Peirce School Family Newsletter
May 2016
Principal's Message
Para ver este boletin en espanol click aqui.
Dear Peirce Families & Friends:
The week of May 2-6 is Teacher Appreciation Week - please take some time to thank the teachers and staff that work with your children everyday. Have your children make a card with a note of thanks or bring in something special to share with their teachers. The PSO is sponsoring a Teacher Appreciation Breakfast on Tuesday, May 3rd, Please sign up to contribute food/drinks and/or your time: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4faca82babfc1-teacher.
Also, a very Happy Mother’s Day to all of our Peirce mom’s - we appreciate all that you do to raise our next generation!
Please note that all monthly newsletters will only be sent electronically beginning in September, if you have not yet signed up to receive e-communications, please do so in order to stay in touch with what’s going on at Peirce. Visit peirce.cps.edu and at the lower right hand section of the homepage you can submit your email address.
Please see below for highlights from the month of April:
We are very appreciative to Friends of Peirce and Hopleaf for their generosity and commitment to our school! Thank you to all of the Peirce families and friends who came out to support our school. The May 1st fundraiser at Hopleaf was a huge success, more details to come on the final dollar amount raised.
8th grade students traveled to Northeastern Illinois University along with Argonne Laboratories - both experiences prepare Peirce Students to be College and Career Ready!
The class of 2016 has accepted their high school placements - 42 of our graduates will be attending one of the 3 programs at Senn HS! This is wonderful as we continue to grow our partnership with Senn. The remaining class members are attending programs at Amundsen, Kenwood, Lakeview, Lane, Lincoln Park, Rickover, Roosevelt, Schurz and Von Steuben!
Many Peirce students received hearing/vision and dental exams over the last month, we believe that a healthy child is best prepared for success when all services are in place.
4th and 5th grade students began their work with the Giordano Dance program which focuses on science and health.
3rd grade students are close to finishing their Lookingglass teaching artist experience and will have their final exhibition on May 26th.
Acceptance letters went out to families who have applied through the Magnet Cluster Program - we are very excited to begin enrolling next year's Kindergarten class.
Many of our After School All Stars Programs have come to an end with an eventful final ASAS showcase which featured the works of our students in Ballet, Cheerleading, Peirce Performers, Bollywood, Chess, Hip Hop, Ukele and video presentations from our other clubs!
Student led conferences were a success! See quotes from the IB communicator which detail the impact that these conferences had on students and their families.
2nd grade students from Ms. Baumgarten and Ms. Bencel’s classroom completed their work with the CAPE project and held their culminating performance on Peace earlier this month.
5th-8th grade students participated in the first round of our Garden Planting - K-4th grade students will participate in garden planting on May 26th and 27th. We look forward to collecting the harvest!
A huge shout out to all of the Peirce Families and Community members who joined the 48th Ward Clean and Green event and the Student Council Earth Day Clean Up - both events have helped Peirce clean up the many pieces of garbage that line the building. Please help us continue to keep Peirce clean by picking up trash as you see it.
Middle School Students participated in a very successful career day - this year we were very excited that some of the sessions were held in Spanish!
Student Council members attended a WE Day Field Trip which supports our work with Service Learning and Action! In addition, student council held a tree planting ceremony and we now have new life to our campus.
Sincerely,
Lori Zaimi, Principal
Yearbook Purchases
STUDENT LED CONFERENCES
IB Learner Profile - May
Balanced is the learner profile of focus for the month of May.
“We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives - intellectual, physical and emotional - to achieve well being for ourselves and others. We recognize our interdependence with other people and the world in which we live.
Budget Updates
During a recent principals meeting with CEO Forrest Claypool, principals were informed that unless the State of Illinois restructures the funding system for Chicago schools, we will face drastic cuts to the 2016-2017 budget. In a recent newsletter to families, CPS has stated that “CPS is facing major budget cuts for the 2016-2017 school year. There is a 20 for 20 campaign going on right now, Chicagoans contribute 20 percent of the state income tax and CPS students make up 20 percent of the state’s enrollment, but CPS students only receive 15 percent of the state’s funding. The missing 5% is almost $500 million - enough to save teachers and class sizes.” Visit CPS’s funding campaign at cps.edu/equality. I will be in communication with Peirce families as I receive more information on the 2016-2017 budget.
Local School Council
Congratulations to our 2016-2017 LSC members!
Parent Representatives
John Azpeitia, Joe Dunne, Eilene Edejer, Bill Kennedy, Jeff Korte, Jorge Rodriguez
Community Representatives
Ariadna Ginez, Joan Desanctis Kirk
Teacher Representatives
Shannan Dietz, Brooke Thompson
NWEA MAP Testing
MAP Testing for students in 2nd-8th grades begins the week of May 23rd, 3rd, 6th and 8th grade students must be completed by June 1st. All other grades will be completed with testing by June 10th. More information will follow with classroom testing dates and times. Please note that student performance on the MAP test is a large component of our school report card and rating. The MAP test is also used to determine promotion for students in 3rd, 6th and 8th grades.
