The Patton Post

We had a great first full week of school and, despite some weather "challenges", a fun week was had by all! I hope you all managed to stay cool and hydrated throughout the hot days and are looking forward to a weekend with some nicer weather!

Thank you to everyone that came to Curriculum Night on Wednesday! I hope you found it informative and helpful and that it made you excited for all the things your child/ren are going to learn this school year! It was wonderful to see so many of you!

Thank you also to everyone for ensuring our pickup and drop off continues to run smoothly. Everything has been thought through from a student safety perspective, so we truly appreciate your cooperation. Please know that we are doing everything we can to ensure a quick and efficient pickup at the end of the day while also ensuring all students are safe. You are welcome to amend your dismissal form at any time should you find that a different plan will work out better for your family. Please call the office to note your changes, and we will relay the information to the classroom teacher.

We truly appreciate our traffic team and all of their efforts. The tents set up at pick up this week provided some very appreciated shade to students waiting for their cars to come around. Please continue to display your signs with your last name. It helps tremendously in expediting the process. Remember if you lose it, you can just write it boldly with black marker on a piece of paper so that it is easy to read.

A very special welcome to all of our new traffic team volunteers! We appreciate you! We are always looking for more voluntters. Please fill out this form if you are willing to help, and a member of the team will contact you.

Thankfully the temperature has cooled off in time for the Back to School Bash this evening! It looks to be beautiful weather for all the fun and I cannot wait to see you all there! Please remember to bring your own drinks/reusable water bottles as the PTA will NOT be selling beverages this evening.

Have a lovely weekend!

Thanks!

Ellie Chin

During the school year, we practice many safety drills with our students. In addition, classroom teachers review our emergency procedures with their students. This year in collaboration with the Arlington Heights Police Department (AHPD) and the Arlington Heights Fire Department (AHFD), our school-wide drills will be announced.

FIRE DRILLS

• Thursday, August 31st
• Tuesday, September 19th
• Thursday, October 5th (with the AHFD)

Twice a year, we will conduct a lockdown safety drill with all students. This is one of the routine safety drills we practice throughout the year, along with evacuation drills, shelter-in-place drills, and bus evacuation drills. Students are prepared for this drill so they are not unnecessarily alarmed, and it will be announced in advance. Officer O'Leary from the Arlington Heights Police Department will also be in attendance during our practice drill.

LOCKDOWN DRILL

• Tuesday, September 5th
• Spring Date - TBD

SHELTER IN PLACE DRILL

• Monday, August 28th

BUS EVACUATION DRILL

• Tuesday, October 17th

Students in Kindergarten through fifth grades will be taking the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Assessments for literacy and math during school starting next week.

Classroom teachers will communicate specific testing times. While these assessments are not ones you can prepare for by studying, we are asking for your help. Please make sure your child/ren get a good night's rest and eat a healthy breakfast and lunch on testing days. Thank you in advance for your support with this! MAP results will be shared with you in October.

Student Health: Please continue to use THIS LINK or call into the office at 847-398-4288 to report your child’s absence.

If your child has tested positive for COVID-19, you can notify the school nurse for guidance regarding how many days it is recommended to stay home (5 days with day 0 as onset of symptoms or test day if asymptomatic) per Illinois Department of Public Health.

We know it can be tough getting back into the school schedule and routine after a long, relaxing summer. As much as we wish our days could still be filled with trips to the pool and long, lazy lunches the reality of school and extra curricular schedules can make summer feel like a distant memory.

We understand these first few weeks can be a struggle for EVERYONE, so here are a few hints and tips to make the transition a bit smoother.....after all, just because summer break is over, doesn't mean all the fun has to be too!

If you haven't already done so, please read through the Arlington Heights School District 25 Parent/Student Handbook as it has a lot of important information. A couple of quick highlights I wanted to make you aware of are below:

• The possession and use of cell phones and other electronic devices, including wearables, are subject to the following rules:
• Elementary students are expected to leave electronics in the “off” position and in their backpacks throughout the school day.

