Emerson's Enquirer
November 29th, 2018
Principal's Corner
Dear Parents/Guardians:
Per Illinois School Code and District 64 attendance guidelines, we communicate with parents regarding student absences and tardiness to promote timely arrival and good attendance. When your child accumulates absences equal to 5% of enrollment days, you will receive a letter from our school. While illness and extenuating circumstances are valid reasons for an absence, we ask that you closely monitor your child’s attendance as lost instructional time can have a significant impact on your child’s learning.
As you may know, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) now calculates summative designations for each school and reports this information on our Illinois School Report Card (illinoisreportcard.com). Attendance is one factor that determines our school’s rating. Students who are absent more than 10% of the school year (18 days total, including excused and unexcused absences) are reported to ISBE as “chronically absent.” Students who accumulate nine (9) unexcused absences over the course of the school year are identified as “chronically truant” by ISBE.
The District 64 Handbook defines a valid cause for absence as “illness, observance of a religious holiday, death in the immediate family, family emergency, other situations beyond the control of the student, other circumstances that cause reasonable concern to the parent/guardian for the student’s safety or health, or other reason as approved by the Superintendent or designee.” Absences due to vacations, attendance at a cultural or sporting event, or participation in a team sport, acting, or fine arts performance are not considered valid causes for an excused absence from school.
Please contact our nurse, the school social worker, your child’s teacher, or me if there is anything we can do to assist you with your child’s school attendance.
Emerson V-Show
The Emerson Variety show is Fri., Nov. 30th. There are two shows, first at 3pm and again at 7pm. Student tickets are free of charge. Tickets for parents and other guests are $5 each (CASH ONLY). Concessions will be available for purchase at both shows. We hope to see you there.
Food Drive
The SGA collected over 1,600 food items in their annual food drive. These items were delivered to the Maine Township Emergency Food Pantry. The items collected included: peanut butter, jelly, cake mixes, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, crackers, macaroni & cheese, and soup, as well as general paper products. The donations were greatly appreciated by the pantry.
Holiday Assembly
Our Emerson staff is preparing for an exciting holiday assembly that will take place Fri., Dec. 21, 2018 at 1:50pm. Please mark your calendar. All parents are welcome to attend. Please be sure to contact the school office if you would like to attend so we can ensure accommodations to all of you.
Stay Up To Date
With all the exciting things occurring under Emerson’s roof, I want to remind you that you can find information regarding these events via my Principal’s Blog, which can be found at: http://www.d64.org/ems/blog/16801, as well as my Twitter account: Emerson@EmersonD64. Also, you can follow Emerson activities though our Facebook account at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emerson-Middle-School-Park-Ridge-Niles/439337266189022. Please follow any of these social media sites to gain further information about the great activities and events your child is involved in at Emerson.
You can also find current district information at: #engageD64, #D64smiles, District 64 Website: http://www.d64.org, and Dr. Heinz’s Twitter account: Dr. Laurie Heinz @DrLaurieHeinz.
Enjoy the last days of fall.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jim Morrison, Principal
Emerson Middle School
Inspire every child to discover, learn, achieve, and care.
NEW! Health & Wellness Resources webpage launched
In District 64, we regularly support our students through individual and group counseling as well as our social-emotional learning programs so that students are able to engage in all that school has to offer.
As a follow-up to the recent showing of the documentary film, Angst, about teen anxiety, District 64 would like to further support our students and families by providing information about community resources available in Park Ridge and Niles as well as links to where you can find additional perspectives from other reliable organizations. Visit our new webpage here.
POWER 2019
POWER 2019
POWER is a one-day experience, designed to develop leadership skills and promote healthy choices for our eighth graders from both Lincoln and Emerson Middle Schools. POWER ultimately seeks to bring together middle school youth, community members, middle school staff, and high school leaders to develop trusting relationships as well as providing a framework for understanding one’s self and others. The program also strives to teach young people the skills needed to develop healthy peer relationships, resist negative peer pressure, and promote responsible decision-making.
General Topics covered at POWER
Self – Esteem, Communication, Peer Pressure, Decision Making,
Positive Thinking, Alcohol and Drug Awareness
Registration Information
When and where will POWER be held?
Emerson Middle School. On Feb. 22rd from 3-9pm. Lincoln students will be taking a bus from Lincoln to Emerson. However, ALL students must have a prearranged ride home from Emerson at 9pm. There will be NO bus service home from this event.
Participants must be available for
the entire POWER program.
Participants will not be dismissed for games, practice, appointments, or other obligations as an important part of POWER is the experience your students will go through from beginning till end. Appropriate behavior is expected and parents will be called to pick-up students who choose not to follow this guideline.
ATTENTION...THIS IS AN
ONLINE REGISTRATION & PAYMENT!
All registration forms must be correctly completed and turned in with payment online using MySchoolBucks through the District’s Website. You can access this through EITHER middle school’s link on RevTrak. Please complete the registration form at the same time that payment occurs to avoid complications.
REGISTRATION OPENS DECEMBER 3rd
AND CLOSES DOWN JANUARY 11TH
NO LATE REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER 1 / 11.
THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS.
Choral Boosters
The District 64 Choral Boosters need your help! We are looking for volunteers for the Choral Boosters board! Choral Boosters raises money to support the Vocal program.
90% of funds go to the specific schools your children attend to purchase music, enrichment materials, and concert decorations; and to pay concert accompanists, instrumentalists, and guest clinicians.
10% of funds support Choral Booster initiatives, including music camp scholarships.
For more information, please contact Christine Mayer, President: csmayer86@yahoo.com
or Terry Broeker, tbroeker@d64.org
Art Department will take your old towels!
Don't throw out those old towels if you get new ones!
We use them to soak/recycle dry clay and to dry tools
when the paper towels do not dry well enough.
Students may bring them in and drop them of in the Art Room, 324.
Thanks in advance for any donations : )
Sincerely,
Your Art Teachers
A note from District 64 School Health Services
To all District 64 Families:
Autumn days predictably bring cooler weather, changing colors and of course, cold and flu season. Since influenza viruses vary from year to year, it may be difficult to predict the flu season's beginning and peak. Flu activity in the U.S. peaks between December and February, but can begin as early as October and continue to occur as late as May.
To prepare your family for the 2018-19 Influenza Season, please visit the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for basic flu facts, prevention tips, and treatment information by clicking here.
For Your Good Health,
Margaret Temari, RN, MEd.
Certified School Nurse & Facilitator, School Health Services
New District Transportation Email Address
The district has a new transportation email address (transportation@d64.org). This email is to be used for all busing related questions.
The link below will navigate you to the district bus information page.