Lyon & Pleasant Ridge Newsletter
September 6, 2019
Glenview District 34
Our Mission
Aspire. Explore. Discover. Connect.
Lyon School
1335 Waukegan Road
Glenview, IL 60025
(847)998-5045 Phone/(847)998-9701 Fax
(847)657-2894 Absence Calls/Health Office
Website: https://ly.glenview34.org
Pleasant Ridge School
1730 Sunset Ridge Rd.
Glenview, IL 60025
(847) 998-5050 Phone/(847)998-5532 Fax
(847) 657-2794 Absence Calls/Health Office
Website: www.pr.glenview34.org
Lyon & District 34 Calendar
Friday, September 20
Picture Day
Monday, September 23
District 34 Board of Education Meeting 7:30 p.m.
Monday, September 30
No School
Tuesday, October 1
No School - Institute Day
Friday, October 4
No School - Parent/Teacher Conferences
View the full calendar at the District website (www.glenview34.org -- Parents -- Calendar).
Pleasant Ridge Calendar
Monday, Sept 9
Laughing Academy and Spanish Begin 2:30
Tuesday, Sept 10
3rd Grade Chorus Begins 2:30
Wednesday, Sept 11
4th & 5th Grade Chorus Begins 2:30
Friday, Sept 13
Custodian Appreciation Day
Tuesday, Sept 17
PTA Meeting at Lyon 9:15am
Chess Wizards Begins 2:30
Friday, Sept 20
Picture Day 8am-10am
Monday, September 30
No School
Tuesday, October 1
No School - Institute Day
Friday, October 4
No School - Parent/Teacher Conferences
CLICK FOR UPCOMING EVENTS - After School Programs, Band & Orchestra
From the Principal's Desk
Dear Lyon Families,
The 2019-20 school year is off to a positive start! We hope that by now routines are beginning to settle in and that everyone in your household has happily made the transition back to school. If that’s not yet the case, please know it will come with a little more practice and patience.
This Lyon/Pleasant Ridge newsletter, along with our websites, is intended to answer in advance many of the questions you might have at various points throughout the year. However, if you ever have a question or need clarification on something school related, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are always here to help, and we welcome your feedback.
Thanks very much to those who joined us for Curriculum Night! As I shared during my remarks, we are all partners in the children’s school experience, and the more we can make that partnership a genuinely strong one, the better the experience will be for our students. So much of that relationship is based upon trust, and we take seriously the responsibility of earning that from you.
Also shared at Curriculum Night were the main details of our homework guidelines at Lyon. We will implement consistent homework practices this year across our three grade levels. This is intended to support developmentally appropriate amounts of practice outside of school while fostering children’s other healthy uses of time such as play, creative activity, extracurricular activity, and time with family. These practices are also intended to provide families with clear and consistent guidelines, regardless of homeroom teacher, for supporting a simple homework routine. For any homework situation, the following applies:
- Kindergarten - all homework is optional (if chosen, should not exceed 10 minutes total)
- First Grade - should not exceed 10 minutes total
- Second Grade - should not exceed 20 minutes total
These times do not include daily reading time (i.e., being read to by an adult and/or independent reading). Simply put, your child should work on homework assigned until the designated amount of time, then stop (or stop when finished if it is less than the designated time). We respect different families’ opinions and perceptions of their children’s homework needs, and we realize some families may seek out additional academic practice at home for their children. This will not be coming from Lyon staff as our differentiation efforts will be concentrated on the school day with our students. There is much you can read online and elsewhere on this topic. Harris Cooper, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, is one of the better-known researchers on the subject. You can read a simple summary of his work (referencing the “10-minute rule”, which has influenced our practices as described above) here. Thank you for your support!
Throughout these early weeks of school, the children will continue to learn and practice our school-wide guidelines for success (Be Safe, Be Kind and Give Your Best Effort), and we will reinforce these all year long. Thank you for also supporting these concepts at home.
