Pleasant Hill Weekly Newsletter

December 9, 2022

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Hello PH Community!

This week we were so pleased to watch our fifth grade students perform in their musical for the student body during the day and then for family and friends at night. Thank you to all the students and parents for their preparation and support!


Our student council has been meeting regularly to discuss and prepare for different projects they will be sponsoring. One such project is getting the school store up and running. Thank you to all of our student council members!


Just a reminder that if your student is participating in Victor's Book Club, the forms are due by next Friday. Please make sure to turn in your forms to your student's teacher. Tickets to the Fremd Varsity Basketball game will be handed out before winter break.


Thank you as always for all of your support!


Warm Regards,

Dr. Morris


GO COUGARS!

5th Grade Students Perform Their Musical In Front Of The Student Body!!

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Parent University - Supporting the Mental Health Needs of Children in a Post-pandemic World

Date: December 14, 2022

Time: 6:30 PM

Location: Sundling Junior High in the Auditorium

Who is invited: Parents and Guardians



As part of our regular Parent University series, District 15 has partnered with psychologist and educator Dr. Doug Bolton to speak with parents/guardians surrounding the growing mental health needs of our students. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns existed surrounding the overall well-being of school-age children as it relates to mental health needs. As we moved through the pandemic, practitioners saw a rise in such needs, as did our schools. That said, however, as challenging as the pandemic has been on so many of us, the disruption of this pandemic has pushed us all to find resilience during a time of remarkable uncertainty and stress.


That is why District 15 has partnered with Dr. Doug Bolton. He will share some of the valuable “lessons learned” about how to use stressful times to build resilience in our children because doing so will help them both now and in the future as they face unexpected challenges. We hope you are able to join us on Wednesday, December 14 at 6:30 p.m. for a presentation entitled: Supporting the Mental Health Needs of Children in a Post-pandemic World.


Dr. Doug Bolton is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Director of School Consultation for Formative Psychological Services. He has spent over 20 years as a psychologist and principal at North Shore Academy and at a K-12 therapeutic school in nearby Highland Park. Dr. Bolton provides consultation, supervision, and professional development to parents, educators, and clinicians throughout northern Illinois as he is passionately committed to creating communities that help foster student and staff resilience. District 15 leadership, as well as our certified staff, benefitted from a similar presentation by Dr. Bolton in August, and know you will find his presentation not only thought provoking, but useful in your role as parent/guardian.

Another Great Week Of Learning!

Cold Weather Recess Guidelines

It is that time of the year! The weather is now officially turning colder so please have students prepared. Hats, gloves, coats, snowpants and boots are recommended. The district guidelines are below.



Cold weather: Indoor recess is determined based on the following guidelines:

  • If the temperature outside, together with the wind chill, is below 0°F, all students will remain inside for the entire lunch hour.
  • If the temperature outside, together with the wind chill, is between 0°-10°F, the preferred procedure is a rotation of 20 minutes for lunch, a 20-minute outdoor recess, and a 20-minute indoor recess. However, at the principal's discretion, students may be kept inside for the entire lunch hour.
  • If the temperature outside, together with the wind chill, is above 10°F, students will have regular outdoor recess.

Student Council Working On Projects!

PBIS AT PLEASANT HILL!!

We have a new PAW goal for the month of November/December! Our goal is set at 1500 PAWS!! We are excited to begin our journey of reaching this goal. If we can reach 1500 PAWS the students will earn another all school celebration!


Thank you for all your support in continueing to express the importance of being Respectful, Responsible and Safe.


Keep up the great work PH!!


If you have any questions regarding our PBIS system please do not hesitate to reach out to your students' teacher.

Illustrative Math December Unit Task

Thank you to the families who submitted their unit two Illustrative math family tasks during the month of November! We enjoyed seeing your child use math outside of the classroom.


Illustrative Math provides students and families with an opportunity to take their learning from the classroom and apply it to an authentic situation. Below you will find a unit task for the month of December as well as a companion support video that explains what each grade level is learning in class. Follow the steps below to complete the optional unit task for the month of December.


1. Find your child’s grade level below and click the link to access your unit task.

2. Read through the “Try It At Home” section and complete the task.

3. Send your family’s math work to your child’s teacher in the form of a written paper, photo story, or a video of your child demonstrating and explaining their thinking.


