Walter R. Sundling Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Monday, November 22nd from 12:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. and Tuesday, November 23rd from 7:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. We will be offering parents the option to choose an IN PERSON or VIRTUAL conference this year. Students are encouraged to attend the conference with the parent(s).

Look for further information and links to sign up online for teacher conferences using SignUp Genius during the week of November 8th.

Please note that each conference is scheduled during a twenty minute block of time. We only have a certain number of conferences available during the designated days, and they will fill up quickly. If a conference time is not available, work with your child's teaching team to find an alternative day/time or method of communication to discuss your child’s progress. Please note: After a virtual conference time is scheduled, you will receive a meeting link a few days prior to confirm and attend the conference. Sign Up genius will also send reminders about the conference date and time!

It is our belief that the best chance for student success comes from collaboration with all the student’s teachers. As a result, we will make our best effort to have as many of your child’s teachers present at your conference as possible. We encourage your student’s attendance at this conference, as we feel that his/her role in the process is crucial to improvement and success.

For your convenience, please note that Sundling teachers are available to address concerns via email and phone conferences, as well.

The Comprehensive Health Education Act often referred to as “Erin’s Law” was passed by the Illinois state legislature on January 24, 2013. This law requires that age-appropriate sexual abuse and assault prevention education be included in grades pre-kindergarten through 12.

Before winter break, your school will provide age-appropriate lessons on sexual harassment for 7th graders and dating respect for 8th graders. There will be a classroom-based lesson informing students about how to protect themselves from being a victim, how to help friends in abusive situations, identifying people you can trust, handling unsafe situations, and dealing with methods abusers use to keep victims silent.

To provide you with information about the law, parent information about the topic and a preview of what your student will learn in class, materials including the PowerPoint lesson to be used in class are available on the district website. There will also be copies of the classroom lesson materials available in the school office or you can request an electronic copy of the materials be emailed to you by contacting your school’s office.

If you DO NOT wish your child to participate in the “Erin’s Law” lesson, please click HERE to fill out this form before Tuesday, November 9. If we do not hear from you, we will assume your child has permission to participate in this program.

Please feel free to contact me If you have any questions or concerns about the “Erin’s Law” lesson. Thank you for partnering with us as we continue to provide learning opportunities to improve the safety and well-being of our children.

Information will be shared out to students through announcements, emails, flyers and teachers about the possible activities, and the dates and times that they will meet. We encourage families that can pick up their child for after school activities to do so at 4:05 PM, thus limiting the number of students that ride the activity bus home, and possible contact tracing that could occur with a positive COVID-19 case. Otherwise, if your child rides a bus to and from school, activity buses will be provided, and students will leave the school grounds around 4:15 PM.

Some possible clubs will be:

Homework Center (after school Mondays & Wednesdays)

Art Club (after school 1x per week)

Yearbook Club (after school TBD)

Book Club (before school 1x per week)

Intramural Program (Winter):

Tuesdays will be Basketball with Mrs. Fay (11/9 start)

Wednesdays will be Wiffle Ball with Mrs. Majewski (11/10 start)

Fridays will be Yoga Instruction with Mrs. Olson (11/12 start)

More could be added in the coming days/weeks.

As we get additional information, we will be sure to share it out.

We are very excited about the opportunity to provide more activities and clubs for our students outside the regular school day.

Dates:

Monday, November 1, 2021

Monday, December 13, 2021

Monday, January 24, 2022

Monday, March 7, 2022

Location:

Palatine Library

700 N. North Court

Palatine, IL 60067

Time:

12:00pm-3:00pm

We are looking for the following positions:

• Bus Drivers - no experience necessary; paid training; free benefits (employee only); pension; paid holidays

• Substitute Teachers and Substitute Program Assistants - set your own schedule!

• Full time Program Assistants

• Office and Library Clericals

• Maintenance/Laborers/Custodians

• And more!

Please contact Chanell Lopez at lopezc@ccsd15.net or Lori Thum at thuml@ccsd15.net with any questions.

Special Gifts Theatre (SGT) is seeking youth Peer Mentors (10 years & older) to participate in our adapted musical production of The Lion King Jr. in our Musical Theatre Palatine Program.

SGT is the only organization in the Chicago area that provides educational and therapeutic theatre arts programming for individuals with developmental disabilities.

Each peer mentor is paired with one of our students with disabilities in order to help them throughout the season and are an important component as they embark on this musical journey together. No theater experience necessary!

Peer Mentors develop friendships, understanding, and respect thus raising a generation of peers who reach across the barriers of differences and create environments of acceptance! The use of peer mentors:

-Foster inclusion

-Builds friendships that celebrate and honor creative differences

-Develops new awareness about disabilities

Click here for more information about our Peer Mentor program!

Here are the Musical Theatre Palaine program details:

• Class meets weekly on Thursdays from 4:30 - 6:00 pm
• At Walter Sundling Junior High School located @ 1100 N. Smith Street in Palatine
• November 4, 2021 - April, 2022 (final The Lion King Jr. performances are on Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24)

For more information, please contact info@specialgiftstheatre.org, or call 847-564-7704.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

District 15 is excited to begin Test To Stay (T2S) on Monday, October 25. This is an additional, optional testing regimen that will allow us to keep qualifying identified close contacts learning in person. Thank you for your patience as we worked to follow the guidance/requirements needed to safely implement T2S. Here are the nuts and bolts of T2S:

• Students must be registered and participating in weekly SHIELD testing (more information below).
• Students test on school days 1, 3, 5, and 7. If a testing day falls on a non-school day, we will work with you to accommodate testing at the earliest possible opportunity.

