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We are so excited Viking of the Week is back. What better way to kick it off than with one of our newest Vikings, Kindergartner, Elsie Rygula. Mrs. Troha had some wonderful things to say about her!

Elsie is off to a great start in kindergarten. She comes to class every day with a smile on her face. She is a wonderful listener and sets a great example for her classmates. Elsie is already an amazing Viking in such a short amount of time here at Taft. She is always respectful, responsible, and ready to learn! Way to go! When she is not doing amazing things in the classroom you can find her at the pool and loves to play at the park. Keep up the great work Elsie, we are so proud of you!

I hope everyone is enjoying their three-day weekend. Remember, no school tomorrow in observance of Labor Day. Please see the flyer below for our PTA meeting on September 10 at 6:00 in the library. For the safety of our students, please avoid dropping off students on Washington Street. In the mornings, Washington and 16th streets are high-traffic areas, please take a few extra minutes to drop off in our designated drop-off spots. After school, please do not park on the opposite side of the street and have your students cross 16th street. Safety is our priority and we need your help. Please see below for all the information on drop off and pick up.

Every week we will feature a teacher in the newsletter and highlight their amazing work in the classroom. Mrs. Campbell’s 6th & 8th grade math classes are working hard. Here is what is going on:

8th-grade math students started their curriculum on the third day of school and already have pages of notes and examples. After our brief review to prepare for Algebra, students will learn the multiplication and division properties of exponents. That knowledge will lead us into simplifying radicals and using operations with radicals. The review, exponents, and radicals will take us all the way to October. The physical textbooks for our class remain in the classroom. Your student has online access to our book. The link, username, and password were listed in my letter home to parents.

6th-grade math students are off to a great start! Whole numbers, decimals, and fractions will also take us into October. Students are learning to be independent learners and are doing well accessing the class agenda and book online. If your child forgets their book at school the link, username, and password were listed in my letter home to parents. Sixth-grade students will eventually need a Texas Instruments TI-30XIIS calculator. Right now Amazon is selling it for under $10. Once your student has their calculator, they can store it in their locker until we need it.

The softball team played Kelvin Grove this week and lost by a score of 17 to 1. They play at Humphrey on Tuesday and at Laraway on Thursday.

The baseball team also played Kelvin Grove this week and came up short losing 11 to 1. They play at Rockdale on Tuesday and Laraway on Thursday.

Good luck to both teams.

The Taft PTA is having an open meeting on Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at 6:00 PM. Our past PTA board has been running our PTA for well over a decade and they are looking for new leadership to take it over. The PTA has been vital to our Taft community and we have already heard from several families who are interested in being more involved but we could always use more help. Please consider joining us at the meeting so we can ensure our PTA stays strong for years to come.

Taft Parents Athletic Association will have their annual registration on Thursday, September 19, 2024 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Taft. All students in grades 3-6 are eligible to participate and must have a completed physical turned into Nurse McGraw. The TPAA is a wonderful organization that has done a fantastic job of providing excellent opportunities for our youngest Taft students to play basketball in a fun and organized environment to help prepare them for our junior high teams.

The Taft Foundation is hosting a Craft Fair on Saturday, September 28, 2024 from 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM. Please see both of the flyers below. The first is asking for some volunteers to help set up and take down the Craft Fair while the other is the advertisement for the Craft Fair itself.

Please see the updated September Monthly Look Ahead Calendar below which now includes several new events.

Taft SD 90 though our involvement with LASEC does offer free preschool screening for our families to help identify students who may be in need of early interventions. Please see the flyer below for more information.

We are in need of a 7th and 8th Grade Boys Basketball Coach for this upcoming boys basketball season. The season begins in October and runs though the end of January. The team practices everyday either before school at 6:45AM or after school at 3:15 PM. Once games begin practices are still held every day when there is not a game. The team plays approximately 20 games a year. Please use the button below to access the online application and reach out to Coach Howard or Jim Calabrese if you or someone you know is interested.

Staff will be outside each morning beginning at 8:10 AM - 8:20 AM to supervise students prior to them entering the building at 8:20 AM. Before 8:10 AM, there will not be any supervision for students so we ask that parents please do not drop off your students before that. There is no parking in the drop-off lanes on 16th and 17th Streets. Parents who wish to park or wait with their children are expected to use the spaces on Washington Street. The drop-off lanes on 16th and 17th Streets are designed for parents to drive up and drop students off and proceed forward. Parents should simply wait in line until they get close to the school and then drop off students. Jumping the line to save a few seconds is dangerous and breaks down the process for everyone and will take longer in the end.

