Harper Happenings
January 28th - February 1st
What's Happening
Monday, January 28th
- Harper Open Gym begins, 6:30 - 8:00pm
- Board of Education meeting, 7:00 MEC
Friday, February 1st
- Early Release Day, Grades 1-4 11:55pm. Kindergarten AM, 10:00am/No PM Kindergarten
Saturday, February 2nd
- D39 Education Foundation Trivia Night
Assistant Principal Ryan's News to Note
Pushing through the snow to get our kids to school on-time and ready for the day is a struggle of winter. This week has been especially cold, and it made me appreciate the warmth of our halls even more. “Learn something great today!” and “have fun learning!” are the sayings that greet kids as they walk through our doors.
The Harper welcome routine includes teachers in the halls and by the doors sharing a smiling "welcome!" and "good morning, welcome to school!" as kids enter the building. So, it may be snowing and we all miss the sun, but know that the kids continue to smile and our team is full of energy to make everyday a great day for kids to learn something new.
Please read the information on Connections for the Homeless and 3-week challenge!
Board of Education Meeting
The monthly Board of Education meeting is Monday, January 28th at 7:00 PM at the MEC. Below are a couple of topics that may be of interest. If you can’t make the meeting, you can view it live or later, either on the District website or on Channel 6. Highlights of the meeting will be emailed and posted online within a day or two.
- Strategic Plan Updates
- Special Education Child Count
- 2019-2020 School Calendar
- 2019-2020 Student Fees
Coming Up/Reminders
Saturday, February 9th
- Destination Imagination Competition, 8:30am - 3:30pm. Awards Ceremony at 4pm, Highcrest Middle School
Monday, February 18th
- No School, President's Day
Wednesday, February 20th
- Harper Open House, 6:30pm
Monday, February 25th - Friday, March 1st
- Harper's Teacher Appreciation Week
Thursday, February 28th
- 2nd Grade Choral Concert
Friday, March 1st -- Save the Date!
- D39 Educational Foundation Family Bingo Night at Highcrest Middle School. Ticket sales benefit the D39 Educational Foundation Gripp Grants. Doors open 6pm
Harper PTO
We are starting to fill our volunteer spots for the 2019-2020 school year! Please consider volunteering your time toward a job on our Harper PTO. There are many options that range from a “one-and-done” spot like Parent Social or Taffy Apples to a commitment that spans the school year like Library Coordinator, Hospitality, Yearbook or Box Tops. There are spots on our Executive Board as well. Work alone or with a committee. Think about it and let me know if you have questions. I’ll be posting the open positions here but if you have a specific interest, please reach out soon!
Sissy Polacek
Girls On the Run!
- Harper Elementary will be hosting Girls on the Run again this spring for 3rd and 4th grade girls. The program runs for 8-10 weeks starting in March and ends with a 5K race. Practice is twice a week after school for 75-90 minutes. If interested, register at their website (gotrchicago.org). Registration is currently open and runs until 2/14.
- ALSO, we are in need of coaches for the girls. We need 2 full-time coaches for each team and the girls cannot participate without a coach. If interested, please sign up as well (gotrchicago.org).
Jr. Great Books
- Calling all book lovers! Join Jr. Great Books for a fun 6 week session to read, discuss, and participate in story related activities. Students will read a new story every week, and meet with their peers once a week during their lunch hour to ask questions, think critically, and delve into diverse literature. Sign up and purchase your materials ($18.95) via the sign up genius.
iGNITE! Enrichment Information
Thank you to iGNITE! for the following Enrichment Experiences!
- Mark your calendars, 4th graders! The Shedd Aquarium field trip is scheduled for Wednesday, February 6th all day. Please arrive to school on time as buses leave promptly at 9:00 am. Please send your child to school with a disposable lunch.
- The fourth grades enrichment trip to Feed My Starving Children resulted in 27,216 meals packed, feeding 75 children for a year! All in less than two hours. The teamwork and energy of our students was amazing to experience. Many thanks to our numerous chaperones for the generous gift of their time. Additionally, thank you for making this possible with your iGNITE! donation.
- What to do on these cold winter nights? Warm up at Harper Open Gym!
- Monday Nights from 6:30-8:00pm
- Starting Jan 28th – March 18th
- Harper Students only (no non-Harper siblings, sorry!)
- Limit 30 students, there will be a door monitor keeping a list. Just show up.
- Clean shoes must be brought in for the gym. Students may not go to their lockers so please bring shoes from home.
- A parent needs to stay with their child(ren). This is not a drop off.
- The Harper Open Gym program is sponsored by the PTO and your iGNITE! contributions.
- It is run by our awesome Harper PE teacher, Mr. T and WJHS/HMS Athletic Director Mr. Chris Toy!!
- First come/first serve. See you there!
Community Service Corner & News
Harper Pajama Drive
- From January 28th through Feb 1st, the Community Service Committee is collecting unused children's pajamas for Housing Opportunities for Women.
- Please consider donating and please visit http://www.how-inc.org for more information about HOW. Thank you!
- The PJs are assigned per grade as follows.
- K - size 3/4 (XXS)
- 1st - 5/6 (XS)
- 2nd - 7/8 (S)
- 3rd - 9/10 (M)
- 4th - 12 (L)
Connections for the Homeless:
"Throughout the year, the students have been learning about the struggles of poverty, hunger and homelessness in our community and worldwide through various service opportunities, visitors and discussions in the classroom. As one of our key service partners, Connections for the Homeless serves and catalyzes our community to end homelessness, one person at a time. They provide homelessness prevention, housing, and shelter and serve more than 35 communities in the greater Chicagoland region and help more than 1,100 individuals annually.
With the New Year here, and in the spirit of MLK day as we intend to empower individuals, strengthen communities, bridge barriers and create solutions to social problems we wanted to share an activity which can be used at home to continue these conversations at home through learning, reflection and sharing."
Please see the attached calendar of activities.
LINK: http://www.wilmette39.org/news/community_events
New Trier’s Student Dance Company presents “Kinesis Kids Dance Concert”. An interactive show for children ages 3-11 on February 9th.
Wilmette Baseball Association has opened registration for spring leagues.
Wilmette Historical Museum hosts “Meet the Lincolns” February 17th and "Design Your Dream Home" on March 17th.
Wilmette Park District hosts Kindergarten Enrichment Open House February 20th, 6:00-8:00 pm
Northwestern’s Center for Talent Development offers Weekend Enrichment Programs for students age 3 through 8th grade.
Kids Against Hunger service project on Saturday, March 16th.
Love to sing? Youth Choral Theatre of Chicago offers a free vocal training class with flyer. Vocal classes available for children ages 4-18.
The Center Fitness Club schedule and various park district classes for children ages 3-14 are posted.
Wilmette Food Pantry is open every Tuesday 10:30-11:30 am at Trinity United Methodist Church.
4th & 5th grade girls
Trevian Girls Softball Association hosts fast pitch softball clinics/evaluations for girls ages 9-10.
All announcements to be included in the Harper Happenings should be sent to Liz Hayes via the Communication Request Form by Mondays at 9 am. If you do not receive an email response within 24hrs, please send an email to elizabeth.hayes78@gmail.com to confirm your Communication Request Form was received.
For more school information, visit the Harper PTO website.
For additional D39 community events, visit wilmette39.org