Cherokee Newsletter 9.9.22

September 9, 2022

Dear Cherokee Families,

I hope that you all had a great Labor Day weekend! It is amazing how the short weeks sometimes feel like the busiest weeks! The students have settled in with understanding the school and classroom routines, following the school wide expectations, and engaging in rich learning experiences. I have enjoyed getting into classrooms to see your children in action! They truly bring me joy every day!

~Dr. Cavanaugh

Picture Day

Fall picture day will be held on September 22nd. Afterwards, you’ll be able to select your image for your yearbook. (please remember to do so before it’s selected for you), and all orders will be delivered to your home. To view and order photos from Picture Day: You’ll receive an email when your images are ready to view online. Or, you can search for them at vipis.com shortly after photos are taken. If you need further assistance, contact VIP at support@vipis.com.

Morning Announcements

One of our goals this year is to build a strong school community and focus on the social, emotional, and academic well being of all of our students. We have developed a common structure to our morning announcements with a daily theme tied to our goals and my commitment this year to have fun. Ask your child what they learned today in the morning announcements! This week for Wellness Wednesdays we talked about how vegetables are so important to eat daily to keep our bodies healthy and strong, and we also shared a fun fact about cucumbers that you may not have known.

Daily Morning Announcement Themes:

• Mindfulness Mondays

• Teachable Tuesdays- Connected to our School-wide Expectations and Monthly Theme

• Wellness Wednesdays

• Thankful Thursdays

• Dance Party Fun Fridays

Story Walk

The IRC is collaborating with The Lake Forest Library to bring The Very Impatient Caterpillar storywalk by Ross Burach to Cherokee School. Set up will begin Monday September 19th in the morning and the story walk will begin at the small playground. The story will remain up until Monday morning September 26th. All community members are welcome to come and enjoy the story of a group of caterpillars that scamper up a tree to metamorphosize, one of them is still learning about this whole transformation thing. Who knew that with a little time, and patience, he could become a beautiful butterfly?

Staff Leave

Our Cherokee Math Specialist, Krisha Yob, will be taking a leave of absence this school year for medical reasons. We are in the process of hiring for a long-term substitute teacher. In the interim we will be covering with a preferred building substitute.

Please make sure to drop off your child at the front drive by the main office if you are driving your child to school in the morning. There should not be any cars dropping off at the back circle off Greenwood Avenue as that is the bus drop off area.

Did you know? Lake Forest School District 67 offers Lake Forest residents with children ages 3-5 years an exemplary early childhood experience in the Community of Learners Preschool located at Sheridan Elementary School. The purpose of the program is to optimize the potential of each child through nurturing individual student growth in an integrated preschool setting. The Preschool currently has openings for the 2022-2023 Community of Learners program during the morning (8:30-11:00am) and afternoon (12:00-2:30pm) programs. Please visit our website for more information and enrollment instructions.

As you may know, we relaunched the District 67 and 115 website over the summer while content was still under construction, due to the impending expiration of the contract with our prior web vendor.

We continue to refine navigation, update content, enhance mobile adaptability, and respond to other community suggestions - all in an effort to improve your user experience.

We are re-sharing a video that highlights some of the website's newest features. As you navigate through the new site and locate information, we invite you to complete a feedback form to share additional suggestions.

Thank you for your patience as we strive to make our website the efficient and effective tool you deserve.

For other events and information, please visit the Food Services page of the website.

Another great week is in the rearview mirror! I was so thrilled to see so many of you at our Back to School Picnic this week. Our BTS Picnic Team (Danielle Knighton and Janel Brown) knocked it out of the park with the food, activities, and music! Thank you both for your dynamite planning and to all the families that attended this celebration! Thank you also to Derek and Anokhi Bock of Forest Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry for so generously donating the popsicles.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM

There are several ways to stay in-the-know on all things APT! We have a Facebook Group “Cherokee APT” that I would encourage you to join and we also are on Instagram @cherokeeapt. Both of these places will be utilized to communicate information, as well as every Friday newsletter.

SPIRITWEAR!!

