Cougar Courier

February 7, 2025

Principal's Message

Greetings Elm Middle School Families,

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a wonderful week! It was certainly a busy one at Elm! Students in our EL programs took part in ACCESS Testing, they've worked so hard this year and we can't wait to see all of the growth they've made! Additionally, students will be anaylzing their NWEA Map data and setting goals for our Spring Benchmarking!

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Molly Shanahan on winning the Elmwood Park School District Spelling Bee! We're so proud of you!! Good luck in the West 40 Bee!! Go Molly!

Next week is a busy one, we have conferences and spirit week! Take a minute to review the calendar below! Thank you to our Cougar Leadership Council for organizing this!

As a reminder, we will not have classes next week on Friday, February 14th and then on Monday February 17th in observance of President's Day! Don't forget, registration for parent teacher conferences is open and will will close this Monday, February 10th at 11:59 PM. Please see these instructions for booking a time. For the February 2025 Parent Teacher Conferences, building check-in is required for in person conferences. You will need to provide your ID as you enter the building. Only those with pre-scheduled, in-person conferences will be allowed access to the buildings.

Please take a few minutes to read through this week’s Cougar Courier, As always, should you need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly. Have a fabulous weekend! #TeamElmStrong

Most Sincerely,
Mrs. Ashley Groeneveld

The Elm Showcase

Title One Family Night

EPHS Soccer Night

Elm Cooking Class

On Tuesday, February 25th join Ms. Cannici and the School House Kitchen for a cooking class. You can practice knife skills as we chop a rainbow of veggies, pull together a delicious sauce from scratch, and enjoy a nourishing serving of chicken ramen with veggies. The cost is $30 and the class runs from 3:30 - 5 p.m. Sign up with the link below

https://www.hisawyer.com/sugar-beet-schoolhouse/schedules/activity-set/1256221

8th Grade Families

We are so excited to start this year and celebrate the Graduating class of 2025 all year long. Please fill out this form to sign-up!

This year we are collecting as one lump sum for all the activities and graduation events. Included in this one time payment is:

2-field trips with lunch included

Graduation gown with delivery to Elm Middle School

8th grade graduation t-shirt signed by all students

Graduation card personalized from parents and balloon

Total cost $100

***PAT is still hosting the dinner dance, that communication will come separately in the upcoming months.***

Cougar Athletics

We're looking forward to another very exciting year of Cougar Athletics! The Leyden Norwood Athletic Conference schedule can be found here!

As a reminder, any student interested in participating in athletics at Elm this year, must have an active physical on file! Be sure to check with the nurse to ensure your student is able to tryout! Addtionally, take time to review the student and parent code of conduct from the Leyden Norwood Athletic Conference here. We will have annoucements for tryouts and athletics meetings as seasons are approaching!

If you're interested in ordering Cougar basketball gear, please use this link here! Go Cougars!

Cougar Celebration Store

Elm Extra-Curricular Activities

Our goal is to provide as many opportunities as possible for our students to contribute to our school community not only inside the classroom but outside of it as well. We offer a wide variety of activities for our students to participate in! Encourage your Cougar to try something new or keep going with something they already have been! Here is the list of all of our offerings at Elm, with scheduled meeting days and sponsors!

Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to a sponsor of an activity!

The Elm PAT

A huge thank you to our Elm PAT for always supporting our school community! Here is a detailed schedule of all things Elm PAT for the 2024-2025 school year! Mark your calendars!

Elm Middle School Yearbook

If you're interested in purchasing a yearbook, please go ahead and click the link here! For any questions, please reach out to Ms. Fiorito our yearbook club sponsor!

Box Tops for Education

Earn cash for our school by using the Box Tops app. It’s an easy way to make a difference. All you have to do is buy Box Tops participating products (like Cheerios!) and scan your grocery receipt. Box Tops are worth $.10 each and they add up fast! Use this referral code K7Y8751D when you sign up and you’ll get 25 Bonus Box Tops when you scan your first receipt through 05/31/2025. Download the Box Tops for Education app here: https://btfe.smart.link/c2jjdifkw?referral_code=K7Y8751D