The Patton Post

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving week and that your children had a great first week back! Hopefully, everyone is well rested and feeling recharged. I spent some time reflecting on the past few months and feeling incredibly thankful for the Patton community. I am so grateful to be a part of this community.

For all those that RSVP'd for the "Patton Spreads Joy" event this evening, we hope you have a lovely time, I know the PTA have been working hard to make it a joyful evening for the whole family. I look forward to seeing you there!

Ellie Chin

All Patton 1st - 5th graders have recess every day. Since we can count on chilly, snowy days going forward, we ask that you:

• Keep an eye on the forecast and have students dress accordingly. We had many Panthers this week wishing they had worn gloves or a hat and remembered their coats.
• Please label your coats, hats, gloves, boots, and snow pants. Our lost and found is full of unclaimed items. It grows daily and labeling items will significantly increase the likelihood of these items finding their way back to you.

Please plan ahead for the snowy weather. If a student would like to play in the snow at recess they will need to wear both snow pants AND have snow boots - if they only have snow boots, they will have to stay on the blacktop. Please help your child select waterproof boots if they want to play in the snow. Some of our students have adorable boots, but they end up with soggy, cold toes following recess.

Gloves, coats, and hats are also needed for kids who want to play in the snow as it does get cold when the children are out for an extended period of time.

We recommend that you send your child with an extra bag to hold all their winter gear. Reusable bags seem to be a great option and many students are successful with getting all their gear out and back into the bag when recess is over. Please do remember to send your child with shoes to change into if they wear their boots to school.

It may be tempting for your child to leave their snow gear at school if they don't want to bring it back and forth each day. However, the wet snow pants will sit in the bag and not be able to dry overnight so we do tell students to bring them back and forth daily so they can dry at home overnight.

Please also make sure your child knows that the winter gear you drop them off in on a morning is what they should wear out to recess.

We know that, at this time of the year, "out with the old and in with the new" is a popular refrain and we would like to take advantage of it!! As the weather begins to turn, the chances of indoor recess increase and we are always grateful for donations of any gently used board games, coloring books, crayons, arts and crafts materials etc that we can add to our Indoor Recess Carts. Checkers and Connect Four are always popular as are things as simple as packs of cards and Uno. We will go outside every day unless the wind chill is below 0 deg F or it is raining. On those days, it certainly helps to have a wide selection of entertaining things for the children to do during recess.

We hope you keep Patton in mind if you have things you are looking to donate - we would be very grateful for anything you can spare and can assure you it will be put to very good use. Thanks very much in advance!

Our lost and found is getting pretty full again so we are planning to do another Goodwill donation over winter break. Please have your child come (or feel free to come in yourself at any time!) and take a look at what is here to ensure that your family's belongings are claimed before winter break when it gets donated. Please take a look if you are here for Patton Spreads Joy tonight or for the 2nd Grade Music Performance coming up on December 15th.

Our fifth graders will be performing in their first concert since they started learning their instruments at the beginning of the school year. They have come such a long way and I am amazed at how much progress they have made. We are looking forward to hearing them perform and look forward to seeing you there!

Doors will open at 6:40pm and the curtain will rise promptly at 7:00pm for our 2nd Grade Musical performance and we could not be more excited. The 2nd grade classes have put a lot of work into this show and can't wait to perform for their families. Every grade level will have their chance to take the stage this year so everyone will get a chance to see their Panther perform. Space is limited so we ask that only 2nd grade families attend this show.

Have your 4th or 5th grader stay after school on (most) Tuesdays in room 255!

Mr. Morkert will provide a quiet space where kids can work on assignments, read, or get extra help. If interested, you must sign up using this link (space is limited to 12). Please be sure to include your child's name when you sign them up and note whether you will pick up your child or if they can walk home. CAP kids welcome as well. Please contact Mr. Morkert for any questions (tmorkert@sd25.org).

Thank you to all the parents who attended our RULER parent night on Tuesday. During our presentation we shared about how each class has made a class charter which is guided by these two questions.

1. How do you want to feel when we're together?

2. How will we help each other have these feelings more often?

Teachers worked with their students to identify how students wanted to feel at school and what actions they could take to help them feel this way. See some examples below.

If you are interested in learning more, please read the RULER Charter Overview.

If you are interested in creating a family charter - please reach out to your teacher. They can share a grade-level specific resource with you

Enormous thanks to all who have filled this out already this year. Teachers have been so encouraged to receive these kind and heartfelt messages.

Patton teachers and staff work so hard to support our students on a daily basis. We invite you to fill out this google form if you would like to recognize a staff member or a team for their hard work. We will pass on the good news to them. Thank you in advance for sending an encouraging word as we know it will mean so much to our staff. Staff who have received recognition have been so appreciative. It is such a wonderful way to brighten their day!

TUES DEC 6th - Patton Band Concert - 7:00pm

WEDS DEC 7th - MOD Pizza Dine and Share

THURS DEC 15th- 2nd Grade Musical Performance - 7:00pm

THURS DEC 22nd - Last Day of School

Please be sure to click on the Patton PTA website button above for information about other upcoming events

Main Line: (847) 398-4288
Fax #: (847) 394-6681
Absence Procedure
Twitter: @AHSD25Patton
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AHSD25