CIS January Newsletter
Keeping you informed about what's happening at CIS.
Principal Update
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a great Winter Break. The days are getting longer and it is exciting to be back at school with the students and staff. There was a lot of progress made on the building project at CIS over break. A once bare skeleton of steel is taking the shape of hallways and classrooms. What was once just a plan on paper is becoming a reality and it is amazing! Boys Basketball and Chess are in full swing, the CIS Drama Production has begun rehearsals, and Volleyball opens up next week! We are excited to see what the new year and second semester will bring.
A Message from Mrs. Bush
The 2020 semester welcomed us back with a great first week of school! Seeing students again after a two week break is always so exciting for me as an educator.
Feedback Surveys
As we continue to look to the future and embrace the changes that education brings, CIS is committed to improvement. Mr. Hoelscher and I would like to continue to hold events such as the CIS Parents Cafe as those types of events provide us the opportunity to sit and talk with those we serve. We do understand, however, that we have a large number of families who would like to provide feedback but are unable to attend various events for many reasons. One way to collect feedback from a large group in an efficient and effective manner is to distribute online surveys. We utilize surveys as well as responses from events to lead discussion within the building. While we know online surveys can be tedious, we do very much appreciate those of you who continuously provide specific input.
CIS Parent Feedback Form
This online form contains questions similar to those asked at the first ever Central Intermediate School Parents Cafe that took place on Thursday, November 14th. In an effort to gain feedback from an even larger number of parents, we ask that you please complete this survey regarding our curriculum, progress toward Social/Emotional Learning, communication, and collaboration.
5Essentials
Thanks to those families who responded to the Skyward message regarding the 5Essentials survey by taking the survey! For those of you who have not taken the survey yet, please do so if your family would like a Central Trojans window cling! Just check out the instructions below!
Please follow the steps below to earn your child a Central Trojans window cling! All surveys and verification forms are due by Friday, February 14th, 2020.
Instructions:
Update from PTO President, Stephanie Redlingshafer
Happy New Year! PTO is excited for the second half of the school year, starting with Trivia Night on January 24th! Please contact Stephanie Redlingshafer at lilred2@comcast.net to reserve a table or for more information. Our next meeting is Thursday, February 6 at 7 pm in the CIS library. Please feel free to join us to learn what the PTO will be doing to help your students and teachers for the remainder of the school year!
Health Update
Notes from our Nurses
Kim Martin RN- Central Intermediate School
Carrie Bright RN- Central Primary School
Central Nurses wish everyone a happy, safe, and healthy New Year in 2020!
Trending in the Nursing Offices now:
Strep Throat: Fever, headache, sore throat, stomach ache, vomiting
Upper Respiratory Illnesses: Running nose, cough, sore throat, fatigue
Pneumonia: Cough with (low-grade) fever, fatigue- Please see a doctor immediately!
Pink eye: Red, itchy/ burning/ painful eyes (one or both) with thick yellow/ green drainage
Influenza: Sudden onset of sore throat, fever, headache, muscle aches and soreness, congestion, and cough. *It’s not too late to get a flu shot!*
Stomach flu: Stomach ache, vomiting, diarrhea, fever
Don’t say the “L” Word: Yes, lice… are you itching yet?! While Central 51 Schools DO NOT have a current outbreak, we do on occasion have a few cases throughout the year. We encourage ALL families to check their students at home weekly.
If your student is found to have lice:
Per Central 51 policy, your student will be sent home from school if LIVE lice are found. He/She may return once they have been treated and all live lice are gone. While we do encourage nits be removed, they are NOT an excluding factor.
If you discovered the infestation at home, PLEASE NOTIFY THEIR TEACHER OR THE NURSE so that we can implement interventions to prevent spreading it to others. Great care will be taken to keep it confidential to protect your student and family’s privacy.
Call your doctor for recommendations for appropriate treatments. Ask about treatments that are effective against “Super lice” and that will kill live lice AND nits. (Tip: Call your pharmacy 1st to ask if any treatments are covered under your health care plan)
For more information:
Student Learning
Renaissance Notifications
In an effort to keep parents as informed as possible, the teachers at CIS are asking you to take a moment to sign up to receive email notifications about STAR Math/Reading and Accelerated Reading tests. The Ren Place program has a feature that allows parents/guardians to get immediate results each time your student takes one of the above tests. This is an AWESOME way to stay connected with your student’s progress!
Please click here for directions on how to sign up for the Renaissance Place email notifications as well as the Home Connect site link.