School ends at 3:15 PM and pick-up time generally follows the same procedures except parents will typically begin lining up prior to school letting out. During pickup time it is acceptable for parents to wait in their cars for their students however parents should not park, and leave their cars in the pickup lane unattended. As the line moves we ask that parents pull as far forward as possible to ensure the traffic flows and to allow more students to enter their cars. Please note that with the upgraded curves on the 16th Street side that there is a change in the traffic pattern.

Kindergarten - 2nd Grade - Line up on the back playground each morning and enter through Door 4. Teachers will come out and get them from their lines. First and second-grade students will be dismissed out the playground doors each day. Kindergarten will be dismissed from Door 2 nearest to the kindergarten classroom. All students in kindergarten through 2nd grade must be picked up by a parent or sibling and checked out with their teachers to ensure our youngest students are safely picked up.

3rd & 4th Grade - Line up and dismissed from Door 7 on 17th Street

5th - 8th Grade - Line up and dismissed from Door 2 on 16th Street

Lunch is ordered a month in advance, but changes can be made up to a week before if needed. So unfortunately lunch orders for the first few weeks of school are closed. If you want to still order for September please use the form below. You can select Hot, Cold, or Milk for your child's lunch on any given day. The form can be downloaded, saved, and edited, and then emailed back to Mrs. Zimmerman at j.zimmerman@taftsd90.org as soon as possible. Please ensure that your child's name and grade are included on the top part of the form.

At the start of the school year, extra lunches will be ordered just in case you are not able to return the form by 8/3/24.

Even if you qualify for free or reduced meals, a form must be filled out for each day your child desires a school lunch. You may choose between a Hot or Cold option. The cost of a school lunch is $4.35 per meal. Failure to fill out the form may result in not having lunch available for your child. If your child only wants milk, a charge of $0.50 will be applied, even if you qualify for free or reduced meals.

Please see the attached below for the 2024-2025 School Calendar.

All students entering early childhood-including speech services, kindergarten, and 6th grade are required to have a current physical examination completed on the approved Illinois Department of Public Health Form.. A sports physical does not meet the requirement. The parent portion on the upper backside of the form must be completed and signed. Required physical exam with updated immunizations must be turned in by October 15,2023 to avoid exclusion from school.

• Preschool
  

  
  

  Complete Preschool Physical Examination

  No additional immunization requirement if up-to-date.

  
  

• Kindergarten
  

  
  

  Complete Kindergarten Physical Examination and all required immunizations including:

  • Two doses of MMR Vaccine

  • Four doses of Polio Vaccine

  • Four doses of DPT/DTaP Vaccine

  • Three doses of Hepatitis B

  • Two doses of Varicella Vaccine (chicken pox)

  • Complete Kindergarten Eye Examination - Must be turned in prior to October 15 of the current school year.
    

  • Complete Kindergarten Dental Examination - Must be turned in prior to May 15 of the current school year.

  
  

  • 6th Grade
    

    
    

    Complete 6th grade Physical Examination and all required immunizations including:

    • One dose of Tdap Vaccine

    • One dose of Meningococcal Vaccine (meningitis) after the 11th birthday

    • Two doses of Varicella Vaccine (chicken pox)

    • Three doses of Hepatitis B at the required intervals

    Complete 6th grade Dental Examination - Must be turned in prior to May 15 of the current school year.

    
    

  
  

  Students entering an Illinois school from out of state or out of the country for the first time at any grade level must also provide the physical exam form. The exam must be completed no earlier than a year (365 days) prior to the start of attendance at an Illinois school.

  
  

Did you know that every time you shop on Walmart.com, you can round up your change and donate it to TAFT FOUNDATION? Learn how small acts can lead to big impact at #WalmartSparkGood by using this link https://www.walmart.com/nonprofits/e52a139c-c723-4715-bf4d-27802d3cccbb/profile or by hitting the button below.

Taft is proud to have the “Stop It” program up and running for the 2021-2022 school year. Stop it is an online program that students can use to report bullying or any unsafe behavior while remaining anonymous. These reports come through to the Superintendent, Principal, and Social Worker via text so we can address the situation right away. This provides the student with an opportunity to share their concerns if they feel they cannot speak immediately to an adult.

We continue to teach our students to advocate for themselves in situations where they feel they can speak to a situation on their own. The students are reminded there are different approaches to stop bullying or unsafe situations outside of reporting things anonymously. Students are encouraged to share concerns with friends, staff, and family to learn to advocate for themselves. However, we understand that there are some situations where students may feel safer reporting discreetly.

If you have any questions regarding the Stop It program, please contact Mrs. Thompson or Mr. Calabrese.

Email: j.calabrese@taftsd90.org
Website: www.taft90.org
Location: 1605 South Washington Street, Lockport, IL, USA
Phone: (815)838-0434
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taft.vikings
Twitter: @jjcalabrese