The Central Scoop
May 22nd
From the Principal's Desk...
Dear Central Families,
We have been working hard to find meaningful ways to safely say goodbye and wrap up another wonderful school year. We want to end the year like we started it - cheering for our students! We have TWO days planned to celebrate and cheer for our Central School Foxes. One day will be during the Fox Trot on June 8th and the other day will be during the family Car Parade on June 9th. See below for more details on how you can participate and join in our celebrations (from a safe distance, of course!).
Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!
With Warm Regards,
- Becky
Rebecca Littmann
Principal
Central Elementary School
Join Me in Welcoming New FULL-Time assistant principal, Taylor Harvey!
As many of you heard, Mr. Anthony Haduch, who has done a remarkable job supporting both Central and McKenzie schools this past year, will remain exclusively at McKenzie next year. Anthony's departure leaves a vacancy at the Central Elementary School Assistant Principal position.
I am pleased to share that Mrs. Taylor Harvey will be our new Central Elementary School Assistant Principal for 2020-21. Taylor has supported students throughout District 39 as a Student Services Coordinator for the past two years. Mrs. Harvey began her teaching career in D39 as a Learning Behavior Specialist (LBS). As an LBS, she worked at Highcrest and Wilmette Junior High, supporting students with cognitive needs as well as social/emotional needs. Additionally, Mrs. Harvey has worked as an Intervention Specialist and has supported students throughout our school district. A Wilmette native and D39 alumna, Mrs. Harvey completed her Master's in Educational Leadership at Northeastern University.
Mrs. Harvey has asked to share the following message with Central families:
“I am ecstatic for the opportunity to work alongside the Wilmette community in this new capacity. Wilmette has been a home for me since 2nd grade and I have such fond memories as a student. The educational experiences and services we provide our students are something to be proud of and I am overjoyed to continue supporting the teachers, students, and parents in this new role!”
Mrs. Harvey received a glowing endorsement from our interview committee, which included input from both Central staff and Central PTA leadership.
Please join me in welcoming Mrs. Harvey to Central School! I know that her leadership, unwavering commitment to student growth and commitment to excellence will make her an ideal fit for our school community!
June 8th - Classroom Farewell & Virtual Central School Fox Trot
Tuesday, June 9th - Car Parade & Supply Pick-up
During this time, families can drive to Central School at an assigned time heading West on Central Ave (just like our carpool line). Families can pick-up student materials and see teachers from a safe distance inside their cars. There will be two bags of materials for each student. Each bag is labeled with a student’s first and last name. To prepare for us, we ask that you clear your trunk to fit the bag of items ahead of time, so a staff member can safely place the materials in your car (staff members will be wearing masks). Write your child’s first and last name and grade level clearly on a piece of paper and place the paper on the passenger side windshield to show to staff as you pull up (you can use this template, if you’d like). We want all family members to stay in the car. And please note - we are not taking any items out of the car so please do not hand staff anything. We appreciate your understanding.
Timeline:
Please see the Central School schedule for assigned class times for the parade. Prepared bags with student materials will only be available by grade level. Families can pick up materials during the entire timeframe for a grade level (while also seeing grade level teachers), but we are providing suggested times to try to avoid a long line.
FAQ:
As a family, how can we celebrate with the staff on this day?
We’d love to see your Fox Pride at this event! Please feel free to decorate your car with signs, streamers, balloons or anything else that can celebrate a wonderful year together!
Our family lives close to Central, can we walk-up to get our materials?
In order to keep our community safe, this is a planned drive through only event. To protect everyone involved we ask that all families come and remain in their vehicle. Please do not walk up, even if you live within walking distance to the school.
What should we do if our family cannot come at our assigned time?
If you are unable to come during the assigned time, bags will be left in front of the school on Wednesday, 6/10 & Thursday 6/11 for pick up. What isn’t picked up will be donated on Friday. You can have a friend or neighbor go through the carpool line on your behalf at your assigned time.
What if I have children at multiple grade levels?
To allow your children to see familiar teachers at the event, we ask that you come during your assigned time for each child.
- Bags will be ready for pick-up by grade level only. Families will need to go through the parade line for each child in the family. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
We believe we have some items in the lost and found, how can we obtain those items?
The Lost & Found will be accessible at the front of school on June 2nd & 3rd from 9:00-12:00. What is not picked up will be donated after June 3rd. The lost and found will not be accessible during the reverse car parade.
What can we do if we have items to deliver back to the school, like books or devices?
Library books can be dropped off at Central on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:00am-3:00pm through June 11th.
Please do not ask staff to take any items out of your car during the parade. See directions for how to drop-off items on June 10th (a separate day) below.
June 10th - Student material Drop Off
Wednesday, June 10th - Material/Book Drop-off Anytime 9am-3pm
- On this day, families may drop-off any materials (library books, classroom books, math manipulative, teacher gifts, etc.) in provided bins and racks both outside the front doors and inside the foyer of the school.
