The Tiger Times Newsletter
Pleasantdale Middle School
May 24, 2020
No School Monday--Last Days for 5th-7th Graders are Tuesday and Wednesday--Check Zoom Schedules for End of the Year Activiities
5.24.20 Thoughts from Mr. Sonntag
Dear Middle School Community,
What a week! Phew! Let us all stop and catch our collective breaths.
The learning continued, materials were picked up and dropped off, there was a virtual talent show, virtual clap out for the 8th grade students, and finally, 8th grade graduation (see below) celebrating the culmination of 9 years or more in Pleasantdale School District 107 for many of our students. I hope your child has continued to connect with us and
I am so very proud to be a member of the Pleasantdale School Community after this week.
Graduation 2020--The One Where They Did The Drive-In Ceremony
Thank you to everyone who made our graduation ceremony for our 8th Graders a success! It truly was a team effort and I'm so very proud to be the principal of this team. I look forward to sharing the link to the final ceremony on YouTube in the near future. In the meantime, check out some photos from the event below.
Congratulations to the Pleasantdale Middle School Graduating Class of 2020! Best wishes always!
A couple of loose ends/questions for you:
Please continue to read the communications that we provide and continue to be flexible. I expect there may be another invitation to stop up at the school and pick up some additional items/art/awards/etc.
Last Days of School--Zooms
Remember, the last day for eLearning for 5th-7th Grade students is this Wednesday. Monday is Memorial Day and a day off. Tuesday and Wednesday, there will be different learning and end of the year activities planned for the kids. I'll send a Zoom chart on Monday after it is finalized.
Yearbooks
The shutdown in the state of Illinois has impacted the delivery date of our yearbooks this year. The processing plant is back up and running, but our yearbooks aren't scheduled to arrive until June 21. Once we have them, we will provide you with details on how we are going to get them in your hands.
Report Cards
At this point, we plan to mail home final report cards for all three trimesters during the week of June 8th. We'll let you know if anything changes on this front.
Cancer Walk Success-Update!
We crossed the $3000 mark and now sit and $3093 raised! Thank you for your generosity and support!
You can still make a donation to the American Cancer Society supporting this event at our school, please go to www.main.acsevents.org/pleasantdaleil.
Please also continue to read Dr. Palzet's updates next week. It will have important information for you regarding the planning and possibilities to begin next school year this week.
Remember, we are all in this together. Together we are #P-DaleStrong.
Take care of yourselves, continue to stay home, and be well. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.
Mr. Sonntag
We'll have an abbreviated final version of the 2019-2020 Tiger Times Newsletter next Sunday!
On this Memorial Day, let's remember those who fought and died in uniform for our freedom.
We're Going to Miss Our Retirees
Thank you, Mrs. Reschke!
Mrs. Charlotte Reschke has been the front office face for almost 25 years answering phones, paying the bills, and helping children find the correct bus to ride among the many things she does. We miss her already as she retired earlier in the school year and we wish her the very best in retirement.
Thank you, Mrs. Johnson!
Mrs. Judy Johnson has been teaching here for the past 17 years and has made such a difference over that time in the lives of young people. Through English Language Arts, she has opened a whole new world to kids and has challenged them to think about the world around them. We are going to miss you, Mrs. Johnson.
Thank you, Ms. Lewellyan!
Ms. Kay Lewellyan has spent 30 years teaching kids here in Pleasantdale through many different subjects. The one thing that I see and hear from so many people is how big her heart is. She is always willing to lend a hand and give of herself. We know that you’re going to continue to make a difference in retirement.
Thank you, Mr. Reid!
Materials Pick Up/Drop Off Success!
Thank you to everyone who came and picked up your child's belongings and dropped off books and other items for us! It was a great success as we had more than 90% of our families stop by the school during those two days last week.
