Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope each of you had a restful and meaningful time with your family and friends during the winter break.

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a wonderful winter break with family and friends. We are beginning quarter three in January as the new year begins. Check with your student that they can log into their Chromebooks so they are ready to start the new year!

Science classes will begin exploring nature and different ways living things can interact with each other and their environment. We will learn about the importance of biodiversity in all the different biomes.

Our Language Arts classes will be working with informational text. We will be identifying text features, writing summaries, and learning text structures.

Instructional Language Arts will be reading a novel this month, Fish in a Tree, while continuing our reading skill work in Quill and Lexia.

Social Studies classes will be continuing our study of the Ancient Greeks, then we will be moving to talk about the spread of Greek culture throughout the ancient world by Alexander the Great.

In regular math class, students will be working on rates and ratios for the month and ending with a “Planning a Trip” project to use their skills to figure out how much gas it will take them in the car of their choice to go on their trip. The At and ACC classes finished up the ratios unit and are starting with percents. Hopefully 75% of them will love it!

Congratulations to our Students of the Month, Noah Hawkins and Jessica Rios, whose hard work and great attitudes continue to lead to 6th grade success!

We are almost through the first semester of the school year. The end of 2nd quarter is on Wednesday, December 21st. This day will be a 1:10 dismissal. We are noticing that a lot of students are running out of the needed supplies. Please check with your student about refilling their supply of pencils and red pens. We are in desperate need of pencils.

We have just a few reminders to help your student be successful. Please sit down with your student on a regular basis to look at Google Classroom. You can see the status of the work by going to the “classwork” tab on the top. Then, on the top left, click on the “View Your work.” Please keep in mind that Google Classroom will NOT show your student’s grade, so please check Tyler for grades. Also, please check with your child to make sure that they have the supplies that they need to be successful in school.

Students may want to bring a refillable water bottle with them to school to stay hydrated throughout the day. Please note that only water is allowed in the classrooms. Also, please make sure that your student is bringing the necessary supplies to class each day. It is very important that students charge their Chromebooks every night to be ready for the next school day.

The 7th-grade Students of the Month are Tyler Brody and Yexi Arreola. Great job. Keep up the good work.

Amazingly, we are already in the second semester! We are looking forward to seeing our students back in action on January 5th. It will not be long before the students will have to start thinking about high school. In fact, high school class recommendations by the teachers are already due in January. You will hear from the high school counselors very soon to set up schedules.

History: When we come back to school in January, the 8th graders will be finishing up their study of the Great Depression. We will discuss the presidencies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt, the stock market crash, the dust bowl, and the New Deal.

Language Arts: When the students begin school again after the first of the year, the 8th graders will begin working on Narrative Writing. Utilizing the idea of the Thematic Apperception Test from “Flowers for Algernon”, the students will write a narrative based on a picture of their choosing. With this unit, we will review the elements of literature and plot within writing.

Instructional Language Arts:

When we return from break we will be beginning a short story unit. Our short stories will all have a common theme, kindness. Our unit will be focusing on summaries, supporting evidence from text, and characterization. We will wrap up our unit watching the movie, Radio.

Math: General math is finishing up with chapter 4 Functions and will be moving on to Chapter 5 Triangles and Pythagorean Theorem after the start of school in January. We will be covering angle relationships when a transversal cuts through parallel lines, geometric proofs, angles of triangles, polygons and angles, the Pythagorean Theorem and uses of Pythagorean Theorem including distance on the Coordinate Plane.

Instructional Math: In Instructional Math, after the holiday break we will be returning to our book to learn about expressions and equations (Ch. 3). As before, we will continue to practice basic math skills through daily warm-ups and weekly word problems. Additionally, each week students will complete at least 50 iXL “starred” problems (those problems indicated by a yellow star and that were assigned by the teacher), which are skills that support the content we are studying in class.

Science: As you return from winter break we will begin our unit on oceanography. We will learn about the causes and effects of ocean waves, tides, and currents. Students will also become familiar with the physical features of the ocean floor.

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH: The 8th Grade Students of the Month for January are Daliyah Oberhart and Eddie Hernandez. We appreciate the strong work ethic and positive attitude of these students. They are an absolute joy to have in class!

We want to send a reminder to all families that it is time to pay your student fees for the 2022-2023 school year if you haven’t already done so. To check your status or to make a payment, please follow the steps below.

• Login to Tyler

• Fees and billing will be located on the left side of the screen.

• Click on fees and billing, then select online payment at the bottom right corner of the screen.

*If you have multiple students, you can toggle between students by using the drop-down arrow at the top middle of your screen.

We ask that all families complete payment on their student fees as soon as possible.

Lunch balances can add up quickly. Please check your student's account balance on the Tyler Parent Portal to make sure your student has a positive balance under Meal Service Balance. If you need assistance logging into Tyler or adding funds to your student's account please call our main office at 815-786-8811 for assistance.

The carry over period for students who were receiving free/reduced lunch for the 2021-2022 school year ended on October 3, 2022. If a new 2022-2023 application has not been submitted your child has automatically been put on paid breakfast and lunch.

Please click on the link below to apply for free/reduced breakfast and lunch:

2022-2023 Free/Reduced Application

We are still looking for full-time Paraprofessionals (Teaching Assistants.) In addition to full-time employment, we offer paid sick days, paid personal days, and comprehensive medical insurance. Please call the Central Office at 815-786-2187 for more information or download our application below.

• Non-Certified Application

We also have openings for part-time openings for bus drivers. For more information call our Transportation Department at 815-786-8325.

Transportation

Currently, there is a shortage of bus drivers across the United States and Sandwich is no different. We continue to operate in an understaffed position this year. We are working hard to operate our service with a limited number of delays. If you are interested in a part-time job and would like to know how to become a bus driver, please call Transportation Director Sue Graham at 815-786-8325.

• Paid CDL Training

• Your children can ride along with you on your route.

• Flexible Scheduling

• Paid Holidays

• Starting pay over $18.00 per hour

While it may be too lat e to get spirit wear shipped in time for December 25th, it's always a good time to show your school and district spirit. Click the link below if you're in the market for some Sandwich Spirit Wear.

• Click Here

As we prepare for the weather in the midwest to change, we want to communicate our plan for possible inclement weather days (snow days). Last year we used an eLearning Day for our inclement weather days (snow days). After a discussion within the district about the benefits and obstacles of this practice, we have decided that inclement weather days will be emergency days this year. Students will not have any academic tasks on inclement weather days (snow days). If we cancel school due to inclement weather, we will add a day to the end of our school calendar. The district will communicate the last day of school once the winter season is over. This will allow us to maximize our in-person learning days for students.

Take the night off from cooking on Wednesday, January 11th! When you order from Rosati's and present the flyer we will be sending home after the break, Rosati's will donate 20% of your order back to Prairie View.

This year Rosati's has added extra incentives for supporting the fundraiser.

• The class with the most orders will be treated to a pizza party by Rosati's of Sandwich.

• If there are 50 or more orders for the fundraiser, the faculty at the school will get a pasta and salad lunch.

• Click Here for a copy of the fundraiser form. A copy will also be sent home with your student(s).

Rosati's

710 E Railroad St.

Sandwich IL 60548

(815)786-1500

January 4th - No School, Teacher Institute

January 5th - School Resumes

January 13th - 11:10 dismissal, School Improvement

January 16th - No School, Dr. Martin Luther King Day

January 17th - Board of Education Meeting