Emerson Families,

In the next few weeks, I will be on maternity leave. In my absence, Mrs. Carrie McCulley will act as the interim assistant principal. As always, you are welcome to contact anyone in the Main Office who will be more than happy to assist you while I’m gone. I will return after Winter Break in January. I hope everyone has a wonderful fall season and the happiest of holidays to you all!

Enjoy the weekend.

Tessa

Emerson at a Glance:

• W 9/28: Severe Weather Drill

• W 9/28: PTO Dine to Donate @ Panera

Looking ahead…

• W 10/5 E1: 6 week classes end

• T 10/6 E2: 6 week classes start

Parent Teacher Conferences are on 10/17, 10/25, and 10/27. We will utilize conference scheduling software this year - PowerPTC. Additional information will be forthcoming on how to schedule conference times.

Please see the weekly newsletter from Mrs. Broeker.

Picture retakes are scheduled for Tuesday, October 25th, 2022. For those of you whose student took a picture earlier this month, please wait for your child's unique ticket code which will be printed along with their image on a flyer. The flyers will be delivered to the school (along with the picture package delivery) in approximately four weeks. The prepaid site is no longer available at this time. Pictures will be delivered to the school and given to your student to bring home.

All are invited to attend the Maine East Fall Play, The Play That Goes Wrong: High School Edition. This hilarious comedy will keep you laughing all evening!

The Story:

Welcome to opening night of the Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. This 1920s whodunit has everything you never wanted in a show—an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines). Nevertheless, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences! This comedy is a global phenomenon that’s guaranteed to leave you aching with laughter!

Performances are:

September 29th at 7 PM

September 30th at 4 PM

October 1st at 7 PM

Tickets are $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students

Seating is general admission

Link to purchase tickets

Please see important message from Maine South High School regarding entry and spectator guidelines. This does apply to this evening's Football game as well as other events going forward.

This month, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at Emerson Middle School and across the United States. Kicking off today until October 15, we will recognize the diverse cultures, rich histories, and the significant contributions of Latin-x communities in the United States. Hispanic Heritage Month starts on September 15 to mark the Independence Day of five Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua). In addition, Mexico celebrates its Independence tomorrow, Chile on September 18, and Belize on September 21. Over the next month, look out for more information spotlighting the culture and achievements of Latin-x Americans!

You may access our guidelines for the 2022 - 2023 School Year on our website. As you will see upon reading them, the guidelines are very different from what we've experienced over the past two years. There are only a couple of mandatory rules we must follow when someone tests positive, yet you'll see the remainder of the guidelines only list recommendations. Each family can decide their own comfort level regarding which recommendations to follow, and we ask that everyone respects the choices of others.

Please join the Emerson PTO today! Emerson PTO is kicking off its membership drive. We need your help to make it a success. Your annual membership will make a HUGE difference in the events we can support. This is the PTO’s primary fundraiser. Once you sign up, you will have access to the PTO directory. Sign up here: https://emersonmspto.membershiptoolkit.com/

Mark you calendars for upcoming PTO events:

Dine to Donate:

Wednesday, Sept 28th 4-8pm @ Panera, 39 S Northwest Hwy, Park Ridge. Portion of sales donated to PTO

6th Grade Social:

Thursday, October 13th 3:20-5pm

See flyer for details and scan QR code to volunteer.

PTO Green Clean Up Event

Please consider joining the PTO and The District 64 Green Team members on October 15th. Please see the flyer attached for additional information.

Next PTO Meeting

Wednesday, October 19th @ 6:30p with special guest Dr. Olson via zoom

Meeting ID: 998 9601 0820

Passcode: Eagle

Tardiness

All students are expected to be seated in homeroom at 8:05 a.m. Students who arrive at school after the homeroom period (8:05 to 8:10 a.m.) must report directly to the office before proceeding to class. A doctor’s appointment or a bus problem are acceptable excused tardies. All other reasons will be considered unexcused. Exceptions must be approved by the principal. To assist students and parents in correcting this problem, a sequence of escalating interventions is followed after three unexcused tardies. These range from calls home, parent letters and conferences at school, detentions, tardy contract, and possible legal action against the parents.

Early Check-Out

If a student needs to leave the school before the end of the day, a parent note giving the reason, date and time of departure, and person picking up the student should be given to the teacher whose class the student is leaving. If you email this message to the teacher, please be sure to include the school secretary (em-office@d64.org) as a recipient. The student should report to the office at the time of departure. The parent or guardian must come into the office to sign out the student for the length of time the student will be away from school. If your child returns to school before the end of the day, please enter the school building and sign your child back in before he/she returns to class. Please note that students must arrive by 9:20 a.m. or be dismissed after 1:45 p.m. for their attendance to be counted as a full day.

Absences

For safety reasons and in compliance with state law, a parent is requested to notify the school office in writing or by phone within the first hour of school. If notice is not received, the school secretary will call parents at home or work to confirm the absence. To report an absence, please call the school office anytime, day or night, to access the voice mail system at 847-318-8110. When calling, please provide: student’s name; classroom/ homeroom; date of absence; and reason for absence. For illness, please share symptoms or diagnosis.

• EXCUSED: A valid cause for absence includes illness, observance of a religious holiday or religious instruction, death in the immediate family, family emergency, other situations beyond the control of the student, other circumstances that cause reasonable concern to the parent/guardian for the student’s safety or health, or other reason as approved by the Superintendent or designee. For a student to be released from school as an excused absence to observe a religious holiday or for religious instruction, parents should give written notice to the Building Principal at least five calendar days before the student's anticipated absence.

• UNEXCUSED: Absences due to vacations, travel, attendance at a cultural or sporting event, or participation in a team sport, acting or fine arts performance are considered unexcused. This also includes tiredness (unless your child is ill), oversleeping. If your child is NOT called in by 10am, they will be marked unexcused for the day, and parents will be contacted by the office to verify the absence.

Vacations

Every school day is important, and the District strongly discourages scheduling family vacations on school days as these are considered unexcused absences. If your child will be absent from school for an extended period of time for a family trip, please inform the school office and your child’s teacher. Work will be given upon return for students leaving the country or immediate District area when your children RETURN to school. It must be completed at home under a parent’s supervision. Teachers are not expected to provide homework or assignments in advance for students who will be absent for an extended period of time for family vacation and other activities.

Please refer to our lunchroom guidelines for students. If you haven’t already, please sign and have your student return this form to their homeroom teacher.

There will be three 4:00pm activity buses that will go to the Franklin, Carpenter, and Field areas. The buses will run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. These buses leave the the school around 4:15, giving students time to get from their activity to the bus. Please note: there is no 4pm bus on Fridays of long weekends.

The Niles Teen Center is calling all Emerson students to represent the Eagles and show off their dance moves at the NTC Fall Dance Party on Saturday, Oct 8th from 6:30- 9PM at the Niles Family Fitness Center. Prizes will be given out for limbo and dance competitions. Admission is $10 and includes snacks! Watch the video and register at https://www.vniles.com/1424/NTC-Fall-Dance-Party-2022

Beginning on Monday, August 22nd, there will be NO parking on the Greendale side of the building. For Student Drop Off and Pick Up, all families MUST use the Cumberland parking lot. Greendale drop off can ONLY be used for Band/Orchestra students before school, from 7:00-7:25. Please note that this lot will be closed until construction concludes. We appreciate your understanding and flexibility.

All Emerson students and parents are provided access to schedules via the PowerSchool parent and student portals. The PowerSchool Parent Portal allows you access to your student’s academic information, including student schedules and grades. If you have any questions on how to login, please contact the Emerson Main Office for assistance (847) 318-8110.

From the sixth to the eighth grade at Emerson, our students steadily mature in their social behaviors. One area in which these social skills are on display is lunchtime. This period is a time for students to relax, be with friends, and take a break from the morning work. It is intended to be a healthy, pleasant, and safe time. It is expected each class treats the cafeteria as they would their dining areas at home or at a restaurant. This has been a very successful process in teaching responsible behavior.

In the student planner, there is a section entitled “Cafeteria.” Please take a moment to review it with your student to help ensure a positive experience during lunchtime. The basis of the expected behavior directly relates to our SOARS behavior matrix, which focuses on respect, empathy, safety, responsibility, and self-regulation. Our expectations will be discussed with the students on Wednesday, August 31st. Students will bring a letter home for families to sign on Wednesday evening.

School hours for student classes are from 8:05 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. Please note that each Wednesday, students are dismissed at 2:10 p.m. for staff professional development activities.

Doors to the school open for students each morning at 7:58 a.m. Homeroom begins at 8:05 a.m. Students with an early entry pass will be permitted to enter the school between 7:35-7:45, but not before. There will be a teacher opening the door to permit entry at that time. We WILL allow students to enter before this if there is inclimate or cold weather.

School office hours are from 7:20 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Remember that our student absence line (847) 318-8110 is available 24 hours a day. Please let the Emerson Office know as soon as possible if your child will not be in attendance. Please do not rely on e-mail notification for reporting absences as it may not be seen until later in the day.

