The Panther Post

I want to take time to give a big shout out to the staff here at Pleasant Hill for ALL the hard work they do throughout the year. The passion and heart they pour into their work on a daily basis is truly admirable. If it wasn't for them, our students wouldn't be where they are today. The holiday season is a perfect time to reach out to a Pleasant Hill staff member and thank them for the work they do for your child!

As family members, I also want to wish you and yours and very happy holiday season. Thank you for the role you play in the Pleasant Hill community. As the new year begins, I encourage you to get involved in the school community if you have not yet had a chance to do so. Reach out to your child's teacher for classroom volunteer opportunities.

With the holiday season upon us, don't forget how important it is to take care of yourself. Take a look at the picture below for some helpful holiday self-care tips. If you don't take good care of yourself, you can't take care of those around you!

Yours in Education,

Dr. Lisa Weaver

Superintendent

Pleasant Hill is so excited to once again be offering students the afterschool art program. This program will be funded by the state of Illinois through the Afterschool Program Grant. Therefore, it will be offered FREE to all 4th-8th grade students who are interested. Participating students will have the opportunity to engage in a variety of art activities, learning the fundamentals of art as they go.

Mrs. Shannon Trone, one of our paraprofessionals, will be running the afterschool art program. She has a degree in the arts and a true passion and love for sharing her creativity with others. Mrs. Trone is looking forward to working with the students, so she can gauge their interests, and provide activities that align with those interests.

The afterschool art program will be held one day a week, on MONDAYS. The hours for the program will be 2:45-4:45. This will ensure that all students interested will be able to participate, as after school tutoring typically meets Tuesday through Thursday. The first day for the afterschool art program will be Monday, December 2nd from 2:45-4:45. If your child did not get a permission slip and is interested in participating in the art program on Mondays, please either reach out to Dr. Weaver at lweaver@phill69.com or your child's teacher.

The Illinois State Board of Education has released the annual Illinois Report Card at www.illinoisreportcard.com. The Report Card contains school performance data from the 2023-24 school year.

Schools are more than test scores. They are a home away from home for our students and staff. Pleasant Hill Elementary School focuses not only on academic success but also on caring for the whole child. We aim to equip each and every one of our students with a well-rounded education that prepares them for success in their lives and chosen careers. We strive to forge strong bonds with families, build community, and prepare our students to thrive in the next step of their educational journey.

On our 2024 Report Card, we are proud to see:

Pleasant Hill showed improvements in both ELA and Math growth percentiles, as well as marked improvement in cohort growth percentiles in both ELA and Math. For example, in 2023, the growth percentile for those students who met expectations in ELA was 67.3, whereas in 2024, the growth percentile for students who met expectations in ELA was 74.4. This means that students are showing positive growth trends. These results reflect the investments we have made in school-wide ELA and Math curricula over the past several years for our students, as well as the many literacy and math resources we are fortunate enough to have as a result of our Title I funding .

While we are happy to celebrate our many successes this year, we know there is room for us to grow and we are committed to engaging in continuous school improvement to provide the best possible services and support to our students. In the coming year, we will work diligently to provide resources and support to our students and families to make improvements with chronic absenteeism and truancy. Our teachers, administrators, and staff, in partnership with you, are continuing to focus on strengthening the District’s curricular resources to ensure students are receiving the best possible education.

One component of the Report Card is the Annual Summative Designation – a federally required accountability category. It identifies schools for support and describes how well our school is meeting the needs of all students based on eight indicators of performance. Indicators include ELA, Math, & Science proficiency, ELA & Math growth, chronic absenteeism, and climate survey participation.

Our summative designation of Targeted Support means one of our student groups is performing at or below the “all students” group of the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools state-wide; groups must have at least 20 students in at least five of eight indicators, one of which must be non-academic. This Targeted Support designation initiates targeted school improvement status and Pleasant Hill now begins a four-year cycle of school improvement.

Our Report Card is an opportunity we welcome to celebrate our strengths and reflect on our goals, so that every student can reach their fullest potential. We at Pleasant Hill believe every single student can meet high expectations and that you are a critical partner in your child’s education. When we all work together on behalf of our students, we can achieve more. Therefore, we always encourage your feedback and suggestions.

If you have any questions or simply want to offer feedback or suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us by contacting Superintendent, Dr. Lisa Weaver, at Lweaver@phill69.com or Principal, Mrs. Kim Priller, at kpriller@phill69.com Go Panthers!!

SO proud of these Pleasant Hill Panther students, LeTisha Haman (3rd grade) and Masyn Linwood (6th grade) and their exemplary role modeling each day. Our team is thrilled to collaborate with Better Banks in recognizing them both as Student of the Month, including a gracious donation to invest in their futures!

December 1-7 is National Handwashing Week

It's important now more than ever during Flu Season to wash our hands!

Did you know that washing your hands several times a day is the #1 way to prevent and stop the spread of germs and stay healthy? Most bacteria and viruses can live on your hands for more than 24hours! A full day? Wow! Time to wash those hands!

