Happy Friday Kipling Families,

I hope everyone had a great week!

Thank you to everyone who has been following our drop-off/pick-up procedures. The lines have been moving as quickly as possible and we are very grateful for you partnering with us in this process. That light on Deerfield Road does not do us any favors, but overall, we are doing great. Here are some expectations to keep in mind - please make sure you are following these guidelines:

-Please stay in your car and continue to pull as far forward as possible. Please do not stop near the main entrance door if there is room in front of you. Pull as far forward as possible along our sidewalk. We want to keep the line moving as efficiently as possible. If you don’t think your child can open the car door and hop out, then please find a parking space in the parking lot and walk your child to the door. All parents must remain in their cars in the car line at all times. Thank you for following this expectation.

-If you want to walk your child to or from the door at dismissal, please find a parking spot in the lot or on the street and then walk to the building.

-If you need to talk to your child’s teacher please email them about your concern rather than having a conversation in the carline.

-No blocking of any driveways

-Mandatory reduction in speed

-Staying off cell phones when you are near or on school property

-Awareness for surroundings (kids/parents/staff crossing, etc.)

-Having patience

-For school-wide or PTO events, DO NOT park on Longfellow. Briarwood Country Club will allow our families to park in their lot when our lot is full.

Thank you for your partnership in this effort.

All my best to you and your families over the weekend.

Respectfully,

Mr. Matthew O. Lombardo, NBCT

Principal

Kipling Elementary School

Parents, we have been reviewing bus expectations with our students who ride the bus. Can you please talk with your students at home to reinforce these directions?

-They should be seated with their seatbelt fastened at all times.

-They should not be yelling to ensure all students can hear the driver.

-All Kindergarten and 1st grade students must sit at the very front of the bus.

-And most importantly, they need to follow these expectations so the driver can focus on driving and not get distracted.

Thank you for partnering with us to ensure every child has a safe and positive experience on the bus.

Pumpkinfest is quickly approaching. Please take note of the following:

PRE-SALE ENDS THIS FRIDAY 9/27 AT 7PM!

Make sure to purchase your items ahead of time to receive a discounted price and avoid the lines the day of our event. https://kiplingpto. membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/ 244480

VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED

Please sign up to volunteer for Pumpkinfest. This event cannot happen without each of you! We welcome our Kipling parents, grandparents, current 5th graders and alumni to join us. Our volunteers help facilitate the games, tickets and food! Please sign up and help us to make this event a success. PumpkinFest Volunteer Sign-Up 2024

COIN WARS FOR CHARITY

The Kipling staff is busy decorating pumpkins for our Pumpkinfest Decorating Contest for Charity. Here is what your kids need to do to participate: Bring coins to school starting on Monday of next week. The staff's pumpkins will be on display and the kids will get to vote by placing their coins into the bucket next to their favorite pumpkin. The winner will be announced at Pumpkinfest on October 5th. All proceeds will be donated to a charity determined by the Kipling Student Counsel.

SPIRITWEAR

We hope everyone is loving their new Spiritwear! Due to popular demand, sales will be turned on for one more week! The deadline to order is September 29th and orders will be delivered to school in mid-October. This is the last chance to grab these styles, but we'll have more stuff throughout the year!

ORDER HERE

We’re going back to the Wolves Game!

Shout out to Ms. Allam for organizing these resources and this awareness for us! Unity Day is Wednesday, October 16. WEAR AND SHARE ORANGE!

Send a visible message of building commUNITY through kindness, acceptance, and inclusion to prevent bullying. If you would like to purchase a Unity Day T-shirt through PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center, please click HERE.

Your purchase of the $15 signature orange Unity Day T-shirt helps the National Bullying Prevention Center (NBPC) continue to provide free bullying prevention resources to students, families, and educators. To guarantee delivery by October 16th, all orders must be placed by October 6th. Orders/money will NOT be collected at Ogden. Please note bulk orders shipped to the same address reduces postage price per shirt. Find a group and place one order!

We hope you’ll take this opportunity to talk to your children about bullying prevention and all the positive things we can do to make healthier communities. For more information on the history of Unity Day and its impact, please go to https://www.PACER.org/bullying/about/history.asp.

Mark your calendars! Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, October 24th from 1:00-4:00 pm & 5:00-8:00 pm and on Friday, October 25th from 8:30-11:30 am. All DPS109 schools will hold in-person parent-teacher conferences this year with an option to attend virtually for parents/guardians who are not available for an in-person conference. Parents will sign up for a conference using Sign-Up Genius. I shared links for all teacher sign-up forms on Thursday, September 26th, at 12:00 pm.

It is best practice to hold one parent conference per child, to ensure that both parents receive the same information regarding their child’s strengths and needs. Therefore, I ask that parents sign up for one joint conference per student. Conferences are a discussion between parents and teachers. At this time elementary conferences do not include students and therefore we ask that children not attend the parent-teacher conference.

We look forward to seeing all of our parents during conferences.

Each week I will be sharing a resource from Common Sense Media. The PTO will also be including resources in many of their weekly PTO newsletters. The resources provide a wide variety of information including the impact of social media and technology on mental health, relationships, and student well being. We are hoping that these resources will spark conversations with your children, help you to set healthy boundaries in your home, allow you and your children to make more informed decisions about technology use at home, and contribute to developing children’s ability to safely and responsibly navigate the digital world.

This week: What is media literacy and why is it so important?

Park District Before and After Care

The Deerfield Park District runs all of our before and after school care programs. Please contact the Park District, 847-945-0650, if you have questions.

Park District After School Enrichment Information

To see a brochure of programs and get more information, visit https://www.deerfieldparks.org/programs/youths-teens/.

If you have any questions, please contact the park district directly as they run the programs.