Emerson's Enquirer
December 20th, 2018
Principal's Corner
Dear Parents/Guardians:
December has been a very busy month here at Emerson. We were treated to wonderful Orchestra, Band and Vocal Power Concerts, which displayed our students’ musical talents. The Emerson Beginning and Chamber Orchestra Concert, and Symphonic Band, Jazz Band and Vocal Power Concerts, and Chorus Concert were enjoyable events. Our students performed at the Golf Mill Mall, the Niles Senior Center and Nursing Home. It was wonderful to see how much musical talent we have here at Emerson
2018-19 5Essentials Survey
The Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be completed by staff, students, and parents in January 2019. New this year, ISBE has extended student participation to include students in grades 4-8. Results will provide information to schools in five areas: instruction, environment, leaders, teachers, and families. Research shows that schools rated highly on three or more of the five essentials are 10 times more likely to make substantial gains in math and reading.
Staff will complete the survey at our District-Directed Meeting on Wed., Jan. 16, 2019. Our parent community are expected to complete the survey during the first two weeks of January.
Students will complete the survey between Jan. 7-18, 2019. Parents were notified about the survey in December and were asked to return an opt-out form if they would prefer that their child not participate. More details about this and our survey schedule will be shared soon.
The survey will take no more than 20 minutes to complete. All responses are completely confidential. Teachers will be emailed a unique username and password to log-in and take the survey. Teacher names or other unique identifiers will never be connected with individual responses or used in any report. Aggregated data will be shared with parents and the general public on our school’s report card.
Data from this report will be used by our district and our school to help inform our school improvement planning efforts and to provide a picture of our school’s performance beyond test scores. It will not be used as a component in administrative or staff evaluation.
Student Illness
As the cold and flu season is upon us, several of our students have not been feeling well. Please remind your child(ren) that if they are not feeling well at school, they need to first inform their teacher and request to see the nurse. Once our school nurse has evaluated their symptoms, she will contact you.
Students should not be texting or calling you from their cellphones to come get them, until the school nurse has seen them to evaluate their condition. We have had several parents arrive at school unannounced, intending to pick up their child, without any notice to the school nurse or school secretaries. For security purposes, it is extremely important that the students seek the nurse to evaluate them first. So if they text you first, please encourage them to ask their teacher if they can go to see the school nurse.
Absences Add Up
Encouraging regular school attendance is one of the most important ways you can prepare your child for success in school. As we return from our Winter Break, please continue to make school attendance a priority. Students who attend school regularly earn better grades, develop healthy life habits, avoid risky behavior, and have a better chance of graduating from high school. When kids are absent for an average of just two days of school per month—even when the absences are excused– it can have a negative impact.
There are many reasons why students miss school—struggling to complete class assignments; having trouble with other students; feeling overwhelmed, disinterested, and tired; and frequently reporting headaches and stomach aches without a fever or documented illness. As a parent, you can identify the reasons why your child is absent from school and help them to overcome these challenges. Start here to find resources that can help you set your child up for long-term success by making sure they are in school every day.
If your child experiences difficulty transitioning back to school after the Winter Break, please reach out to our administration and your child’s grade-level social worker/counselor (6th grade: Ms. Lauri Short; 7th grade: Mrs. Madalyn Odell; 8th grade: Mrs. Alexis Rodgers).
Internet Safety
As technology continues to grow and expand, it is more important than ever to keep a constant vigil on checking where your child ventures on the Internet, as well as their social media sites used. This is especially true with the holiday break approaching. Remind your child that you will be checking their cellphones, as well as their computers/iPads and then follow through on a continuous basis. This will help prevent him/her from making poor choices and understand the influences that fall upon him/her. During children’s middle school years, they become very curious and easily mislead through social pressures.
DCFS Holiday Gift Giving Program
During this holiday season, I am proud to say that Emerson has truly embraced the giving spirit. Staff and students are involved in many different service projects including the DCFS Holiday Gift Giving Program, which provides holiday presents for less fortunate children and families. It is amazing to see the amount of donated gifts, which were purchased for 60 children and three families. Almost 100 packages were picked up from Emerson and delivered to needy Chicago area children and families.
Emerson Open House
On Wed., Jan. 23, 2019, Emerson will be hosting an Open House for the incoming 5th grade parents and students from 6-6:45pm. Then again from 7-8pm, the 6th-8th grades parents are welcome to visit, talk with teachers, and view all of the different activities available at Emerson. Mr. Benka, Mrs. Alaimo and I will provide information to 6th grade parents regarding the elective choices for next year, at 7:15pm in the Multipurpose Room. This meeting will benefit parents who have not had older children attend Emerson and have not gone through the elective choice process.
POWER
Eighth grade parents, please remember to sign your child up for POWER, which takes place on Feb. 22, 2019, 3-9pm. Registration is open until Jan. 11, 2019. The registration form and payment location can both be found on the Parent tab on Emerson’s website. Please click on the ‘Register my student for POWER’ link and it will take you to our district online payment system, ‘My School Bucks.’ From there, you can go to the school store and select POWER. You can also access all of this by clicking HERE!
Finally, I would like to wish you and your family a warm, enjoyable and healthy holiday season.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jim Morrison, Principal
Emerson Middle School
Inspire every child to discover, learn, achieve, and care.
POWER 2019
POWER 2019
POWER is a one-day experience, designed to develop leadership skills and promote healthy choices for our eighth graders from both Lincoln and Emerson Middle Schools. POWER ultimately seeks to bring together middle school youth, community members, middle school staff, and high school leaders to develop trusting relationships as well as providing a framework for understanding one’s self and others. The program also strives to teach young people the skills needed to develop healthy peer relationships, resist negative peer pressure, and promote responsible decision-making.
