Friday Focus

• A Message from Marcie
• SEL Parent Event Recording
• Another Successful Read-a-Thon in the Book!
• Update for Anyone Who Missed Kindergarten Registration
  
• 5Essentials Survey is Open
  

Don't miss the PTO Spotlight:

• Skate Night 2/25
• Volunteer at Skate Night
• And much more...

Thanks for a great week, South Park!

We started off our week with a dynamic SEL Parent Presentation that engaged roughly 25 in-person parents/guardians and another 72 folks who joined us virtually. Please take a moment to read below to access the full recording of our event and learn more about the resources shared.

Last night, our 2nd and 4th grade students performed their music concerts for family and friends. Congratulations to all of our students for singing their hearts out on stage!

Finally, with next week being a shortened week, we anticipate that some families may be traveling. Please contact Nurse Moskos and your child's teacher if you plan to pull your child out of school for travel. We have noticed several parents asking our teachers for school work due to travel or illness. Rather than send work home, we find it to be more effective for teachers to work with students once they return so that they can fill students in on teaching points that were missed and oversee their understanding of new content being taught.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Marcie

Thank you so much to our incredible panel who lent us their time and expertise to provide our parent community with many skills and strategies to use at home with their children.

If you missed the event, we highly encourage you to carve out about 90 minutes to watch or listen to the presentation. The full recording is embedded below.

At the end of the presentation, we referenced a tool that was created for our families who attended the event. We have a few left in the front office. Feel free to stop by and grab one.

Once again this year, our Read-a-thon was tremendously successful! It was so exciting to see our students get motivated to do extra reading inside and outside of school. Altogether, our penguins have read over 100,000 minutes in the past two weeks. We hope this enthusiasm for reading continues well beyond the fundraiser! We have raised over $6000 through this year’s Read-a-thon which will allow us to help others and make some great improvements to our library collection. Next week, students will receive coupons for the prizes they have earned through reading. We’ll also have awards for the students in each class who have read the most, and of course the coveted class penguin trophies will be awarded to the top classes!

If you missed our in-person kindergarten registration, don’t worry! It’s not too late to register your kiddo for Kindergarten! Our online form is available on our registration page. Please reach out to your front office southpark-office@dps109.org if you have any questions.

Dear Parents/Guardians of Deerfield 109 students,

Again this year, parents across Illinois have an opportunity to participate in the annual statewide Illinois 5Essentials Survey. This survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of your child’s school. As a parent, it allows you to share your thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness. Your responses also help guide district improvement.

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey is administered online by UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago on behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education. The survey gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains. These five indicators that affect and predict school success are:

• Effective Leaders

• Collaborative Teachers

• Involved Families

• Supportive Environments

• Ambitious Instruction

To take the Parent Survey, please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ and select the appropriate survey to begin. Your identity and responses will be kept completely confidential and will not be connected to you or your child. The survey should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.

In addition to parents, 4th through 8th grade students will also be responding to this survey. Per school board policy 7:15, you may opt your child out of any survey. If you would not like your child to participate in the 5Essentials Survey, please contact Dr. Faust.

• All visitors to South Park School MUST bring a valid driver's license or state ID card to the main office before entering into the building. Beginning this year, we will collect IDs during your visit and return it to you as you leave.
• If your child is going to be absent from school, you need to call or email us by 9:00 that morning. ** Call 847-945-5895, ext. 2103 and leave a message OR ** Email Nurse Nora Moskos.
• Please follow our morning procedures, and drop your children off at their regular grade level doors. If you choose to drive through the front circle at arrival, kindly stay in your car when you drop off to help us reduce morning congestion.
• K-5 drop-off is between 8:35-8:45 a.m. Students who arrive after 8:45 a.m. will need to enter through the front door of the school, as all other doors will be locked.
• Dismissal for all Kindy and 1st-grade walkers and car riders will take place at their grade level door.
  
• Early Learners drop-off/pick-up info can be found here.
• When parking in our Birchwood parking lot, please remember that our preschoolers are dropped off and picked up by the west end (closest to the school). Sometimes, their parents' cars can block a parked car from exiting for a few minutes. To avoid that, we suggest that you park closer to Birchwood Avenue.

Friday, February 16

• No School - Teacher Institute Day

• No School - Presidents Day

• No School - Casimir Pulaski Day

• Early Release at 11:40 a.m.
• Parent-Teacher Conferences - 1:00-4:00 p.m. and 5:00-8:00 p.m.

• Non-Attendance Day for Students
• Parent Teacher Conferences from 8:30-11:30 a.m.

• Spring Break

• School Resumes

Fine Arts Night:

Thursday, April 18th - 4:00-5:30

Upcoming Music Concert Dates:

• Kindergarten - Wednesday, April 10 @ 6:00
  
• Early Learners - Wednesday, April 10 @ 5:00