Ferson Creek eNews

Tues., Sept. 10th - Kindergarten - 2nd grade Curriculum Night 6:00-7:00 pm

Wed., Sept. 11th - 3rd - 5th Grade Curriculum Nights 6:00-7:00 pm

Wed., Sept. 25th - Early Release, dismissal at 2:35 pm

Fri., Oct. 4th - Kick-a-Thon & Crosstown Classic

Thurs., Oct. 10th & Fri., Oct. 11th - Conferences

Thurs., October 24th - Picture Retake Day

Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd Grade Curriculum Night: Tuesday, September 10th 6:00-7:00 pm

3rd, 4th & 5th Grade Curriculum Night: Wednesday, September 11th 6:00-7:00 pm

Session 1: 6:00-6:25 pm

Transition time: 6:25-6:35 pm

Session 2: 6:35-7:00 pm

Teachers will be presenting identical presentations twice. Parents only need to attend one session for each teacher. Please choose the session that works best with your schedule. Please note this is a parent only event.

This year, in conjunction with The Ferson Way, Ferson Creek will have “Kindness” as our school wide theme. Each month, students will participate in activities that will help them develop an understanding of kindness, how it looks and sounds and, ultimately, what it means to be kind.

This month, we are kicking off the year with Kindness Nominations.

• Each month all classroom teachers and special teachers (PE, STEM, Art and Music) will nominate students that exhibited kindness throughout that month.

• The nominated students will have certificates displayed in the frames hanging in the hallway directly to the right of the foyer.

• The certificates will include the student’s picture and explain what s/he did to earn the Kindness nomination and his/her picture.

• Each month, the Kindness nominees will have their names announced after the pledge.

There are more exciting Kindness experiences to come! Stay tuned!

Our Literati Book Fair is here! Shopping begins next week for students. Parents, if you are looking to pick up some great books for your kids, the book fair will be open during both Curriculum Nights from 6:00-7:00 pm!

If you are available to volunteer, please sign up here. Volunteers receive a 20% discount on purchases made at the book fair!

KICK-A-THON is a local event that began over 30 years ago as an effort from the St. Charles High School Dance Team to raise money to help kick cancer. It has grown to include East and North High School Dance Teams and other amazing charities. This charity event will benefit the Fox Valley Food for Health, Colette A. Miles Foundation, and the high school dance teams. To date, we have raised over a million dollars and need your help to keep that number growing. Please join the St. Charles High School Dance Teams as we raise money to kick cancer.

This year’s event will take place on Friday, October 4th, 2024, at St. Charles North High School, prior to the start of the varsity football game between St. Charles North and St. Charles East. Local community members who help with fundraising will form a kick line alongside the dance team members and kick 100 times in an effort to raise money for these charities.

Link to donate and support! See you there!

Our Health Office is in need of a few articles of spare clothing to have on hand for students. If you are able to donate, please click Nurse Donna's Wish List!

Starting Monday (Sept 9) and for the rest of September, football will not be played at Ferson Creek. There have been an overwhelming amount of conflicts from football and we need the opportunity to regroup and plan for a more positive experience. This means football cannot be played during class or lunch recesses. At this time, footballs from home may not be brought to school.

But we have a plan for the kids being able to play football safely in the future! During the month of September, PE will be teaching a unit on football during regular PE classes.

• In addition to football skills, the kids will also be learning the rules of football.
• Mr. Khoury, Mr. Navis and Dr. DuCharm will review and revise the rules to include sportsmanship.
• After the football unit, the football rules will be shared with staff and lunch supervisors. They will apply to both classroom recesses and lunch recesses.
• Prior to reinstating football (probably in October), the rules will be reviewed during all grade level lunches.

D303 Community,

St. Charles North is looking forward to our first home football game of the season on Friday, September 6 vs. Crete-Monee! The sophomore game starts at 5:30pm followed by the varsity at 7:30pm.

In order to maintain a safe and enjoyable atmosphere for all of our spectators in attendance please take a moment to review some important reminders regarding the game:

-Gates will open at 4:45 pm.

