HERMAN E. DUMMER
January 2024 Newsletter
A Message from our Principal, Mrs. Ford
New year, new me! January 1st tends to be the day we all stop and think about how we are going to change our habits for the better. It’s a great reminder to let us know that we all fall sometimes, but we always have the ability to start again. It can be our health, our attitudes, our relationships, our time etc., but instead of waiting until this one time of year, let’s make the goal to be whenever we need to adjust, freeing that load off of our shoulders. Restarts are good for the soul and body and we deserve this kindness to ourselves. We all fall, but we all have the ability to start again, especially if we do this together, supporting one another along the way!
Wishing every one of you a healthy and happy new year!
Winter Weather Procedure
We will be outside as long as the wind chill and/or temperature are 10 degrees or above. Please have children dress appropriately.
Students should be reminded that snowball fighting is not allowed before or after school or during recess.
Also, poor weather conditions mean that streets and sidewalks will be slippery and proper care needs to be taken whenever walking to and from school, especially with traffic congestion before and after school. For those of you who are going to start picking up your child as the weather gets worse, please follow the rules to keep all children safe. This means dropping children off on the east side of the street to cut down on students in the street and no cell phones in a school zone. Please do not pick up or drop off behind the school or in the Sandwich Middle School bus lane. The parking lot can be a very unsafe place with it being difficult to see students and teachers between cars, and traffic gets in the way of the buses trying to drop off our students. When the weather turns colder there tends to be more traffic due to student drop off, so please plan accordingly.
Thank you!
Attendance
Attendance Policy
Since switching over to our new system, TeacherEase, we've been updating attendance codes, etc. needed for the state and we will soon begin sending out attendance letters again. Below you will find an abbreviated attendance policy to hopefully make things a little easier to understand, so if you receive a letter, it will hopefully make more sense. If you do have any questions, we will be happy to address them.
*Students are excused for 7 days per year regardless of why they miss. (This will not count if a student is marked truant from the previous year.) You will receive a letter at 5 excused and 7 excused, just as an update or reminder of your student’s attendance.
*Anything after 7 days needs a doctor note to be excused.
*Any time a doctor note is supplied, it is counted as an excused absence.
*After 3 unexcused absences, a letter will be sent home reminding the parents/guardians about the amount of unexcused absences.
*After 5 unexcused absences, school is required to notify truancy and truancy will usually set up a meeting to discuss needs and/or further actions.
*Parents/guardians must call the office to let school know their student will be absent that day.
Policy Found in the Dummer Handbook
"Students shall be permitted no more than seven (7) excused absences, including vacations, per school year based upon parental/legal guardian confirmation for the reasons of the absence. After the student has been excused seven times in one school year, additional excused absences for illnesses may only be verified through a written medical statement from a physician.
After seven (7) excused absences, the school office will notify the parents/legal guardians by mail. Other excused absences will be limited to death in the family, a family emergency requiring the absence of the student (this must be approved by the administrator at the building level), religious reasons that prohibit attendance for a given time and/or other reasons determined by the administration. The parent/legal guardian must verify the reasons for such absences. If a student is sent home due to illness documented by school personnel or if a student’s absence is verified by a doctor’s excuse before the student has reached the limit of seven days (or classes) of excused absences, that absence will not count towards the seven days permitted by this section. If the student was sent home from school with fever, vomiting, diarrhea or at the nurse/administrator discretion, they will not be penalized with an unexcused absence and will not count toward the seven parent/guardian excused absences. The following day may also be included in instances of fever, vomiting, or diarrhea. All doctor notes must be turned in to the office in a timely manner or the administration has the discretion not to accept the doctor’s note. For extended absences, the administration may ask for updated documentation of the absence.
When a student reaches three (3) unexcused absences, a letter will be sent to the parent/legal guardian warning of future consequences related to attendance. At five (5) unexcused absences, the student will be referred to the DeKalb County Truant Office for intervention.
When counting unexcused absences, the district will count back 180 school days (i.e. unexcused attendance days from the previous year will be counted towards the student’s current school year attendance records). When requested, the student will be required to provide a doctor’s note. Notes and letters will be placed in the student’s temporary file."
Always Looking for Great Ideas and Help
If you or someone has a great idea for our school, such as something you would love to partner with us on, teach, showcase, or whatever it may be, we would love to hear it! Also, there are many opportunities to come and help in our school. We would love to see parents, community members, and families be a part of our every day process. You are all a part of our team and we would LOVE to have you! No teaching experience needed, we promise. :) Please see the link below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIRjzo4eB6bFncXkXpcxwXBLCL09Vctd3SlJZ0qEMVXaWFjg/viewform?usp=sf_link
Fantastic Fourth Grade
We have been so busy this month in 4th Grade. The students are ready for a well deserved break and their teachers are too!