- Students may keep their electronic devices over the summer. However, if you are moving out of the district, please see the note below about how to return your device.
- The only devices that will need to be turned in at this time will fall into one of two categories: 1) Your family is moving out of District 39 next school year. 2) You are opting out of keeping your student's device over the summer. If you fall into one of these two categories you will need to bring your student’s device and charger to Central School on Wednesday June 10th between 12 and 3 pm. Please write your child’s name and teacher’s name on a sheet of paper prior to coming to drop off. When you arrive at Central, we will have appropriate social distancing markers along the front walk way. When you get to the front door you will place the device, charger and paper on the table. The items will then be collected by our technician and recorded. If you have any questions or concerns please email Joanna Potakis, Central’s Computer Technician, at potakisj@wilmette39.org
Moving Through e-Learning Club!
A Note From Ms. Peth...
We have completed 7 weeks of the “MOVING Through E-Learning Club” and the Central Community has moved approximately 6,313 activity miles from April 3 through May 21, 2020, as of 10:00a.m.
All good things must come to an end. The “MOVING Through E-Learning Club” will be ending today, Friday, May 22, 2020. You will be able to enter your final activity miles today until midnight. Final mileage totals will be in Mrs. Littmann’s May 29th Scoop.
This does not mean you stop moving. Continue to move and be healthy and train for our upcoming Central School Virtual 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run which will take place on Monday, June 8, 2020.
Remember this is an OPTIONAL club that is being done on the honor system and is a way for the Central community to be active together. It is NOT related to our regular Mileage Club. Participants in this optional club will receive a certificate for every 15 activity miles they accumulate up to 210 miles.
Once you have reached 210 individual activity miles, certificates will be issued in 50 mile increments. You can enter your daily activity miles on Ms. Peth’s website through May 22, 2020.
For the week of May 14 - May 21, 2020 the following individuals reached the various mileage levels for the “MOVING Through E-Learning Club”. 350 “MOVING” certificates have been issued since we started on April 3.
Bike Safety
This time of year, our 2nd and 4th grade students have bike safety training at school. To accommodate families, the training sessions are now available online for families to view from home. Here are the links for the Bike Safety youtube videos.
Highcrest Middle School Music Showcase
In the whirlwind of remote learning, the Highcrest music department has been working with our 4th grade teachers to plan a special visit! While the in-person Music Showcase Concert didn’t get to happen in April, they have been working hard to prepare an informative and entertaining presentation for all 4th grade students during a virtual classroom meeting. This week, every 4th grade classroom was visited by two of our HMS music teachers. Part of the presentation included virtual performances from the 6th grade band, choir, and orchestra! Click here to view the presentation.
PTA Announcements and Reminders
* The PTA sends out their own newsletter on Sundays - here are just a few highlights
School Supplies!
Simply complete your online order HERE and everything your student needs for next year will come packaged in one convenient box containing exactly what your child's teacher has requested.
- School supply kits are separate from the instructional materials fee paid during registration.
- All D39 school kits can be purchased in a single transaction by searching your other D39 school before checking out.
- Central PTA’s Donation Kit: Help students in need at CPS School, Prieto Academy. Each kit purchased will provide crucial school supplies to students including glue sticks, markers, and construction paper. Last year, we 150 donated kits - we would love to exceed that for these students, 95% of whom are on free and reduced lunch, this year! To note: This school community is more in need than ever this year. The Belmont-Cragin neighborhood has the 2nd highest count of COVID-19 in Illinois, hitting Prieto’s low income and immigrant population especially hard. Thank you for your consideration and generosity.
- Questions? Email Central's PTA School Supply Volunteer, Erin Schael.
Pathway to Play Update
The Central PTA is excited to announce we have officially funded a new Kindergarten playground! The playground will be installed this summer – in perfect time for the new Kindergarten Enrichment program next Fall.
At the time of the stay-at-home mandate, we were 60% of the way toward meeting our overall Phase I goal of raising $100K for this year. During these unprecedented times, we decided to suspend further fundraising efforts for the remainder of the school year. We are looking forward to continuing our fundraising efforts for the installation of the main playground when school resumes in the Fall for an installation in the summer of 2021. THANK YOU to everyone who helped us in raising 60% of our goal - we are already looking forward to some great events next year!
Playground renderings continue to be available on the Central PTA website. You can view them online at here.
Join us on Twitter!
Central School is on Twitter!
- We have TWO Twitter accounts. Please "follow" us at Twitter.com! Explore Central 39 (with our actual "handle" as @explorecentral). With this account, we mostly share student activities that are completed in the Learning Commons (but other activities are often included as well). We are also providing this Twitter feed on our Central School homepage.
- There is also a principal page @BeckyLittmann where you can follow a variety of school happenings including all-school events, classroom activities, PTA enrichment, and school goals.