If you still haven't been able to, please come by and enter door 2 (the main vestibule entrance) find your child's items, and take them to your car. We will leave these doors open from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Thank you to our staff members who helped with the pick up: Mr. Dreher, Ms. McCarter, Mrs. Truesdale, Ms. O'Keefe, Mrs. Riordan, Mrs. Washburn, Mrs. Beronio, Mrs. Lauermann, Mrs. Triggs, Mr. McAtee, Mr. Simmons, Mr. Daniels, and Mr. Adamik.
4th Grade Parent Night Recap
We had 65 devices logged in for our 4th grade parent night via Zoom last week! 65! Although we always aspire for 100% participation, this number of parents exceeded expectations, considering the circumstances. Thank you to all of the 4th grade parents who were able to attend. It was great to "meet" you and we look forward to educating your child over the next four years.
4th Grade Student Zooms Recap
We will send a larger recap specifically to 4th Grade parents in the near future via email.
School Supply Kits Are Here--Order by July 15th
2020-21 School Supply Kits are now available for order. Skip the check out lines and have your kit(s) sent right to your home!
To order click HERE and enter school code PD107. The PTO appreciates your support! If you have any questions, please direct them to PleasantdalePTO@gmail.com.
Shane's has updated the "Order by" date to July 15th and has provided important information which is included below.
Home Delivery - Due to the challenges with social distancing and state guidelines, Shane's will have less staff this year, affecting their school kit production. In order to ensure that they have the time to produce all of the school kits ordered and have them ready in time for school they will be CLOSING their home delivery ordering site on JULY 15th, 2020.
Hard To Get Items - For items such as tissue, wipes, hand cleaner, and other related items, Shane's will fulfill what they can. If they can obtain the items by Sept. 1st, 2020 they will ship them in bulk to our school, and the PTO will coordinate pick up/delivery with families. If not they will issue a refund to the PTO for the amount owed and then the PTO will issue individual refunds.
Returns -They will not be accepting any returns this year. ALL SALES ARE FINAL.
Rising 9th Graders Opportunity to Connect through the Leadershop
Some Humor For You...
Shannon S.
Jai D.
Bella N.
Middle Students Doing Good Things For Others...
Ashley D.: Ashley has raised $300 so far. She donated $110 in a good gift card to the Pleasantview Fire Department and then another $100 in a food gift card to MacNeal Hospital. We just had an anonymous donor donate $75 which we are donating to the healthcare workers at a hospital where one of our Pleasantdale parent works. Email tinkerbell1763@comcast.net to support her and her causes.
Bella N.: Over the past 2 months, Bella and her sister have been helping make cloth masks and donating them to doctors, hospitals, a VA facility, their pediatrician's office, nursing homes, and to essential workers. They have made and donated over 700 so far! Way to go, Bella and Grace!
Shannon S.: "According to Saint Baldrick’s, every two minutes someone somewhere in the world is diagnosed with cancer. We may not be able to cure it, but we can help as much as possible. It would be a great help — I’ve already raised a lot of money so far, but if you could send this out it would help me reach my goal. My page link: https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/for1the1kids1
Jai D.: "I have started a non-profit fundraiser for The Greater Chicago Food Depository, and a contribution of $25.00 will result in a gift box of a dozen cookies being either, Chocolate Chip, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip (Gluten Free). So far I have raised about $1,000 dollars in donations and was hoping I could share my message through the school. More information is on my page you can find it through this link: gf.me/u/xy56jx or you can go to this link: https://www.covid-tv.com/ to find me and other ambassadors." Jai
If you are in need of support, please reach out to us...
If you have needs (food, groceries, connection, anything), please do not hesitate to reach out to me at gsonntag@d107.org or 630-280-4704 and we will confidentially connect you to the support you're requesting.
Thank you to those of you who have contacted me and offered to help those in our community.
If you forgot to do the attendance form for your child on Thursday (this week)...