Social Emotional Learning
Social Emotional Learning with Mrs. Neal
It’s the start of 2020 and I hope you and your family are off to a good start! As we begin this new year, it is helpful to take a moment to reflect and reset. I also tend to take time each new year to sit down with my kids and have conversations about their strengths and weaknesses and their goals for the coming year. One area I have particularly gotten interested in is a child’s/teens “thinking style”. I feel that this topic is especially interesting because how your child thinks can influence how he/she prefers to learn. Some types of thinkers need to understand the “whys” and “hows” in order to learn while other types of thinkers are good at seeing the whole picture and can reach solutions quickly. This article does a nice job of quickly going over four different thinking styles: Reflective thinkers, Intuitive thinkers, Sequential thinkers and Global thinkers. In my family, I have two kids with two different thinking styles. Having an open dialogue about their ‘style’ helps me understand each child, not only at home but at school as well.
I additionally use this time of year to ‘check-in’ on my child. Asking he/she how school is going, what is most difficult, which subject is most enjoyable and how I can help them be more successful, is often a good place to start. Try consider weaving in a discussion on “thinking style”. This topic may be an additional helpful tool to drive conversation, obtain information and increase awareness!
Social Emotional Learning Corner - Mrs. Arms and Mrs. Freeman
Hoping and Dreaming for Our Brand New Year
The start of the year ushers in a fresh opportunity to focus on what’s most important in our lives, to examine our hopes and dreams and figure out how they might come true through our day-to-day actions and steps toward our goals. Though we may consider our exercise routine or healthy eating habits (which are incredibly important!), we may not stop and think about our most important role as parents. Yet we know that we derive great meaning in our lives and a sense of purpose through our family relationships and our roles as caregivers. So why not take a pause and consider what we value, how we are challenged and specifically what hopes we are trying to bring to life for our children? Readers of this site include parents, educators, grandparents, youth service providers and so many others who love children. Whatever your role, these questions can apply to you!
For some, considering your greatest strengths might be a place to begin and build from. If this resonates with you, you might ask yourself:
What are the strengths of my parenting?
How are those strengths impacting my children?
What are my hopes and dreams for my child (think of each child individually)?
How can I build from my strengths to move toward those hopes?
Are there small, simple actions I can take that will add up over time to nurture those hopes?
If I don’t know exactly what those actions could be, how can I set a goal and become focused on learning new ways to further build those strengths?
For others, considering your greatest challenges might be the place you want to start. You might begin to ask:
What are the greatest challenges I face as a parent?
What are my hopes and dreams for my child (consider each child individually)?
What are the skills and values I want to teach my child?
How are those skills and values playing out in my reactions to those challenging moments? What am I currently teaching by my reactions?
What small, simple ways could I change my reactions in those most challenging moments to better align with skill building and my core values?
If I don’t know exactly what those actions could be, how can I set a goal and become focused on learning new ways to react in those moments?
Others may be more concerned with their child’s strengths or challenges and better focus their attention on their child. In this case, you might consider:
What are the strengths I see in my child (consider individually for each child)?
What are my hopes for my child?
In what ways could I build upon my child’s strengths to reach toward my hopes for him/her?
What modeling or teaching goal(s) might I set for myself to reinforce and build upon those strengths this year?
What resources can help me learn more to achieve my goal?
And yet others still might be more concerned with their child’s challenges. In fact, you may worry about those areas in which your child struggles. You may consider:
What are the challenges my child struggles with (consider each child individually)?
What are my hopes for my child?
How can I best influence my child’s growth and development in this challenging area?
What skills do I need to focus on building?
What small actions can I take to help model and support that skill development to reach toward my hopes?
What reasonable goal can I set to become intentional about building skills and creating teachable moments for this coming year?
What resources can help me learn more to achieve my goal?
Parents deal with such a wide range of issues from toddlers who need to become potty-trained before entering preschool to third graders who are being marginalized by friends to seventh graders who are feeling anxiety from peers to measure up in sports to teens who are being pressured by peers to try out new adult-sized risks. Yet we can take comfort as parents in the notion that all of these challenges are a necessary part of our child’s development. And our best support efforts for them build social and emotional skills so that they can navigate these challenges with competence. They can learn to articulate and accept their feelings. They can grow in their empathy for others. They can assert their needs to
others. They can become their own best relationship problem-solvers.
Each time we, as parents, reflect on our priorities and set our own learning agendas for continually growing and improving in our parenting, we take one step closer to achieving our hopes and dreams.
