The Tiger Times Newsletter
Pleasantdale Middle School
May 17, 2020
5.17.20 Thoughts from Mr. Sonntag
Dear Middle School Community,
Well, we're quickly coming to the official end of the 2019-2020 school year and I just want to say that I continue to be so impressed by the staff here at the middle school. Their dedication to take this situation and make something great out of it goes above and beyond. We're providing the kids exactly what they need right now: connection. Whether it is Mrs. Washburn doing a shared drawing via Zoom with the students or Mr. Tatina working with kids on a graduation song, so many of the kids are still connected to our staff and our school. This was one of our areas of focus when the school closure began and I love to see how we're continuing it now three months later.
Those unknowns about the future persist and we will continue to share our plans as we adjust them following the guidance of so many agencies. In the end, please continue to take care of one another and if you need support, please ask for help. We're all in this together and we're stronger together.
Cancer Walk Success!
Thank you to so many of you for participating in our Virtual Cancer Walk this past Friday. An especially heartfelt thank you to Mrs. Lauermann for once again spearheading our campaign. As of Sunday morning, we have raised $2,500! Thank you for your generosity and support.
Here's a 1:08 recap video with some of the pictures from people participating in the 2020 walk!
2020 Pleasantdale Middle School Virtual Cancer Walk Video
You can still make a donation to the American Cancer Society supporting this event at our school, please go to www.main.acsevents.org/pleasantdaleil.
Graduation Update
We are putting the finishing touches on our graduation plans and I'm even more excited now than I was during the idea phase! All of the details will be forthcoming to 8th grade parents via email on Tuesday. For now, please know that the event will start around 8:30 p.m. or so (once it is dark enough to see the screen) and the parking lot for the event will open at 7:30 p.m. Due to limited parking spaces, we are asking only one car per 8th grade family come to the event. We are planning to live stream the event (signal strength with all of the cars and cell phones is our unknown) and also have a link to the event a few days following the event to share with family and friends. The event is going to be a combination of live and video and is going to leave our 8th graders with a positive memory of their entire Pleasantdale experience. We hope all 8th grade families will be there!
Please also continue to read Dr. Palzet's updates each day as he is going to continue sharing with you important information about our eLearning programming and the district as a whole. His voice continues to be our one voice for the district so that everyone is receiving the same message at the same time. We will follow his messages with middle school-specific messages as needed.
Remember, we are all in this together. Together we are #P-DaleStrong.
Take care of yourselves, continue to stay home, and be well.
Mr. Sonntag
Materials Pick Up/Drop Off
We've assigned days and times by grade level for you to come to the school to pick up and drop off materials at the middle school. Read Dr. Palzet's complete email at the end of this section.
May 20, 8 a.m.-12 p.m., 8th Grade-8th Grade families still need to come again, please.
May 20, 1 p.m.-4 p.m., 7th Grade
May 21, 8 a.m.-12 p.m., 6th Grade
May 21, 1 p.m.-4 p.m., 5th Grade
Our staff will have packed up students’ belongings which will be ready for pick-up on the designated day/time. On your designated day/time you will drive up to the front of the school and provide the name of your child by writing it on a piece of paper and displaying on the passenger side window. A staff member will then bring your child’s belongings curbside and place them in your trunk. Please remain in your car. If you have school materials to return, we ask you to pack these materials in a bag and place them in your trunk. Our staff will then take the school items when we deposit your child’s personal belongings. To streamline our inventory process we ask that you include the teacher’s name or the word “library” to each item you are returning. We will not be collecting student iPads, rather students will keep their devices over the summer. If your child has checked out library books, you can expect an email notification with the title(s) of the book(s) from our library staff.
If this date or time doesn't work for you, please contact Mr. Sonntag (gsonntag@d107.org).
Dr. Palzet's 5.5.20 Email about Picking Up and Dropping Off Materials From/At School
4th Grade Parent Night, This Tuesday, May 19 from 7-8 p.m.
May 9, 2020
Dear Pleasantdale Fourth Grade Parents,
Welcome to Pleasantdale Middle School! My name is Griffin Sonntag and I am the Proud Principal here at Pleasantdale Middle School, Home of the Tigers! Next year, I will begin my 4th year as the principal and I’m really excited to meet you and your child. In light of our current circumstances, we are unable to host our usual 4th grade parent night, but we believe that connecting with our incoming families is a high priority.
