Emerson Middle School Newsletter

Emerson Families,

Emerson will hold its St. Baldrick's assembly on Wednesday, March 8th at 12:45pm. If your student is cutting or shaving their hair, you are invited to join us! Please email em-office@d64.org to alert us of your attendance. Please include your name and Date of Birth to expedite the check in process.

We will everyone a wonderful weekend! Please holler with any questions or concerns.

Best,

Dr. Samantha Alaimo

Promotion: Tuesday, June 6th at 6:30pm on the Maine South Football Field

Rain Date: Thursday, June 8th at 6:30pm on the Maine South Football Field

It’s time to order your 8th-grade class shirt! All of the students' names are on the back. We will have a day designated where we will encourage the students to wear their shirts. T-shirts are $14 and sizes range Youth Large-Adult 3XL. Purchase online at:

https://emersonmspto.membershiptoolkit.com/Open_Forms

Shirt orders are due by March 3rd!

Emerson's boys' volleyball teams will be holding tryouts on the following dates:

8th grade

Mon 3/6 8th Grade Tryout #1 7:00 - 8:00 am

Tue 3/7 8th Grade Tryout #2 7:00 - 8:00 am

Participants should plan on attending BOTH sessions.

7th grade

Wed 3/8 7th Grade Tryout #1 7:00 - 8:00 am

Thu 3/9 7th Grade Tryout #2 3:00 - 5:00 pm

Participants should plan on attending BOTH sessions.

*Tryout sign-ups will begin during PE classes the week of February 21st.

Players must have an Athletic Physical Form turned in to the Emerson Health Office in order to attend tryouts.

Contact Coach Schauer (aschauer@d64.org) or

Coach Alvarez (palvarez@d64.org) with any questions.

Emerson will hold its St. Baldrick's assembly on Wednesday, March 8th. If your student is cutting or shaving their hair, you are invited to join us! Please email em-office@d64.org to alert us of your attendance. Please include your name and Date of Birth to expedite the check in process.

Emerson and Lincoln are currently busy fundraising for St. Baldrick's. You can learn more about this organization by reading this brief introduction or by visiting the Baldrick's website.

You can still donate to your favorite volunteer or shavee and help Emerson raise funds for this great cause. Also, don't forget to share the Lincoln/Emerson Baldies link with your family, friends, etc. Use your circle of influence to your advantage.

If you have any questions reach out to either Ms. Dobrydnio (edobrydnio@d64.org) or Mr. Lawson (elawson@d64.org).

Spring conferences are on February 28th from 3:30-7:30pm. These conferences are by request only. If a conference is needed, a teacher will reach out to you in the next two weeks.

Thursday, March 9, 2023 3:10 St Baldrick’s Fundraiser Show $5.00

** all proceeds collected at this performance will be donated to St. Baldrick's fundraiser**

Friday, March 10, 2023 7:00 PM Blue Cast $6.00 Online

Saturday, March 11, 2023 3:00 PM Blue Cast $6.00 Online

Saturday, March 11, 2023 7:00 PM Red Cast $6.00 Online

Sunday, March 12, 2023 3:00 PM Red Cast $6.00 Online

Ticket prices increase to $7.50 on March 10

Newsies Jr. Tickets

Dear Parents and Families:

Get Ready! The Scholastic Book Fair is coming our way (YAY!). Choosing their own books empowers kids and inspires them to become Bolder, Prouder, and Stronger Readers. AND—as always—every book they buy earns rewards for our school.

Students can visit before/after school or during the day with a pass from a teacher:

Monday, February 27 - 7:35 AM - 3:20 PM

Tuesday, February 28 - 7:35 AM - 7:00 PM**

Wednesday, March 1 - 7:35 AM - 2:10 PM

Thursday, March 2 - 7:35 AM - 3:20 PM

Friday, March 3 - 7:35 AM - 3:20 PM*

*NOTE: The LRC will only be open until 3:20 PM on Friday. Students must have a ride or a club to attend after as there is no open study space available.

** P/T Conference Night

We will send out photos of the fair so that students can preview materials before their visit. They can also browse the online flier (paper copies available in the LRC and main office) and shop our Virtual Book Fair website. All orders ship directly to your home, and shipping is free for book orders over $25. Need book ideas? Check-out these book blurbs.

