Parent Newsletter 9.15.24

Hispanice/Latinx Heritage Month Sept. 15 - Oct. 15, 2024

Parent Greetings

Parent Town Hall Series

Thank you for joining us at our first Parent Town Hall of the school year! Our guest speakers from NAMI shared helpful information on teen mental health early warning signs, how to support them, and useful resources.

We look forward to having you join us at our next session. Look for more information to be shared soon.

Go Stallions!

Ms. Taborn

Stratford Middle School

Principal

Attendance Matters: Tips for Building Positive Attendance Habits

In examining our student data from previous years, we consistently find that:

Students who miss 1 or 0 days of school per month throughout the school year are twice as likely to meet grade level expectations in reading and math than those who miss 2+ days of school per month.
Students who arrive on time to school also generally outperform those who are frequently tardy.

Without question, on-time attendance truly matters to student success. Knowing this, our goal is to help students and their families to build positive attendance habits this school year, and school administrators will be making an extra effort to monitor attendance more closely than ever. Please review this info sheet for some great tips to ensure your child is consistently in attendance and on time this school year.

Middle School Attendance Habits - English

Middle School Attendance Habits - Spanish

Obey Traffic Laws Near Schools & Buses

Student safety is our school’s highest concern. We've seen an increase in unsafe driving practices near our school and school buses in recent school years. For the safety of all of our students, all parents and other motorists driving near our school and school buses MUST:

Remain attentive and NOT use cell phones or personal devices while driving
Reduce speed to 20 mph when driving near a school between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Follow traffic patterns
Obey crossing guards
STOP when the stop sign arm of a school bus has been extended; to clarify, this means:

When traveling on two lane roadway with cars traveling in both directions, ALL CARS MUST STOP
When traveling on a one-way roadway, regardless of the number of lanes, ALL CARS MUST STOP
When traveling on four or more lane roadway with cars traveling in both directions, cars traveling in the same direction as the bus must stop
When in doubt, STOP
For more information on driving near school buses, view this document from the Illinois State Police website

Please take a moment to consider your driving practices near our school and buses and adjust your habits if necessary. Drivers who are observed by police participating in any of these unsafe practices will be pulled over and ticketed. We are all very busy, which can impact our driving habits, but the safety of our students must be our priority.

Obedezca las leyes de tránsito cerca de escuelas y autobuses

La seguridad de los estudiantes es la mayor desventaja de nuestra escuela preocupación. Hemos visto un aumento en prácticas de conducción inseguras cerca de nuestra escuela y de los autobuses escolares este año escolar. Para la seguridad de todos nuestros estudiantes, todos los padres y otros conductores que conducen cerca de nuestra escuela y de los autobuses escolares DEBEN:

Manténgase atento y NO use teléfonos celulares o dispositivos personales mientras conduce
Reduzca la velocidad a 20 mph cuando conduzca cerca de una escuela entre las 7:00 a.m. y las 4:00 p.m.
Siga los patrones de tráfico
Obedecer a los guardias de cruce
DETÉNGASE cuando el brazo de la señal de alto de un autobús escolar esté extendido; para aclarar, esto significa:

Cuando circule por una carretera de dos carriles con automóviles que circulan en ambas direcciones, TODOS LOS COCHES DEBEN PARAR
Al circular por una carretera de un solo sentido, independientemente del número de carriles, TODOS LOS COCHES DEBEN PARAR
Al viajar en una carretera de cuatro o más carriles con automóviles viajando en ambas direcciones, los automóviles que viajan en la misma dirección que el autobús deben detenerse.
En caso de duda, DETÉNGASE
Para obtener más información sobre cómo conducir cerca de autobuses escolares, ver este documento del sitio web de la Policía Estatal de Illinois

Tómese un momento para considerar sus prácticas de conducción cerca de nuestra escuela y autobuses y ajuste sus hábitos si es necesario. Los conductores que sean observados por la policía participando en cualquiera de estas prácticas inseguras serán detenidos y multados. ENTodos estamos muy ocupados y esto puede afectar nuestros hábitos de conducción, pero la seguridad de nuestros estudiantes debe ser nuestra prioridad.

Sign Up for Student-Led Conferences Starting 9/20!

