WHS Principal Post- November 2019

November has arrived and we have a very busy month ahead. This family newsletter is packed full of information and highlights of things we've done and the things ahead! Please check out the important dates below!

Wednesday,11/ 6

• WHS PTA Reflections Art Show and Reception, 6:00- 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 11/8

• PTA Movie Night, 6:15- 8:15 p.m.

Thursday, 11/14

• Student Council & PTA Thanksgiving Food Drive Begins (The Book Fair will be open during conferences!)

Tuesday, 11/19

• WHS Parent Presentation, 6:00 p.m. from Ted Stec, Superintendent on the Future of 44
• WHS PTA Meeting, will follow Superintendent presentation.

Friday, 11/22

• PTA Book Fair Begins

Monday, 11/25

• NO SCHOOL- Parent/ Teacher Conferences, 1-4 p.m. & 5:30- 8:00 p.m.

Tuesday, 11/26

• NO SCHOOL- Parent/ Teacher Conferences, 1-4 p.m. & 5:30- 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday 11/27- Friday 11/29

• No SCHOOL- Thanksgiving Break

On each of our Early Release Days this year, we start off the day with a School Wide Morning Meeting. What is great about these meetings is that they are run by our students. Last Friday's School Wide Morning Meeting was led by Grade 4 Students.

The SWMM follows the agenda below:

1. Greeting
2. Sharing
3. Activity
4. Morning Message

Classroom teachers nominate a few students from their classrooms to facilitate the meeting. From there, Ms. Dowell and Mr. Danielski meet with the student team to plan, prepare, and rehearse for the big day.

The Grade 4 SWMM presentation is linked below. Check it out! They did a phenomenal job leading this assembly.

Grade 4 Led School Wide Morning Meeting (Nov. 1, 2019)

Each month we focus on one of the "7 Habits" for success. Each month WHS staff members nominate students to be recognized at our School Wide Morning Meeting for demonstrating the focus habit for that month. Habit 1 is "Be Proactive". Congratulations to the following students were recognized at our November 1st SWMM:

Each month our custodian, Mr. Grajczyk selects one classroom in grades K-2, and one classroom in grades 3-5 to receive the "Golden Broom Award". Classrooms who do the best job cleaning their table in the lunchroom earn this prestigious honor. These brooms are proudly displayed in the classroom for the month! Congratulations goes out to Ms. Long's1st grade class, and Ms. Rakosnik's 4th grade class, our first winners!

On Friday November 1st, we held our second Star Constellation Lesson for the year. The focus of this month's lesson was "Gratitude". Each group defined gratitude, listened to a story, read by a 4th grader, and brainstorm the things that we are all grateful for. Students were given "Gratitude Grams" to fill out and share with students in the school that they are grateful for.

Our next Star Constellations Lesson will take place during the last week of December.

check out the photos of and the video of our WHS Chorus Club spreading some musical cheer with area seniors. Upon return from this field trip a few of the girls told me they met a woman who was 105 years old!

Click Below to view the videos from the concert! Each one is about 15 minutes long.

Our WHS Family Tree is still growing! If you haven't yet uploaded one, please consider sharing one. Submitted photos will be displayed in our LRC as a way to celebrate all the members that make up our Hammerschmidt School Community. Click on the link below to upload a family photo.

If you have a split or blended family, please feel free to submit more than one, or share in whatever way you are comfortable with!

CLICK HERE to upload a family photo

Each year our WHS Student Council partner with our community to sponsor a Thanksgiving Food Drive. The best thing about this effort is that the donations raised benefit those in our school community! This service is a great way to show that we are "One School, One Family, Connected for Success!"

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCE SIGN UP INFORMATION:

Letters have been mailed home with your user name, password and instructions on how to sign up on line for a time slot. Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Monday, November 25th and Tuesday, November 26th.

The WHS PTA Book Fair is coming to our LRC during Parent Teacher Conferences. Be sure to come by the LRC to check it out!

The Star Cast crew would like to know what is happening with WHS students outside of school hours! If you have a news story or event that you would like WHS to know about, please fill in the following link. Please keep in mind that the StarCast Productions come out once they are complete (without a set timeline). If you know of an event date ahead of time, please give adequate time to get it into the Starcast.

Share your news with us by clicking on the link below.

CLICK HERE- To share your student news with us!

Thank you to all the WHS families who came out to our PTA Family Halloween Party on October 18th. We had a huge turnout. Special thanks goes out our Halloween Party Committee Chairs. Eckhart, and Mrs. Hradecky, and the MANY family and community volunteers who helped make the event happen!

Thank you to all of our many WHS student artists who were able to LOOK WITHIN their imagination and create 90 pieces of art that were submitted to the 2019 National PTA Reflections Contest! We are looking forward to recognizing all of these participants and their creativity during a drop-in Art Show and Reception on Wednesday, November 6 from 6:00-7:30 at WHS in the LRC.

D44 Superintendent Ted Stec will be visiting our WHS PTA Meeting on Tuesday, November 19th to share information about the future of D44. Click on the link below for more information. (This was rescheduled from the previous October date).

The Future of 44 Presentations

Ted will present at 6:00 p.m, and the regular WHS PTA meeting will immediately follow.

We have recently had several reported cases of strep throat within the school. Please click HERE to see the information sheet from the DuPage County Health Department. Your child should be kept home from school if they are displaying any symptoms of strep throat, until they have seen a physician. Please contact the Health Office with any questions.

Check out the video below! Hammerschmidt is featured several times in this 4 minute video.

Our WHS Garden Club's Farmer's Market was also featured in DuPage Forward's newsletter! See below:

Student and Staff Engagement

The Student, Staff and Family Engagement Committee is excited to be rolling out several new ways to engage our Hammerschmidt community. In November, we will begin monthly recognition of students who are showing the 7 Habits, as well as those classes who are doing a great job at keeping their classrooms clean. Plans are also underway for both a WHS mini-library, and a family service night at Feed My Starving Children. We will also be publishing a school-wide newsletter each trimester designed to feature opportunities to engage with our WHS family.

D44 brings a high energy science assembly to each of the schools to kickoff Science Fair Season. This year's kickoff assembly will take place at WHS on November 20th during the school day. See more information below!

Join other parents, high school and middle school students, and professionals to learn about issues facing today’s youth. The Glenbard Parent Series engages top experts, parents and school staff to become proactive and informed in pursuit of the mutual goal to strengthen our communities. Programs are free and open to the public. Click on the button below to see the 2019-2020 lineup of speakers.

These events are FREE and do not require advanced registration!

WHS PTA FACEBOOK PAGE:

Join the WHS PTA Facebook Page so you will always have the most up-to-date info for all of the events happening throughout the school year!

Click on the button below to see the latest from D44's Virtual Backpack!

Email: ddanielski@sd44.org
Location: Wm Hammerschmidt Elementary School, Hammerschmidt Avenue, Lombard, IL, United States
Phone: 630-827-4207
Twitter: @ddanielski