Royal Decree Family Newsletter
October 2023
Upcoming Events
October 2 - Custodian Appreciation Day
October 3 - DGS PTO Meeting (7:00-8:00 pm)
October 6 - DGS Spirit Day (popcorn at lunch)
October 9 - No School: Teacher's Institute
October 10 - Picture Retake Day
October 12 - DGS Fun Run
October 13 - End of 1st Quarter
October 18 -
- Unity Day: Wear Orange
- 2nd Grade Field Trip: Tanner's Orchard
October 19 -
- Parent/Teacher Conference (12:00-7:00 pm)
- Report Cards Issued
- Board of Education Meeting at DHS (6:00 pm)
October 20 -
- Parent/Teacher Conference (7:00-1:00 pm)
- Report Cards Issued
October 22 - School Bus Driver Appreciation Day
October 24 - DGS PTO Family Night Out at Panera (4:00-8:00 pm)
October 27 - Donuts with Dudes (6:45-7:30 am)
October 31 -
- 4th Grade Famous Person Speeches
- Halloween Classroom Parties (10:00-10:45 am)
October Staff Birthdays
October 10 - Allie Denniston
October 20 - Carlos Evans
Look Ahead - Music Program Dates
February 27 - 2/3 Music Program
April 23 - K/1 Music Program
Parent Teacher Conferences
Conferences will be in-person and student led/facilitated. The link to sign up for a conference time was sent out via email. If you are unable to attend in person with your child, please contact the teacher.
Parent Teacher Communication
Extended Travel
The district does not offer a remote learning option. 4/5 chromebooks should be turned in to the office prior to leaving. They will be re-issued upon return. Make sure to let the classroom teacher as well as the office know of any planned absences.
Attendance
You can call the office or email your absence to:
Mrs. Kamin lkamin@dunlapcusd.net
Mrs. Sullivan msullivan@dunlapcusd.net.
School Day
Wednesday - 7:39 am - 2:15 pm
Students can be dropped off starting at 7:25. There is no supervision of the students before this time. Students arriving after 7:39 will be marked as tardy. All tardies are considered unexcused unless the student is arriving late due to a medical/dental appointment.
Lunchroom Supervisor
DGS is hiring! We are in need of someone each day but are willing to split the position. If you are interested in two or three days, please reach out.
Lunchroom Supervisor- 5 days a week, $13/hr, 10:45-12:45
You can apply online or email Mrs. Rychener at mrychener@dunlapcusd.net with any questions.
What's for Lunch?
Required Health Forms
All second grade students are required to have an updated dental form on file in the office.
Please be sure to turn these health forms into the office by Oct. 13.
DGS Spirit Days
Birthday Treats
Counseling Corner - Miss Chapin
Character Strong - (Responsibility) October's Character Strong trait is responsibility. One way to define Responsibility is “taking action and understanding the impact of our choices.” Taking action can mean doing the right thing or completing the tasks you have been assigned. Click here to connect Responsibility to things you do at home.
Awareness Month - October is Bullying Prevention Month. Yearly, we celebrate Unity Day by wearing orange to school to spread the message that we at DGS stand up and against bullying.
Unity Day is Wednesday, October 18th. If you'd like to order a t-shirt for Unity Day, here are suggestions. Option 1 or any kindness related t-shirt.
If parents would like to know more information about bullying and how to recognize if your student is experiencing bullying, please go to the Pacer's National Bullying Prevention Center website.
Contact- If you need to contact Ms. Chapin, the school counselor, please email at echapin@dunlapcusd.net for direct communication.
Parenting with BIST
- Create consistency between school and home
- Provide language for adults to use when redirecting children
- Share ways to problem solve to increase your child’s success
- Increase generosity and kindness in your children
- Bring a sense of calm to your home
Click here to view the class that was presented on September 19th: Punishment vs. Protection.
Visitors and Volunteers
Visitors
In an effort to maintain the safest environment possible for our children, security measures have been implemented in all buildings throughout the district. All school doors, including the front entrance, will be locked during school hours. Visitors to the school will need to press the buzzer located on the post to the right of the main entrance and wait to be let in by office staff. Upon entering the building, visitors will be asked to present a US government issued ID such as a Driver’s License, which can either be scanned or manually entered into our electronic sign in system. Once entry is approved, a badge will be issued that identifies the visitor, the date, and the purpose of his/her visit. Upon exiting the school, visitors will be asked to give their visitors badge to the office staff when checking out. Any classroom visits should be pre-arranged and approved with the classroom teacher ahead of time. We hope our families understand and appreciate our efforts in maintaining a safe school environment.Volunteers
School volunteers are important to the success of our school district. All volunteers that work with our students, participate in special school events as a volunteer during the school today, or that wish to attend field trips need to have a background check. This needs to only be completed one time during your time in Dunlap. To complete this process,
1. Go to https://www.dunlapcusd.net/employment
2. Click on "Job Openings"
3. Select "Volunteer" on the left hand side.
4. Complete the application for volunteering.
5. After you submit the application, you will be emailed a form from the district office. You must print this form and take it to the Regional Office of Education to be fingerprinted.