When students buy from the Book Fair, some of their purchase money comes back to our school in the form of books! To pay for items, students can bring cash or use our Virtual Book Fair website to set-up a cash-free payment option called eWallet. This is a convenient digital account that your student can use for shopping at our Fair. Grandparents, friends, and others can contribute, too. Sorry, students cannot bring a credit/debit card unless it has their name on it. Please make sure to factor in our local tax rate (10%) when you estimate cost.

We’d like you to know upfront that even though the money loaded to your eWallet does not expire, there is no change given for remaining funds. The amount loaded must be spent at the fair, the online fair, or donated to our school’s All for Books collection. To donate funds directly to our LRC book collection, visit the Emerson eWallet. Any size donation is greatly appreciated!

We’re excited to celebrate our love of books together at the Book Fair. Hope to see your students there!

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Contreras

EM Library Information Specialist

We are interested in starting the organization, Girls on the Run, at Emerson, but we are in need of another coach willing to lead the group. We'd like to run this program but we will need at least 1-2 coaches per 5 girls. If any parents are interested in coaching this group, please reach out to Laura Dini (lmdini@sbcglobal.net or 773-551-2762). Here you can find more information about the organization.

As we approach the middle of the school year, I wanted to touch based about expected lunchroom behaviors.

Students are expected to:

• Remain at their table
• Keep their areas clean
• Not throw food
• Not scream/yell at others
• Use appropriate language
• Follow lunch supervisor's directions
• Dress appropriately for recess
• Not roughhouse or touch others at recess
• Keep their cell phones in their lockers

The basis of the expected behavior directly relates to our SOARS behavior matrix, which focuses on respect, empathy, safety, responsibility, and self-regulation. Our expectations are that compliance will remain high, however, it is sometimes necessary to remind students that certain lunchroom behaviors will not be tolerated and will result in the consequences.

Also, as the colder weather approaches, please remind your students to bring a coat and even a hat and gloves to school for recess. Students need to be appropriately dressed for the cold weather as we go outside for the recess period.

Thank you for your partnership!

You are invited! This year Maine East is presenting Disney’s The Little Mermaid for its winter musical. This show is full of fantastic music, dazzling costumes, and characters that everyone loves. Please join us for this event! Tickets are $10.00. We would like to offer you a coupon for $1.00 off of each ticket. Please enter the code C-Schools to redeem your coupon when ordering online. If you are interested in group sales, please contact the Maine East Fine Arts Office at 847-692-8500 or ldisparte@maine207.org. We hope that you can join us for this exciting event!

Show Times:

Friday, February 24, 2023 7 PM

Saturday, February 25, 2023 7PM

Link to Tickets

If you are a licensed barber or stylist in the state of Illinois, Emerson needs your help!

Our St. Baldrick's event is on Wednesday, March 8th from 11:30am-2:00pm. Barbers will be provided a light lunch before spending time shaving heads or cutting off ponytails for donations. Please consider donating your time and talent to helping our students and staff "Brave The Shave" and helping in the fight against childhood cancer!

If you're interested in being a part of this AWESOME event, please contact our Barber Coordinator, Jess Caplis, at jcaplis@d64.org.

Each Friday Emerson airs WEMS, our local news broadcast, to all students in homeroom. Check out this week's edition HERE.

Please see the Vocal Music Notes Newsletter #21 from Mrs. Broeker.

Check out the TLC Website for more information on how to start a TLC, descriptions of available clubs, and the calendar of when you can join in the fun!

Email Mrs. Contreras or the TLC sponsor(s) with any questions.

Early Entry into Emerson begins at 7:35am. ONLY students who have a signed pass from a teacher or parent may enter the building early. Students may enter through the main entrance by the office and will be let in once the door supervisor opens the door to check passes. Entry BEFORE 7:35 will not be allowed unless there is extreme weather or a situation approved by the school. Please use this link to find extra passes for home use.

EARLY ENTRY PASS LINK

The Young Authors Contest is here! This is students' chance to turn their creative ideas into a published piece of writing. Submission guidelines can be viewed electronically (see link below), and students can also find them around school (near water fountains and in LA classes).

Although this is an independent project, we’re always happy to support students in the LRC. For example, do they need:

• a quiet space to write?

• a resource for choosing just the right word?

• examples of story hooks to inspire your introduction?

We can’t wait to read submissions. Best of luck to everyone in writing the winning manuscript!

Young Author Guidelines 2023

As we turn to winter, it’s time to share with everyone what our weather guidelines are for potentially closing schools. These are the guidelines we would follow if we had to close school due to weather conditions.