• Except as required in class or extracurricular programs, students cannot wear the following items in school:
• Hats, hoods, helmets or headgear (except as a religious observance or if medically necessary).
• Sunglasses (unless medically necessitated)

We know this might be an adjustment for some students, so please remind your child that they will have to take off their “wearable” watch and their hats once they are at school unless there is a medical need. Students are permitted to wear hats and/or sunglasses during recess for sun protection.

• Parents of all kindergarten students and students new to Patton need to turn in a physical form with immunizations and an eye exam form by October 15.

• Parents of students with allergies and/or asthma, please complete the appropriate paperwork and send in any needed medications.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the School Nurse, Mrs. Christine Staniak, at cstaniak@sd25.org

We are thrilled to share a special event to help you support your child's mathematical journey at home! Join us for a unique opportunity to learn from Susan Resnick, a distinguished US Consultant and Author of the acclaimed book Math in Focus: Singapore Math.

During this informative session, Susan will provide a comprehensive overview of the successful methodologies behind Singapore Math. She will delve into the key instructional strategies that have catapulted Singapore to the forefront of global mathematics achievement. Throughout the evening, we'll delve into essential concepts like number bonds, bar modeling, long division, and other effective approaches that may differ from how you learned math but have proven highly effective in nurturing proficiency.

This event is geared towards parents of Kindergarten-5th graders and will be held at the Dunton Administration Building Thursday, September 14 at 7:00PM. To register for this event, please click here.

The search for the District’s next Superintendent is under way and our Board of Education needs your help. The following are opportunities for you, our parents/guardians, to give your feedback to be considered in the selection process of the District's next Superintendent.

1. Online Survey
   This survey will be available from Sept. 11 - Oct. 13. The link to the survey will be emailed to you, and it will be available on the Superintendent Search Page on our website (www.sd25.org/SuptSearch).

2. Elementary Parent Focus Group
   September 13, 2023 | 6:15pm - 7:15pm
   Ivy Hill Elementary School

If you are not able to attend the focus group, you are invited to attend the community-wide focus groups linked here. For all things Superintendent Search, visit www.sd25.org/SuptSearch.

We received a wonderful letter from the Make-a-Wish foundation thanking us for the generous donation we made after our annual Walk-a-thon! As always, we are so grateful for your generosity.

We greatly appreciate everyone who watched the video and reviewed the slideshow regarding our arrival and dismissal procedures. We know there were some questions, and we are happy to answer them if you need any further clarification. We do, however, encourage you to review the information that has been shared as many parents have reported that the information is clear and easy to follow.

We have prepared information for you in both video and written format. We recommend watching the videos first and referencing the slideshow afterward.

1. Please watch this video on Arrival Procedures

2. Please watch this video on Dismissal Procedures

3. Please review this slideshow on our Arrival and Dismissal procedures

• Kindergarten Parents - Please pay special attention to the slides for Kindergarten

If you have specified that your child/ren will be leaving from DOOR 1 (the main entrance) to walk or bike home, and you plan on meeting them, please wait on the grass near the drop off zone.

We have a lot of children exiting the main door (Door 1) and it can be a challenge if multiple parents are waiting there. This becomes confusing to children who aren't sure if there parents are right at the door or near the bike racks. We would like to ensure that all students can exit quickly and efficiently and have a clear path to the pick-up lane to help our car line move more efficiently. All students will be directed to this area so you can meet them on the grass or near the back sidewalk path.

Please also be mindful of those getting into cars to go home and keep the path near the car line clear at all times.

Our wonderful traffic team needs all hands on deck this school year for traffic due to construction. If you are available one morning, afternoon, or even to sub any help will be greatly appreciated. Please fill out this form and a member of the team will contact you.

The traffic team will happily offer training to any interested volunteers. Please know that we truly need more volunteers. If you have been looking for a way to get involved, the traffic team would love to have you!

