HARRIET GIFFORD PARENT NEWSLETTER

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MARCH 25-April 3 SPRING BREAK

April 4 - No School - Election Day

From the Harriet Gifford School Nurse, Mrs. Frontzak:

We have seen an increase in the amount of gastrointestinal related illnesses. Symptoms may include vomiting, nausea, stomach pain, fever and diarrhea. Students need to be fever, vomiting and diarrhea free without the use of medication before returning to school for 24 hours.Hand washing is the single most important way to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. Hand washing reduces the number of microorganisms on hands that can spread communicable diseases. Teach your students how to wash their hands with soap and warm water.

We are still monitoring students for Covid-19 symptoms. Please review this link for the updated Covid-19 guidelines https://www.u-46.org/covid and please remember that any student who is not feeling well should remain at home and NOT attend school. This goes for ALL illnesses, not just Covid-19. Please do not medicate your child in the morning and send them to school. Sending your child to school ill puts EVERYONE here at risk for illness.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping students and staff healthy.

At Harriet Gifford, all voices matter, and this month, we’re looking for students to tell us what it’s really like to be a student in our school and how welcome, included, and represented they feel. During the school day, students will be asked to fill out the Student Equity and Inclusion Survey. All replies are completely confidential, and we’re just looking for students to give thoughtful honest answers. Find more details at u-46.org/studentequitysurvey #U46EquityMatters #WeAreU46

If you have an incoming Kindergarten student for next year or if you know someone who has a child entering Kindergarten next year, online registration opened February 6th. Please call the office to schedule a time to bring in all of your documents (Birth Certificate, Current Proofs of Residency). All Kindergarten students will need a physical before staring school in August.

Thank you so much to the parents who responded to the request to complete the 5 Essential Survey. We promised we would not ask you again to complete the survey. However if you have still not completed the survey, you have until March 31 to let your voice be heard. Our latest push to have parents complete the survey increased our total to 91 parents or 26% of our families. We appreciate your taking time to complete this.

Please stop in to HG and look in the Lost and Found. We have so many jackets, sweaters, water bottles, hats, etc... that are really missing their owners. Left over items will be donated to a clothes closet at Spring Break.

Any time your child is going to be absent from school, parents must call the school to report the reason for the absence. If you leave a voicemail, please tell us what their symptoms are. We appreciate your help and support. If you do not call in your child's absence, it will be considered Unexcused.

Parents,

School starts AT 8:00AM. Students may enter the building starting at 7:45 AM. If your child arrives late, you must walk them into the building and let us know the reason for the tardy.

Students arriving after 8:15 AM will be marked as half day absence, per district policy.

Some of our intermediate students are wandering the building in the morning and are arriving late to the classroom after 8:00 AM. They are referred to the office for a tardy pass. When student arrive at school they are to enter the school and it in the coat racks until the teacher opens the door to let them in. The only other place students may be is in the breakfast room until 7:55.

Chronic absence is defined as missing 10 percent or greater of the total number of days enrolled during the school year for any reason. It includes both excused, unexcused, out-of-school suspensions, and in-school suspensions that last more than one-half of the school day.

The chart below shows how many students by grade level are considered chronically absent from school. When children are absent they are not available for learning and fall further behind.

Students are required by Illinois law to be in school. Parents who do not call their children in are marked unexcused and referrals will be made to the Kane County Truancy officer.

The Student drop off area on Clifton Ave. Door 1 is only for Drop and go

before school. Many parents are sitting in their cars watching their children

walk into the school. This is causing a backup of other parents attempting

to drop off their children and creating an unsafe situation in the morning.

The safety of all children is of great importance to us. We will be contacting

the Elgin Police Department to assist us in the enforcement of this issue if

this does not get better.

Thank You

El área para dejar a los estudiantes en Clifton Ave., por la puerta 1 es

solo para dejar a sus hijos y marcharse. Hemos notado que muchos

padres están sentados en sus autos viendo a sus hijos entrar a la

escuela lo cual está provocando un congestionamiento de otros

autos de padres que intentan dejar a sus hijos y crean una situación

insegura en la mañana. La seguridad de todos los niños es de gran

importancia para nosotros. Nos pondremos en contacto con el

Departamento de Policía de Elgin para que nos ayuden a hacer

cumplir este problema si esto no mejora.

Gracias

PARENTS, your child is allowed inside school starting at 7:45 am.

If they want breakfast, they should go directly to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. If they DO NOT want breakfast, they may go directly to their classroom to wait for the teacher.

IF your child is later than 7:45, they may still go to the cafeteria for breakfast, but they MUST stay IN the cafeteria to eat, so this will, in turn, make them late for class. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD IS HERE BY 7:45 AM TO ENSURE THEY GET TIME TO EAT BREAKFAST, if you want them to have breakfast at school.

School District U-46 is in round 2 of the Co-Principal selection process. Identified candidates will meet with a team of HG teachers, parent and District administration to answer a variety of questions designed to help identify the candidate the fits the qualifications that were submitted by parents and staff in a previous survey sent by the District. If a candidate is identified, he/she will advance to round 3 which is anticipated after Spring Break.

If you interested in being a chaperone on a field trip, please contact your child's teacher. They will let the office know and we will submit a "Volunteer Request" with the District. You will then be contacted by Human Resources to schedule an appt. for a fingerprint/background check. This is for the safety and security of your children and is part of the U46 Board Policy.

Harriet Gifford Elementary opened in 1949 and is named after Elgin's first school teacher, Miss Harriet Gifford. Harriet Gifford se inaguró en 1949 y lleva el nombre de la primera maestra de Elgin,la Señorita Harriet Gifford.

Principal/Director: Mr. Joe Corcoran

Assistant Principal: Mrs. Geynell Lawrence-Tabb

Resident Administrator: Mr. Matt Erlenbaugh

School Secretary/Secretaria: Ms. Liz Blanchard

Attendance Secretary/Clerical: Mrs. Karen Greco

Home School Liaison/Enlce (Español) Ms. Sonia Mahecha

SCHOOL NURSE: Mrs. Andrea Frontzak

Family Ourtreach/SEL Coordinator /Trabajadora de Alcance Familiar Ms. Latanya Lugo

Parent Involvement Committee/Comité de Padres-President-Natalie Edwards harrietgiffordpthg@gmail.com

Email: joecorcoran@u-46.org
Website: https://www.u-46.org/Domain/19
Location: 240 S. Clifton Ave. Elgin, IL 60123
Phone: (847) 888-5195
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Harriet-Gifford-Elementary-School-261777437356089/?ref=settings