In the event we need to close due to weather, students and staff will not attend school that day, and should we need to make up days during the school year, we will adjust the calendar accordingly. While it's never ideal to have to interrupt learning, I appreciate your understanding and cooperation when we are concerned about student and staff safety at school.

District 64 continues to utilize many different platforms to ensure you have important information delivered to you in the most convenient way. One of those ways is through our SMS Text Messaging Service.

Getting messages delivered to your mobile device is a helpful tool, and District 64 is reenergizing our efforts to bring this to you.

These alerts will be info about events, school closings, safety, and more. That said, our SMS Text Messaging Service will be used supplementally in our communication efforts and does not replace any school emails or calls you are receiving.

How to receive text messages:

• You must opt-in to receive text messages. To do so, you will need to text “Y” or “Yes” to 67587.

• If you’d like to no longer receive District 64 text messages, you have to send “Stop” to 67587.
  
  

If you have any questions regarding the use of text messages to communicate District/School messages, please email Christopher Lilly at clilly@d64.org.

We are seeking student photos from any and all school events. If you have any pictures that you would like to share, you can send them over through either of the following options:

• Upload through yearbookforever.com (code: eagles)
• Download the Yearbook Snap mobile app from the App Store or Google Play (code: eagles) and upload pictures using this app.
• Click here to access a video walking through the above steps.
  
• Email your photos directly to the yearbook sponsors → mapuli@d64.org / edobrydnio@d64.org

Thank you in advance for all your help.

Dine to Donate

Wednesday, February 22nd 4-9pm Join us at Panino’s, 28 S Fairview Ave, Park Ridge.

Mention Emerson and 15% will go to PTO.

St. Baldricks

Emerson and Lincoln PTO’s are partnering with school to fundraise for St. Baldricks.

We need licensed stylists to come and volunteer their time to shave heads for the event. March 8th; Approximately 11:30am - 2:30pm

We are also looking for parents to assist in a variety of roles to make this event a success.

Please reach out if you’re able to help or have questions. ems.pto.64@gmail.com

Join us at The Sandlot on Thursday, March 2nd from 4-10pm. A portion of sales will be donated to the combined efforts of Lincoln and Emerson. Please mention St. Baldricks in order for the order to be counted towards our fundraiser.

Pizza wars

We are hoping to bring back this fun Emerson tradition this spring. If you’d be interested in helping please email: ems.pto.64@gmail.com

Membership

PTO membership is the main fundraiser for the Emerson PTO. It helps fund our whole yearly budget for student events, support staff and all the other little things. If you have not yet joined, please do today!

https://emersonmspto.membershiptoolkit.com/

Next PTO Meeting

Wednesday, April 19th @ 6:30p.

If you would be interested in joining PTO board for upcoming year please email: ems.pto.64@gmail.com

The cafeteria will not be accepting cash to purchase lunch items. Students must use their MySchoolBucks account to purchase any food. Please see this flyer for more information from Quest, our food service company. You can also get a food service overview by clicking HERE.

Unlike elementary school, you do not need to pre-order meals or beverages. Students may select from daily offerings in the Emerson cafeteria. More information about our school lunch offerings and payment can be found here on the D64 Middle School Lunch webpage.

Though we have many food choices in our cafeteria, most Emerson students bring their lunch to school. We strongly encourage this during the first weeks of school while we get our cafeteria systems and procedures up and running.

We highly encourage waste-free lunches. To help reduce waste, please consider using reusable containers for your child’s food and drink, rather than disposable bags and bottles. Emerson is committed to green efforts in the lunchroom. The cafeteria also has a lunch waste sort station for students to empty their lunch waste into recycling, compost and trash. We encourage all students to do so every lunch period.

FORGOTTEN LUNCHES

If students forget something at home or are being brought a lunch, items may be dropped off at the Emerson Office. We instruct students to check in with the office during passing periods to pick up these items. We will not interrupt class to notify students of items/lunches delivered to the office. As noted in our district student/parent handbook, parents are discouraged from delivering lunch to the office from local restaurants; lunches brought to the office should be reserved for emergency situations, such as a forgotten lunch.

There will be three 4:00pm activity buses that will go to the Franklin, Carpenter, and Field areas. The buses will run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. These buses leave the the school around 4:15, giving students time to get from their activity to the bus. Please note: there is no 4pm bus on Wednesday or Fridays before long weekends/holidays.

