We have had a great week of learning at Lester! Students were reminded all about recess expectations. In addition, we had our first assembly. Students loved hearing Dr. Cool and his messages about kindness, inclusivity, and friendship. Students reported that this was one of the favorite assemblies they have ever had! Thanks to our PTA for funding this opportunity for our students.

We hope to see you at Oktoberfest this weekend. Many staff members will be volunteering tonight and tomorrow so we hope to see you there! This event is hosted by the District 58 Educational Foundation which benefits our schools.

As a reminder, we have our first PTA meeting of the year next Wednesday evening at Lester at 6:30 pm. We hope to see you there!

We hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

Katie Novosel

Principal

knovosel@dg58.org

Lauri Smith

Assistant Principal

lsmith@dg58.org

Each week during announcements, we will review a different location of expectations. Next week, we will review how to be respectful, responsible, and safe in the hallway!

This year's Culture Fair will be held on Thursday November 7th.

We are planning to have 6-8 rooms, each representing a different country/culture from around the world respectfully and as authentically as possible. We are looking for room hosts as well as other parent volunteers that can help with the logistics of the evening. We welcome any parent that is interested in participating and helping.

If interested, please fill out this Google form or email culturalfair@lesterpta.com by Sunday September 22nd. Please include what country/culture you'd like to represent or if you want to more broadly support this event. We will have two planning sessions before this event - Wednesday September 25 and Wednesday October 23rd in the evening at the Downers Grove Public Library. Thank you to all those willing to help this great event!

District 58 invites parents and guardians to sign up for fall 2024 parent-teacher conferences using the online PowerPTC conference signup system starting Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. via www.PowerPTC.net.

The sign-up window will close Friday, Oct. 4 at 11 a.m.

Parent-teacher conferences will be held in person. However, families who require a remote option should schedule their conference in PowerPTC and then change the meeting type from “in person” to “video conference.”

Conferences will take place on the evenings of Tuesday, Oct. 8 and Thursday, Oct. 10.

Please view the parent-teacher conference signup guide (para Español: Registro para las reuniones de padres y maestros) to learn how to sign up for a conference using the system, along with other helpful information.

Wednesday, Sept 18: PTA Meeting in Lester gym 6:30 pm

Thursday, Sept 19: Bus Evacuation Drill

Wednesday, Sept 25: Fire Drill

Monday, Sept 30: Fire Drill with DGFD

Monday, August 19- Friday, September 6: Fall Benchmark Testing

Friday, September 27: Fun Lunch (More info to come from PTA)

Wednesday, October 16: SCHOOL PHOTOS

The staff at our school will be utilizing The Zones of Regulation™ curriculum, commonly known as "The Zones." You may recall that this program was introduced in its pilot form last spring to our students. This year, we look forward to starting the year integrating this into student’s daily practice. As a refresher, this program includes lessons and activities designed to help your child develop self-regulation skills, which encompass self-control, self-management, and impulse control. Self-regulation is defined as the optimal state of alertness of both body and emotions for any given situation. The curriculum aims to teach students to recognize which Zone they are in and how to use strategies to maintain or change their Zone.

Through these lessons, students will expand their emotional vocabulary, learn to read facial expressions, understand others' perspectives, identify triggers for their behavior, and develop calming and problem-solving strategies.

A key component of this curriculum is ensuring that all team members understand and use The Zones language. This shared understanding creates a supportive environment, allowing students to practice and quickly adopt self-regulation skills in various situations. You can assist in this process by:

• Using The Zones language and discussing the concepts as they apply to you in different environments. For example, verbalize your own experiences: “This is really frustrating me and putting me in the Yellow Zone. I need to calm down by taking deep breaths.”

• Helping students become aware of their Zones and feelings by pointing out your observations.

• Validating the student's current Zone and helping them brainstorm appropriate self-regulation strategies for the context.

• Sharing how the student’s behavior affects your Zone and feelings.

• Encouraging students to use The Zones language to express their feelings and needs, and to share their Zone with you.

• Showing interest in learning about the student’s triggers and preferred tools for self-regulation, and asking how they would like reminders to use these tools.

• Asking students to frequently share what they have learned related to Zones.

• Reinforcing students for recognizing their Zone and managing their behaviors appropriately, rather than only pointing out unexpected behaviors.

It's important to remember that everyone experiences all of the Zones, and it is not considered “bad” to be in the Red and Yellow Zones. The Zones of Regulation aims to provide a neutral, judgment-free framework for understanding and managing emotions. We look forward to partnering with you in our implementation of Zones of Regulation this school year.

The National PTA Reflections program provides opportunities for recognition and access to the arts which boost student confidence and success in the arts and in life. This program is a wonderful way for your student to express themselves through creativity in the arts, photography, dance, film, music, writing, and more. This year's theme is Accepting Imperfection.

For those interested in participating, please fill out the Interest Form. Additional details can be found here.

Projects are due Friday, October 25, 2024.

Check out a few of last year's entries! They make Lester Leopard proud!