When we return from break, we will begin a reading unit on Number the Stars. The Holocaust is introduced through this book in an age appropriate way. Our focus will be practicing extended responses to literature using the RACE method: restate the question, answer the question, cite evidence, and explain your answer.
In math, we will begin working with fractions. The students will practice adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions. They will also learn how to add and subtract mixed numbers. This can be tricky at first, but it is amazing to watch their growth as they learn.
We started a unit this past month on Illinois and will continue to learn all about Illinois, including some of its history, when we return in January. The students will also take their second Fastbridge assessment in January. We take Fastbridge three times a year. Our hope is to see growth through this process of assessing.
Finally, we want to give a big shout out to the Parent Group for providing the Christmas Workshop and “Mr. Freeze” for the students!
Fabulous Fifth Grade
It is hard to believe how quickly December flew by for our 5th graders. In addition to our regular curriculum, we had so much fun learning about holidays around the world, writing Santa letters with Kindergarten students, creating a tasty craft with our parent group, and additional crafts/activities in their own classroom. Then to top it all off, 5th graders get to enjoy some time off with friends and family before returning to school next year.
As we welcome the month of January and 2024, it is the perfect time to set goals for ourselves. Getting enough sleep, eating healthy, using good manners, making friends, and working hard are common goals students brainstorm at school. Ask your child what goals they plan to set for themselves.
As soon as we return to school, students will prepare to take Fastbridge-Winter Benchmark assessments for both math and reading. Students will need to have a working pair of headphone/earbuds along with a mouse. We will encourage your child to try his/her best since this is an evaluation tool for their learning. We appreciate your help as well.
What’s happening in reading & writing? For reading, we will be moving into Unit 3 which definitely intrigues our students. 5th graders will dig deeply into complex text which focuses on understanding the universe. The anchor text is George’s Secret Key to the Universe. Even though this is a lengthy novel, students always enjoy it. In writing, students will complete their next PBA- researching an everyday superhero.
What’s happening in math? We will continue to work with adding and subtracting fractions, mixed numbers, and begin multiplying fractions. We encourage students to practice their multiplication and division facts at home to help keep them fluent. The quicker they are able to multiply and divide ultimately makes working with fractions less challenging.
What’s happening in science? In science, we will begin a new unit called "Water Cycle & Earth's Systems". In this unit, students consider the profound importance of water as a natural resource. Students investigate the distribution of water, how it cycles through Earth's systems, and explore how it affects human societies.
From all of the 5th Grade Staff, we would like to take a moment to say thank you and let you know how much we appreciate your continued support at home. Have a wonderful holiday season and see you next year.
Monthly Music Notes
Fourth and Fifth Grade worked hard on learning songs for their holiday sing-a-long. Students had to memorize words to 10 songs arranged into three medleys. We wrapped up the last week before break by playing Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies and Trepak using body percussion. Students will begin to learn the basics of playing guitar starting in January.
The fifth grade band had their winter concert on the 14th and all of the kids did a fantastic job. Our next concert will be on Thursday, February 29th with more details to come. After winter break we will be using Essential Elements Interactive; a practice and recording app. This app is free to all students with a band book and is accessible on computers and mobile devices.
We Need Your Help!
We have many overdue and missing library books from our LRC. Students are able to recheck out books if they need a longer time to read them, but many students are just saying they don't know where these books are. Other students wish to read some of these titles and books are expensive to replace. We would appreciate any help you can give. Thank you!
November 2023 Character Counts
Colton Runge, Peyton Valdez & Colm Kressin
4th Grade Students of the Month ~ November 2023
Back Row: Noah Villa, Matthew Walsh, Miranda Patterson, Owen Franzen & Luca Orlando
Front Row: Ella VanDevelde & Addison Grey Not Pictured: Hudson Bohnstedt & Harley Giarratano
5th Grade Students of the Month ~ November 2023
Back Row: Zamir Landeros Flores, Bodee Harmon, Sami Beverage, Paislee Kozon, Alydia Henderson
Front Row: Violeta Anguiano, Ciara Kubisak & Easton Grommes Not Pictured: Olivia Hernandez
Menu Information
Important Dates:
1/8: No School - Teacher Institute
1/9: School Resumes
1/9: Art Club 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
1/10: Parent Group 6:00 p.m.
1/11: Art Club 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
1/11: Homework Club 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
1/12: School Improvement Day - 11:10 a.m. Dismissal
1/12: Progress Reports
1/15: No School: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
1/16: Club Challenge 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
1/16: School Board Mtg. 7:00 p.m.
1/16-1/19: FastBridge and Saebrs/mySaebrs testing
1/18: Homework Club 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
1/25: Homework Club 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.