Happy Friday Kipling Families!

Thank you to all who attended our Back to School Night event last night. It was such a wonderful turnout and we are thrilled to partner with you for what we know will be a successful school year for your kids.

As a reminder, beginning on Monday and for the rest of the year, students can enter any door around the building beginning at 8:35 - we will not line-up on our recess lines any more. There will be no outside supervision before 8:35. The only door that will be closed is Door 2, so any students (typically 5th graders) who enter that door will have to enter through the Main Entrance Door 1.

Car Drop-off and Pick-up has gone very well thus far. Thank you to everyone for your patience during these times. I do ask for everyone’s help to make sure you pull your car as far forward as possible, and to please stay in your car at all times. Staff members can help with doors and make sure our youngest students get in and out safely if needed. If everyone follows these directions, we will keep the line moving efficiently. The entire drop-off/pick-up process usually only takes approximately 10 minutes or less for about 460 total students.

Please make sure you read a special message from our Superintendent, Mike Simeck, below.

All my best to you and your families over the weekend!

Respectfully,

-Matthew

Mr. Matthew O. Lombardo, NBCT

Principal

Kipling Elementary School

109 families,

School today is not like it was in the 40s, 50s, and 60s when most of our facilities were built. As teaching and learning strategies change and evolve, so must our buildings. You’ve no doubt noticed improvements and additions to our buildings over the past few years. Our approach, though, must look at both the short and long term when it comes to delivering the best educational experience for our students.

Over the past year, a Master Facility Planning Committee has been hard at work studying various options for addressing our long-term facility needs. The work of that committee will be presented to the Board of Education next Tuesday in a public Committee of the Whole meeting for them to consider, discuss, and give direction on which strategy to further develop. You can look at the presentation here. You are welcome to join us at 7 p.m. for the meeting in person. Can’t make it? Not to worry. You will have several options to follow the discussion. The meeting will be live-streamed on the DPS 109 YouTube page, available after the meeting on our website, and summarized following the meeting in a BOE Recap. There are still many steps ahead in this process and forthcoming opportunities to let us know your thoughts as well.

We thank you for your partnership and look forward to working on this together.

Michael V. Simeck
Superintendent of Schools

Welcome back from the PTO! We are so ready for a fun and exciting year. Please visit https://kiplingpto.membershiptoolkit.com/home for all things PTO. Please also note these important upcoming dates:

8/31: Sweets and Treats Ice Cream Social, 6pm-7:30pm @ Kipling

9/1: 1st PTO Meeting, 9:30am in the Teachers' Lounge

10/6: PTO Meeting, 9:30am in the Teachers' Lounge

Please feel free to email ptokipling@gmail.com for any questions!

Larry Letwat, President of the DHS Athletic Booster Club, in collaboration with DHS Athletics, has launched as part of our membership suite of products, the Future Warrior Fast Pass. This membership is for middle and elementary school students ONLY. For only $10, it provides FREE Admission to ALL HOME Football games, ALL HOME Basketball games (girls & boys) & ALL HOME Wrestling matches (IHSA events, playoffs and tournaments not included). Register at www.d113boosters.org and include your student’s name. A digital download fast pass will be emailed to you after registration.

-Doors open at 8:35am (Students enter the building on their own and can enter via any door except Door 2.)

-Announcements begin at 8:45am

-Classes begin at 8:50am

-Dismissal begins at 3:25pm (M, T, Th, F) and 2:25pm on Wednesdays

Kipling is composting! We are excited to be rolling out a lunchtime recycling and composting program during the Kindergarten and 2nd grade lunch period.

We are looking for daily parent volunteers from 11:25-11:50 am to help Kindergarten and second grade students as they learn our new routine. Parents can sign up for a once a week, once every other week, or monthly slot. If you aren't familiar with composting, we promise it's easy. We will provide training and the kids will catch on quickly. This is a great chance to help the planet and see your Kipling kids in action. Please email Sandra Merrill at SandraKMerrill@gmail.com or Jessica Lorber at Jzindell@gmail.com for more information about volunteering. Sign up to volunteer here.

Upcoming SEL Survey

Building students’ social-emotional learning (SEL) skills is important in District 109. As a part of the learning process, we ask students in grades K-8 to reflect on skills related to social-emotional learning and the school environment. The fall survey will be administered to all students between September 5th and September 22nd and it should take no more than 20 minutes to complete. Per policy, if you would like your child to opt out of taking the survey, please contact your school principal no later than Friday, September 1.

Still Missing Texts or Emails from The District?

Login to Family Access to check if we have the right number on file for you. If it’s wrong, please change it. If it’s right and you’re still not hearing from us, reach out to communications@dps109.org and we will get back to you!

Come See Us At The Farmers Market This Weekend!

We’ve got a scavenger hunt with prizes, crafts for the kids, cookbooks featuring your favorite teachers’ recipes for sale, and more! Meet the superintendent and members of the Board of Education and have some fun with us this Saturday! Look for the scavenger hunt as you enter the market… and for the big flag in front of our booth!

Park District Before and After Care

The Deerfield Park District runs all of our before and after school care programs. Please contact the Park District, 847-945-0650, if you have questions.

Park District After School Enrichment Information

Sharing on behalf of the Deerfield Park District: registration is open for fall enrichment programs. To see a brochure of programs and get more information, visit https://www.deerfieldparks.org/programs/youths-teens/.

If you have any questions, please contact the park district directly as they run the programs.

-Thurs 8/31: PTO Sweets and Treats Ice Cream Social, 6:00-7:30

-Fri 9/1: PTO Meeting in the Staff Lounge, 9:30-10:30

-Mon 9/4: No School, Happy Labor Day!

-Mon 9/25: No School

-Thurs 10/5: Picture Day

-Fri 10/6: PTO Meeting in the Staff Lounge, 9:30-10:30

-Mon 10/9: No School, Indigenous People’s Day

-Thurs 10/26: ½ Day of School Student Dismissal at 11:40am

-Thurs 10/26: Parent Teacher Conferences, 1-4pm and 5-8pm

-Fri 10/27: Parent Teacher Conferences, 8:30-11:30am

-Tues 10/31: Halloween Parade! More info coming soon…