Our participation in pediatric cancer awareness and fundraising is underway! We are well on our way to increase awareness and make some meaningful donations to Alex's Lemonade Stand, Lurie Children's Hospital, and the American Childhood Cancer Organization. Thank you for your part in making this initiative successful. The remaining activities are listed below.

9/19 Streaks of Support

9/22 PJammin for Cancer Day

9/26 Dunk an MJ Staff Member

9/29 Reveal Celebration/ice pop party at 1:30pm

Sign-up online in the PTA Membership Toolkit for all events through the link PCAM - 2023. Please note the sign-up deadline for each event is 5 PM the night before so we have time to notify your child's teacher about their participation. Additionally, I hope to see many of you at our first PTA meeting of the year on Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 7:00pm in the MJ Library. Do not hesitate to reach out with any questions before then.

Fall is in the air! This was evident as staff arrived to school this week to find our planters repotted with a fall theme. Enhancing the entrance to the building for staff, students and visitors is one of the many things the Marion Jordan PTA does. Addtionally, PTA provides enhancements to the school experience for all students and school community. If you have not yet had a chance to join the PTA, please consider doing so by clicking this link.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding as we kicked off the 2023-2024 school month. We apologize for any confusion or frustration bus routes may have caused. Last year, we implemented Stopfinder (the new bus GPS system) as a resource to help families. Invitations were sent to families of bus riders.

Please note, the invitation will go to the PRIMARY email address listed in Infinite Campus (only one contact). Once activated, the primary contact can share the link to register with other caregivers. We have shared instructions for how to share the bus schedule below or it can be found on our website.

It is important to download the mobile app as StopFinder will have the most up-to-date information regarding your child’s transportation.

To help prevent the spread of illness, we would like to give you some guidelines to help with your decision on whether or not to send your child to school

We ask that you keep your child home if they:

• Have a fever of 100.4F or higher
• Have a sore throat with a fever
• Have diarrhea (3 or more episodes in 24 hours)
• Have abdominal cramps and/or vomiting
• Have a rash or open and draining sores

If your child has recently been ill, please be aware of the following guidelines before having your child return:

• Feel fit for at least 24 hours
• Be fever free for 24 hours without medication
• Be free of vomiting and/or diarrhea for at least 24 hours
• For strep throat, they must be on appropriate medication for at least 24 hours
• For conjunctivitis (pink eye), they must be on appropriate eye drops for at least 24 hours or cleared by physician
• Rash illness should be assessed by a doctor

The single most important thing you can do to keep your child free of illness is to teach them the proper way to wash their hands. Also, be sure they are dressed weather appropriate. Please notify the nurse if your child has a communicable illness (strep throat, influenza, lice, COVID, etc.), or any health concerns that need to be monitored at school.

Mrs. Spellacy can be reached at 847-963-5502 or via email spellacj@ccsd15.net

We will begin offering ice cream for purchase over the noon hour in the lunchroom starting on Monday, October 2, 2023. Ice cream will be available for purchase each Monday at Marion Jordan School. All Ala Carte items, including ice cream, meet smart snack requirements set forth by the USDA. The smart snack requirements are as follows:

• If the item is a grain product, it must contain 50 percent or more whole grain by weight and have a whole grain as the first ingredient.
• The first ingredient listed must be a fruit, a vegetable, a dairy food, or a protein food. The item must also meet the nutrient standards for calories, sodium, fats, and total sugars.
• The total sugar content must be 35% by weight or less. All of the ice cream products we will be offering meet the requirements.
• We will be offering an alternative option for students with allergies.

Ice cream can be charged to a student's meal account (THIS IS PREFERRED) if a positive balance is available. Students will not be allowed to purchase ice cream if they have an unpaid meal balance on their account. A student can also purchase ice cream by bringing in cash the day of purchase. Change will not be given at the school. Any remaining money will be added to the student's account and go toward paying off the unpaid meal balance. The cost is $1.00 per ice cream.

Parents are encouraged to set up an account with SchoolCafé to see a current balance, add funds to a student's account, and monitor transactions including ice cream purchases in the cafeteria. Parents can set up to be notified when their student’s account is in a negative balance. Please visit the District 15 website to set up an account if you haven’t done so already.

* Upon arrival to Door #1 (by the flagpole), kindly ring the doorbell on the brick wall

*A member of our office staff will greet you and ask the nature of your visit before buzzing you in

*All visitors are requiered to produce a valid ID that will be scanned through our RAPTOR system. If you do not have a valid ID you will not be allowed in the building.

*All visitors will recieve a colored lanyard that must be worn during the entire stay

*Meetings with teachers are by appointment only and must be scheduled with the teacher

*Only individuals who are listed in Infinite Campus under emergency contacts will be allowed to pick up a student. We will not release students to individuals who are not in our system as an emergency contact.

Case managers are currently reaching out to families to confirm IEP meeting dates and times. If you have not yet received information regarding the IEP meetings for your child, please reach out to them.

Special Education Parents Accessing Resources and Knowledge (SPARK) will be starting their parent groups soon. Please see the list of dates, as well as the topics that will be discussed below. All meetings will be held virtually from 7:00-8:30pm and additional information is available on the website: https://www.ccsd15.net/spark.

• September 25, 2023 - Is it Sensory or Is it Behavior?
• October 23, 2023 - Gestalt Language Processing
• November 27, 2023 - Anxiety in Children & Adolescents
• January 22, 2024 - ADHD and Executive Function Skills: Making the Connection
• February 26, 2024 - 504 vs IEP?
• March 18, 2024 - Summer Fun & Other Recreational Opportunities
• April 22, 2024 - Masking in Autism

District 15 is strongly committed to school safety. Each year, schools are required by the Illinois School Code to conduct the following drills:

• Three evacuation drills. One of the three evacuation drills must be supervised by the fire department.

• One bus evacuation drill.

• One severe weather/shelter-in-place drill.

• Two law enforcement (lockdown) drills. One of these two law enforcement drills must be a staff-initiated lockdown. The schools also conduct an annual drill review meeting with principals and representatives from police and fire departments to continuously improve each school’s readiness to respond to an emergency and/or crisis situation.

House Bill 2400 (The School Safety Drill Act) states:

• All lockdown drills will be announced to all school personnel and students prior to the commencement of the drill.

• Schools will provide sufficient information and notification to parents and guardians in advance of any lockdown drill that involves the participation of students.

• Schools will provide parents and guardians an opportunity to exempt their child for any reason from participating in the walk-through lockdown drill.

• Schools will provide alternative safety education and instruction related to an active threat or active shooter event to students who do not participate in a walk-through lockdown drill to provide them with essential information, training, and instruction through less sensorial safety training methods.

A Lockdown Drill has been scheduled at Marion Jordan School on Tuesday, October 17, 2023. Palatine police officers will be on site to facilitate the drill. Information about the drill will be shared with students prior to the event with age/grade appropriate language and content. If you prefer your child does NOT participate in the yearly required lockdown drills, please complete this form. Please submit one form for each of your children you are opting out.

Thank you to so many who indicated an interest in serving as a room parent for the 2023-24 school year. Our response was generally greater than our need. Mrs. Grosch will be contacting room parents in the coming week. If you indicated interest but are not notified that you will be a room parent this year, rest assured, there will be ways for you to be involved and help out. Room parents will receive the information sheet you filled out at Parent Orientation so they know what you are available to do to support their efforts. There are a few classrooms still seeking a room parent. Please watch for a communication from the teacher and consider your ability to fill this role if it is still available in your child's classroom.