Don’t forget to order your Cherokee gear! Stock up quickly before the sale ends on September 11th! Place your online order using the link below:

https://district672022.itemorder.com/shop/home/

UPCOMING EVENTS - Mark Your Calendars!

• Thursday, September 14th - BMX Biker Matt Wilhelm Assembly in school for our students
• Wednesday, September 21st is our First APT Meeting! Coffee will be available beginning at 9:00am and our meeting will start at 9:30am. All parents are welcome!
• Thursday, September 22nd - Cherokee Picture Day!

As always, please reach out if you have any questions or comments! Enjoy your weekend!

Gillian Goodfriend

Cherokee APT President 2022-2024

(773) 294-8131

gilliangoodfriend@yahoo.com

The Executive APT is thrilled to welcome our District 67 NEW FAMILIES! Whether you have recently moved to the area or made a switch from another local school, we are happy to have you join the D67 Community! D67 Parents/Guardians with new students at Sheridan, Cherokee, Everett and/or Deerpath Middle school are are welcome to join us Monday, September 12 from 9:00-10:30 am at West Park in Lake Forest for an informal New Parent Coffee! APT Representatives will be on hand to answer school or any area-related questions. We hope to see you there!
New Parent Coffee

Wednesday September 14th @ Cherokee & Sheridan

Thursday September 15th @ Everett

We are excited to host professional BMX Bike Rider and Motivational speaker, Matt Wilhelm to the Lake Forest D67 Elementary Schools!

Matt’s program is designed to entertain, educate and empower. He will creatively mix BMX bike tricks with his own stories of beating the odds. He is funny, interesting AND captivating.

Check out his videos by visiting www.MattWilhelm.com

September 23rd - Join us to discuss the humorous book There are Way Worse Moms Than You as we debunk the myth of the perfect parent, in conversation with local mom and author T-Ann Pierce and Michelle Hirschfield. This will be a very laid back, FUN but relevant discussion. You won't want to miss this!

We are so excited to welcome this year’s Visiting Author, Aaron Reynolds, a #1 New York Times Bestseller!

To get your signed autograph books, orders need to be placed by September 19th.

* Please note, do not check Tax-exempt

Please mark as though you are picking up in the store, even though you are not picking up the books themselves. Do not select shipping. In an effort to make sure that all orders get to the correct student, please indicate in the Order Comments Section: Aaron Reynolds Author Visit, School Name, Student Name, Grade & Teacher.

Please call the Lake Forest Book Store if you have ordering questions: 847-234-4420

Order Form

Mr. Reynolds will be visiting our elementary schools on the following dates:

• Cherokee - Wednesday Oct.12th

• Everett - Thursday Oct. 13th

• Sheridan - Friday Oct. 14th

The time schedule will be the same for all 3 schools:

• Grade 4: 8:15 am - 9:15 am

• Grades 2-3: 9:30 am - 10:15 am KEEPING IT CREEPY

• Grades K-1: 10:30 am - 11:00am KEEPING IT CREEPY

• All Grades: Book signing 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

The Spirit of 67 is proud to welcome celebrity BMX Rider, Matt Wilhelm back to Cherokee, Everett and Sheridan next week! Matt will entertain our students with his BMX stunts and positive character messages!

The cycle of fundraising for our District 67 Schools has begun and so has the Crosstown Challenge! Help our school reach its goal with 80% donor participation from our school families!

• Any contribution is eligible to count towards our participation goals and as always, all donations and money raised will directly benefit our students through grants funded by the Spirit.

• Donations can be made directly through this form.

Mark your calendars for the Spirit’s Home & Garden Tour on September 29th! Watch your mailbox for your invitation and Buy your Home Tour Ticket today at hometour2022.givesmart.com !

• As an added bonus If you purchase a General Admission ticket $25 of the cost will be put towards fundraising and count towards your school’s participation goals

• If interested, volunteer opportunities are also available here and there are a select amount of discounted Volunteer tickets available for purchase at this link.

Visit the Green Backpack or the front page of your school website to view the latest programs offered in our community.

Community Resources

Help is only a text away: Lead Text-for-Help. The only youth-focused mental health crisis text hotline in the country that is available 24/7, fully confidential, and staffed by licensed mental health counselors.