Reed-Custer Elementary School

Email: heather.faletti@rc255.net
Website:https://sites.google.com/rc255.net/rcesreed-custer-255u/mrs-faletti
Location: 162 S. School St. Braidwood, IL 60408
Phone: 815-458-2145
Facebook: facebook.com/RCES255/

IAR/ISA

The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) is administered each spring to students in Grades 3–8. IAR serves as an educational GPS system, assessing students’ current performance and pointing to what students need to learn. IAR is designed to give schools and teachers more information to improve instruction. Our students will take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in March this year. Our testing sessions are split up by grade and listed below.

Reed-Custer Elementary School IAR and ISA Testing Schedule for 3rd-5th grade.

ELA Testing Sessions:

• 3rd Grade: 3/19 & 3/20

• 4th Grade: 3/18 & 3/19

• 5th Grade: 3/17 & 3/18

Math Testing Sessions:

• 3rd Grade: 3/24, 3/26, 3/27

• 4th Grade: 3/24, 3/25, 3/27

• 5th Grade: 3/19, 3/20, 3/21

Make-up Sessions:

• March 24th-April 18th

5th grade will also take the Illinois Science Assessment in April.

Illinois Science Assessment (ISA)

• 5th grade only (April 8th, 10th, and 11th)

5Essentials Survey

This survey is intended to help local schools and districts identify strengths and weaknesses so that they can better target resources and interventions. The link below will take you to the survey.

http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/

The survey will close on March 29, 2024.

After clicking the link, you will be asked for the following:

• Email Address (used simply to help calculate an accurate response rate and to send you a thank you for participating)
• County: Please type in Will (this is the physical county location of the school buildings).
• School: Please type in Reed-Custer and select your child’s building. (If you have children in multiple buildings, we ask that you complete the survey for each.)
• How many children do you have enrolled in each attendance center? (Simply enter the appropriate number.)

Please take steps to keep your child healthy and send them to school unless they are truly sick. Every school day is an important opportunity for students to learn and connect with peers and teachers.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Starting in preschool and kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school. Missing 10%, or about 2 days each month over the course of a school year, can make it harder to learn to read.
• Students can still fall behind if they miss just 1 or 2 days every few weeks.
• Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
• Absences and tardiness can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up.
• Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves.
• Start building this habit in preschool so they learn right away that going to school on time every day is important.
• Eventually, good attendance will be a skill that will help them succeed in high school and college.

We're excited to announce a new attendance incentive program designed to encourage regular school attendance and celebrate classroom success! We believe that consistent attendance is crucial for student learning and academic growth.

Here's how the program works:

• Random Classroom Drawings: Throughout the semester, we will randomly select a classroom.
• Perfect Attendance = Treats! If all students in the selected classroom are present on the day of the drawing, the entire class will receive a special treat!
• Yummy Rewards: Treats may include pizza parties, ice cream sundaes, hot chocolate, and other fun surprises!

Important Note: Student Health is Our Priority

While we encourage regular attendance, please remember that student health is our top priority. Students should absolutely stay home if they are sick. This includes:

• Vomiting: Any instance of vomiting requires a student to stay home.
• Fever: Students with a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher should remain home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication.

We want to create a healthy learning environment for all students. Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our students healthy and in school when they are well. We look forward to celebrating perfect attendance with many classrooms this year!

Learning math facts is a priority for all grade levels at RCES. When students know their facts, they are more confident and able to solve problems. Learning math facts is crucial because they are the building blocks for more advanced math concepts, allowing students to solve complex problems faster and more accurately.

We strongly encourage all families to spend 10 minutes each night working with their children on math facts at home. There are many fun ways to practice: flashcards, math fact games, or even giving kids facts in the car on your way to a practice or the store. Encourage them to get faster each time they practice.

At school, we will practice math facts using a program called XtraMath. Please watch for more information from your child's teacher. This program will be used for daily practice and to track progress.

Recommended fact practice by grade:

• Kindergarten: Addition and subtraction to 5
• 1st grade: Addition and Subtraction to 10
• 2nd grade: Addition and Subtraction to 12 (3 seconds)
• 3rd grade: Multiplication facts to 10 (3 seconds)
• 4th grade: Multiplication facts to 12 (3 seconds)
• 5th grade: Multiplication and division facts to 12 (3 seconds)

March 3rd IAR / ISA window opens

March 9th Daylight Savings Time starts—don't forget to spring ahead! ⏰

March 10th FORCES meeting 3:45 pm

March 12th Early Release 11:50 No PreK

March 14th Spring Picture Day! 📷

March 17th St. Patrick's Day: Wear Green! 🍀

March 24th One School, One Book Kick-Off—Watch for a separate OSOB newsletter coming soon.

March 31st-April 4th Spring Break

When: Every 3rd Wednesday of the month from 4:00-9:00 or until sold out

• 3/19, 4/16, 5/21

Where: Top Fuel Saloon

Cost: Kids meals are $7.00, Adult meals are $10.00, or All You Can Eat Meal for $12.00

• To-go orders are also available

Due to the increase in enrollment, our cafeteria will be closed for lunch visits.

Breakfast at RCES:

Cost: $1.50 for full pay student.

Breakfast is served each day at 8:20 in the cafeteria at RCES.

Breakfast will begin August 19th.

Please let the classroom teacher know if you do not want your child to eat breakfast.

Lunch at RCES:

Cost: $2.50 for full pay student

Lunch Times-

• Kindergarten 11:00-11:30
• 1st Grade 11:05-11:35
• 2nd Grade 11:40-12:10
• 3rd Grade 11:45-12:15
• 4th Grade 12:15-12:45
• 5th Grade 12:20-12:50

Parents sending in lunches - Please have your child practice opening containers and difficult packaging before sending them to school.