The Franklin Flyer

Mark Your Calendars:

August 15 - 23: FastBridge Assessments (Grades K-1)

August 19 - 30: Fall MAP Assessment Window (Grades 2-5)

August 19 - 30: PTA - Back to School Sign-Up Day (Pizza Monday & Parent Volunteers, Event Chair Positions, Back to School Bash & 5K Volunteers/Participants)

August 21: Curriculum Night - See Schedule Below

September 2: Labor Day - No School

September 9: PTA - 1st Pizza Monday

September 12: PTA - Back to School Bash 5-7 PM

September 16: PTA - Head Room Parent & Parent Volunteer Sign-Up Opens

September 29: Annual Judi McCarthy 5k Run/Walk

Absences

Please call in or email absences by 8:45 AM. You can call our student absence line (847) 318-4390 (ext 1) is available 24 hours a day, or email Mrs. Linda Berleth at lberleth@d64.org.

If the absence is illness related, please also make sure to include Franklin's nurse, Mrs. Queta Karstens, at qkarstens@d64.org.

Franklin Office Hours
School office hours are from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.

School Hours

School Hours (M, T, Th, F): 8:50 am - 3:30 pm

Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade Lunch: 11:35 - 12:30

4th and 5th Grade Lunch: 12:05 - 1:00

Wednesday School Hours: 8:50 am - 2:40 pm

Wednesday Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade Lunch: 11:05 - 12:00

Wednesday 4th and 5th Grade Lunch: 11:35 - 12:30

Half-Day Kindergarten Hours

Kindergarten Hours (M, T, Th, F): 8:50 am - 11:35 am

Kindergarten Wednesday: 8:50 am - 11:05 am

Curriculum Night

We are excited to welcome our Franklin parents to curriculum night at Franklin on August 21st. The presentation schedule is listed below. Should you be unable to attend, classroom teachers can send information to you after the event.

6:00 - 6:30 pm - 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade presentations

6:40 - 7:10 pm - Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade presentations

Student Technology

As a reminder, each Franklin student will be issued an iPad (grades K-1) or a Chromebook computer (grades 2-5) as part of the District’s one-to-one digital learning program. Students will receive their devices during the first week of school. Your child will also be assigned a Google account to access Google Apps for Education and other digital resources at school and to explore further concepts introduced in class at home. The devices and their applications are technology tools that provide all students access to digital content and higher levels of individualized instruction.

You can find more information about the 1:1 Initiative, Chromebooks, and the other technologies available to our students here.

Payments to School - My School Bucks

Park Ridge-Niles CCSD 64 employs My School Bucks as its payment platform for families. Most

purchases for students, including food services at the middle school level, can be transacted through My School Bucks. Directors can be found here.

Please send a change of clothes with your children for all K-5 students. It is helpful to have a change of clothes in the event of spilled water, accidents, or an unexpected incidents. Clothes should be labeled with your child's name and can be kept in your child's locker. We encourage you to make sure your child's name is on each article of clothing.

For the health and safety of our students and community, no pets are allowed on school property. We realize the beautiful weather increases the amount of families who are walking to and from school. However, we ask that you please leave your dog or cat at home. Properly identified service animals are always permitted.

Please take a moment to review the contacts section of your ParentPortal. Any adult who has approval for after school pick-up or emergency pick-up for illness/injury should be listed. Franklin staff will not release students to adults who are not listed on the ParentPortal.

Drop-off of Student Items/Lunches

If your student forgets something at home, an adult may drop off items at the Franklin front office. Our front office staff will message the classroom for your student to pick up these items during a break in student instruction. The teacher will send the student to the office when it works best in the classroom schedule.

Lunch Reminders

Quest, our food service company, serves pre-order meals and beverages to our students who have placed orders. Students must use their MySchoolBucks account to purchase any food. Please see this website page for more information from Quest.

Though we have Quest food choices during lunch, most Franklin students bring lunch to school. We highly encourage waste-free lunches. To reduce waste, please consider the following as you pack your child’s lunch:

• Please pack your child’s lunch in a reusable lunch box or bag (not paper or plastic bags).

• Use reusable containers for sandwiches rather than foil, plastic wrap, etc.

• Buy snacks in quantity and transfer them to a reusable container.

• Put drinks in a child-friendly thermos rather than sending throw-away juice boxes, etc.

Visiting Franklin

All visitors to Franklin must have a valid state ID or driver’s license. Identification is entered into the Raptor identification system. This process only takes a short time to complete. Once you have clearance, the office staff will print a visitor pass for you and attach it to a lanyard you must wear throughout the building. The office will hold your ID until you return to the office and return the lanyard. We appreciate your support as we proceed with this district-mandated safety procedure for the safety of our students.

