Harper Happenings
October 15th - October 19th
What's Happening
Monday, October 22nd - Wednesday, October 24th
- Harper Book Fair
Monday, October 22nd
- Board of Education meeting, 7:00pm MEC
Thursday, October 25th
- Principal Search Parent Forum with Dr. Lechner, 7pm at Harper
Dr. Kick's Corner
- Bike racks-We have a wonderful Eagle Scout project that will continue this weekend! The bike racks will get painted. Please make sure that your child's bikes are not left in the racks this weekend.
- Fall conference sign-ups are coming soon! You can begin to sign-up on Tuesday, October 23rd. You will receive an email from D39 on Monday, October 22nd with specific sign-up information. Conferences take place on on Thursday, November 8th and Friday, November 9th. There will also be time-slots for kindergarten on Wednesday, November 7th. Please know that conferences cannot be scheduled outside of the D39 designated conference times.
- The temperature has become cold. Please make sure that your child is dressed for the weather. A warm coat, hat and mittens are needed for outdoor recess.
- Halloween Parade-The outdoor parade for students in grades 1-4 will be held on October 31st at 9:00 am. A viewing map will be sent next week. The outdoor kindergarten parades will be held on October 30th at 8:50 am for AM kindergarten and 12:55 pm for PM kindergarten.
Coming Up/Reminders
Monday, October 29th
- PASS39 Evening Education at MEC, 7pm-8:30pm
- Topic: ADHD
Wednesday, October 31st
- 1st-4th Halloween parade 9:00 am (kindergarten parade details coming soon)
- Early release grades 1-4: 8:35-11:55 am
- No afternoon kindergarten
- AM kindergarten 8:35am - 10:00am
Friday, November 2nd
- Annual PTO Parent Party, A. Perry Homes Event Space, 7pm
Wednesday, November 7th
- D39 Education Foundation Attire to Aspire Fashion Show, 7-9pm
Thursday, November 8th and Friday, November 9th
- No School - Parent/Teacher Conferences
Wednesday, November 14th
- General PTO Meeting, 9am. Guest Speaker: District 39 Superintendent, Dr. Ray Lechner
ANNOUCEMENTS
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It's not too late for October and November Birthday Books! Donate a book of your child's choice to the Harper Library in honor of your child's birthday. A commemorative nameplate will be placed in the front of the book that stays there for life. Birthday book donations can be made from the home page of the harperpto.com website.
- Harper Elementary’s Enchanted Forest Book Fair will be held October 22-October 24th. This book fair will include a wonderful selection of engaging books for every reading level. Start your holiday shopping here!
- All purchases benefit Harper School!
- Harper Learning Commons & Book Fair Times:
Monday, October 22 8:30am – 5pm
Tuesday, October 23 8:30am – 7pm
Wednesday, October 24 8:30am – 5pm
- To sign up and volunteer for the Book Fair, please utilize the Sign Up Genius created here
3 weeks until the 2018 Parent Social. Buy your tickets before the event sells out! Gather your gang of friends and come enjoy a night out supporting the PTO! The party starts at 7 PM and features a full bar, appetizers, and a fun DJ! This year's party is being held at A. Perry Homes Special Event Space in downtown Wilmette - did you know Harper is the only Wilmette school that hasn't held a party there yet? Click here to purchase tickets!
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Tickets are on sale NOW for D39 Foundation's 5th Annual Attire to Inspire; Fashion show and shopping event.
Book the babysitter, grab a friend (or more!), and come to see the fashion, enjoy light refreshments, shop, and socialize.
This year D39 Foundation is hosting the Attire to Inspire event in the EVENING:
Wednesday, November 7th from 7-9:30 pm
Michigan Shores ClubTickets are $75 and can be purchased here!
Proceeds benefit the foundations Gripp Grant program.
iGNITE! Enrichment Information
Thank you to iGNITE! for the following Enrichment Experiences!
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Griffin's Tale Children's Repertory Theatre Company will be visiting and performing at Harper School on May 17, 2019. The company consists of 25 Northwestern undergrads who take stories written by local school children and turn them into songs, dances, scenes, raps, and games! https://northwestern.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/griffinstale
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If your child is interested, K-4 students are being asked to write one story (short, long, wordy, picture-filled, serious, casual, etc.) to be used by the company when they perform here at Harper in the spring! Have your child write their story at home and then complete the Story-Identification Form (PDF linked below).
- Please have your child return the forms to their teacher no later than Thursday, November 15, 2018 (note: the submitted copy will not be returned).
