The Let Grow Project Comes to South Park!
In case you missed it, on Wednesday, December 11th, we introduced our students to the Let Grow Project! This initiative is a school-wide and community effort aimed at fostering independence and resilience in our children—skills that are essential for their growth and success.
We hope you will take some time to review the Let Grow Parent Introduction (linked below and sent home with students earlier this week). Students were all encouraged to begin a Let Grow Project over Winter Break so that students can celebrate their first projects when we return in Early January.
Thank you for partnering with us in nurturing resilient, empowered kids!
Holiday Gift Drive Drop-Offs Extended Until Monday!
If you haven’t had a chance to sign up for a gift donation, you can do so here! The last day donations can be dropped off in school lobbies is Monday, December 16th by 9:00 a.m. When dropping off donations, please label each item with the family name it’s intended for, as gifts are organized by anonymous family names.
Join our South Park Team!
We’re looking for a dedicated lunch/recess supervisor to join us after Winter Break. This position runs Monday through Friday, from 11:20 AM to 12:20 PM daily.
To avoid potential conflicts of interest, we cannot consider current South Park parents with children in full-day Early Learners, Kindergarten, or 2nd grade.
If you know someone who might be interested, please have them contact Dr. Faust at mfaust@dps109.org. We’d love to hear from them!
Parker's Picks
This week, Parker is reading some of the books with the best buzz to win the 2025 Newbery Award, which means they’re pretty good! The people who make these predictions almost never get it right, but they do pick out a lot of great books! These middle-grade reads are especially recommended for readers in grades 4+.
The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman When eleven-year-old Hank's mother does not come home after a week, he and his toddler sister, Boo, seek out the stranger listed as their emergency contact on a field trip form. Sonn, this means social workers, a new school, and having to answer questions about his mom that he has been trying to keep secret.
The First State of Being Twelve-year-old Michael Rosario is worried about lots of things, especially the looming uncertainty of Y2K. But when he meets an oddly-dressed teen who ends up being a time traveler from the future, his life will change forever.
Max in the House of Spies Max Bretzfeld doesn’t want to move to London, but Germany is becoming more and more dangerous for Jewish families. Still, Max is determined to find a way back to Berlin and his parents. His plan involves accomplishing the impossible: becoming a British spy.
Ferris It’s the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium: Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris’s grandmother, has started seeing a ghost. Somehow, it all adds up to a story of family, healing, and love.