Student-Led Conferences are scheduled for the afternoons and evenings of October 9 and 10. They are a great opportunity for parents, students and their teachers to meet to discuss successes, areas for improvement and goal setting for the year! Parents can sign up for these conferences through PTC Wizard starting at noon on September 20.

This year, signing up is easier than ever before: you don’t need to create a PTC Wizard account or add your children yourself. Instead, CCSD93 will send you your PTC Wizard login credentials by email, and your children will be automatically linked to your account. Make sure to follow the directions you receive at noon on September 20 to log in and sign up!

Fall Conferences Before 9/20

¡Regístrese para conferencias dirigidas por estudiantes a partir del 20 de septiembre!

Las conferencias dirigidas por estudiantes están programadas para las tardes y noches del 9 y 10 de octubre. ¡Son una gran oportunidad para que los padres, los estudiantes y sus maestros se reúnan para discutir éxitos, áreas de mejora y establecimiento de metas para el año! Los padres pueden inscribirse en estas conferencias a través de PTC Wizard a partir del mediodía del 20 de septiembre.

Este año, registrarse es más fácil que nunca: no necesita crear una cuenta de PTC Wizard ni agregar a sus hijos usted mismo. En cambio, CCSD93 le enviará sus credenciales de inicio de sesión del Asistente de PTC por correo electrónico y sus hijos se vincularán automáticamente a su cuenta. ¡Asegúrate de seguir las instrucciones que recibirás al mediodía del 20 de septiembre para iniciar sesión y registrarte!

Fall Conferences Before 9/20-Spanish

Hispanic-American Heritage Month

We celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) to recognize the achievements and contributions of Hispanic American champions who have inspired others to achieve success.

The observation began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988.

The theme for 2024 is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together.”

Charged Devices

Our school year is off to a great start and we want to ensure our students are receiving the best educational experience possible. Unfortunately, some of our students are not being responsible with their devices. We need them to charge it daily and make sure they bring it to school every day. Please remind your child to be prepared every day with the resources they need to ensure they are successful.

We appreciate your support in this matter.

Bus Safety

Many of our students rely on the school bus to transport them safely to and from school each day. To help ensure that occurs, please have a conversation with your child about expectations on the bus for the safety of everyone.

Please remember the bus is an extension of our school community and we want to make sure that we’re following the PBIS expectations: Be Safe, Be Respectful, and Be Responsible.

Bus Expectations:

Sit down in your seat throughout the bus ride to school and home
Refrain from using vulgar language towards other students and the bus driver
Do not eat on the bus
Use a Level 1 voice so the driver can hear all emergency vehicles and directions from the bus depot
Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself and inside the bus

Multilingual Fair

CCSD93 will be hosting its first Multilingual Fair. This fair will focus on supporting our EL families. There will be three sessions that families can attend. The topics they will focus on are: (1) Translation, Seesaw and Google Classroom, (2) Teacherease and PTC Wizard, (3) US School Expectations.

6th Grade Teachers/School Physicals

Just a friendly reminder, ALL 6th grade students must have a school physical. Any 6th grade student that is not compliant will NOT be able to attend school tomorrow, September 16th until they have a physical on file.

If you have any questions, please contact Nurse Gibbons.

8th Grade Parents

Save the Date!

On Saturday, October 5th, we will be administering the P-ACT to all 8th grade students in the district. Testing will take place at BOTH Stratford and Jay Stream. Click the link for more information.

There is NO make up date. Please make sure your 8th grade student attends.

Combination Lock Practice

Our students have two locks to secure their items throughout the day, the hall locker and PE locker. Please practice with your student with the combination lock R-L-R to ensure they can secure and retrieve their items in a timely manner.

Combination Lock Instructions

Parent Corner

Volunteer. Donate. Participate.Get Involved

Stratford PTA

Get Engaged. Get Involved. Participate.

Help support the Stratford PTA at. The PTA encourages parents to be actively engaged in their child’s education. It is an opportunity for parents to take part in school activities, attend meetings, and collaborate with teachers and administrators.

Please consider supporting the Stratford PTA Givebacks. Our next PTA is 9/16 at 6:30 pm via zoom. Join Zoom Meeting

https://ccsd93.zoom.us/j/81405747741?pwd=yay9daj6eS2bifMttVtTsv0Im8dhVz.1

Meeting ID: 814 0574 7741

Passcode: 359489