School will be closed next Monday, February 17, 2020 in observance of the Presidents’ Day Holiday! Enjoy your long weekend!

H.O.P.E. Week

Thank you to all of the Thompson students, parents, and staff for celebrating H.O.P.E. Week at Thompson. A special thanks goes out to Mrs. Jolaoso and Mrs. Walker for their efforts to organize such a meaningful week. Most importantly, a huge thank you goes out to all of our Thompson students who continue to care for one another and reach out to a trusted adult if help is needed.

5Essentials Survey

The 5Essentials Survey (Parent Satisfaction Survey) is set to close today. If you have not done so already, please participate in this process by clicking on the following link https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/. We value your feedback and appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your suggestions for improvement!

Looking Towards Next Year

As we approach spring, the Thompson staff has already begun planning for your child’s transition to the next grade level. A big part of this involves the scheduling process. It begins by taking a look at the anticipated school population for next year. Based on these numbers, core teams are built and adjusted to take into consideration student needs. Next, the development of Exploratory and Physical Education rotations takes place, followed then by developing specific class period offerings. This is a complex process involving many variables, which is why this process begins during the winter.

To that end...parents of current 6th and 7th grade students, while we do not accept specific team requests, we do want your input regarding your child’s educational needs. If your child has a specific learning style need, placement issues, or social/emotional concerns that you want to share, please let your grade level counselor know so that we can find the best possible fit for your child as a learner. Please send this information on or before March 20, 2020.

This year’s 6th and 7th grade counselors:

• 6th Grade Counselor – Chris Fedyski (Christina.Fedyski@d303.org)

• 7th Grade Counselor – Leigh Gary (Leigh.Gary@d303.org)

See you back at school on Tuesday!

~Steve

We value the connection between education and the real world, therefore, we are looking for parent volunteers to come in and speak to our students on March 27th. Speakers will be asked to come to school from 8:30 - 11:00 am and will be giving 20 minute presentations to four different small groups of students.

Thank you for helping make this a meaningful experience for our students! Please send an email to lorie.michaels@d303.org if you would like to volunteer to be a speaker or have any questions.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Lorie Michaels

7-3 ScienceTeacher

There are a few tickets left for the 25th annual gala on February 22, 2020. But even if you can’t attend, you can still support the foundation! In addition to bidding on some fantastic baskets, anyone can buy e-raffle tickets for a chance to win $500 cash or $500 in D303 fees!

The best part is that all the proceeds go right back into D303 schools! For more information, please visit this website - https://e.givesmart.com/events/eYs/i/.

Schools will be closed on Monday, February 17th for Presidents’ Day. And Friday, February 28th is a non-attendance day for students due to a Teacher Institute Day. If you have any questions, please contact the main office at 331-228-3100.

Enjoy your long weekends!

The annual vision and hearing screenings mandated by the Illinois Department of Public Health will be completed February 18th through February 21st at Thompson. All 8th grade students, those in Special Education Programs, those students new to D303, and those whose teachers have requested will be screened. If your child has glasses, please remind them to bring them on those days.

Please contact Diane Isbrandt, RN at 331-228-3104 with questions or concerns.

Our Thompson Thunder students have the opportunity to purchase breakfast when they arrive to school each day. OrganicLife offers breakfast beginning at 7:30 am. A breakfast ‘meal’ is $1.60. Click here for more information.

Families who wish to submit Middle School Transfer requests may do so beginning February 3rd. The request form will be available on the District 303 website through February 28th. Families must complete a separate form for each student they want transferred. Requests are granted based on space available so siblings are not guaranteed placement. A written decision will be communicated to families before spring break.

Once the request is approved, a student may remain at that middle school throughout his or her middle school career, as long as the student resides in District 303.

Families of students granted permission to attend a school outside of their assigned attendance area are responsible for their own transportation. Students will return to their assigned attendance area high school regardless of the middle school attended.

• Monday, February 17 - Presidents’ Day Holiday
  

• Friday, February 21 - End of the M4 Health Rotation
• Monday, February 24 - Start of the M5 Health Rotation

• Friday, February 28 - No school for students - Teacher Institute Day

• Friday, February 28 - Middle School Transfer requests are due