ABC/25 invites parents and community members to an adult only info session at Arlington Ale House (3rd floor of the Metropolis) on Wednesday, September 20th 7-8PM. Come learn how your membership benefits the schools and students and become involved in our rebrand! This is a free to the community event - not a fundraiser. RSVP here: https://forms.gle/6NTsr9zwr29a8MGS9

We know mornings are busy, breakfast gets eaten, your kids assure you they've packed their backpacks properly and have everything they need....and before you know it, your kiddo is out the door......leaving an important item behind!

If your child forgets their water bottle, lunch, homework, etc. and you drop it off at Patton, you will see bookshelves to the left in the vestibule when you enter. These are labeled for each grade level. Please place your items on the shelf that correlates with the student's grade.

Items should be labeled with your child/ren’s name and teacher. We will call your child down to get these items.

Please encourage responsibility to help us limit the number of interruptions to the classroom during the school day.

Speaking of encouraging responsibility…the first day of school may be the only day that our Lost and Found is empty. Last year, we could have opened a store with all that was left in our Lost and Found. Many hoodies, coats, shoes, water bottles, etc. that were in excellent, like-new, condition were never claimed. We encourage you to label your child’s belongings in case they are lost. If you notice your child comes home without their jacket, we encourage you to remind them to try to locate it right away. We donate often because we cannot house all of the lost items due to space.

Our Food services team are delighted to welcome you back this school year! Updated menus were posted this week and the Choosi App has been updated! All product nutrition and ingredient information can be found on the AHSD25 Food Services page and all allergy information is available on the Choosi App!

Please see links below for some helpful information

• Welcome Back from Food & Nutrition Services
• How to order school lunch
• Information about Meal Payment
• How to apply for Free/Reduced Price Meal

Should your child need to enter or leave school during the school day (including for lunch), we ask that you notify the teacher and Patton's office beforehand, via email or phone. When you arrive at school, you will need to sign your child in or sign your child out using the QR code posted on the sign OR the ONLINE FORM. Students are required to be signed in if they arrive at 9:05 or later.

The form should only be filled out when you arrive to pick up/drop off your child. The form "time stamps" your entry and filling it out too soon provides inaccurate attendance information. If you fill out the form before picking up your child, the office will request you to fill it out again so the time accurately reflects when your child was picked up or dropped off. The QR code will be posted outside the main entrance, but many families also find it helpful to bookmark the page for easy access.

If your child cannot attend school on a specific day, there are two ways to report an absence. Please click HERE to record absence information using our online form, which is located on our school website on the Absence page. You may also call our office to report an absence. When you call our school’s main line at 847-398-4288, you will initially hear an auto attendant. You will be prompted with a few options: press “1” to report the absence; press “2” for the nurse; press “0” or remain on the line for the front office. This procedure not only helps us fulfill necessary attendance obligations as required by Illinois law, but it also helps us to monitor the safety of our students en route to school.

Should you want to print this calendar as well, please click HERE.

The District recently launched its new Parent Academy newsletter and page on the website.

The goal of Parent Academy is to provide learning opportunities for parents to better understand ways to support their students’ academic success and personal well-being. We welcome parents and families to engage in various activities and events to explore topics related to mental health, well-being, equity and inclusion, and academics. Please visit the website (www.sd25.org/ParentAcademy) for archived newsletters, further resources and information, or to submit an idea/topic for the next Parent Academy newsletter.

• Friday, August 25th - PTA Sponsored: BACK TO SCHOOL BASH

• Monday, September 4th - NO SCHOOL

• Friday, September 8th - PTA Sponsored: Kindergarten Family Night

• Monday, September 25th - NO SCHOOL

• Thurs 12th and Fri 13th October - Parent/Teacher Conferences (No School)

Please be sure to click on the Patton PTA website button above for information about other upcoming events

Main Line: (847) 398-4288
Fax #: (847) 394-6681
Absence Procedure
Twitter: @AHSD25Patton