Thanks also for supporting our goal of ALL students having positive attendance (the Be Here theme I spoke about last Thursday evening), meaning missing school fewer than 9 days total throughout our school year (5% or less of our year). This includes on-time arrival to school each day (no later than 8:50 am) and staying through our full school day (which ends at 3:30 pm). We will share more about this goal and its importance as the year progresses.
Thank you for all that you’ve done thus far to help us start the school year in such a positive way. We’re looking forward to a fantastic school year and to seeing you at Lyon soon.
Kevin Dorken
Lyon School Principal
Message from the Lyon Assistant Principal
Dear Families,
I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am the Assistant Principal for Student Services and I am excited to join Lyon School this year!
This is my third year in SD34, for the last two years I served as the Student Services Administrator for Henking and Hoffman Schools. I have worked in the public school setting as a special education teacher and an administrator prior to coming to Glenview.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to working with families to best support all children at Lyon School.
Here's to a great year!
Thank you,
Kim Williams
Happy September Pleasant Ridge Families,
It’s been a great start to the school year. It’s exciting to see our students back in our classrooms and the energy of learning spreading throughout our building. Our teachers have been busy focusing on fostering community in their classrooms and helping students acclimate to our routines. It’s amazing how quickly we’ve fallen back into the swing of things, it’s like we never left for the summer. The 2019-20 school year is off to a positive start, and I thank all our families for supporting a smooth return back to school.
As the school year begins to unfold, I wanted to take a moment and share some areas of emphasis this school year. From an instructional standpoint, we will be heavily focused on Writing Workshop. This curriculum was adopted by our school district and is to be implemented in all classrooms. Although it’s only been a few weeks since school has started, I can see the strength of our commitment at Pleasant Ridge. I’ve observed lessons in the classroom and been able to sit in on planning sessions with staff. It is a very rich curriculum that will support and challenge all our students. The beauty of this curriculum is that while there is plenty of structure and guidelines, children will have a lot of choice in their writing, which leads to high levels of engagement. Many of our teachers have already noticed a high level of enthusiasm from our student writers.
As we developed our school improvement plan, our planning team reviewed student feedback from the 5 Essentials and Safe and Civil School surveys to better understand our students’ perceptions. One data point that caught our eye was that 77% of students Agreed or Strongly Agreed with the statement “I’m glad to come to school most of the time”. We immediately knew that this was an area we wanted to improve upon. I’ve always believed that if a student enjoys their various experiences at school, the learning and growing will naturally come. It is my commitment to lead this school in creating a safe, positive, and joyful place for all students to learn. As the year unfolds, our school improvement team will be supporting our staff in reaching all our students and further creating an environment where children feel supported, and report having positive experiences at school.
Every year has a new flavor. The composition of classes is different, children have new teachers, we hire new staff, and students change from year to year. These natural changes bring about new challenges and opportunities. So far we are off to a great start and I see special things happening at Pleasant Ridge this year. I welcome all your involvement throughout the year as we partner to provide children with the best learning experiences and memories.
Here’s to a great 2019-2020 school year!
Erik Friedman
Pleasant Ridge Principal
Dear Families,
It is with great pride and excitement that I write my first email to you as Assistant Principal for Student Services of Pleasant Ridge!
Before coming to Pleasant Ridge, I was Assistant Principal and District Coordinator for Student Services in Deerfield Public Schools District 109. Prior to becoming an administrator, I was a special education teacher in both the public school and therapeutic day setting, working primarily with students who needed support with social and emotional regulation in order to access their learning.
When I'm not working, you can find me in Arlington Heights soaking up all I can with my family. My husband, Patrick, and I welcomed home our daughter in August of 2017 and life has never been the same:) We also have an English Bulldog, Sadie, who will be turning 10 in September.
As we look towards the upcoming school year, please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any questions, concerns, suggestions or wishes. I am eager to build a partnership with you so that together, we can best support your child.
Looking forward to what is sure to be a great year!