-Tailgating is not permitted.

-No backpacks, bags or outside food or beverages are allowed. Bags no larger than 8x6 are acceptable. All bags are subject to search.

-All students under high school age must be accompanied & supervised by a parent or guardian inside the stadium.

-No re-entry into the stadium is allowed.

-Use of profanity, taunting, including racial remarks of any kind, throwing objects, and possessing objects that block the view of other spectators are PROHIBITED.

Tickets will be sold at the gate or via GoFan. Prices are as follows:

-General Admission-$5.00

-Students & Seniors 65+-$2.00

-Visitors w/Student ID-$2.00

-D303 MS/HS Students and Staff w/ID-FREE

Please contact our athletic office at 331-228-6258 with any questions related to the game.

Come out and support our North Stars!

In D303, we value the opportunity to provide a community of care and support to our families, especially those faced with financial hardship. If your family is currently experiencing a significant financial need, our community partnerships have several supports available for families, including school clothes/shoes, winter coats/accessories, school supplies, toiletries, holiday meals, and/or holiday gifts. If you would like to be considered for any of these supports, please complete the Family Resource Form by September 13, 2024.

En D303, valoramos la oportunidad de proveer una comunidad de cuidado y apoyo a nuestras familias, especialmente a aquellas que enfrentan dificultades financieras. Si su familia está experimentando actualmente una necesidad financiera significativa, nuestras asociaciones comunitarias tienen varios apoyos disponibles para las familias, incluyendo: ropa/calzado para la escuela, abrigos/accesorios de invierno, materiales escolares, artículos de aseo personal, comidas para los días festivos, y/o regalos para navidad. Si desea que se le tenga en cuenta para cualquiera de estas ayudas, por favor, rellene este formulario. Para ser considerado, es fundamental que complete esta encuesta a más tardar el viernes 13 de septiembre.

Technology can be a wonderful way to keep in touch with family members. However, smartwatches and phones can become quite disruptive to the learning environment when parents are contacting their children throughout the day (and vice versa). The Elementary Student Handbook contains the following language:

Students are extended the privilege of possessing phones/smartwatches on school grounds; however, their use is limited to after-school dismissal and non-school days. These devices must be in the off position, or not used once the student arrives on campus until the end of the school day.

Teachers will request that phones and smartwatches are off and/or set to school mode for the duration of the school day. If you need to get a message to your child during the day, please reach out to the main office and your child's teacher.

Please see the attached letter for directions on accessing your child's iReady assessment results.

Please call 331-228-2300 to report absences and choose option "1" or email Cheryl Wiley at cheryl.wiley@d303.org

• Messages can be left 24 hours a day.
• Please leave your name, your child's name, phone number, reason for absence and your child's symptoms if ill.
• If you have advance notice of an absence please fill out our prearranged absence form, inform your child's teacher and submit the completed form to the front office. You are allowed up to 5 prearranged absences per school year.

Our parent volunteers are an integral part of our school community. Therefore, we'd love to invite you to spend time with Ferson Creek students during lunch and lunch recess.

Interested? Information and sign up can be found using this link.

Please keep in mind that it is important to keep our students, staff members, and volunteers safe while they are in our schools. Given that, all volunteers must:

• Have your ID ready and sign in at the office to receive your visitor badge.
• EACH YEAR complete a Volunteer Liability Form. If the school does not have one on file for you and you do not provide one, the office will provide one for you when you come for your first day as a volunteer.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Dr. DuCharm (331-228-5920, Alison.DuCharm@d303.org)

If you'd like to be a part of the optional, PTO sponsored school directory, please login into your Membership Toolkit account to update your students' information for the 2024-25 school year. All students' grade levels have been advanced, but you will need to update their teachers.

If you don't have an account yet, be sure to register! You can update your account privacy settings at any time!

PTO- Membership Toolkit

Kristy McKnight, Principal

Website: https://fersoncreek.d303.org/
Location: 38W160 Bolcum Road, St. Charles, IL, USA
Phone: 331-228-2300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ferson-Creek-Elementary-1492773537612187/