Tardiness

All students are expected to be seated in homeroom at 8:05 a.m. Students who arrive at school after the homeroom period (8:05 to 8:10 a.m.) must report directly to the office before proceeding to class. A doctor’s appointment or a bus problem are acceptable excused tardies. All other reasons will be considered unexcused. Exceptions must be approved by the principal. To assist students and parents in correcting this problem, a sequence of escalating interventions is followed after three unexcused tardies. These range from calls home, parent letters and conferences at school, detentions, tardy contract, and possible legal action against the parents.

Early Check-Out

If a student needs to leave the school before the end of the day, a parent note giving the reason, date and time of departure, and person picking up the student should be given to the teacher whose class the student is leaving. If you email this message to the teacher, please be sure to include the school secretary (em-office@d64.org) as a recipient. The student should report to the office at the time of departure. The parent or guardian must come into the office to sign out the student for the length of time the student will be away from school. If your child returns to school before the end of the day, please enter the school building and sign your child back in before he/she returns to class. Please note that students must arrive by 9:20 a.m. or be dismissed after 1:45 p.m. for their attendance to be counted as a full day.

Absences

For safety reasons and in compliance with state law, a parent is requested to notify the school office in writing or by phone within the first hour of school. If notice is not received, the school secretary will call parents at home or work to confirm the absence. To report an absence, please call the school office anytime, day or night, to access the voice mail system at 847-318-8110. When calling, please provide: student’s name; classroom/ homeroom; date of absence; and reason for absence. For illness, please share symptoms or diagnosis.

• EXCUSED: A valid cause for absence includes illness, observance of a religious holiday or religious instruction, death in the immediate family, family emergency, other situations beyond the control of the student, other circumstances that cause reasonable concern to the parent/guardian for the student’s safety or health, or other reason as approved by the Superintendent or designee. For a student to be released from school as an excused absence to observe a religious holiday or for religious instruction, parents should give written notice to the Building Principal at least five calendar days before the student's anticipated absence.

• UNEXCUSED: Absences due to vacations, travel, attendance at a cultural or sporting event, or participation in a team sport, acting or fine arts performance are considered unexcused. This also includes tiredness (unless your child is ill), oversleeping. If your child is NOT called in by 10am, they will be marked unexcused for the day, and parents will be contacted by the office to verify the absence.

Vacations

Every school day is important, and the District strongly discourages scheduling family vacations on school days as these are considered unexcused absences. If your child will be absent from school for an extended period of time for a family trip, please inform the school office and your child’s teacher. Work will be given upon return for students leaving the country or immediate District area when your children RETURN to school. It must be completed at home under a parent’s supervision. Teachers are not expected to provide homework or assignments in advance for students who will be absent for an extended period of time for family vacation and other activities.

School hours for student classes are from 8:05 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. Please note that each Wednesday, students are dismissed at 2:10 p.m. for staff professional development activities.

Doors to the school open for students each morning at 7:58 a.m. Homeroom begins at 8:05 a.m. Students with an early entry pass will be permitted to enter the school between 7:35-7:45, but not before. There will be a teacher opening the door to permit entry at that time. We WILL allow students to enter before this if there is inclimate or cold weather.

School office hours are from 7:20 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Remember that our student absence line (847) 318-8110 is available 24 hours a day. Please let the Emerson Office know as soon as possible if your child will not be in attendance. Please do not rely on e-mail notification for reporting absences as it may not be seen until later in the day.

All Emerson students and parents are provided access to schedules via the PowerSchool parent and student portals. The PowerSchool Parent Portal allows you access to your student’s academic information, including student schedules and grades. If you have any questions on how to login, please contact the Emerson Main Office for assistance at (847) 318-8110.

Emerson Middle School, along with all District 64 schools, operates in accordance with policies and practices that have been reviewed and implemented by the District 64 Board of Education. Please review the D64 Student-Parent Handbook prior to the start of the school year to familiarize yourself with the information contained in it. We want to work in partnership with you to ensure a positive school year, and having an understanding of this information will help to promote a successful school year. This handbook is intended as a convenience for District 64 families and staff by summarizing selected information about procedures, services and programs. It also provides a quick reference for contact information and District timelines.

The Emerson website and Emerson school calendar are valuable resources to keep informed of important updates and events throughout the year. The calendar is kept up to date throughout the school year, and new information is posted regularly. We hope that these tools are helpful resources for keeping you and your student organized and informed as we progress through the year.