Peterson's News

9/23-9/27

Good Evening,

The Fall Festival was an incredible success and a lot of fun had by all!!!!! PTA appreciates everyone who came out, volunteered, and donated cakes.

Staff meet this week in grade level teams to collaborate and analyze all the fall benchmarking data and other assessment information collected for our students to allocate needed resources and supports. If your child is receiving additional support beyond Tier 1 (what all students learn), you will be notified. Student growth in ELA and Math are two of our three goals for our School Improvement Plan. Providing students with the needed resources and support allows all of students to grow and achieve their greatest potential!

Please see below for information about the PTA fundraiser!!! The kickoff is Monday, September 23rd.

Best,
Alli Landstrom

Picture Day

Fall Picture Day is Monday, September 23rd.

Assessments

CogAT Testing in 2nd and 5th Grade

The Fall CogAT testing window opens on Monday, September 23rd and closes on Friday, October 4th. Below are the dates that each grade level will be testing.

5th Grade - 9/24, 9/25, 9/26
2nd Grade - 10/1, 10/2, 10/3

IAR Results

IAR/DLM scores can now be viewed in ParentVUE. Scores will only show for our current 4th and 5th grade students who took the assessment last school year.

PTA Reflections Program

Reflections 2024-25: Entries Accepted Now through October 1st

Calling all artists, musicians, photographers, filmers/producers, writers, dancers etc! Peterson is now accepting entries for the 2024-25 Reflections Art Program. This year's theme is "Accepting Imperfections". Entries are accepted in the Peterson School Office until 10/01/24. Please email the school's PTA co-chairs for Reflections with any questions: Megan Northcutt (megan.e.northcutt@gmail.com) and Forum Vyas (forum.vyas10@gmail.com)

Please Click Here the Reflections Info Packet and Entry Form

From the PTA

Our Party Our Way - School Fundraiser

'Our Party, Our Way' is the school years biggest fundraiser (formally Orange Ruler)! This year's fundraiser will go towards a rock wall in our gymnasium and other PTA sponsored programs throughout the year (field trips, classroom enrichment, etc.). Over the next three weeks, we need your support to make this one of the most successful fundraisers ever!

Fundraising opens Monday, September 23rd and will end Friday, October 11th.
The in school celebration will be held on Thursday Oct. 17th

The dollar amount each classroom raises will earn them a prize each week. At the end of the fundraiser, students will get to vote for an activity and sweet treat of their choice to celebrate the successful completion of the fundraiser.

To support this fundraiser, look out for more information on the flier that comes home with your child on Monday!

IPPC Coat Drive - final day to donate is Monday September 23rd

The Indian Prairie Parents’ Council is once again hosting their annual winter coat drive to benefit District 204 students and families in need. This program gathers new and gently used clean winter coats and accessories (including boots, snow pants, hats, scarves and mittens) that will be offered at no cost to families in need. Students and parents are encouraged to bring their donated items to their school between September 9 and 23rd. A collection box is right inside the Peterson entrance. If you have questions about the coat drive, please contact IPPC 1st VP and Unity Chair, Robin Schmidt at ippcpta@gmail.com.

Peterson Website & 2024/2025 PTA Events Calendar

Please bookmark our Peterson PTA website which has information on PTA events, including the 2024/2025 PTA Events Calendar.

Previous Information

Birthday Book Program

Please follow this link for information about the LMC's optional Birthday Book Program!

Supporting Social-Emotional Learning

Teachers will begin teaching the first lesson of our Second Step Curriculum in the couple weeks. The Second Step curriculum teaches students the Social Emotional Learning standards in a developmentally appropriate way. Please see the following link for more information: https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Social-Emotional-Learning-Standards.aspx. The curriculum aligns with our Panther Pledges of Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe. Here is the link if you’re interested in more information: https://www.secondstep.org/second-step-social-emotional-learning

Each month has a theme. The themes are Setting the Stage, Skills for Learning, Empathy, Emotion Management, Problem Solving, and Friendship Skills. For the first four weeks, we have been Setting the Stage by reviewing our Panther Pledges of Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe. The theme that students will be involved in over the next month is Skills for Learning: listening, focusing attention, using self-talk to stay on-task, and being assertive when asking for help with a learning task. In our morning announcements, we’ll be reminding students of these skills, which help students be successful learners. Second Step lessons teach skills for learning. You’ll be receiving a Home Link this week describing why these skills are important and including fun activities to do with your child to practice them. We hope you enjoy them! The Home Links do not need to be returned unless directed by the teacher.

In Kindergarten - Third grade, Home Links are sent home based upon the content, so a Home Link will not come home every week in these grade levels.
In Fourth and Fifth grade, a Home Link will be sent home every week.

We will be posting the links for all grade levels on our website in the next couple weeks. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me or your child's teacher.

Updated Volunteer Application Process

We love to have volunteers at Peterson! Please see the updated volunteer application process. All volunteers must be approved through this process for the 24-25 school year. You will receive a confirmation email from the district once approved.

IPSD Volunteer Information and Application

Arrival/Dismissal Form

Thank you to those of you who have filled out the Arrival/Dismissal form below!! We still have more than half of our families who have not. Please do so as soon as possible! We are asking families to fill out a form for each child. We ask that if your child's dismissal plans change on a consistent basis to please fill out the again, so that we can have the most up to date information. Below is the link to form.

Arrival/Dismissal Form

Late Start Wednesdays

As in years past, our school district will continue to follow a late start time for every student on Wednesdays. This time is critical to our school and district professional development. The school day will begin at 9:15 a.m. This late start delays both school drop off and morning bus schedules. It does not change our dismissal time of 3:35.

Wednesday Morning Schedule: