Cougar Clips
2 December 2022
Happy Friday Kipling Families!
I hope everyone had a peaceful and healthy holiday last week. It is hard to believe we will be leaving for winter break in less than three weeks. Time really does fly when you are having fun! It is an honor for me to be here at Kipling working with your amazing children and our incredible staff every day. I love coming to work and I am eager to see what I will be learning with them. We are a family here at school. We work hard and we make sure to have a lot of fun along the way!
All my best to you and your families over the weekend.
Respectfully,
Mr. Matthew O. Lombardo, NBCT
Principal
Kipling Elementary
SEL Spotlight (Social Emotional Learning)
Morning meetings are the most important part of our school day here at Kipling. Every classroom takes time as early as possible in the morning to sit together on the rug, look each other in the eyes on a level field, and share a little bit about themselves. Topics range from gauging their emotional state that morning to sharing an exciting experience from a recent weekend or day off. As students learn more about each other, they learn more about what they have in common vs. what they might see as different. Our classroom communities grow stronger and stronger each morning and those bonds carry over into our grade level hallways and throughout our entire school.
During our Wednesday staff meetings, our staff take turns modeling Morning Meeting options and strategies. We learn from each other and I get to see many of the great ideas come to life as I visit different classrooms. I am very proud of this work our staff is doing with Morning Meeting and I continue to be impressed with how your kids respond and interact with each other each day.
Winter is Coming…
Pick-Up/Drop-Off Reminders
-Please stay in your car and continue to pull as far forward as possible. We want to keep the line moving as efficiently as possible.
-If your child needs to be unbuckled/buckled in please let our staff know and someone can help them get in or out of the car.
-If you want to walk your child to or from the door, please find a parking spot in the lot or on the street and then walk to the building.
Kipling Community Partnership Team
The team of teachers on the Community Partnership team here at Kipling are working towards including community members’ expertise within our lessons that apply to what we are doing in the classroom. We have created this brief form for members of our Kipling community to complete if interested.
By completing this form we will generate a list of adults that are connected to Kipling students who are willing to come into a classroom and teach about their profession. Teachers may use this list to invite professionals into their classrooms when applicable.
If there is a professional that is connected to your family that may have expertise on a topic they’d be willing to teach about here at Kipling, please forward this email, and the link to the form to them.
Here is the link to the Google Form.
If you have any questions, please contact one of our Community Partnership Team leaders, Chase McCulloch (cmcculloch@dps109.org) or Heather Sepper (hsepper@dps109.org). Thank you for taking the time to support and enrich the learning experience for our Kipling students!
-The Kipling Community Partnership Team
Seeking Cultures to Showcase!
In an effort to ensure inclusion of diverse populations and perspectives, we are looking for other Kipling families to use the Kipling Cultural Collection to teach the Kipling community about your culture! Display objects may include 6-8 traditional or cultural objects, a family video describing the significance of each object, recipe, flag, map, music, etc - anything to bring your vibrant culture to life!
If you and your family are interested in sharing your culture with the Kipling community, please complete this brief form. If you sign up, a member of our committee will be in contact about next steps. If you have any questions, please email Mike Schwartz @ mschwartz1@dps109.org.
-The Kipling Cultural Collection Committee
Kipling PTO
-Please sign up for your PTO Membership now! Click HERE to sign up if you have not already!
-The Kipling PTO is once again partnering with Restored Hope to fulfill the wish lists for a number of families in the Englewood Community. We will also be helping to fill their Hope Closet that is used to support families throughout the year with items such as paper towels, toilet paper and detergent. We are hoping everyone will participate, however, participation is always voluntary.
If you wish to participate in donating various gift items and basic necessities, please follow the directions below:
1. Go To Sign Up At: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094CA4AA28A3F85-2022
2. Select Item(s) Listed - You May Choose As Many Items As You Wish. Note: Please Sign Up by TODAY December 2, 2022.
3. Purchase The Item(s) You Selected & ASK FOR GIFT RECEIPTS. Note: All Items Should Be New & Unused.
4. Wrap The Item(s) & INCLUDE GIFT RECEIPTS - If A Gift Card, Please Put In An Envelope With The Denomination Indicated. Note: Hope Closet Items Do Not Need To Be Wrapped. General Gift Cards That Are NOT For A Specific Family Member Do Not Need To Be Placed In An Envelope. Please Just Write The Dollar Amount On The Gift Card.
5. Label Gifts/Envelopes on the outside indicating the Family Member (Example: Family A1)
6. Deliver Items To Kipling On Wednesday, December 14 from 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM or 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM or Contact Elise Kleinberg or Jill Lerner directly For Other Arrangements.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact: Elise Kleinberg (917.929.2527/emandi75@aol.com) or Jill Lerner (312.636-8895/ jilllerner@gmail.com).
Please open your heart to help make this a special holiday season for all. Thank you in advance for your support!
District Communication
One Week Left For The 109 Gives Back Holiday Gift Drive
Each item will help a local family fulfill their holiday wishes! We will have holiday-themed boxes lined up in the lobby of each school between through December 9th to drop off gifts. If you are bringing gift cards, we ask that you drop them off in the front office. You can view the wish list by clicking here.
Upcoming: PPS Event on 12/6
Please join us on Tuesday, December 6 at 6:00 pm for our next PPS109 in-person networking/workshop opportunity. No sign-up ahead of time is needed. PPS109 is a partnership of DPS 109 administrators, teachers and parents/guardians who provide education and support to families of children with a wide range of needs. Our next event of the ‘22-’23 school year will focus on practical executive functioning strategies to implement with your children. This event will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 6:00 pm in the Shepard Middle School LMC. We hope to see you there!
Deerfield Park District and Community News
The Deerfield Park District runs all of our before and after school programs. Linked here is the brochure & information for sign up. Please contact the Park District, 847-945-0650, if you have questions.
Upcoming Important Dates
December 7th - 3rd Grade Evening Concert @ 5:30-6:30pm
December 14th - Band Concert @ Shepard Middle School, 6:30pm
December 15th - Orchestra Concert @ Shepard Middle School, 6pm
December 15th - Regular Board Meeting @ 7:00pm
December 21st - 2:25pm Student Dismissal - Winter Break Begins
January 9th - School Resumes