CIS Newsletter
November 2021 Edition
Principal's Update
Dear families,
We hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween. It is hard to believe that we are gearing up for Thanksgiving in just a few weeks!
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I want to take a moment to share my gratitude for the amazing Central students, staff, and families. Thanks for all you do to make sure our Central students are loved and cared for.
Recess with Colder Temperatures
November brought cool temperatures, but that did not stop us from enjoying recess outside today! As the weather continues to be more wintry, please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for cold weather. Coats, hats, pants, appropriate footwear will make for a more enjoyable recess. Once the snow starts, feel free to send boots and snow pants with students as well.
Assuming other relevant conditions are conducive to outdoor recess, students will go outside when temperature with windchill are 20 degrees or above.
Mornings with Colder Temperatures
Please be mindful of chilly mornings for walkers, bicycle riders, and car riders. If possible, please drop your child off as close to 7:40 as possible.
Pickup/Dropoff Line
The CIS Pickup/Dropoff line is running smoothly and safely! Just a few reminders to keep in mind:
Please follow the directions of the crossing guards during dropoff and pickup.
Please only utilize the dropoff/pickup line to pick up/drop off students. Avoid picking up/dropping off students in the street.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me at ebush@central51.net
- Mrs. Ericka Bush, CIS Principal
Assistant Principal's Update
November is here and Fall is in full swing! Please encourage your child(ren) to wear appropriate outerwear to school. They will be outside for recess and PE as much as possible, and we want them to be comfortable and warm.
Gaga ball is a popular recess game. Some students are wearing gloves to help prevent scrapes on their hands from the ground and/or ball. Gloves have reduced the amount of scrapes to hands and are encouraged to help your child(ren).
Let’s show our thanks this month! Take time to talk with your child(ren) about what they are thankful for in their lives. Encourage them to express their appreciation to other students, teachers, or family members this month. CIS staff members are so appreciative of the family support each of you give everyday! I am so grateful for the support of families and CIS staff.
- Ms. Kim Martin, CIS Assistant Principal
Nurse's Notes
- Mrs. Kim Martin, CIS Nurse
Counselor's Corner
- Mrs. Ashley Cherry
PTO Update
The PTO would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Room Coordinators are being selected soon, so keep an eye on information coming home. We plan on providing a meal for our teachers during Conference week and donations would be much appreciated. We are also still hard at work on a fun Fall fundraiser. As always, our meetings are the first Thursday of the month at 7pm in the CIS Library. My contact is brielle.meinders@gmail.com.
Thanks!
- Mrs. Brielle Meinders, PTO President
Reading Interventions
Many times students like to be read to even when they are older! The Libby app through our local library is a great resource to find books with recordings to take the pressure off of your child for independent at home reading. A great strategy to help with fluency and comprehension is to listen while following along with a paper or kindle copy of the book. This strategy helps with tracking the print and helps remind students of different aspects of fluency such as intonation, pausing, phrasing, stress, and rate when reading aloud. Being a fluent reader doesn’t mean reading fast. It means reading with feeling, appropriate pauses, putting emphasis on different words more than others and a smooth rate that is not too fast and not too slow. Becoming a strong reader in fluency aids in greater comprehension as well. If you have questions, please contact me at mperko@central51.net.
- Mrs. Mandi Perko, Reading Interventionist
Math Interventions
21st Century Math Fluency
The timer is set. Your pencil is sharpened. You have a bright, white paper with dozens of math calculation problems waiting to be conquered. The teacher says, “Ready, set, go…” How does this familiar scene make you feel?
Math education has been experiencing a quiet renaissance. Many of us grew up seeing math as a process of learning well- crafted steps to get to a correct mathematical answer. If you were good at memorizing steps and/or practiced the steps enough, you would be successful. But are students truly successful if they don’t have a clear understanding of the reasons behind the math process? If they don’t have deep number-sense? Fluency is at the heart of this debate. Even math educators differ in their definitions of and expectations for math fluency. Is it how fast you can remember math facts? Or is it understanding numbers well enough to efficiently reconstruct math facts?
Fosnot and Dolk (2001) define fluency as “knowing how a number can be composed and decomposed and using that information to be flexible and efficient with solving problems.” Yes, as your Math Interventionist I am concerned with student’s math fluency. But I am approaching it with the Fosnot and Dolk definition in mind. My goal is for students to be comfortable, confident and competent with math calculations to free their mind to advance their thinking about numbers and how to use them to solve problems. We are using very conceptual methods like derived math strategies and self-paced learning modules to help students gain number sense strategies at their pace and level. These strategies are designed to reduce the math anxiety that can come from targeting fluency. If you have questions about my work with your student or if I don't meet with your child, but you are interested in helping them at home, please contact me at ehahn@central51.net.
Fosnot, C, T & Dolk, M (2001). Young Mathematicians at Work: Constructing Multiplication and Division. Heinemann.
- Mrs. Elizabeth Hahn, Math Interventionist
Girls Cross Country State Champions!
PE and Health
PE will be finishing up frisbee golf and start volleyball in November. Students need to make sure they have tennis shoes to participate and to always have a jacket in case we go outside.
Health will be talking about the topics of anxiety, self care, and nutrition.
- Mrs. Brittany Emmons, PE Teacher
- Mrs. Tammy Miller, Health/PE Teacher
- Mr. Grant Uftring, PE Teacher
Technology Updates
Happy Thanksgiving!! The kids have done a great job this year having their chromebooks charged for the day and bringing them to school. Just a friendly reminder to please leave your chromebook at home if traveling over break. Please have them charged and ready to go on Monday November, 29th.
Enjoy the time off!!
- Mrs. Wendy Haight, Technology Coordinator
Student Council
Student Council, for the 2nd year, worked with WCHS in the community-wide BooBash. Thank you to all who came out; the students had a blast!
We also tried our first ever Sock-tober where we collected new socks for homeless shelters and those less fortunate. We had a goal of 200 pairs of socks. We far surpassed our goal and collected.... 1,401 pairs! Thank you CIS students and parents for your support.
The Student Council will have donut day this Wednesday, November 3rd. All proceeds go to a charity of the students choice.
- Mrs. Jessica Uftring, Student Council Sponsor
Library News
- Mrs. Sarah Heffta
Upcoming Events
6th Grade Field Trip - Wonder Movie
Girls Basketball vs. Dunlap @ Home
Nov 3
Early Dismissal - 1 hour early
Girls Basketball @ Dunlap Middle School
Nov 4
7/8th Boys Basketball Scrimmage @ Home
Girls Basketball @ Morton Junior High School
Nov 6
ILMEA Choir/Band Festival @ WIU
Girls Basketball @ Chillicothe Junior High School
Nov 8
Girls Basketball vs. Pekin Broadmoor @ Home
Nov 9
Boys Basketball Tip Off Tournament @ Home
Nov 10
Early Dismissal - 1 hour early
Nov 15
Girls Basketball @ Tremont High School
Nov 16
Boys Basketball vs St. Vincent @ Home
Nov 17
Early Dismissal - 1 hour early
Girls Basketball @ East Peoria Junior High School
Nov 18
CIS Fall Picture Retakes
Boys Basketball vs Peoria Christ Lutheran @ Home (Central Gym)
Girls Basketball vs. Washington Middle School @ Home (8th Grade Night)- Holford Gym
Nov 22
PT Conferences- No School
Nov 23
PT Conferences- No School
Boys Basketball @ Morton
Nov 24-26
Thanksgiving Break-No School
Nov 29
Boys Basketball vs Beverly Manor @ Home
Nov 30
Boys Basketball vs Dunlap Middle School