Student-Parent Handbook
Franklin Elementary School and all District 64 schools follow policies and practices reviewed and implemented by the District 64 Board of Education. Please review the D64 Student-Parent Handbook before the start of the school year.

You can find frequent updates or snapshots from our days at Franklin on Facebook and Instagram! Follow us at

Facebook: facebook.com/FranklinD64

Instagram: franklin.d64

Appreciation Spotlight

• We don’t take for granted that our school supplies are delivered right to our classrooms! Thank you to Zrinka Davis, our new school supply chair, and the rest of the Davis fam, Cory, Matilda and Maxwell, who got their workout in sorting and delivering boxes ahead of supply drop off day.

• Did you notice that the Membership Toolkit got a facelift!? Many thanks to our new PTA Board Secretaries Ashley Thielsen and Elana Cepa for consolidating our resources in a one stop shop.

Franklin Gear!

Shop the Franklin Back-To-School Spirit Wear Sale! Choose from hundreds of designs and garments that are delivered to your home in days! You'll save 30% off the entire site! New product lines include Nike and Adidas! Shop at

https://1stplace.sale/30637.

Fall Sign-Ups Blitz | Monday, August 19th kicks off our big fall sign up session. We know it’s long, but please read below for details and visit Membership Toolkit to sign up.

Volunteers Needed! Back to School Bash Bash, Judi McCarthy 5K & Raise Craze

These are our first events for the year so we’re reaching out early for volunteers. Help us welcome students and families back at the Bash, honor one of our Falcon fave teachers Mrs. McCarthy, and support our largest fundraising effort of the year!

…AND chair and co-chair positions for events throughout the year have also been posted so please take a look and sign up if there is something you want to be more involved with. If you have questions about events before signing up, reach out to Camille DeCicco or Tania Wygonowski.

Pizza Monday Sign-Ups

As part of one of our largest fundraising drives each year, the PTA hosts “Pizza Mondays” where we order and serve Spuntino Pizza slices in one, two, or three-slice orders. Participation is optional and allows families to pack lighter lunches on Mondays during Pizza Monday blocks - we still recommend sending your child with a drink and lunch “sides.” All proceeds from the pizza lunch fundraiser go directly to PTA funds to help the school throughout the year. Must have PTA membership to be able to order. Orders for Pizza Monday open on Monday, August 19 in the PTA Membership Toolkit. More information below.

• How it works: On Mondays (listed below) your child will be served their pizza at their designated lunch spot. Parent volunteers will be handing out pizza and all PTA members are able to volunteer through the PTA membership toolkit (volunteer spots to open August 19). Please note that Pizza Monday orders do not include a fruit/veggie side. This must be brought separately for the students. Drinks and a few side items may be purchased at mymealorder.com.

• If school is canceled on a Pizza Monday there are no refunds for that day due to our block ordering system and this initiative being a fundraiser for our school. On those days, the funds go directly to helping the school vs. purchasing pizza. Thank you for your understanding!

• The school year is split into two Pizza Monday blocks: Block 1 will run from September 9th through December 16th (13 Mondays). Block 2 runs from January 6th through May 19th (16 Mondays). You do not need to participate in both blocks.

• Both regular cheese slices and gluten-free slices are available for purchase

• Pricing for Block 1:

• 1 slice/week for 13 weeks = $51

• 2 slices/week for 13 weeks = $81

• 3 slices/week for 13 weeks = $111

• We can accept orders for Block 1 of Pizza Monday starting on Monday, August 19 through Friday, August 30. Important: Once Pizza Monday orders close on August 30 we cannot accept any more orders for Block 1.

• Volunteer roles for helping serve lunch on Pizza Mondays will open in the toolkit on Monday, August 19th for all of Block 1.

Rainbows Student Peer Group

There is still time to register your child/children for our 2nd session of the Rainbows for all Children peer groups. The first session for this school year begins Tuesday, Sept. 10th at 5:30 pm. This free program will meet weekly, for 1 hour, at the Park Ridge Community Church and provides a safe space for students in 1st - 8th grade to share their experiences associated with loss of a loved one and/or a changing family dynamic due to divorce, deployment, etc. Trained facilitators help encourage communication while identifying, navigating and discussing feelings amongst the group.

Please use the Google form link below to sign up your child and/or to be added to our email communications list. Any questions or interest in volunteering to become a facilitator, please contact rainbows64@att.net . For more info about Rainbows, please visit: https://rainbows.org/

Rainbows Student Peer Group Sign up