Walk-A-Thon
Peirce’s Walk-A-Thon is scheduled for Friday, May 13th, rain or shine. Please continue to encourage your children to collect pledges - money raised goes to supplement teacher supplies and stipends, field trips, athletics and much more!
8:30 - 9:00am PK Morning and 8th Grade
9:10 - 9:40am Kindergarten and 6th Grade
9:50 - 10:20am 4th and 7th Grade
1:05 - 1:35pm 1st and 5th Grade
1:40 - 2:10pm PK Afternoon
2:15 - 2:45pm 2nd and 3rd Grade
CIWP Update (School Improvement Plan)
Our CIWP (school improvement plan) is close to being completed. Over the next two years Peirce administration and staff have prioritized the following:
Curriculum - we will continue our work with implementing the IB program, teaching, reflecting on and revising units along with submitting our application for authorization in the PYP program. Teachers in our MYP program will begin the self-study process, where we examine areas of strength and areas of development within our work with IB. We look forward to building commonalities across classrooms and grade levels which reflects the work of IB with our students.
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support - over the next two years we will focus on reaching the needs of all learners, developing a process for supporting students who are at, above and below grade level on standardized assessments and supporting individualized learning plans.
Balanced Assessment and Grading - we will develop a school-wide grading and homework policy, develop common grade level assessments and create common grading criteria for student work.
Restorative Approaches to Discipline - we will define our school wide discipline plan and how we prioritize the use of restorative practices when working with our youth. We will train and develop teachers and parents in the understanding and use of Restorative practices. We will also increase the use of positive messaging throughout the building and modeling of expected behaviors.
ARBOR DAY TREE PLANTING
Spanish Classes for Parents!
The PAC and PSO are hosting a Friday morning Spanish class from 8:00 - 10:00am in the Fieldhouse. If you are interested in participating, please contact Nora Hughes at flosky6@gmail.com.
Friends of Peirce
FOP Elections will take place during the June 8th meeting. If you are interested in holding an officer position on FOP please contact Dave Tilson at david@friendsofpeirce.org
Fiesta de Arts is scheduled for Saturday, June 4th from 12:00 - 3:00pm on the Peirce Field.
Save June 5th as a tentative date for Trivia Night at the Pork Shoppe!
More information to come on both events.
Suggestion Box
If you have suggestions on ways to continue to support/improve Peirce, please share via the Suggestion Box, also found on the Peirce homepage.
Electronic Request
Please share with families who may not be receiving the newsletter online that they can request access here, also found on the Peirce homepage.
Upcoming Events
May
3rd Teacher Appreciation Breakfast
4th Student Assembly - The Pangea Jazz Quartet
8th Mother’s Day
11th Friends of Peirce, 6pm, Fieldhouse
12th 2nd Grade Dream Big Performance, 1:00pm
13th Walk-A-Thon
PAC/BAC Meeting, 8:15am, Fieldhouse
19th Spring Concert at 9:30am and 1:30pm (2nd-4th & Choir)
LSC Meeting, 6:00pm
20th 7th Grade Field Trip to Springfield
Progress Reports Distributed
PAC Psychology Class for Parents, 12:30pm, Fieldhouse
26th Coffee with Admin, 8:15am, Fieldhouse
3rd Grade Lookingglass Performance, 9:00am, 12:30pm, 4:00pm
26th-27th Kindergarten-5th Grade Garden Planting
30th No School - Memorial Day
*Spanish Classes for Parents Fridays from 8:00 - 10:00am
June
2nd 8th Grade Algebra Test
3rd PAC Psychology Class for Parents, 12:30pm, Fieldhouse
4th/5th Giordano Dance Showcase, 1:05pm
4th Fiesta de Arte, 12:00 - 3:00pm, Field
8th Friends of Peirce Meeting, 6:00pm, Fieldhouse
9th Volunteer Celebration, 8:30am
10th PAC/BAC Meeting, 8:15am, Fieldhouse
13th 8th Grade Trip on the Odyssey
15th MYP Learning Celebration/Field Day
16th Kindergarten Sing, 9:00am
LSC Meeting, 6:00pm
17th PSO Meeting, 8:00am, Fieldhouse
8th Grade Graduation, 9:00am
19th Father’s Day
20th PYP Learning Celebrations
21st Last Day of School/Report Cards Distributed
Helen C. Peirce School of International Studies
Email: lzaimi@cps.edu
Website: peirce.cps.k12.il.us
Location: 1423 W Bryn Mawr Chicago, IL
Phone: 773-534-2440
Facebook: facebook.com/peircecps