Your children will learn about handwashing and the proper steps to correctly wash. We will do a great activity together with Glo-germ "fake glow in the dark germs". Ask them to tell you about it and show you how to wash correctly! Here is a short video that you can watch together to review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCtdIB6Uzk0

COVID BOOSTERS AND FLU SHOTS ~ It's not too late to get your families COVID boosters and flu shots! Call your Doctor, go to your local pharmacy or the Health Department and schedule yours today!

Stay safe and healthy,

Ms. K. Naugle, BSN, RN, NCSN

School Nurse

IS YOUR CHILD UP TO DATE ON ALL OF THEIR EXAMS??

Kindergarten-Physical, Eye Exam AND Dental Exam

2nd Grade - Dental Exam

6th Grade-Physical Exam AND Dental Exam

Please get these turned into me ASAP. Thanks 😊

The district celebrated school Board Members Day on November 15 by inviting our Board members in for a luncheon to eat & visit with the students! Students created handmade posters and cards to welcome them in. They all had a wonderful time together. Thank you for your service Pleasant Hill Board Members! 🖤💛#phillpanthers #thankaboardmember

👨🏻‍🏫Don't forget, if an issue arises in the classroom with your child, please encourage your child to speak to their teacher about that issue. The next step of action would be for you as the parent or guardian to have a phone conference or conference with the teacher at school to discuss the issue that is taking place in an attempt to resolve it. If the issue still cannot be resolved, then please reach out to Mrs. Priller, the Principal, through email kpriller@phill69.com or give her a call at 637.6829 and she would be happy to work with you to find a way to resolve the issue at hand.

📱If you have had a phone number, address, or email change, please call or stop in the office to update that information. This is very important in case we need to make calls to families using our automated system. If your information is not updated in our Teacherease system, you will not receive phone calls, text messages, or emails.

🧥PLEASE ensure your child is coming to school wearing a coat each and every day. We will be taking students out for recess if the real feel temperature is above 20 degrees. We want to ensure they are all bundled up, but still able to get fresh air and exercise daily. Thank you!

🏀A friendly reminder that all Pre-K through 8th grade students who attend Pleasant Hill home basketball games must be accompanied by a parent and supervised by that parent throughout the game (sitting with the parent). We love having spectators to cheer on our Panthers, but it becomes a safety issue when students are not supervised. Thank you for your understanding! GO PANTHERS!

Wednesday, December 4th, 6-7pm

Raising Resilient and Confident Kids in the Age of Achievement Culture

Register here

Kids and teens often feel immense pressure to perform well - be it socially, academically, or in extracurricular activities. Because of these pressures - many youth grow up tying their self-worth to their social status, accomplishments, or accolades, which can have negative impacts on their mental health.

Join Cartwheel and Katie Steele, LMFT for a webinar which looks at achievement culture and the impacts this has on the mental health of our kids and teens - including higher rates of perfectionism, anxiety, and depression. Learn what to do (and not to do) as a parent or caregiver to support your children and help them build a sense of confidence, resilience, and self-worth that is not tied to their achievements.

This virtual event is part of Cartwheel's free webinar series for parents, caregivers, and school staff in our community.

Our Kindergarten Panthers loved having third grade reading buddies read to them. They can't wait to be great readers like them some day! #phillpanthers

• December 2-After School Art Program 2:45-4:45-Happy Birthday Serenity (3rd Grade)
• December 3-Boys Basketball Game @ Concordia 5:00-Happy Birthday Bella (1st Grade) & Noah (6th Grade)
• December 4-Boys Basketball Practice 1:30-3:30
• December 5-Boys Basketball Game @ Riverview 5:00-Happy Birthday Mi'Elle (1st Grade), Ye'Vonne (5th Grade), & Jasmine (6th Grade)
• December 6-NO SCHOOL Bright Futures PK
• December 9-After School Art Program 2:45-4:45-Boys Basketball Practice 2:45-4:30
• December 10-Wings with Dr. Weaver 5:00-Happy Birthday Zeke (K)
• December 11-Boys Basketball Game @ Norwood 4:30
• December 12-Boys Basketball Practice 2:45-4:30
• December 13- 8th Grade Visit to Limestone 9:00-11:00
• December 16-After School Art Program 2:45-4:45-Boys Basketball Practice 2:45-4:30
• December 17-Deck the Halls Family Night 4:30-6:00-Board of Education Meeting 6:00
• December 18-Boys Basketball Practice 1:30-3:30
• December 19-Boys Basketball Game @ PH vs. Limestone Walters 5:00-Happy Birthday Taevion (5th Grade) & Austin (6th Grade)
• December 20--Last Day of Second Quarter-Report Cards Sent Home-Early Dismissal @ 11:30-Happy Birthday Mrs. Shook
• December 23-January 3-Winter Break NO SCHOOL-Happy Birthday Ah'mir (3rd Grade), Abril (8th Grade), Kevin (3rd Grade), Claudia (6th Grade), Dominic (K), Teagan (PK), Josiah (PK) & Ms. Fleming
• January 7-Return to School

Email: lweaver@phill69.com
Website: www.phill69.com
Location: Pleasant Hill Elementary School, West Malone Street, Peoria, IL, United States
Phone: 309.637.6829
Facebook: facebook.com/PleasantHillElementarySchool
Twitter: @PHillPanthers