Title 1 Information
Regardless of whether or not your child(ren) receive free or reduced lunch, ANY student with an identified need to receive an intervention is eligible for services purchased with Title I, Part A Funds. In our district, Dunlap Grade is considered "Targeted Assistance" wherein Title I, Part A Funds can be used for only those students identified as needing academic or social-emotional learning support. The services provided would be above and beyond what the district provides for all elementary buildings by means of the Board-approved curriculum and support systems.
Ridgeview Elementary, Wilder-Waite Grade, and Dunlap Valley Middle Schools are "Schoolwide Support" buildings wherein Title I Funds can be used to supplement the academic and social-emotional learning curriculum and district-provided materials as identified through needs assessments that help determine, based on multiple data points, where additional support is needed.
Dunlap CUSD #323 believes that the partnership between schools and families is crucial in order for all students to achieve success. The Department of Education, the Federal Agency that oversees and disburses the Funds, requires school districts to hold annual parent engagement meetings to look over the Parent and Family Engagement Policy and to sign the "Title I Parent Compact."
As an initial measure to engage families and gather feedback, we are hosting initial Title I Informational Meetings virtually to get stakeholder feedback on the Parent Engagement Policy and Title I Program Offerings through this Google Form. We appreciate your time and feedback as we continue to work to offer the best learning environments for our students. Additional Family Engagement Nights will be announced through the upcoming school year.
The Dunlap CUSD #323 Title I Director is Matt Andrews (Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Human Resources), mandrews@dunlapcusd.net. If you have any Title-I specific questions that don't relate to the services your student receives at his/her home building, please feel free to reach out to Matt with any questions.
DGS Parent's Club Corner
DGS PC President Note
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, October 3rd at 7:00 pm in the DGS Café. We had an excellent turnout for our September meeting. It was great to see both familiar and new faces. We hope you can join us again!
Click on the link below to read more information about what we do and opportunities to get involved.
Royal Fun Run
On Thursday, October 12th, students will participate in the Royal Fun Run fundraiser!
There will be 12+ obstacles on the racecourse, which will be set up on DGS grounds. The registration process, which creates a personal fundraising webpage for your student (& a family webpage if you have multiple students), takes about 3 minutes to complete. It is then another 2 clicks of a button to share that webpage on social media. This is fundraising at its easiest! Please register and share!
We Need All Parents to Complete 3 Easy Steps!
1. Register your child by visiting www.getmovinfundhub.com It's free, easy, and fast to register! For School Identifier use 5cb48e0b193c8
2. Email and/ or text your child's student fundraising webpage with 10-15 friends and family. It’s super easy!
3. Post on Facebook or Twitter. It's two clicks of a button to post. The average parent has 300 FB friends. You'll be surprised when donations come in from distant relatives, friends from high school, or co-workers. Post and see what happens!
Online donations can be made through your child’s webpage. Donations in the form of cash and checks should be returned in an envelope or baggie. Please make checks payable to: DGS Parents' Club. If you have any questions, please contact the PC Royal Fun Run Committee at dunlapparentsclub@gmail.com
The Royal Run will take place during school on Thursday, October 12th during your Royal’s PE period. We need volunteers to help set up, supervise, and teardown the racecourse obstacles, so please check out our Sign-Up Genius! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E49ACA722A6FA7-44004562-royal
Donuts with Dudes
Donuts with Dudes will be Friday, October 27, before school from 6:45 to 7:30 am.
DGS fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and male role models are welcome! The Parents’ Club will be serving donuts, coffee, juice, and milk in the DGS gymnasium. Join your child for a wonderful morning of memories and refreshments.
The Parents' Club is looking for volunteers to help with our annual Donuts with Dudes. We need help:
Setting up on Thursday, Oct. 26 from 4:15-5:30 pm
Serving donuts/coffee/juice on Friday, Oct. 27 from 6:15-7:30 am
Cleaning up after the event from 7:30-8:00 am
Please review the volunteer opportunities in our Sign Up Genius and consider helping us out.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4EACAA2DA0FAC16-44398426-donuts
Dunlap District Information
Dunlap Gives Back
Dunlap Gives Back serves to supply students and families with resources to meet their basic needs to ensure that all children are equipped with the resources they need to be prepared to learn.
If you are a staff member, family member, or student, please use this form to request resources. Items that can be requested include, but are not limited to food, clothing, school supplies, hygiene supplies, ect. If further support or resources are required, please email Director of Student Services, Mandy Ellis, at mellis@dunlapcusd.net
All requests will be confidential and protect the privacy of the student and family.
DHS Cheer Clinic
DHS Cheer will be hosting an elementary cheer clinic for grades K-5th at Hickory Grove Elementary School on October 5th from 4:30-6:00
Participants will then perform the material they learn at the Varsity football game on Friday, October 6th, which is the same night as JFL Night!
Sign up by September 22nd to receive a t-shirt! You can use the link below to register!
If you sign up after the 22nd, t-shirts are NOT guaranteed.
When: October 5th from 4:30-6:00
Where: Hickory Grove Elementary School
Cost: $40.00 - a portion of the proceeds from this clinic will benefit the Tessa Sutton Foundation.
Connect with Us!
Website: dgs.dunlapcusd.net
Location: 301 North 1st Street, Dunlap, IL, USA
Phone: 309-243-7772
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DunlapGrade