We’re planning to get creative to make this event still happen, albeit virtually. We will be hosting a virtual Fourth Grade Parent Night with our 5th-grade staff through Zoom this Tuesday, May 19th from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. The evening will begin with a general introduction from me about our school and staff, followed by breakout sessions led by our staff members so you can get to know them more and see how wonderful they are!
During our time together, we will teach you more about our wonderful school and give you a chance to meet some of the staff who will be working with your child this fall. One of our goals for parents is that you learn something each and every time you enter our doors, even if it is a virtual door. The sessions will be fast-paced and provide you with information to support your child’s transition to middle school. We will share stories and help prepare you by providing resources and personnel for you to contact in the future. We really hope you are able to make it to this evening event.
Below please find the Zoom Meeting invitation.
Join Zoom Meeting-4th Grade Parent Night, 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75970468825?pwd=RUNoZk1uZU1oVFVpSXMwaEZLNk1TQT09
Meeting ID: 759 7046 8825
Password: Pdale45
Welcome to Pleasantdale Middle School! Adolescence is a time of great growth in all people. Your child is going to arrive in 5th grade as a little boy or girl and is going to leave us four short years later as a young man or woman. We’re excited to help guide you and your child along this journey. This is our thing and we’ve dedicated our careers and our lives to positively impacting families and children between the ages of 9-14. If you want to see a little bit more about what we’re about (kids and learning!), check out the video of our 2020 Pleasantdale Middle School Virtual Spring Pep Assembly from last Thursday. You don’t have to watch the whole thing, but I encourage you (and your child) to check it out!
We look forward to “meeting” virtually this Tuesday, May 19 at 7:00 p.m., and in-person in the near future!
Respectfully,
Griffin L. Sonntag
Proud Principal of Pleasantdale Middle School
Some Humor For You...
Shannon S.
Jai D.
Bella N.
Middle Students Doing Good Things For Others...
Bella N.: Over the past 2 months, Bella and her sister have been helping make cloth masks and donating them to doctors, hospitals, a VA facility, their pediatrician's office, nursing homes, and to essential workers. They have made and donated over 700 so far! Way to go, Bella and Grace!
Shannon S.: "According to Saint Baldrick’s, every two minutes someone somewhere in the world is diagnosed with cancer. We may not be able to cure it, but we can help as much as possible. It would be a great help — I’ve already raised a lot of money so far, but if you could send this out it would help me reach my goal. My page link: https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/for1the1kids1
Jai D.: "I have started a non-profit fundraiser for The Greater Chicago Food Depository, and a contribution of $25.00 will result in a gift box of a dozen cookies being either, Chocolate Chip, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip (Gluten Free). So far I have raised about $1,000 dollars in donations and was hoping I could share my message through the school. More information is on my page you can find it through this link: gf.me/u/xy56jx or you can go to this link: https://www.covid-tv.com/ to find me and other ambassadors." Jai
If you are in need of support, please reach out to us...
If you have needs (food, groceries, connection, anything), please do not hesitate to reach out to me at gsonntag@d107.org or 630-280-4704 and we will confidentially connect you to the support you're requesting.
Thank you to those of you who have contacted me and offered to help those in our community.
If you forgot to do the attendance form for your child on Friday...
As you probably read (a few times in the past couple of weeks), our attendance procedures changed a few weeks ago. Parents need to fill out a short google form for each child (preK-8) indicating whether they were present or absent for eLearning throughout the week (May 11-15). If you completed this, thank you! If you didn't, please click on the link below and do so right away. We appreciate your continued support with our eLearning program.
Grade Level Assignments for eLearning All In One Place
Here's a new, optional document that might help keep some students (and parents) organized:
PMS eLearning Organizer Document. Thank you to Mrs. Deaton for sharing this idea with us!
We started sharing these documents with students this week and wanted to share them with you. These grade-level docs will be the jumping-off point for eLearning by grade level. Please bookmark these webpages because we will be updating the document each day/week.
You may not have access to some of the links contained inside the docs, but you'll be able to access them with your child(ren).
Student Council Elections-For Students
Student Council Election
Please watch the Student Council Election Video FIRST and then submit your vote by Tuesday, May 19th, vote today!
Student Council Information from Mrs. Driscoll and Ms. Newberry
Student Council Wednesday Meeting
Join us for Student Council on Wednesdays at 3 p.m.
