Harper Happenings
February 26th-March 2nd
What's Happening?
Monday, February 26th
- Teacher Appreciation Week begins! Donate k-cup pods for teacher’s lounge all week.
- Board of Education Meeting, MEC, 7pm
- Harper Open Gym 6:30-8 pm
Tuesday, February 27th
- Teacher Appreciation Week--Flower Day! Each child brings 3 flowers for teacher/staff bouquets.
Wednesday, February 28th
- Teacher Appreciation Week--please return the apple note cards!
- Harper Open House, 6:30-7:30pm
Friday, March 2nd
- Teacher Appreciation Week--Teachers will receive a special gift from students.
Coming Up/Reminders
Monday, March 5th
- Harper Open Gym, 6:30-8 pm
Wednesday, March 7th
- Choral Fest, Regina Dominican High School, 7pm
- Cyber Safety Presentation, Central Auditorium, 7pm
Monday, March 19th
- D39 Board of Education Meeting, MEC, 7 pm
- Dr. Kick's March Birthdays Lunch
Wednesday, March 21st
- Cyber Safety Presentation, Harper Auditorium, 9 am
- Harper PTO Meeting, 8:45 am
March 26th-30th
- No School- Spring Break
Dr. Kick's Corner
- Open House is on Wednesday, February 28th at 6:30! Students are very excited to show their parents work they have completed in the classroom and art room, as well as showing you around the building. Please don't forget to check the lost and found!
- We are approaching the time of the year when we begin to consider student placement for next school year. Although we begin this process in April, it often continues into the summer. We review each child’s individual learning needs with the corresponding team of teachers. The team of teachers includes your child’s classroom teacher, the “specials” teachers, as well as the special education staff. In addition, we consider other factors such as gender balance, learning styles, and overall make up of a class.
As you can imagine, a lot of thought is put into classroom placement. We try our hardest to consider each child individually and place him/her with an appropriate classroom mix, as well as a good student/teacher combination.
Although we feel confident in our ability to appropriately place your child successfully, some of you may feel that your input is needed. If you feel that extraordinary factors exist that the school should be aware of, please write a letter by March 23rd explaining those factors. These factors might include your child’s learning style, special learning needs, or specific qualities of a teacher. Letters submitted after March 23rd will not be given special consideration. Please do not ask your child’s current teacher to suggest a teacher, as this would put him/her in an uncomfortable situation. Also, please do not tell your child’s current teacher your placement wishes. If needed, placement letters should be sent directly to me. Additionally, please do NOT wait until conferences to talk to your child’s teacher, as placement is almost completed by this time. Finally, we do not consider letters from previous years. If you have a specific concern, it needs to be reiterated each year.
If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Let me reassure you that we will work diligently to ensure the most appropriate placement for every student.
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The monthly Board of Education meeting is Monday, February 26th at 7:00 PM at the MEC. Below are a couple of topics that may be of interest. If you can’t make the meeting, you can view it live or later, either on the District website or on Channel 6. Highlights of the meeting will be emailed and posted online within a day or two.
- Personalized Learning
- Student Growth
- Summer 2018 Construction Project Bids
Cyber Safety Presentations
For the first time, our D39 Elementary schools are joining together to give you an opportunity to gain insight on keeping your child safe online. We are all facing challenges as we raise our children in an age where the social rules of technology are changing almost daily. Please join us for a presentation that is specific to navigating our younger children through the world online.
We are offering both a daytime and an evening meeting for your convenience!
Wednesday, March 7th at 7pm in the Central Elementary School Auditorium
OR
Wednesday, March 21st at 9am in the Harper Elementary School Auditorium
These General PTA/PTO Meetings are open to any D39 parent with kids in grades K-4.
Our presenter is Tony DeMonte, Director of Technology and Media Services for District 39.
Topics to be discussed are:
• Creating boundaries with mobile devices
• Potentially dangerous apps
• Social media
• Privacy
• Inappropriate content
• Cyberbullying
There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end. We are delighted to offer this open meeting with Tony,TWICE! So carpool over with some friends for an evening at Central School or a morning at Harper and let’s get this conversation started.
Announcements
- Teacher Appreciation Week is February 26-March 2! Please volunteer to help through your room parent. Look for an paper apple in your child's folder on Tuesday, February 20th. Have your child write what they love the most about their teacher and return it by Wednesday, February 28th to the designated parent volunteer in your classroom via their child, the parent volunteer's home or the teacher appreciation folder in the front lobby (be sure to label it with the teachers name). We will be putting the apples in a special gift for our teachers. Tuesday, February 27th is Flower Day-each child bring three flowers for teacher/staff bouquets. All week long you can donate pods for the k-cup in the teacher's lounge.
- Girls on the Run Registration is OPEN! Click here to register by Feb. 26. The program starts in mid-March and ends with a 5K in Grant Park on Saturday, May 19. Questions? Contact Ali Wenzke at awenzke@gmail.com.
- Show your Harper spirit! Every Friday is Spirit Day (unless otherwise noted) so please encourage your children to come to school wearing their Harper gear. Go Harper Dolphins!
Community Service
Housing Opportunities for Women sent this picture of a client receiving Harper-donated pajamas and we wanted to share. Thanks again for helping local kids in need!
Enrichment
Upcoming dates:
- 2/6 through 3/20--1st grade yoga program led by Lisa Weber
Thank you for your contributions to iGNITE!
Community Events
- Link to community events: http://www.wilmette39.org/news/community_events/
- Valley Lodge in Wilmette will donate 15% of all identified sales to District 39’s Angel Fund. Dine in or take out on March 8th 11:00 am - Midnight. Please show flyer to participate.
- Going Green Matters 2018 will be held March 11th 12:00 - 4:00 pm at Michigan Shores Club.
- Aladdin JR. will be presented at WJHS on March 16th/17th at 7:00 pm and March 18th at 1:00 pm.
- Attend the Illinois Baseball Academy and Chicago Cubs Jon Lester’s NVRQT "Never Quit” charity event at the Wilmette Movie Theatre on March 3rd for a special viewing of The Sandlot. Amazing raffle prizes offered to support the fight against pediatric cancer.
- Little Legends Soccer Academy offers soccer training for boys & girls ages 2-8.
All announcements to be included in the Harper Happenings should be sent to Adriane McKnight 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 adrianemcknight@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