Participation Qualifications (Per ISBE & IDPH Guidance):

• The positive COVID-19 case and the close contact must have been engaged in consistent and correct use of well-fitting masks, regardless of vaccination status.
• Parents/guardians will need to transport their child to the District office for testing on test days and from school during the entire testing time frame.
• Students must be opted into weekly SHIELD screening to participate in T2S. We realize this is new information and have worked with IDPH and CCDPH, hopeful for some flexibility. Guidance is firm about this requirement.

Here’s How to Opt In:

• If you are currently opted IN for SHIELD and your child qualifies to participate in Test To Stay (T2S): There will be an additional consent form for Test To Stay. T2S will use a BinaxNOW test, different from the weekly SHIELD test. Results of the test take only 15-20 minutes. If your child qualifies for the T2S process, you will be sent the consent form to complete.
• If you opted out of SHIELD and your child qualifies to participate in T2S OR If you have not filled out anything regarding SHIELD and your child qualifies to participate in T2S: Please fill out this SHIELD consent form and email it to SHIELD@ccsd15.net to be opted in to SHIELD weekly testing OR you can fill out the SHIELD consent on-site on their first day of T2S. There will be an additional consent form for Test To Stay. T2S will use a BinaxNOW test, different from the weekly SHIELD test. Results of the test take only 15-20 minutes. If your child qualifies for the T2S process, you will be sent the consent form to complete.

How T2S Works:
Test To Stay testing will take place on school days from 7:00 am - 9:00 am at the District Office located at 580 North 1st Bank Drive, Palatine. Everyone entering the District Office for T2S must be fully masked at all times.

If your child is identified as a close contact and qualifies for T2S, parents/guardians will receive a close contact email from a District nurse or contact tracer with an invitation and instructions about how to participate in T2S. Following receipt of the email, parents/guardians must:

• Complete the Google form in the invitation email;
• Complete the Binax consent form in the invitation email;
• Complete the SHIELD consent form, if they have not already Opted-In to weekly SHIELD testing;
• Download the Navica Mobile App to their smartphone (directions will be in the invitation email) before coming to the District office to test - parents/guardians will receive the T2S results through this app;
• Transport their child to testing and home from school, as students cannot ride the bus at any time until the T2S regimen is complete.

Additional Information:

• Students participating in T2S may participate in extracurricular activities (as long as they remain consistently masked and physically distanced). Students on sports teams may participate in practice, but not games or competitions until the 15th day.
• Students may resume using District transportation and participating in sports/extracurricular competitions after they have completed the testing regimen.
• If at any point during the testing regimen, the student begins having symptoms, they must isolate right away.
• T2S participants should avoid social gatherings and remain home when not at school functions for the full testing regimen.
• OUTSIDE tests cannot be accepted for Test To Stay - it must be a District administered test.

We look forward to adding this screening measure to our mitigation efforts. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or your school nurse.

Sincerely,

Karen Flor
Coordinator of Health Services

Starting this year and moving forward, all curriculum and program purchases will follow a new district Research, Design Implementation Model (RDIM). The RDIM is a cyclical review process that allows the district to research and pilot materials for district use on a regular basis. During an RDIM cycle pilot, volunteer teams of teachers, specialists and administrations review potential programs, participate in professional learning, implement assigned units and collaborate in discussion on what resources best serve our D15 students’ needs and align to our district’s instructional vision. Currently District 15 is engaging in 3 different pilot projects and we are implementing a new 6th grade math curriculum. The current three pilot projects are occurring in K-5 Math, 6-8 Science, and 7-8 English Language Arts. As we explore the differing features of programs and corresponding levels of student growth in learning, students in classes participating in pilots may have different materials, homework and grading practices during this time. For example, the number of graded assignments given may be different, and possibly less, as teachers are spending more time conferencing with students individually and in small groups to help guide students in their learning. Should you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher.

November 11- Veterans Day (Virtual School Assembly- TBD)

November 15- WRS PTA Dine & Donate Event 4:00-6:30PM (WRS Parking Lot)

November 17- WRS PTA Meeting 7:00 PM

November 22- November 26- Thanksgiving Break: No School for Students

November 22- WRS Parent/Teacher Conferences 12:00-8:00 PM

November 23- WRS Parent/Teacher Conferences 7:00-11:00 AM

November 29- School Resumes

Do you intensely dislike having to sell “stuff “ to raise funds for an organization? Guess what? WE DO TOO!

With that in mind, in lieu of tasking students and parents with selling items that no one really wants, the Sundling PTA is pleased to offer a tax-deductible options to take the hassle out of fundraising. Your participation is completely voluntary and very much appreciated!

Please make your check payable to Sundling PTA and send it and this form back to school in an envelope labeled “Sundling PTA Un Fundraiser” by October 8th 2021. You can also make a donation online at

https://sundlingpta.memberhub.store/shopping/items/42765.

Please see flyer below for more information!!

Please stay connected with us via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SundlingPTA

Become a WRS PTA member today: https://sundlingpta.memberhub.com/store

Donate to WRS PTA: https://sundlingpta.memberhub.com/store/items/42393

Volunteer your time: https://forms.gle/RVZk3kTresSp7ppr6