We will be watching the intern speeches live and voting
Meeting ID: 930 8204 4902
Password: 2meRzJ
Mrs. Driscoll & Mrs. Newberry
Friday Yoga for 5/22 from Mrs. Driscoll
New Friday Yoga
Take a yoga break this week and try this class called Yoga to Calm Your Nerves | 10 Minute Teens Yoga Class with Yoga Ed. and enjoy this energizing start to the day!
Mrs. Driscoll
Principal's Environmental Action Team (PEAT)-Final "Meeting" of the Year, Thursday, May 21 @ 3 p.m. via Zoom
If you couldn't make it but want to join us, please come this week or message Mr. Sonntag. The notes from our meeting are here. Our goal is to develop a plan for the next school year and beyond to make our school even more environmentally friendly. This team is THINKING BIG and seeing how the quote by Margaret Mead can come to life here at Pleasantdale Middle School:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
This team is for students and staff only, but if you're a parent who wants to support our efforts, please email me at gsonntag@d107.org and we will utilize your support.
We're going to meeting again this coming Thursday at 3 p.m. via Zoom. The Zoom meeting link is: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/79308432071?pwd=bm9PRk0vaUZWbmx2NnpIc3p5RHUydz09 Password: 1SW9NR
All are welcome!
Morning Announcements Keep Getting Better!
Each day, check out the morning announcements including information, birthdays, quote of the day, service idea from home, a request to respond, and much, much more! We send these out through Schoology each morning and will begin posting to social media as well! We hope the kids enjoy just a little bit of normalcy to their days in the form of our morning announcements.
Thanks to everyone who is participating! They are so fun!
Pleasantdale's Mina R. Won the CSWEA Don't Flush Contest!!!
Our own Mina R. (and family) won the Central States Water Environment Association-IL Contest!!! Thank you to all of you who voted for her by liking her video.
Future Events/Activities Update
District Communications All In One Place
To make it as easy as possible for you, the communications from our Superintendent Dr. Palzet are all in one place. They can be found on our district webpage here.
Continued Appreciation for P-Dale Middle School Staff
During these times, we need to remember that sadness and acting out for some kids may take many forms. Please be extra patient and show extra love during these difficult times.
Quote of the Week-
"Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are."
by Mason Cooley
Good News Network
Parent Education Corner
As a follow up to this blogpost on resiliency by my very talented wife, Dr. Jessica Sonntag, the third episode of their podcast dropped this week and it is all about how to build Confidence in our children. It's another great listen for parents with kids at all ages.
I hope you'll take a look at this and it will help you as we parent through these different and challenging times. Enjoy!
Episode #1 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 1-24:36
This provides an overview of the book and allows you to get to know the presenters.
Episode #2 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 2-24:26
Episode #2 focuses on developing competency in our kids and how as parents sometimes, we just need to "get out of the way" and allow children to "do".
Episode #3 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 3-33:49
Episode #3 Join us as we discuss the importance of confidence and how we build it through our own experiences versus false affirmation.
#4 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 4-33:39
This week we talk about the 3rd "C" in building resilience, connection. Discussion about independence, interdependence, blurring, and how to continue to get out the way while maintaining emotionally connected to our kids and each other. Join us for Live discussion Tuesday, April 28 at 3:00 pm. (meet.google.com/ipw-ouxn-ftw)
#5 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 5-37:06
The HBR429 Student Services Department continues it's series in building resiliency. This week the discussion focuses on "Character" as the 4th C of resilience. Character is taught by modeling your actions...
Join them live on Tuesday, May 5 at 3:00 p.m. to discuss Character (you don't have to read the book to join the chat!) Join with Google Meet meet.google.com/pam-uyrd-zmh
#6 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 6-27:20
We discuss how getting out of the way and letting the kids contribute helps give them a purpose while also helping them see that giving and receiving help is healthy and it creates an interdependence within our community that is valued. Resilience comes in recognizing we are enough just as we are, we can give when we are able and take when we are in need.
New--#7 Royal-ly Resilient Video Podcast: Episode 7-54:07
This week we talk about the 6th C of resilience-Coping. Listen here as we review the 10 Stress reducers Dr. Ginsberg provides for our stress-busting toolbox.
Join us for live discussion about coping with stress on Tuesday May 19 at 3:00 pm via Google Meets @ https://meet.google.com/wdq-sxti-hbx
Brené Brown's Podcast Continues...
