Harper Happenings
December 10th - December 14th
What's Happening
Thursday, December 13th
- Before School Chorus Winter Concert 6:30 pm, HMS
Friday, December 14th
- Harper Spirit Day--every Friday wear your Harper gear!
Dr. Kick's Corner
If you haven’t completed the Nutrition Survey, please take five minutes to do so. Your input is important for the Nutrition Committee to review the school lunch program in order to assess and reflect on current practices. The survey closes TODAY.
The Rotary book drive collected a total of 20,400 books! I’m pretty sure that more than
1,000 of those were from Harper. Thank you to everyone who donated books. Catalyst Charter School in Marquette Park, Chicago is very thankful.
Hour of Code activities took place this week and will continue next week. What is Hour of Code? https://hourofcode.com/us
2019-2020 Connecting Kids Preschool Openings
Housed within Romona School is the Connecting Kids Preschool Program. The half-day sessions for three, four and five year-old children are specifically designed to prepare children for District 39 kindergarten classrooms. With structured play, planned pre-academic instruction, differentiated learning, and vocabulary development, Connecting Kids provides an excellent foundation for all children. Reserve a spot for your child in next fall's three, four or five year-old classes. Registration opens on December 1, 2018 and closes on January 31, 2019. Registration forms can be found online here. If space is available, registration is ongoing until classes are filled.
Call Amanda Barton, Early Childhood Coordinator, at 847-512-6463, or visit www.wilmette39.org to learn more about this exceptional District 39 program.
The Illinois 5Essentials Student Survey
The Illinois 5Essentials Student Survey
The 5Essentials Survey provides school districts with detailed data on school culture and climate. Students in grades 4 - 8 will participate in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey during the week of December 10th, 2018. Students’ identities will be completely confidential. Please be aware that you have the right to review a copy of the student questions which can be found on the Illinois 5Essentials website. If you have questions or concerns, please contact 5Essentials Client Services at 1-866-440-1874.
If you do not want your child to participate, please email your child’s classroom teacher.
Coming Up/Reminders
Monday, December 10th-21st
- Winter Gear Drive for Connections
Monday, December 17th
- PASS39 Parent Education at Harper School, 9:15 am. Topic: Updates with D39 Staff and Self-Regulation Strategies
- D39 Board of Ed Meeting, MEC, 7-9 pm
Tuesday, December 18th
- Dr. Kick December Birthday Lunch
Thursday, December 20th
- Maker Day
Monday, December 22nd - January 6th
- No School, Winter Break
Monday, January 7th
- School Resumes after break
- Winter Clubs begin
Wednesday, January 16th
- General PTO Meeting - Full Bloom Lotus Mindfulness Presentation
Monday, January 21st
- No School, Martin Luther King, Jr Birthday
Monday, January 28th
- Harper Open Gym begins
Winter After School Clubs Information!
- Winter Clubs start at Harper school on January 7, 2019!
- Twenty Winter After School Clubs will be available for registration starting Tuesday, December 11th at 9:00 AM. Chess Club will be back along with a variety of classes ranging from Cheerleading and Dodgeball to Culinary Adventures and Mad Science. These exciting classes will run January 7th -March 22nd. For more details and to register, see the Wilmette Park District After School Programs website.
- Please click and download the PDF below which provides details on all available clubs!
iGNITE! Enrichment Information
Thank you to iGNITE! for the following Enrichment Experiences!
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What to do on these cold winter nights? Warm up at Harper Open Gym!
· Monday Nights from 6:30-8:00pm
· Starting Jan 28th – March 18th
· Harper Students only (no non-Harper siblings, sorry!)
· Limit 30 students, there will be a door monitor keeping a list. Just show up.
· Clean shoes must be brought in for the gym. Students may not go to their lockers so please bring shoes from home.
· A parent needs to stay with their child(ren). This is not a drop off.
The Harper Open Gym program is sponsored by the PTO and your iGNITE! contributions. It is run by our awesome D39 PE teacher, Mr. Chris Toy!!
First come/first serve.
See you there!
FAN (Family Action Network)
Upcoming dates...
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Visual artist, U of Chicago Professor, essayist and author of Ghosts in the Schoolyard and the "Ironheart" series for Marvel Comics, Eve L. Ewing, Ed.D. talking about 'Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side' on Wed, Dec. 12th 7pm at Evanston Township High School Auditorium located at 1600 Dodge Ave., Evanston, IL 60201
- If you would like to sign up for the FAN newsletter, click here!
Community Service & News
- December 10th-21st
- Winter Gear Drive (benefitting Connections for the Homeless)
- New and gently used winter gear for Connections families (adult and children). Items needed: winter coats, gloves and hats, warm socks, boots, blankets and sleeping bags, disposable hand and foot warmers, and long underwear!
- Looking for a gift that gives back this holiday season? Here are some ideas:
https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/shop-kind-dgt/
https://www.connect2home.org/inkind.html
https://www.market.unicefusa.org/
- Or some more ways to get your family involved in giving back this holiday season:
https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/bhf/create-a-giving-box
https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas
- And here are some books that talk about giving back:
LINK: http://www.wilmette39.org/news/community_events
Northwestern’s Center for Talent Development offers Weekend Enrichment Programs for students age 3 through 8th grade.
Love to sing? Youth Choral Theatre of Chicago offers a free vocal training class with flyer. Vocal classes available for children ages 4-18.
Loyola Ramblerettes offer 3rd-8th grade girls the opportunity to learn a holiday dance and perform at halftime on December 11th.
Loyola Ramblerettes host Holiday Dance Session December 11th for 3rd-8th grade girls
Wilmette Park District’s Saturday Basketball registration is open for boys & girls grades 4-8.
Wilmette Park District is hosting a Holiday Hustle exercise challenge November 26-December 23. Also the Center Fitness Club schedule and various classes for children ages 3-14 are posted.
Wilmette Food Pantry is open every Tuesday 10:30-11:30 am at Trinity United Methodist Church.
All announcements to be included in the Harper Happenings should be sent to Liz Hayes via the Communication Request Form by Mondays at 9 am. If you do not receive an email response within 24hrs, please send an email to elizabeth.hayes78@gmail.com to confirm your Communication Request Form was received.
For more school information, visit the Harper PTO website.
For additional D39 community events, visit wilmette39.org