Our students and staff know how to SHINE! We are so proud of the growth our students demonstrated on their most recent winter benchmarking assessments, including STAR. All families should have received their family reports this last week.

Thank you to all of our families who have been able to participate in our American Heart Association Kid's Heart Challenge. You can still join in!

Congratulations to all of our Churchill band, orchestra, and choir students and staff on their recent performances. Keep up the great work!

Thank you to those families that were able to attend the recent snack and chat with Dr. Schnoor. It was a great opportunity to connect and share ideas. Along with sharing celebrations and upcoming events, the following topics were discussed: STAR family reports, volunteering - opportunities and expectations, grading, use of parent portal, possible contacts and resources for mentoring.

Family support and active engagement in your child's educational experience is so important. Please continue to partner with your child and our staff to ensure your child is continuing to grow in their social emotional skills and academic performance. There is hard work ahead and we need our students making great choices and focused on learning. You can help! Please remind your child that you expect them to be safe, respectful, and responsible both at home and at school.

- Zendaya, American actress and singer

Churchill will be celebrating Valentine's Day on Tuesday, February 14th at 1:45pm. All classes will have a snack, games, and a craft with the support of our wonderful PTA volunteers. Please remember we can not share food or candy that is sent in from home. Staff will work with families to arrange an alternate snack if needed for students with dietary restrictions. If your student is not to participate, please notify their teacher. An alternate activity will be provided.

Only volunteers that have signed up and have been approved are allowed to join the party. Due to our commitment to safety and our screening process, we are not able to accommodate last minute changes on the day of the celebration.

Churchill School is proud to announce our Black History Museum night. This year's theme is Honoring Trailblazers. Please mark your calendar for Thursday, February 29th, 2024, from 5:30-7:30pm. In addition to many special activities and guests, student projects will be on display from all 3rd-5th grade classrooms. You do not want to miss this amazing school community event.

- Misty Copeland, first African American female principal dancer with ABT

• ACCESS testing for our EL students will conclude this week.
• OLSAT testing for only 4th grade will be Wednesday, 2/20.
• IAR testing will begin on Monday, 4/8.
• ISA for only 5th grade will be the week of 4/22.
• STAR testing (spring) will be Tuesday, 4/30 and Wednesday, 5/1.

Please mark your calendars and make plans to prepare your child to do thier best on these important assessments. If you have questions about any of these assessments, do no hesitate to reach out to the main office to connect with our testing coordinators.

HF students and HF alumni/young adults work together to plan and lead 5th and 6th grade participants in a day of positive and engaging activities. On Saturday, March 2nd participants will hear presentations on topics like self-esteem, leadership, finding positive friendships and have time in small groups playing games and connecting with their group members. Participants will be fed lunch and get a shirt. There is a $25 fee.

If your student in interested in attending, fill out this application and return it with $25 to the school office ASAP.

Please contact Ms. Hackett if you have questions. 708.799.5544 or elizabeth.hackett@hsd153.org

Support the PMA! This month the PMA is holding two fundraisers and needs YOUR help! The first is our annual World’s Finest Chocolate fundraiser, which students should have received info for in their classes last week. Any students needing additional copies of fundraising materials can contact their school office. We truly appreciate your help with this fundraiser as it represents our biggest fundraiser of the year.

Secondly, the PMA is kicking off a fundraiser with Charleston Wrap® and we need YOUR help to reach our goals and make this fundraiser a success! Luckily, it’s super easy; scan the QR code or go to this link. We appreciate all of your support and encourage you to spread the word to your friends and family, near and far! The more people who shop, the more money we can raise for the musicians in our district. And in Homewood, we know that all of our students are musicians- thank you for your help!

Contact: giggy_wagner@hotmail.com

Our District 153 Read-A-Thon begins on Tuesday, February 20, 2024 and is sure to be a fun and exciting event!

We understand that your time is valuable. We also know that providing the best education for your child is important. That's why we are encouraging everyone to activate their student's Read-A-Thon account as soon as possible. The instructions are straightforward, making it quick and hassle-free, and it should take less than 5 minutes of your time.

This account will serve as a hub for recording and monitoring your child's progress as a Reader in the event, and for you to share their Read-A-Thon message with friends and family.

Please use this link to activate your student's Reader account.

Thank you so much for your participation and support. Together, we can make this Read-A-Thon an amazing experience for our student readers!

Thank you,

Homewood PTA

Thank you to our Churchill Early Act Club for their hard work sorting community donations from our MLK drive.