WHS Principal Post - November 2020

Welcome to November at Hammerschmidt! It has been so great to see the kids back at school. While it is nowhere near "normal", the smiles from our WHS kids are so energizing. Thank you all for your continued support, patience and flexibility as we try to continually improve our hybrid model in District 44.

Below you will find some important dates to note for November 2020!

There is NO SCHOOL this coming Tuesday due to it being Election Day. The Hammerschmidt Gym will be used as a polling place.

Next Friday we will have our state required School Safety/ Lockdown drill around 10:00 a.m. I will announce this drill over the PA system prior to making the "lockdown" announcement.

This drill will consist of an announcement, then you securing your classroom door using nightlock and then moving our students out of sight from windows and doors. The Lombard Police Dept. and I will go around and check the doors to make sure they are secure. Teachers and staff will practice this with their students prior to our official drill on Friday.

As you know, we will only have approximately 1/2 of the students. WHS Staff members will hold another informal drill with the other group of students at another time when they are present.

If you are a family on the "A" schedule (Last names A-K), it is very likely your students who will be learning remotely will be asked to take a short break.

Don't hesitate to ask me if you have any questions!

The first trimester will be concluding on Friday, 11/13. Student Report Cards will be issued on 11/20. Parent Teacher Conferences will take place the following week.

On Monday, November 9th, WHS families will be able to go into Skyward to sign up for a VIRTUAL parent-teacher conference. Conferences will be held on on Monday 11/23 and Tuesday 11/24 from 1:00- 4:00 p.m. and from 5:30- 8:00 p.m.

Individual teachers will share the Google Meet link with you prior to your meeting time! We are looking forward to connecting with you to share your child's progress so far during this 2020- 2021 School Year.

The three "W's" will be very important for everyone's safety.

By now you are most likely on communication overload with all the emails regarding our processes in the district and those specific to Hammerschmidt.

Below you will find the link for the D44 SMART RESTART Family Communication Guide. Maybe print it out, bookmark it, or keep the link handy. It does answer many questions that you may have or will have if your child is sick or has been exposed to COVID.

D44 SMART RESTART Family Guide

See the details in the flyer below.

With the majority of student learning taking place remotely, ComEd understands that some of our staff and families may be experiencing financial hardship as a result of the ongoing pandemic. That is why they have reached out to let us know of its bill assistance options available to help those struggling with past-due balances. If you are aware of anyone that could benefit from additional support, please have them call ComEd immediately at 800-334-7661 (Mon - Fri from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.). They may also visit ComEd.com/support to learn more about the different payment assistance options and eligibility requirements. Here is copied text from their direct email:

• CARE Customer Hardship Grants. Residential customers facing financial hardship may be eligible to receive one-time CARE grants from ComEd to help them get back on their feet.
• COVID-19 Financial Bill Assistance. A one-time bill assistance credit of up to $500 is available this year for eligible, low-income households.
• Flexible, Extended Payment Arrangements. For a limited time, low-income households and residential customers expressing financial hardship may be eligible for a flexible payment arrangement so they can spread balances over 24 payments, with 0% down. Residential customers who may not be facing financial hardship, but would like to spread balances, may be able to do so over 18 payments, with no more than 25% down.
• Waiver of New Deposits and Fee Relief. ComEd is waiving any new deposit requirements for a limited time for customers expressing financial hardship and extending relief from various fees (such as reconnection fees) to help low-income residential customers.
• State and Federal Financial Energy Assistance. Illinois’ Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) and the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) also provide valuable financial help to households that may be facing financial challenges.

Feel free to share with your networks.

Our first ever WHS Trunk or Treat that took place last Friday was a huge success! A special thanks goes out to Marypat Hradecky for orchestrating this family event in a safe way!

Below you will find some of the pictures captured from this event!

Click Here for the Trunk or Treat

PICTURE GALLERY

Did you know you can Subscribe to the digital PTA and school calendar? Visit https://wh.sd44.org/apps/events/ and then click subscribe. You can choose iCal, outlook or Google calendar and it will automatically add the events to your calendar.

Join the WHS PTA Facebook Page so you will always have the most up-to-date information for all the PTA events happening throughout the school year.

PTA has a limited number of spirit wear face masks remaining for purchase. These are sized for a child, have adjustable straps, and feature the white WHS star, $8 each. To view details and purchase, please visit https://whs.memberhub.store/.

Reflections is a FREE art contest open to ALL students. Students are invited to create art based on this year's theme “I Matter Because. . . ”. Students must submit original works of art and may enter one or more of these categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, Visual Arts. For general information, view the flyer.

For specific information, rules and the entry form, follow this link. You will be directed to a Google Drive with the official rules, how to enter, the student entry form, and a folder with specific rules for each art category.

Remember you can enter multiple entries and in multiple art categories! Each submission will require its own entry form and Artist Statement.

All entries are due to the WHS office by Friday, November 6. Please deliver your projects to the Rubbermaid bin outside the school office. It will be available November 2 through November 6. Parents may drop off the art at any time between 8:15 - 2:00. Or, students attending in-person can drop off on their attendance day. (To minimize student movement in the building, the student should enter the office door upon arrival at school, drop the art off in the rubbermaid bin, and then proceed directly to the classroom.)

Be creative! Have fun! Please contact Tricia Nelson at pnelson7979@gmail.com with any questions.

During this time of remote learning, we know some of you may be interested in taking photos of different activities your children are participating in and sharing on various social media platforms. Please be mindful that we do have students who cannot be photographed due to safety reasons.

When sharing photos of your child’s learning on social media, it is important that only your child is seen in the photograph. It is also very easy for a child’s name to be captured in the background of a photo or in other documents shared with you (i.e. class roster information). We ask that you please only share photographs and information that relate directly to your child. Thank you for working in partnership with us to ensure the safety of all our students.

In an effort to keep our buildings as safe as possible, we do require that all visitors make an appointment prior to coming in. You may do so by contacting the building secretary via e-mail (evaldivia@sd44.org). When e-mailing her, please let us know the nature of your visit and time/date when you would like to come to the school. We will then respond with a confirmation or alternative times and dates. They will also send you a self-certification request, which you will be required to provide in advance of your visit to ensure you do not currently have COVID-19-like symptoms.

We encourage you to follow our school and district social media accounts. Parents should also be aware that this school year, we have opened up YouTube access so our teachers can share videos with our students related to their teaching and instruction. It is important that just with any other social media channel, you carefully monitor your child’s use of YouTube, as filtering restrictions will not be in place in order for our teachers to share videos that are educational in nature.

https://www.facebook.com/whselementary

https://twitter.com/WHS_Elementary

Click on the links below for assistance with your D44 technology devices:

D44 Tech Resource Hub

Direct Link for a "Help Ticket"

Parents of all D44 schools are welcome to attend these FREE events! Take a look at the brochure linked below. There are some phenomenal speakers covering a wide-variety of parent-interest topics!

CLICK HERE FOR THE GPS BROCHURE

The button below will also take you directly to the Glenbard Parent Series Website.

Email: ddanielski@sd44.org
Location: Wm Hammerschmidt Elementary School, Hammerschmidt Avenue, Lombard, IL, United States
Phone: 630-827-4207
Twitter: @ddanielski