December Support Videos & Unit Tasks


Kindergarten

Unit Task Support Video


1st Grade

Unit Task Support Video


2nd Grade

Unit Task Support Video


3rd Grade

Unit Task Support Video


4th Grade

Unit Task Support Video


5th Grade

Unit Task Support Video


6th Grade

Unit Task


Accelerated 7th/Pre Algebra

Unit Task

PTA NEWS AND EVENT REMINDERS ***PLEASE READ BELOW***

Message From Our PTA Presidents!

We hope everyone is having a great start to December; it’s hard to believe that the end of the year is coming up so fast!


We want to remind everyone that the Gingerbread House Making Contest is still taking submissions. The last day to submit photographs is December 12th. We look forward to sharing the creativity of our Pleasant Hill Elementary students! Top entries will win a prize, so you don’t want to miss out. Send your photographs to phpta15@gmail.com


We want to thank our Gift Card Committee leader for coordinating the orders during such a busy time. We also want to thank all of our room parents for connecting with parents to help coordinate class gifts. Our PTA appreciates all you do to contribute through this program.


The D15 toy drive is coming to a close, as well. A big thank you to everyone who donated.


Our next PTA meeting will be on Tuesday, December 13th at 8:00pm. Join us on Zoom to hear what’s new and to meet the members of our PTA. You can access the meeting virtually at the following link:


https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86826222293?pwd=eGFNY1FXajh4VE9kYmJIZGlJVmw4QT09


Meeting ID: 868 2622 2293

Passcode: 992810


We hope to see you at the next meeting. Have a wonderful weekend!


Julie Boldt and Rick France


PTA President and President Elect

VIRTUAL GINGERBREAD HOUSE CONTEST!

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PTA Sponsoring Coke Rewards!

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PH PTA on Amazon Smile

Pleasant Hill PTA is on Amazon Smile. Amazon will donate a portion of your purchase to our PTA.

Sign up in four easy steps:

  1. Go to smile.amazon.com
  2. Find “Account & Lists” settings, under “Your Account” click on “AmazonSmile”
  3. Search for “Pleasant Hill PTA Inc”
  4. Select our school and start shopping

Schoolwide Information Below

School Safety New Procedure! Please Read

Keeping our schools safe and secure is a top priority for District 15. We regularly review our procedures and protocols, and make improvements when necessary. To that end, we are writing to share an update from previous procedures. Effective immediately, when visitors ring the doorbell at a school, the office staff will ask the visitor their name and the purpose of their visit. If the visitor is a parent or guardian that is just dropping off a forgotten lunch or homework assignment, etc. they will be asked to leave it on the "drop off" table in the vestibule.


Please remember to label the items you drop off with your child’s name and grade level/teacher to ease the delivery of the items.


When parents/guardians or visitors are at the school for a meeting or to volunteer, they will be required to provide a driver's license or state ID which will be used to produce a visitor badge for the individual to wear on a red visitor lanyard while they are in the building. The office will keep the license/state ID and return it to the individual when the visitor badge is returned as they leave the building. This will ensure all staff can visually see that only individuals cleared through their office are in our schools.


When a parent/guardian comes in to pick up a student early from school, they will be asked to produce a state ID for verification.


We appreciate your support and understanding as we work together to keep our schools safe places for our staff, students, and visitors.


Your partner in safety,

Claire Kowalczyk
Deputy Superintendent

School Safety Playground Sign Is Now Installed

School safety remains a top priority in District 15. To ensure our schools are as safe as they can be, an additional safety protocol has been put in place this year. A sign has been installed to our playgrounds notifying the community that the playground will be closed to the public during school hours. This will allow classrooms to go outside for PE or to learn outdoors without concern for who else is on school grounds.

Sick Day Guidelines

To help prevent the spread of illness, we would like to give you some guidelines to help with your decision on whether or not to send your child to school


We ask that you keep your child home if they:


  • Have a fever of 100.4F or higher
  • Have a sore throat with a fever
  • Have diarrhea (3 or more episodes in 24 hours)
  • Have abdominal cramps and/or vomiting
  • Have a rash or open and draining sores


If your child has recently been ill, please be aware of the following guidelines before having your child return:


  • Feel fit for at least 24 hours
  • Be fever free for 24 hours without medication
  • Be free of vomiting and/or diarrhea for at least 24 hours
  • For strep throat, they must be on appropriate medication for at least 24 hours
  • For conjunctivitis (pink eye), they must be on appropriate eye drops for at least 24 hours or cleared by physician
  • Rash illness should be assessed by a doctor


If chicken pox suspected, keep home for at least 5 days after the appearance of the rash or until the blisters have scabbed over


The single most important thing you can do to keep your child free of illness is to teach them the proper way to wash their hands. Also, be sure they are dressed weather appropriate. Please notify the nurse if your child has a communicable illness (strep throat, influenza, lice, COVID, etc.), or any health concerns that need to be monitored at school.


