Last Day of the 2017-18 School Year
State law requires that Illinois public schools be in session a minimum of 176 days. As a result of this requirement, we will need to add time to the end of the school year to make up the emergency day we used on Friday, February 9. With that said, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has confirmed that we will only need to make up a half day since the utilization of the emergency day occurred during parent-teacher conferences.
During its meeting on Tuesday, April 10, the Board of Education will review a recommendation from the administration to change the last day of school from Thursday, May 31 to Friday, June 1. This will be a half day of student attendance at all 10 of our schools, with the elementary buildings in session from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and the middle schools in session from 9 a.m. to noon. This change will not impact the date or time for our eighth-grade graduation ceremonies.
Lastly, since there are a total of five emergency days built into our calendar, we strongly encourage people to hold off on making any travel plans or other summer commitments until after Friday, June 8.
Creating Partnerships
Ms. Pascarella went back to the Dominican Republic over spring break. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1994-1996 and returned to the Dominican Republic for the first time in 22 years! Before the trip, the wonderful Senoras Poleski and Zucker helped her facilitate a partnership between 4Z and a rural school in the DR.
4Z learned about the DR (including how to dance the merengue!), wrote letters in Spanish, participated in a video call, and generously collected a huge suitcase full of school supplies that Ms. Pascarella's family brought on the trip.
Thirty-plus students of the partner school in the DR (out of a total school enrollment of 74) showed up at school despite the fact that it was spring break and a rainy day. They participated in activities and they each left with new school supplies.
In the future we hope to continue, and possibly expand, this partnership between Holmes and Dominican schools!
Family Coding opportunities from the OPPL!
Coding is a hot topic, and the OPPL has their finger on the pulse! Here are some coding opportunities to share with families; a flyer is attached.
Saturday, April 14: Maze Meeting Room
Saturday, April 28: Main Storytime Room
PBIS Parent Update
Our school staff continues to teach our PBIS expectations to Be Respectful, Responsible, and Safe. Please continue to reinforce these expectations with your child when talking about their school day.
Hawk Nest
Students enjoyed meeting with their Hawks Nest groups on March 21st.
The theme for the session was “getting to know others”.
Students participated in a peace circle to share their favorite hobby or interest.
Then, students viewed a video “Strangers in a Ball Pit”, which provided a great model for them to start their own conversations within the group.
After getting to know another student in the nest, partners created a hawk egg to represent what they learned about one another. Look for the hawk eggs in our main foyer.
Being Safe
Work related to the construction of our school addition has begun. Please be cautious of the construction barriers and additional vehicles that are present. Remind your students to never enter the construction zone, or to attempt to go beyond the safety fencing.
PBIS Hawk Academy (Check-In, Check-Out)
Students are responding well to our Check-In, Check-Out intervention. They remain excited to connect with their adult mentor, celebrate their progress, and to experience positive successes through their hard work.
Congratulations to six more students who graduated on March 23rd !
Second Step -Child Protection Units
Our fourth Child Protection lesson was taught to students on April 3rd.
Please take time to review the Home Link with your child. It was sent to your email address on April 3rd. It’s a simple, fun activity for you to complete together. It will also provide you with an understanding of what your child is learning through these very important lessons.
Students in Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades learned The Touching Rule.
The Touching Rule
A person should never touch your private body parts unless to keep you healthy. That is the Touching Rule. Remember, the Touching Rule will keep you safe. You can pay attention to uncomfortable feelings in your body to help you recognize when someone breaks the Touching Rule. Remember, it is never your fault if someone breaks the Touching Rule.
Students in 4th and 5th grades learned The Private Body Parts Rule.
The Private Body Parts Rule
Private body parts are private. No one should ever:
Touch yours, except a doctor or nurse
Ask to see yours, except a doctor or nurse
Make you look at his or hers, or anyone else’s
And never touch anyone else’s.
Lunch and Learn
One of District 97’s universal goals is for students to feel safe and have a sense of belonging. To help us gauge our progress toward the achievement of this goal, we administered an
adaptation of the Education for the Future survey to students in grades one through eight in November. We’ll administer the survey again on April 11th. Among the questions we asked was whether children feel a sense of belonging when they are in school. While the excellence target we established for this specific question and are striving for as a district is 90 percent, only 72 percent of those who completed the survey reported having experienced this feeling in our buildings.
Each of our school-level PBIS teams has received its survey data and is working to identify strategies that will help create a more positive and welcoming learning environment for our students. Examples of effective new strategies at Holmes include creating our Hawk Nest groups and launching the Hawk Academy (Check-In, Check-Out) program.
Meanwhile, at the district level, Dr. Felicia Starks Turner, the senior director of administrative services, Kristin Imberger, the student data coordinator, and our external PBIS coaches will be scheduling lunch and learn sessions with students at every building. During these sessions, they will get feedback from kids about ways we can improve the culture and climate in our schools.
At Holmes, thirty randomly-selected students will participate in the lunch and learn sessions, which will be held on April 18th.
Teaching Expectations
We recently completed booster training for students to ensure that they’re successful at meeting school-wide behavior expectations in the following areas:
Playground
Bathroom
Hallways
Lunchroom
Many of same behavior expectations that exist at school also exist at home. Please continue to review respectful, responsible, and safe behavior habits with your child.
Celebrate Holmes Staff
Families, have you noticed a Holmes teacher or staff member who deserves a compliment or a thank you? Has this person made a difference for your child? Please share the reason in a brief email to me (czelaya@op97.org) so that we may recognize and thank them!
A FEW NOTES FROM YOUR PTO…
It's a great Holmes School event that connects staff, students, parents and local businesses. Both kids and parents enjoy this awesome Saturday evening activity.
Click on the link to pre-purchase your tickets. Also, see the flyer below for more event information.
Link to buy tickets: https://dime.io/events/basketball
Also, bring your boxes in to help our teachers with their renovation move! Bring them to the office!
Dr. Christine Zelaya
Email: czelaya@op97.org
Website: http://www.op97.org/holmes/
Location: 508 N Kenilworth Ave, Oak Park, IL, United States
Phone: 708-524-3100
Facebook: facebook.com/christine.zelaya.96
Twitter: @ChristineZelaya