Brené with Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass on The Power of Paradox-1:26.00
Jay and Mark Duplass are two of my favorite humans. They are film-makers, writers, directors, producers, actors, and activists. They’re also partners, fathers, and brothers who believe in connection, love, and the importance of small moments. In this episode, we talk about their memoir, Like Brothers, and how so much of what we crave in life…
Summer Academy Update
Due to the on-going stay-at-home order and in-person school closure for the remainder of the school year, we are currently developing options for our summer academy programming. More information will be coming to you in the future.
Collections at the Middle School-Keep Collecting, Please
We collect the following at the middle school:
1. Pop Tabs-The Pop Tab competition by grade has begun so please continue to collect Pop Tabs for us throughout the year. We donate them to Ronald McDonald House to support families of children with cancer.
2. Box Tops for Education-These are all given to the PTO to support our schools!
3. Lids-Our Elements of Nature Club (EONC) 5th graders are collecting clean lids to drink and food containers to create art to put around the school. There is a collection place in the front hallway outside the office.
Throughout the year, there are other collections and drives that occur. Keep an eye out for how you can support the causes that are important to the students and staff here!
Tiger Tipline
While it is always best to talk directly to a staff member, we understand that sometimes this can be uncomfortable or difficult for students or parents. At Pleasantdale Middle School, we offer the Tiger Tipline as an anonymous tool for reporting unsafe, uncomfortable, or unkind behaviors and situations. We explicitly teach the students that if they ever see something or hear something that makes them feel unsafe, uncomfortable, or is unkind, either online or in person, they should tell a “trusted adult” which could be parents, school personnel, or other adults in their lives. The Tiger Tipline can be accessed here and we will post the link in Schoology and create a shortcut to the link on the student devices for easy access.
School Spirit Fridays!
Lunch information-Grab and Go Meal Available During Closure
"Beginning March 17, we will offer meals to any child in the community,18 or under, who needs nutritional support. In partnership with our food service provider, Just A Dash, we will provide breakfast and lunch at no charge. Pick up times are between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM. This week we will provide lunches on Tuesday (today), Wednesday, and Friday. Moving forward, these “Grab & Go” meals will be available on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays through April 6 (and during spring break). To encourage social distancing, we will provide curbside service. Simply pull up to door #25 in the back of the middle school (7450 S. Wolf Rd., Burr Ridge), and food will be brought to your vehicle."
Review complete email from Dr. Palzet about Grab and Go Meals During School Closure
Follow Us on Twitter @Pdaleprincipal for updates and pictures of the happenings around the middle school!
Follow pdalemsactivities on Instagram for reminders about school spirit days and events throughout the year!
This Week...
Monday, May 18-Day A, Math, Science, Specials, PE
Tuesday, May 19-Day B, ELA, SS, Spanish, Resource, PE
Wednesday, May 20-Day A, Math, Science, Specials, PE, 3 p.m. Student Council Meeting
Thursday, May 21-Day B, ELA, SS, Spanish, Resource, PE (Last day for 8th Graders)
Friday, May 22-Virtual 1/2 day for students--Enrichment/Catch-up in the a.m.
8th Grade Drive-in Graduation at Moraine Valley Community College, 8:30 p.m.
(Parents submit attendance through morning email from Dr. Palzet)
Remember, parents, Friday you will submit attendance for the week (5/18-5/22). Look for Dr. Palzet's email around 8:00 a.m.
Next Week...
Monday, May 25-No School-Memorial Day
Tuesday, May 26-Final Day B of eLearning
Wednesday, May 27-Final Day A of eLearning
School's Out for Summer!
Questions? We're here to help!
Athletics: 708-246-7382
Mr. Mark Dreher, Athletic Director, mdreher@d107.org
Attendance notification: 708-246-3210, extension 5 or email middleattendance@d107.org before 8:20 a.m., please.
Health Office: 708-246-7619
Mrs. Denise Rende, Nurse, drende@d107.org
Main Office: 708-246-3210, extension 0
Mrs. Stacey Tantillo, Secretary, stantillo@d107.org
Ms. Maria Cuevas, Clerical Aide, mcuevas@d107.org
Mrs. Brianne Malatt, Assistant Principal, bmalatt@d107.org, 708-246-7373
Mr. Griffin Sonntag, Principal, gsonntag@d107.org, 708-246-7609
Social Worker: 708-246-7505
Ms. Carrie Castaldo, Social Worker, ccastaldo@d107.org