Shepard News & Notes
October 20, 2017
Hello Shepard Families:
It's time to register for Student Portfolio Showcase!
Purpose: The purpose of Shepard’s Portfolio Night is for students to report to their
parent/guardian on their academic progress.
Context: Portfolio Night is one of many opportunities for parents/guardians to receive
information about the curriculum and their child’s progress. Portfolio Night compliments Open House--an opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and hear about the curriculum--and is intended to provide additional progress reporting.
It is important to note that Portfolio Night is not meant to be a traditional parent-teacher conference. Due to scheduling constraints, it is not possible to offer individual conferences with each teacher in a format similar to elementary school. However, should you desire to meet with a teacher or team of teachers individually, please reach out to them directly. Teachers are very happy to conference with parents/guardians by phone or in person throughout the year.
Structure: In advance of portfolio night, students will work with their teachers to develop a
comprehensive portfolio that represents the very best of their coursework. With
the assistance of teachers, students will prepare a presentation of their work for parents/guardians.
Students and parents will select a time (see below) to meet at Shepard Middle School to review the portfolio. At the meeting, students and parents will be assigned to a classroom where the student’s Core teachers will be stationed. While the student will manage his/her presentation, Core teachers will be available should parents have specific questions best addressed by them. In addition, Encore staff will be available in designated locations to address any questions parents may have.
Timeline:
- October 20 Link opens for parents to schedule Portfolio Night time slot. Please note - you need to know your child’s team.
- November 17 Link to registration closes Friday before
- November 20 & 21 Portfolio Day/Night - November 20 (evening) & November 21 (daytime)
Warm Regards,
John1st/FINAL Posting - Tip Line & Text-A-Tip
We know that today’s middle school students experience stress and often are faced with difficult decisions. We have excellent resources in our schools to provide support, but often, teenagers need help, guidance or answers outside of school hours, or want their concerns to remain anonymous. The Board of Education has specific policy on bullying prevention. Click for policy 7:180, Prevention of and Response to Bullying, Intimidation, and harassment.
In our school, we not only follow the policy and procedures that are in place, but we provide resources for students to report bullying and seek help. Two resources are available to support students, even when they aren’t in school:
Tip Line Bullying/Incident Reporting
Text-A-Tip
Tip Line Bullying/Incident Reporting
Students, staff or parents - or any concerned community member - can inform school and district officials about issues that impact students.
How to Access Tip Line: “Report Bullying” is a Quick Link on the Shepard home page (and on the home page of of every District 109 school). Clicking on the “Bullying/Incident Report Form” button takes users to the Tip Line form.
Building leaders receive automatic notification when an incident is submitted, and can respond immediately, gathering resources within the school, such as the school psychologist, social worker or counselor, or contacting community resources when necessary.
Text-A-Tip
Shepard students can use their preferred method of communication - text messaging - to reach out for help for themselves or friends. Text-A-Tip allows teens to find anonymous, immediate help for themselves if they are struggling with drug or alcohol abuse, depression, difficult family situations, bullying, or any of the many challenges they face today. The service is available 24/7, is completely anonymous, and is staffed with local counselors to support teenagers (and others) who have a concern or a crisis.
Students all have stickers on their Chromebook with information on how to connect with Text-A-Tip.
Text-A-Tip is supported by a multi-community coalition that includes the Village of Bannockburn, Village of Deerfield, City of Highland Park, and school districts 106, 109, 112 and 113 (so if you have children at Deerfield High School, you may hear a similar message from DHS). A large part of the funding for Text-A-Tip has been provided by the Jordan Michael Filler Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that was established in memory of Jordan Filler, who grew up in Highland Park and succumbed to heroin addiction at the age of 23. The Foundation creates awareness of drug addiction.
How It Works: Anyone who sends a text message “224HELP” or “224AYUDAME” to 1-844-823-5323 will receive an immediate text response from a trained, professional counselor. Counselors are provided by LEAD (Linking Efforts Against Drugs), a non-profit organization focused on promoting healthy family relationships and preventing alcohol and drug use and other risky behaviors by youth. The response team consists of licensed/certified mental health professionals from The Child, Adolescent, and Family Recovery Center in Lake Bluff. They are local clinicians who already understand the needs of our communities.
Thanks to a system that routes calls through a cloaking server, texters are completely anonymous, allowing teens freedom to reach out for help without fear. In the case of a life-threatening condition, emergency responders will be notified and be given as much information as is available to help the person in need.
1st Posting - Halloween Dress
Shepard welcomes students to express their creative side and dress for Halloween while in school on Tuesday, October 31st. However, the following criteria must be followed. If these criteria cannot be followed, parents will be contacted to bring alternate clothing for the student.
Students can only apply make-up, spray colored hairspray, or put on costumes at home. Parents should have full knowledge of what their child will wear for school on October 31st.
Students will not be permitted to wear any type of mask or any other costume that will obstruct the learning environment at school.
School rules for dress will apply. Students should not wear anything that has a sexual connotation or would be considered inappropriate dress.
Students should respect political views and religious beliefs.
Costumes that promote graphic violence are not permitted.
Students should not use costume props of a violent nature, such as toy guns, toy knives, and/or toy swords, to name a few.
- Please be mindful of the impact of group costumes. We want to promote the social-emotional well-being of all students. If your child is participating in a group costume, please remind them to consider others and not intentionally exclude anyone.
2nd Posting - Shepard Pack The Pantry Canned Food Drive
6th Posting - Yearbook Orders
PTSO News!
Box Tops
Don't throw away those Box Tops! We collect them and submit them to
raise money for the Shepard Student Council. Drop your Box Tops off in the Shepard Office.About Us!
Archived Communications
September 22, 2017 News & Notes
September 8, 2017 News & Notes
September 1, 2017 News & Notes
Email: jfilippi@dps109.org
Website: http://shepard.dps109.org/
Location: 440 Grove Avenue, Deerfield, IL, United States
Phone: (847) 948-0620
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShepardMiddleSchool/
Twitter: @109Shepard