From The School Community Journal. “Parenting for Competence and Parenting with Competence; Essential Connections Between Parenting and Social and Emotional Learning”. Authors: JS Miller, S Wanless, R Weissberg.
Student/Parent Handbook Highlights
Recess
Please make sure students are dressed appropriately for outdoor recess.
Recess
Students will go outside for recess on a daily basis depending on weather conditions. Assuming other relevant conditions are conducive to outdoor recess, students will go out when temperatures, with wind-chill, are 20 degrees or above.
Teachers/administrators may allow abbreviated recess time when temperatures are in the 17-20 degree (with wind-chill) range. These instances usually occur during the winter when students have been forced to remain indoors for several days/weeks.
School Closings
School closings may occur for a number of reasons. One major factor is the weather. If our schools are cancelled because of weather conditions or other emergencies, the district will put out a School Messenger call, and the following radio and television stations will be contacted prior to 6:30 a.m. whenever possible:
WMBD, WPEO, WCBU, WEEK, WJBC, WHOI, WIRL, WTAZ, WXCL, WCRI
Sometimes weather conditions or emergencies require schools to delay start times or dismiss early. In case of delayed start time for early dismissal, a School Messenger call will be placed, and the radio and television stations will be contacted. Care for children dismissed early from school is important. Parents are urged to plan for such events by arranging for temporary care of children in advance of an early school closing.
Please be sure to check your child's e-Learning Day Expectations on days that school is closed!
Exemption from Physical Activity
In order to be excused from participation in physical education, a student must present an appropriate excuse from his or her parent/guardian or from a person licensed under the Medical Practice Act. The excuse may be based on medical or religious prohibitions. A written excuse from a person licensed under the Medical Practice Act is required before allowing a student to be exempted from physical activities for three (3) or more days. An excuse because of medical reasons must include a signed statement from a person licensed under the Medical Practice Act that corroborates the medical reason for the request. An excuse based on religious reasons must include a signed statement from a member of the clergy that corroborates the religious reason for the request. Any student unable to participate in Physical Education Class due to an exemption shall not be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities/practices.
A student in grades 7-8 may submit a written request to the building principal requesting to be excused from physical education courses because of the student’s ongoing participation in an interscholastic or extracurricular athletic program. The building principal will evaluate requests on a case-by-case basis.
Students with an Individualized Education Program may also be excused from physical education courses for reasons stated in Exemption from P.E. Requirement.
Special activities in physical education will be provided for a student whose physical or emotional condition, as determined by a person licensed under the Medical Practices Act, prevents his or her participation in the physical education course.
State law prohibits the school district from honoring parental excuses based upon a student’s participation in athletic training, activities, or competitions conducted outside the auspices of the school district.
Students who have been excused from physical education shall return to the course as soon as practical. The following considerations will be used to determine when a student shall return to a physical education course:
The time of year when the student’s participation ceases; and
The student’s class schedule.
Central 51 Activities
Volleyball
The first Girls Volleyball Game is Monday, January 13th at 4:15 in Holford Gym against Dunlap Valley Middle School. Please come out and cheer on our seventh and eighth grade teams!
Holford Gym Expectations
Please review our Holford Gym Expectations:
Popcorn and water are the only food and drink items allowed in Holford Gym.
K-3 students must be accompanied by an adult at all times during events.
Please remain on the bleachers when the ball is in play.
Please be respectful of players, coaches, officials, and spectators at all times.
Important January 2020 Dates
Monday, January 13th
- Volleyball vs. Dunlap Valley Middle School @ Home - 4:15 p.m.
Tuesday, January 14th
- Boys Basketball vs. Washington Middle @ Home - 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 16th
- Board of Education Meeting @ 7:00 p.m. in CIS Library
Friday, January 17th
- Half Day for Students
Monday, January 20th
- No School - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tuesday, January 21st
- Boys Basketball @ Tremont - 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 23rd
- Volleyball @ Pekin Broadmoor - 4:15 p.m.
Tuesday, January 28th
- Volleyball vs. Tremont @ Home - 4:15 p.m.
Thursday, January 30th
- Volleyball vs. St. Mary's - 4:15 p.m.
- 8th Grade Parent Night at WCHS - 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Check us out on Social Media!
Email: bhoelscher@central51.net
Website: central51.net
Location: 1301 Eagle Avenue, Washington, IL, USA
Phone: (309)444-3943
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centralschooldistrict51/
Twitter: @central51