General Topics covered at POWER
Self – Esteem, Communication, Peer Pressure, Decision Making,
Positive Thinking, Alcohol and Drug Awareness
Registration Information
When and where will POWER be held?
Emerson Middle School. On Feb. 22rd from 3-9pm. Lincoln students will be taking a bus from Lincoln to Emerson. However, ALL students must have a prearranged ride home from Emerson at 9pm. There will be NO bus service home from this event.
Participants must be available for
the entire POWER program.
Participants will not be dismissed for games, practice, appointments, or other obligations as an important part of POWER is the experience your students will go through from beginning till end. Appropriate behavior is expected and parents will be called to pick-up students who choose not to follow this guideline.
ATTENTION...THIS IS AN
ONLINE REGISTRATION & PAYMENT!
All registration forms must be correctly completed and turned in with payment online using MySchoolBucks through the District’s Website. You can access this through EITHER middle school’s link on RevTrak. Please complete the registration form at the same time that payment occurs to avoid complications.
REGISTRATION OPENS DECEMBER 3rd
AND CLOSES DOWN JANUARY 11TH
NO LATE REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER 1 / 11.
THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS.
NEW! Health & Wellness Resources webpage launched
In District 64, we regularly support our students through individual and group counseling as well as our social-emotional learning programs so that students are able to engage in all that school has to offer.
As a follow-up to the recent showing of the documentary film, Angst, about teen anxiety, District 64 would like to further support our students and families by providing information about community resources available in Park Ridge and Niles as well as links to where you can find additional perspectives from other reliable organizations. Visit our new webpage here.
Calling All Young Authors
Are you an aspiring young author ready to share your work with others? The Young Authors Contest is an independent, voluntary at-home project for students interested in writing and publishing their work for others to read. See below for details.
December/January Notes from the Gym...
The month of December brought all Emerson students into our annual volleyball unit. Each student had the chance to work on and improve their volleyball skills. These skills included the forearm pass, the set, and both underhand and overhand serve. Once they demonstrated control of each skill, the students participated in volleyball games. They showed good knowledge of the rules of volleyball during game play.
In addition to volleyball, each student spent time using our fitness center. In the fitness center students utilized heart rate monitors (HRMs). The HRMs provide accurate and individualized information regarding daily workouts. Students continued to gain knowledge of health related topics such as max heart rates, intensity zones, and major muscles groups that are worked when using our weight machines.
When students return from winter break they will choose to participate in either a Rhythmic Gymnastics or a Fitness Challenge Unit. Each unit will last three weeks. A description of each unit can be found on our PE website under the “Forms” link. ( https://sites.google.com/a/d64.org/emerson-middle-school---physical-education-dep artment/home ).
The Emerson PE Department hopes all Emerson families experience a wonderful and restful holiday season.
Choral Boosters
The District 64 Choral Boosters need your help! We are looking for volunteers for the Choral Boosters board! Choral Boosters raises money to support the Vocal program.
90% of funds go to the specific schools your children attend to purchase music, enrichment materials, and concert decorations; and to pay concert accompanists, instrumentalists, and guest clinicians.
10% of funds support Choral Booster initiatives, including music camp scholarships.
For more information, please contact Christine Mayer, President: csmayer86@yahoo.com
or Terry Broeker, tbroeker@d64.org
Art Department will take your old towels!
Don't throw out those old towels if you get new ones!
We use them to soak/recycle dry clay and to dry tools
when the paper towels do not dry well enough.
Students may bring them in and drop them of in the Art Room, 324.
Thanks in advance for any donations : )
Sincerely,
Your Art Teachers
Important Message from D64 School Health Services
As we near winter break, family schedules become even busier, with holiday celebrations, travel, and more opportunities for children to play with one another. Please take the time to check your child’s head for the presence of head lice and nits (eggs) now, during break, and prior to return to school in January. If nits or live lice are found, all household members should be examined and treated if needed.
If your child has an active infestation (live lice), you should notify parents of your child’s playmates, so that steps can be taken to prevent further spread. In addition, please contact the health office at your child’s school.
Head lice are spread most commonly by head-to-head (hair-to-hair) contact with someone who already has head lice, and less frequently by sharing clothing or belongings onto which lice may have crawled.
Prevention Measures:
Avoid head-to-head contact during play (sports activities, sleep-overs).
Do not share items such as hats, caps, scarves, coats, sports uniforms, hair accessories, combs, brushes, or towels.
Do not lie on beds, couches, pillows, carpets, or stuffed animals that have been in recent contact with a person with head lice.
Machine wash and dry clothing, bed linens, and other items that the person with head lice wore or used during the 2 days before treatment, using the hot water (130°F) laundry cycle and the high heat drying cycle. Clothing and items that are not washable can be dry-cleaned OR sealed in a plastic bag and stored for 2 weeks.
Vacuum the floor and furniture. However, spending much time and money on house cleaning activities is not necessary to avoid reinfestation by lice or nits that may have fallen off the head or crawled onto furniture or clothing.
For more information, please visit the District website at
http://www.d64.org/health-services/health-safety-tips. Just scroll down to the section “Head Lice.”
Margaret Temari, R.N., M.Ed.
Facilitator, School Health Services
School Closing Guidelines
Enrollment and Registration 2019-20
Worlds of Wonder 2019
New District Transportation Email Address
The district has a new transportation email address (transportation@d64.org). This email is to be used for all busing related questions.
The link below will navigate you to the district bus information page.