As you probably read (a few times in the past couple of weeks), our attendance procedures changed a few weeks ago. Parents need to fill out a short google form for each child (preK-8) indicating whether they were present or absent for eLearning throughout the week (May 18-21). If you completed this, thank you! If you didn't, please click on the link below and do so right away. We appreciate your continued support with our eLearning program.
Grade Level Assignments for eLearning All In One Place
Here's a new, optional document that might help keep some students (and parents) organized:
PMS eLearning Organizer Document. Thank you to Mrs. Deaton for sharing this idea with us!
We started sharing these documents with students this week and wanted to share them with you. These grade-level docs will be the jumping-off point for eLearning by grade level. Please bookmark these webpages because we will be updating the document each day/week.
You may not have access to some of the links contained inside the docs, but you'll be able to access them with your child(ren).
Thank you for the Yoga Each Week, Mrs. Driscoll
Principal's Environmental Action Team (PEAT) Brainstorming Complete
All are welcome!
Morning Announcements Keep Getting Better!
Each day, check out the morning announcements including information, birthdays, quote of the day, service idea from home, a request to respond, and much, much more! We send these out through Schoology each morning and will begin posting to social media as well! We hope the kids enjoy just a little bit of normalcy to their days in the form of our morning announcements.
Thanks to everyone who is participating! They are so fun!
Future Events/Activities Update
District Communications All In One Place
To make it as easy as possible for you, the communications from our Superintendent Dr. Palzet are all in one place. They can be found on our district webpage here.
Continued Appreciation for P-Dale Middle School Staff
During these times, we need to remember that sadness and acting out for some kids may take many forms. Please be extra patient and show extra love during these difficult times.
Quote of the Week-
"Strength shows not only in the ability to persist, but the ability to start over."
Good News Network
Parent Education Corner
As a follow up to this blogpost on resiliency by my very talented wife, Dr. Jessica Sonntag, the third episode of their podcast dropped this week and it is all about how to build Confidence in our children. It's another great listen for parents with kids at all ages.
I hope you'll take a look at this and it will help you as we parent through these different and challenging times. Enjoy!
Episode #1 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 1-24:36
This provides an overview of the book and allows you to get to know the presenters.
Episode #2 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 2-24:26
Episode #2 focuses on developing competency in our kids and how as parents sometimes, we just need to "get out of the way" and allow children to "do".
Episode #3 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 3-33:49
Episode #3 Join us as we discuss the importance of confidence and how we build it through our own experiences versus false affirmation.
#4 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 4-33:39
This week we talk about the 3rd "C" in building resilience, connection. Discussion about independence, interdependence, blurring, and how to continue to get out the way while maintaining emotionally connected to our kids and each other. Join us for Live discussion Tuesday, April 28 at 3:00 pm. (meet.google.com/ipw-ouxn-ftw)
#5 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 5-37:06
The HBR429 Student Services Department continues it's series in building resiliency. This week the discussion focuses on "Character" as the 4th C of resilience. Character is taught by modeling your actions...
Join them live on Tuesday, May 5 at 3:00 p.m. to discuss Character (you don't have to read the book to join the chat!) Join with Google Meet meet.google.com/pam-uyrd-zmh
#6 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 6-27:20
We discuss how getting out of the way and letting the kids contribute helps give them a purpose while also helping them see that giving and receiving help is healthy and it creates an interdependence within our community that is valued. Resilience comes in recognizing we are enough just as we are, we can give when we are able and take when we are in need.
#7 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 7-54:07
This week we talk about the 6th C of resilience-Coping. Listen here as we review the 10 Stress reducers Dr. Ginsberg provides for our stress-busting toolbox.
New-#8 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 8-28:11
The Hinckley-Big Rock Student Services Department completes the discussion of the 7 Cs of resilience with the final C-Control. In order for kids to develop resilience, they must feel as though they have some say in their life and they must understand what is and isn't within their control.