Thank you,
Megan Chin
Picture Day For Lyon and Pleasant Ridge
Picture Day is Friday, September 20th for both
Lyon & Pleasant Ridge.
Don’t Forget Your Smile!!!!!
PTA News
Don’t forget to register for the LYPR PTA today to receive your printed directory!
Join our Facebook group:
Parents of Lyon and Pleasant Ridge
Good News!! The Lyon and Pleasant Ridge Spiritwear on-line stores are now open! Grab your favorite swag to show your school spirit or as an early holiday present
Stores will be open until October 2nd and orders will be delivered the week of October 25th.
Go Lyons and Eagles!
https://energytees.tuosystems.com/stores/lyonspiritwearfall2019
https://energytees.tuosystems.com/stores/prspiritwearfall2018
Join the PTA by clicking below.
Lyon School Before and After School Pick Up Procedures
The following procedures have been put in place to make the beginning and end of the day safe and smooth. We ask that all parents assist us in assuring that every child at Lyon is safe by following these rules. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
All parents are asked to remain in their vehicle and pull up alongside the canopy at the front of the building to unload/load their children on the curbside. The line for cars starts at the student loading area and continues around the outer perimeter of the bus lanes. Parents are not allowed to park and walk their children through the parking area to/from a vehicle. If a child is having difficulty and requires adult assistance, please pull your car into one of the 15 minute spaces.
All traffic should go around the bus lanes and remain in the car lane for drop-off/pick-up. Only a single lane of traffic will be allowed in the inner circle of the driveway along the front of the school. Anyone needing to enter the school for a a before/after school meeting or activity is asked to park in the outer lot and utilize the crosswalk near the building to cross. The only exceptions to this are vehicles with designated handicapped parking permits and the student services transportation vehicles.
Parents will not be allowed to park and wait in the school hallway or under the front canopy of the school for their child, but must remain in their vehicle before and after school. If your child is assigned a bus please use this service whenever possible. If you will be picking children up at the end of the day, please write a note indicating your child will be a car rider or a walker. Your signature, your child's teacher's name, along with the correct day/date, will help in making the correct changes. If on the rare occasion your transportation arrangements require a change for your child during the school day, please call the office before 3:00 p.m. This will allow the office staff ample time to notify your child’s teacher of the change.
Students are not allowed to ride any bus other than the one assigned. Thus, a child may not ride home on another bus for a play date or go to another child’s home if it requires a change from their assigned bus. Parents will need to make their own transportation arrangements for this purpose.
Finally, please observe and follow all directions of the Lyon staff. They are present to assist in a safe and efficient pick up for your children. Thank you again for your cooperation with these procedures.
Important Visitor Procedures
Please call your child’s teacher to arrange an appointment if you want to visit a classroom. Sign in at the office so that we know you are in the building. We ask that you wear a visitor lanyard when visiting. Please sign out and return the lanyard when leaving the building. If you plan to take your child out of the building during school hours, please sign him/her out in the office.
All visitors (including parents) will be asked to present valid state issued identication (drivers license or state i.d.) that will be entered into the system before gaining access to the school beyond the main office.
Authorization to Administer Medication at School
If your child needs to take any medication during the school day -- either prescription or over-the-counter (including ibuprofen or other pain reliever) -- you must submit this form with a doctor's signature to the health office at school (Aquí está la forma en español.). There are no exceptions to this policy. Students should not have medication in their backpack or pocket; parents must provide the medication indicated on the form, in original packaging, to the school nurse.
All health forms are posted on the District 34 website on our frequently used forms page. If you have questions, please contact the Lyon health office at (847) 657-2894 or the Pleasant Ridge health office at (847) 657-2794.
Find Us on Facebook
Lyon School is now on Facebook. Follow @ LyonD34 to get news and views into what's happening in classrooms and around the school!
Food Service Menu and Cycle Calendar For Lyon and Pleasant Ridge
Please review this important food service information which includes the menu cycle and the cycle calendar. Click here for the Summer Food Service Newsletter.