Mrs. Martin can be reached at 847-963-5902 or via email martins2@ccsd15.net

Student Entrances and Exits

Doors Will Open at 8:18 each morning.


Thank you for your support!


Grades 1&2 - Door #3 (located By The Bike Racks)


Grade 3/4- Door #10 (Back of the school, middle entrance)


Grade 5/6- Door #11 (Back of the school east entrance)


Kindergarten AM - Door #7 (Back of the school, top of the stairs)


Kindergarten PM - Front Entrance of The School


Students Riding The Bus Will Enter and Exit The Front Doors

PLEASE READ...STUDENT DROP OFF AND PICK-UP


-During the posted time on the sign by the back lot entrance. No left turn is allowed during drop-off heading north on Ceder.


-During the posted time on the sign located on the corner of Ceder and Michigan, no left turn is allowed heading south onto Cedar from Michigan.


-Drop off allows for one SINGLE file line in the circle drive in the morning. Please be patient as cars are stopping frequently to drop off students.


-Pick up allows for cars to park (not left unattended and running) along the curb. Double parking is not allowed.


-Students should not be crossing Cedar or Illinois to get to a vehicle without using he designated crosswalks. (A crossing guard is at Illinois and Birchwood, A crosswalk is at the corner of Michigan and Cedar)


-Students should ALWAYS exit a car on the passenger side while in the circle drive.


-If you are dropping off or picking up and decide to park in the parking lot, students must be escorted by an adult to the schools entrance. Students should not be going through the parking lot without an adult. This is extremely important.


It is important to remain patient and not be on any electronic devices to assure our students and your safety. Please think of the safety of all of our students and families during these times of the day.

Coming To The School During The School Day? Please Read

Throughout the school year, it is common to have parents, friends and visitors come to the school. Please know that the safety of our students is our number one priority. The following guidelines are in place for that reason. Please read...


* All visitors are requiered to produce a valid ID that will be scanned through our RAPTOR system. If you do not have a valid ID you will not be allowed in the building


*All visitors must enter through the front entrance of the school and check in at the front office and will recieve a colored lanyard that must be worn during the entire stay


*Meetings with teachers are by appointment only and must be scheduled with the teacher


*Only individuals who are listed in Infinite Campus under emergency contacts will be allowed to pick up a student. We will not release students to individuals who are not in our system as an emergency contact.


*Please do not park along the front of the school in the fire lane as this restricts access for emergency vehicles as well as school buses from entering properly.


*During drop off and dismissal in the front parking lot is not to be used. This is only for school buses.

Infinite Campus Parent Portal

Infinite Campus' Campus Parent is designed to provide parents real-time access to student information. The easy-to-use design displays what is currently happening in the classroom so you can understand, monitor, and participate in your child’s educational experience.


This portal also provides parents access to check for teacher placement and student schedules once their student is registered. District 15 has also used IC to gather parent survey responses. Make sure you have your account set up for the new school year! To learn how to set up your account, watch tutorials, or access a help center, please visit our website.

Mobile App

The District 15 mobile app is available on the App Store and Google Play! To download the free app, search for "CCSD15."

This communication tool allows parents and students to quick access to important school and district information, including Campus Parent, the D15 Bullying Tip Line, a quick link to MyStop (bus stop location and pick-up times), lunch menus, schedules, parent/student handbook, directory information, school news, and more.

  • To see integrated student information on the app, click the "student information" button and log-in using your email address and your Campus Parent password. If you are unsure of your password, please visit Infinite Campus and click "forgot password." If you are still having trouble, please contact your school's main office for assistance.

  • To make sure you aren’t missing any notices, make sure you turn notifications ON for the mobile app.

Dr. David Morris Ed.D

Pleasant Hill Elementary School Principal