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Harper’s Artist in Residence Program will focus on Mindfulness again this year! Our PTO is excited to have Katie Kolbe and Ramaa Krishnan of Full Bloomed Lotus guide our students on what it means to be mindful. Students will learn first-hand mental and physical activities to facilitate this life-long process. Mindful activities will be connected to our social/emotional learning curriculum (Second Step). This wonderful experience will begin on October 16th!
We are so close to our goal for iGNITE! Did you know that not only does your donation go towards enrichment, but it also funds everything the PTO sponsors? Civics and Safety (crossing guards!), Teacher Appreciation Week, Teacher funds for specific projects, Student Council are just to name a few. We ask that you donate $125 per child at Harper to help the PTO continue to provide all these things for our children. If you’re unsure if you’ve donated or not, please contact Marni Sheehan at marnihsheehan@gmail.com or ignite@harperpto.com. Donate here!
Harper's Green Corner
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The Harper PTO was awarded a $250 grant from Go Green Wilmette for all of our efforts to reduce waste at the Harper Hoedown. We started in 2017 with sorting trash and recycling, improved in 2018 with more composting and are hopeful to reduce even more in 2019. Thank you GGW!
Environmental Week Highlights:
- our first bike to school entourage (thank you Dan Magestro and Tammy Muse!)
- Go Green Wilmette’s plastic bag monster visited kindergarten distributing reusable bags for each student
- older kids got to try on the costume to feel how heavy and hot it was to wear 1500 plastic bags (the average amount a family uses in a year).
-1st grade won the waste free cafeteria challenge; all grades did very well, especially with composting
- And the winner of the most visited national park goes to... YELLOWSTONE! The Environmental Awareness committee polled students at recess. Kudos to families for getting out there! Remember, 4th graders get free passes for themselves and their families
- Please join us for more garden fun! Thank you to everyone who stopped by the garden and made wheat grass monsters with us during Environmental Week. We had over 50 families make the spooky Halloween craft and enter the seed-guessing contest! On Thursday, October 18, we will be planting daffodils after school. Come learn about these spring-welcoming bulbs and how to plant them! The event is free, and parents and siblings are welcome. Don't forget you can visit your children in the garden on Tuesdays and Thursdays by signing up as a lunch recess volunteer here! Only 5 slots are left for fall!
FAN (Family Action Network)
Upcoming dates...
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Ingrid Fetell Lee, Blogger and Author of 'Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness’ on Tuesday, Oct. 16th, 7 PM at North Shore Country Day School Auditorium 310 Green Bay Rd., Winnetka, IL 60093 Free and open to the public.The event will not be recorded.
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Heather Havrilesky "Ask Polly" columnist, writer and author speaking about This Imperfect Moment: A Conversation with "Ask Polly" Interlocutors: Vivien Hanson, MSW and Maureen Kebo, MA on Mon, Oct. 29, 7 PM at North Shore Country Day School Auditorium 310 Green Bay Rd., Winnetka, IL 60093 Free and open to the public. The event will not be recorded.
- If you would like to sign up for the FAN newsletter, click here!
Community Service & News
- Welcome to the Community Service Corner! Check here weekly for ideas on ways to incorporate community service at home and around town. If you have an organization or action to feature in this space please be in touch with Laura Geiger at ljbgeiger@gmail.com and we will work to include it!
- Harper’s annual candy drive for Connections for the Homeless will take place November 1 – 12! Look for more information in an upcoming Harper Happenings.
- Another way to help kids in need this Halloween is Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. Visit https://www.unicefusa.org/form/trick-or-treat/box-order to download a PDF to use Trick-or-Treating or at a Halloween party!
LINK: http://www.wilmette39.org/news/community_events
Wilmette Fire Department is hosting an Open House on Saturday, October 13th, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm.
Wilmette Wiine Walk will be held Saturday, October 13th, 4:00 - 7:00 pm.
GO PEDAL POWER! Donate a used bicycle to the 2018 Pedal Power Bike Drive Saturday, October 27th, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm at multiple locations.
Wilmette Park District’s Saturday Basketball registration is open for boys & girls grades 4-8.
Wilmette Rotary Club is running its annual BIG BOOK DRIVE at all District 39 schools from October 1st through November 15th.
Wilmette Food Pantry is open every Tuesday 10:30-11:30 am at Trinity United Methodist Church.
Free adult English language classes are available at Highcrest Middle School beginning October 16 through November 13.
All announcements to be included in the Harper Happenings should be sent to Liz Hayes directly elizabeth.hayes78@gmail.com via the Communications Request Form word document attached below by Mondays at 9 am. Thank you!
For more school information, visit the Harper PTO website.
For additional D39 community events, visit wilmette39.org