In an effort to keep you informed, we typically send a Friday newsletter each week. We may also send occasional e-blasts for important reminders and notices of events. The Emerson PTO also sends out regular communication with important information for the week. To join our wonderful PTO, please visit their website.

School supply lists are available on the Emerson website. Please remember to mark your student’s personal items with his/her name to avoid confusion if an item is misplaced.

If students forget something at home or are being brought a lunch, items may be dropped off at the Emerson Office. We instruct students to check in with the office during passing periods to pick up these items. We will not interrupt class to notify students of items/lunches delivered to the office. As noted in our district student/parent handbook, parents are discouraged from delivering lunch to the office from local restaurants; lunches brought to the office should be reserved for emergency situations, such as a forgotten lunch.

As a reminder, each Emerson student was issued a Chromebook computer as part of the District’s one-to-one digital learning program. Students will receive their Chromebooks and cases during the first week of school. Your child will also be assigned a gmail account to access Google Apps for Education and other digital resources at school and to further explore concepts introduced in class at home.

As a parent, we ask you to partner with us in ensuring that your child uses the Chromebook and District-provided gmail accounts appropriately. Please remind your student to charge their chromebook each night.

District 64 is excited to continue partnering with our students and parents as we expand the instructional benefits of a digital learning environment. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

You can find more information about the 1:1 Initiative, Chromebooks, and the other technologies available to our students here.

Lunch Reminders
The cafeteria will not be accepting cash to purchase lunch items. Students must use their MySchoolBucks account to purchase any food. Please see this flyer for more information from Quest, our food service company. You can also get a food service overview by clicking HERE.

Unlike elementary school, you do not need to pre-order meals or beverages. Students may select from daily offerings in the Emerson cafeteria. More information about our school lunch offerings and payment can be found here on the D64 Middle School Lunch webpage.

Though we have many food choices in our cafeteria, most Lincoln students bring their lunch to school. We strongly encourage this during the first weeks of school while we get our cafeteria systems and procedures up and running.

We highly encourage waste-free lunches. To help reduce waste, please consider using reusable containers for your child’s food and drink, rather than disposable bags and bottles. Lincoln is committed to green efforts in the lunchroom. The cafeteria also has a lunch waste sort station for students to empty their lunch waste into recycling, compost and trash. We encourage all students to do so every lunch period.

More information about Lincoln's work with eco-friendly changes can be found HERE.We appreciate your partnership in supporting our District and student environmental efforts!

All health forms should now be uploaded directly into Powerschool. This includes school physicals, dental and vision forms as well as athletic forms. When you log into PowerSchool, click on your child’s name at the top of the page, then on the left side click on forms. After that, you can click on “Health Office Document Submission of Athletic Department Document submission” then click add document and submit.

Please make sure that you have filled out and signed the health history parent portion at the top of the
back page of your child's physical. If your child requires a medical action plan or medications while in school, those required forms can be found on the D64 Health Services page under the header "Other Health Forms" If you have any other questions or more immediate needs, please contact the front office at 847-318-8110.

Parents and any visitors to the school should always enter through Door 1. All visitors must sign in at the front desk and put on a visitor’s badge if they have a pre-scheduled meeting or volunteer activity to attend. Never knock on a door and ask a student or staff member to let you in. Students and staff are instructed that they are not to open the locked outside doors for anyone. ALL VISITORS ARE TO ENTER DOOR 1, THE MAIN OFFICE.

Emerson Middle School, along with all District 64 schools, operates in accordance with policies and practices that have been reviewed and implemented by the District 64 Board of Education. Please review the D64 Student-Parent Handbook prior to the start of the school year to familiarize yourself with the information contained in it. We want to work in partnership with you to ensure a positive school year, and having an understanding of this information will help to promote a successful school year. This handbook is intended as a convenience for District 64 families and staff by summarizing selected information about procedures, services and programs. It also provides a quick reference for contact information and District timelines.

We are very fortunate to have a supportive and collaborative partnership with our Emerson PTO. Throughout the year, we will be working together to provide opportunities for our families and students. If you are not a member already, please consider joining this awesome organization. You can find information on starting or renewing your membership by visiting the Emerson PTO website.

The Emerson website and Emerson school calendar are valuable resources to keep informed of important updates and events throughout the year. The calendar is kept up to date throughout the school year, and new information is posted regularly. We hope that these tools are helpful resources for keeping you and your student organized and informed as we progress through the year.