Join us live on Tuesday May 26 at 3:00 for more discussion. https://meet.google.com/hon-qrgi-emc
Summer Academy Jumpstart
Collections at the Middle School-Keep Collecting, Please
We collect the following at the middle school:
1. Pop Tabs-The Pop Tab competition by grade has begun so please continue to collect Pop Tabs for us throughout the year. We donate them to Ronald McDonald House to support families of children with cancer.
2. Box Tops for Education-These are all given to the PTO to support our schools!
3. Lids-Our Elements of Nature Club (EONC) 5th graders are collecting clean lids to drink and food containers to create art to put around the school. There is a collection place in the front hallway outside the office.
Throughout the year, there are other collections and drives that occur. Keep an eye out for how you can support the causes that are important to the students and staff here!
Tiger Tipline
While it is always best to talk directly to a staff member, we understand that sometimes this can be uncomfortable or difficult for students or parents. At Pleasantdale Middle School, we offer the Tiger Tipline as an anonymous tool for reporting unsafe, uncomfortable, or unkind behaviors and situations. We explicitly teach the students that if they ever see something or hear something that makes them feel unsafe, uncomfortable, or is unkind, either online or in person, they should tell a “trusted adult” which could be parents, school personnel, or other adults in their lives. The Tiger Tipline can be accessed here and we will post the link in Schoology and create a shortcut to the link on the student devices for easy access.
School Spirit Fridays!
Lunch information-Grab and Go Meal Available During Closure
"Beginning March 17, we will offer meals to any child in the community,18 or under, who needs nutritional support. In partnership with our food service provider, Just A Dash, we will provide breakfast and lunch at no charge. Pick up times are between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM. This week we will provide lunches on Tuesday (today), Wednesday, and Friday. Moving forward, these “Grab & Go” meals will be available on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays through April 6 (and during spring break). To encourage social distancing, we will provide curbside service. Simply pull up to door #25 in the back of the middle school (7450 S. Wolf Rd., Burr Ridge), and food will be brought to your vehicle."
Review complete email from Dr. Palzet about Grab and Go Meals During School Closure
Follow Us on Twitter @Pdaleprincipal for updates and pictures of the happenings around the middle school!
Follow pdalemsactivities on Instagram for reminders about school spirit days and events throughout the year!
This Week...
Monday, May 25-No School-Memorial Day
Tuesday, May 26-Final Day B of eLearning
Wednesday, May 27-Final Day A of eLearning
Thursday, May 28-School's Out for Summer!
World Language Informational Meeting (9:30 AM) for current 5th and 6th Grade Parents
Time: May 28, 2020 09:30 AM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75515527290?pwd=UERSeDgzbnZtc0lxYjlBcHVyN1E3Zz09
Meeting ID: 755 1552 7290
Password: 5yiz7F
World Language Informational Meeting (7:00 PM) for current 5th and 6th Grade Parents
Time: May 28, 2020 07:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/78686424135?pwd=ZG1qM0trcnAzOFpMK1JxYnNtSnZrQT09
Meeting ID: 786 8642 4135
Password: 1WCT7g
Next Week...
Summer Break! Enjoy!
Questions? We're here to help!
Athletics: 708-246-7382
Mr. Mark Dreher, Athletic Director, mdreher@d107.org
Attendance notification: 708-246-3210, extension 5 or email middleattendance@d107.org before 8:20 a.m., please.
Health Office: 708-246-7619
Mrs. Denise Rende, Nurse, drende@d107.org
Main Office: 708-246-3210, extension 0
Mrs. Stacey Tantillo, Secretary, stantillo@d107.org
Ms. Maria Cuevas, Clerical Aide, mcuevas@d107.org
Mrs. Brianne Malatt, Assistant Principal, bmalatt@d107.org, 708-246-7373
Mr. Griffin Sonntag, Principal, gsonntag@d107.org, 708-246-7609
Social Worker: 708-246-7505
Ms. Carrie Castaldo, Social Worker, ccastaldo@d107.org