Clow School News

• Important Upcoming Dates
• Spirit of Giving During the Winter Holiday Season
• Student Council Food Drive
• Author Stef Wade Visit
• Scheduling Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Cold Weather Reminders
• District 204 Volunteer Program Information
• LMC Birthday Book Club
• School Hours
• Reporting Student Absences & Late Arrival Procedures
• School Lunch Menus
• Arrival/Dismissal Procedures
• Arrival & Dismissal Map
• Information on MyStop Mobile App

Wednesday, November 20th - PTA Family Paint Night

Thursday, November 21st - Parent/Teacher Conferences (4:30 - 7:50 pm)

Monday, November 25th - Parent/Teacher Conferences (8:00 am - 3:00 pm, 4:30 - 7:50 pm)

November 25th - 29th - No School (Thanksgiving Break)

Monday, December 2nd - School Resumes

Wednesday, December 4th - PTA Meeting (9:30 am)

Friday, December 6th - School Spirit Day (wear green/gold, Clow Spirit Wear)

Wednesday, December 11th - Clow Chorus Concert

Friday, December 20th - PTA Winter Classroom Parties

December 23rd - January 3rd - No School (Winter Break)

Monday, January 6th - School Resumes

The Holidays are quickly approaching and Clow School would like to extend the spirit of giving by offering families and staff an opportunity to contribute a gift to families who may not otherwise be able to provide gifts for their children.

During the months of November and December, a Giving Tree with snowman ornaments will be up in the main office. Each ornament on the tree will list a wish that would be greatly appreciated by a child. If you would like to contribute, please stop by the office to grab an ornament. Ornaments will be placed on/before Thursday, November 21st. If you won’t be in the building, but would like to participate, please feel free to contact Mrs. Berck or Mrs. Wenman and we can send an ornament home with your child. If your preference would be to donate a gift card to a family, we will also gladly accept them as donations.

When you have purchased the item(s) listed on the ornament, the gifts should be wrapped and the ornament specifying the contents should be securely attached to the gift. Wrapped gifts can be dropped off under the Giving Tree and should be returned to school by Thursday, December 12th.

Thank you so much for keeping the holiday spirit alive at Clow!

Clow Student Council will hold a holiday food drive for families in need. We will be working with Loaves and Fishes to provide them with their most needed items. Please consider helping us with this cause by donating from November 18th - 25th (donations will still be accepted during parent/teacher conferences). Boxes will be placed in our main office entryway for any donations students might bring.

Please see the flyer for preferred items that they need. Loaves and Fishes Most Needed Donation List.

New this year, families also have the opportunity to donate virtually at our virtual food drive link. If you donate virtually, add Clow Elementary School as the company. Thanks for your support!

**Donate and join in on our school wide PJ day on Friday, November 22nd. **

On November 19th, Clow students will have the opportunity to meet award winning author Stef Wade during the school day! https://stefwade.com/

For grades K-2, she will present a session based on her book The Very Last Leaf. It will be an "unbe-leaf-able" presentation on the life process of a leaf, a read aloud of her book, and a discussion on dealing with anxiety and facing your fears.

Grades 3-5 will enjoy an out-of-this-world exploration of space, the solar system, and the possibility of living on another planet. It includes a discussion of friendship & self discovery and a bit of a writer's workshop showing how to blend fiction and nonfiction content in story writing.

You may order books for her to sign by completing the attached form.

Thank you to the PTA for sponsoring this wonderful literacy event!

Parent/teacher conferences for preschool, elementary, middle, and high school will take place on Thursday, November 21, 2024 from 4:30 pm - 7:50 pm and Monday, November 25, 2024 from 8:00 am - 3:00 pm and 4:30 pm - 7:50 pm.

Scheduling your parent/teacher conference is now open in ParentVUE. To schedule your conference for elementary, middle, and high school students, log in to ParentVUE and select "Conference" from the menu on the left side to see the times available. Once you have scheduled your conference, you can click "Email Schedule" to have the details emailed to you. You can also go back to ParentVUE at any time to view the information.

Conference scheduling will remain open through November 19 at 6:00 pm.

We have been fortunate to have a relatively mild fall thus far! After having lived in the Midwest my entire life, I know that the weather can quickly turn and that has started this week! Here are some helpful reminders as we look to the (likely) colder months ahead!

Hats, scarves, gloves, and boots will all help to keep our students warm as they arrive and leave school each day. As a reminder, throughout the winter months, students will participate in outdoor recess when the conditions allow. The temperature and/or wind chill must be greater than 5 degrees and we also review the condition of the blacktop areas for ice, etc. to ensure that students can safely play outdoors on that day. Please anticipate that students will be outside for recess on MOST days!

Thank you for helping to make sure that students have what they need for the upcoming cold winter days.

District 204 is pleased to announce the launch of a district-wide volunteer tracking program using the Raptor Technologies system, in alignment with our Strategic Plan. This program aims to promote and recruit volunteers across the district to support areas such as Boosters, Fine Arts, LMC, PTA, and IPPC events.

All volunteers must complete the district's original volunteer form and a new online application via the Raptor Technologies system. Upload the original volunteer form into the online application. Access the forms on our Volunteer Program webpage. This process ensures consistency across all district schools.

If you have questions about the program, please contact Jeannie Dina, Assistant Director of Community Relations, at jeannie_dina@ipsd.org.

Are you looking for a great way to celebrate your child’s birthday at school? Whether your child already had a birthday this school year, or it is coming up... Clow LMC has the answer! You can donate a book to Clow’s LMC to honor your student AND help build our library collection!

Here are two ways to participate:

1. Go to Amazon.com. Use the following link to access our wishlist:

https://a.co/3hgh2n9. You will find books to add to our library collection to purchase for the LMC. The book(s) will be sent directly to our school from Amazon. It's that easy!

2. Fill out the Birthday Book Club permission slip that came home and return to school at your earliest convenience. If you have misplaced that form, please send an email to nicole_fader@ipsd.org letting me know your student is able to participate. Shortly thereafter, you will see a $15 fee in PushCoin. Your student will be able to come to the LMC and select a brand-new book that we are eager to add to our collection!

With either choice, I will add your student’s picture inside the front cover of the book commemorating the donation and hang his/her picture on the wall of the LMC.

Thank you for considering this program! If you should have any questions, please feel free to contact me @ nicole_fader@ipsd.org.

• Regular school hours are 9:05 am – 3:35 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Students may begin arriving each of these days at 8:50 am.

• Wednesday school hours are 9:15 am – 3:35 pm. This late start allows time for staff to engage in professional development opportunities. All arrival procedures, student supervision, and bus service will be delayed by 10 minutes every Wednesday of the school year.

If your child will be absent from school for any reason, please remember to call the school office to report the absence (630-428-6060, press option 3). Please also share the reason for the absence, as our attendance system requires that a reason for the absence be entered. If you report the absence on voicemail, please include both your child's name and the reason for the absence. If our school nurse should need additional information, she will reach out to you directly.

When students arrive to school on time, they are able to follow their classroom routine and get the day off to a great start. We do understand that situations may arise that can impact a child arriving to school on time. If you know your child will be arriving to school late on any given day, due to an appointment or other obligation, we encourage you to make the classroom teacher aware of the expected late arrival as well as ask that you contact our school office. Students arriving late to school should come to the front, main entrance doors. A parent/guardian must come in with the student to sign him/her into the office and share the reason for late arrival. Students should not be dropped off without an adult. Thank you for your assistance in getting your child(ren) to school on time each day!