Peirce School Family Newsletter
May 2017
Principal's Message
Para ver este boletin en espanol click aqui.
Greetings Peirce Families,
Good news came to Chicago Teachers, Administrators and Parents on Friday - school will remain open until June 20th, however the lawsuit that the city initiated against the State of Illinois was dismissed which leads to ongoing financial struggles that Chicago Public Schools will continue to face. Please note that the 2017-2018 CPS School Calendar can be found here.
May 1st-5th is Teacher Appreciation Week - please encourage your child to thank their teacher for the work that they do each and everyday. The Peirce Service Organization (PSO) will be hosting a teacher breakfast during the morning of Tuesday, May 9th which is National Teacher Day, if you are interested in participating, please bring a breakfast item in the morning to the front of the main office. I personally would like to thank all of the Peirce Teachers and Staff for their dedication to Peirce School students and families - our teachers go out of their way each day to make a positive impact on our youth.
We have quite a few things to look forward to in May - Move-A-Thon, our PYP Verification Site Visit, MAP Testing and several of our arts partnerships will be coming to an end. Let’s finish strong!
Warmest Wishes,
Lori Zaimi
Battle of the Books!
Peirce School's 7th/8th Grade team took 1st place in Network 2 and is advancing to the city finals!
April Highlights:
Thank you to everyone who was able to make it out to Hopleaf on April 30th - we are truly thankful to Michael Roper and Louise Molnar along with Friends of Peirce for their ongoing support of Peirce School!
Thank you to Ms. Thompson and all of the After School All Stars Teachers who contributed to our end of the year After School All Stars Performance Showcase!
8th grade students began enrolling for high school! This year, we have 51 students projected to go to Senn High School for either their IB, Fine Arts or Neighborhood program! We also have students going to Lakeview, Lane, Lincoln Park, Rickover, Von Steuben, Whitney Young, Jones College Prep and many more!
Our Student Council hosted a very successful spirit week, raising close to $5,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society!
Ms. Baumgarten & Ms. Bencel’s classroom finished their work with the CAPE project.
2nd grade students had a visit from the Japanese Cultural Center.
Thank you to PSO and FOP for hosting our 2nd Parent Mixer of the year!
Thank you to the PSO for hosting our Spring Parent Tour & Open House for prospective Peirce Families!
We had another successful round of student-led conferences, this time all students in PK-6th grade participated, next year we will expand this into 7th and 8th grades.
Several students received vision/hearing screenings and some students will be receiving new glasses.
Thank you to Manini Rao, Bessy Broemel, Pickles the Panther and Peirce Cheerleaders for kicking off the Move-A-Thon fundraising campaign with a school-wide Pep Rally!
We had over 20 people volunteer to present at Career Day - thank you to the many peirce parents and families who participated! Students walked away with a better understanding of the various career paths that are out there.
The Junior PSO sponsored a Move-A-Thon Dance Kick Off.
Student Council sponsored a playground clean up day on Earth Day - thank you to everyone who participated.
Rebecca Hendrickson hosted our 2nd Math Parent Workshop!
Student Newspaper
Ms. Ferrand led an after school group which produced a student newspaper - take a look here to view an electronic copy of their work!
Fiesta de Arte
This years Fiesta de Arte will take place on Saturday, May 20th from 11:00am-2:00pm. Fiesta is a great time to get together in celebrating the arts. There will be many arts based activities for children of all ages, food trucks, games, vendor booths and live entertainment! Ms. Leander is in the process of coordinating a “Peirce-Stage” which is somewhat like a talent show - if you have a talent that you would like to share with our community, please reach out to Ms. Leander for more information at smleander@cps.edu.
Move-A-Thon
Move-A-Thon will take place on Friday, May 5th. Please make sure to encourage your children to continue their fundraising campaign this week - please try to have all money turned in by May 5th to be eligible for prizes! Please note the schedule below, and click here to sign up to volunteer.
8:15 - 9:15 Pre-K AM, Kindergarten
9:15 - 10:15 1st & 2nd Grades
10:15 - 11:15 5th & 6th Grades
11:15 - 12:15 7th & 8th Grades
12:15 - 1:15 4th Grade
1:15 - 2:15 3rd & Pre-K PM
No Dogs on School Grounds
Please note that as much as we love dogs, they are not allowed on school grounds. This includes dogs that are on a leash or being held by their owner. Please help us keep Peirce safe.
PYP Verification Site Visit
On May 25th & 26th, Peirce School will be visited by 3 IB representatives from around the globe who will conduct our Verification Site Visit. Once this visit is completed, we will learn the status of our authorization in the PYP IB Program. The IB representatives will observe classrooms, talk with administration, students and parents about our IB Program.
Volunteer Celebration
Make sure to save the date for our Volunteer Celebration - June 2nd at 8:15am in the cafeteria. All Peirce parents are welcome to attend.
MAP Testing
End of year MAP Testing will take place between May 15th and June 16th. Students in 3rd, 6th and 8th grades will need to have the test completed by June 1st as their test data is one of the criteria used to determine promotion. A schedule of test dates will be shared as we get closer to testing. Please remember that the data that comes from this test is also used in our final school rating - Peirce is currently a level 1+ due to a number of factors, but growth in MAP data last year being one of them.
Box Tops
Box tops are collected on a regular basis and bring in additional dollars to the school - please save box tops throughout the year and turn in during the box tops collection time periods.
Join us on Social Media!
Be sure to “like” us on Facebook - Helen C Peirce School of International Studies is Peirce’s official Facebook Site. In addition, the “Peirce School PSO” has a site along with a closed group “Parents of Peirce” there is a lot of information shared on all 3 sites and are great opportunities to share and receive information along with networking with other parents.
Follow us on Instagram at peircecps.
May 2017 Calendar
June 2017
Helen C. Peirce School of International Studies
Email: lzaimi@cps.edu
Website: peirce.cps.edu
Location: 1423 W Bryn Mawr Chicago, IL
Phone: 773-534-2440
Facebook: facebook.com/peircecps