PCCS--Weekly Announcements, Board Election, & Finance Committee Agenda

Here's What's Happening at PCCS

Board Election Balloting Begins

This morning, each family at PCCS received an email, providing you a ballot to vote for the parent-elected board election. If you did not receive an email, please contact Heather Bendorovich. Voting continues through Friday, October 27, 2017 at 3:30pm. Click on the candidate's name below for their information: Brett Edmonds & Dan Fedor.

Fall Fest Coming Soon!

Don't miss out on what looks to be THE event of the fall! The PSO is hosting a Fall Fest on Sunday, October 22nd from 12-4pm. There will be food, fun, and football--pumpkins, face painting, magicians, a bounce house, bake sale, hayrides, and more! Have a friend or neighbor who is curious about PCCS? Bring them along to join in the fun!

Thanksgiving Literacy Night

Join us as we take a tour of world cultures and RSVP for Thanksgiving Literacy Night at PCCS. Participants will explore different cultural traditions through games, crafts and literacy--and a Taste of the World type potluck dinner. Get your passport at the door and travel the continents on November 7th from 6-8:30pm in the Gym. All are welcome!

Farm to Table

A big shout out to Chef Jean-Marc Loustaunau and the Cafe Pyrenees for a mouthwatering lunch at Farm to Table this week. We hope everyone had an opportunity to delight in the fresh fall flavors! If you missed this month's lunch, don't delay in signing up for the November Farm to Table. HERE is the registration form. Registration is due by November 8th. Please contact Carol if you are interested in volunteering!

Hispanic Heritage Month

Our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month ends on Monday and we would like to thank Ms. Klug, Mrs. McGeever, Ms. Roman-Ahlgrim, Mr. Flinn, Mr. Thomas and Mr. Loustaunau for their enthusiasm and passion for teaching our students how the Hispanic heritage is relevant and important to our school and in our studies. We hope your children enjoyed all they learned!

PSO General Meeting

Please join the PSO at their first General Meeting of the year on Wednesday, October 25th at 8:15am in the Staff Lounge of PCCS' Kennicott Building. All are invited and welcome to attend. The PSO will review fundraising, volunteer and family-centered activities planned for the year. All parents and staff members are members of the PCCS PSO. Please come and learn more about how you can support your child's school and be more involved in the community!

Upcoming Events & After School Opportunities

Virtual Backpack. Don't forget to check out each
Friday's Virtual Backpack. Lots of fall events taking place here and around our community. There are new events listed every week.

PCCS Board Parent Election

You should have received an electronic ballot from Election Buddy via email this morning. Each family receives one vote for the Parent-Elected Board Election. If you have not received an email with a ballot, please first check your spam folder. If it's not in your spam folder, please contact Heather Bendorovich at [email protected].

The election process begins today and continues through Friday, October 27, 2017 at 3:30pm.

Parent-Elect Election Committee

PBIS--Being Safe During Outdoor Learning

Being Safe During Outdoor Learning. At PCCS, we learn outdoors more than most schools, so we need to have special guidelines in order to make our learning safe and comfortable. Our teachers are responsible for us, so we must always stay with our group while outdoors. We do not need to be afraid, but we must be aware of the possible risks so we can take action if needed. Knowing what we would do in a situation helps us feel confident we can be safe while learning outdoors.

Environmental Learning

With cooler weather finally upon us, our environmental learning has taken a turn toward autumnal activities. Here's what we've done this week and have to look forward to next week:

After reading the book Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert, Kindergarten students created their own leaf characters using found natural items. This activity helped them to look upon nature's forms with new eyes and to see them in different ways. For example, leaves became arms, acorns were repurposed into eyeballs, and twigs were transformed into legs.
6th grade students experienced life as it was thousands of years ago at Primitive Day. They honed their traditional skills as they rotated through five stations which focused on fire starting, spear throwing (ask a 6th grader what an atlatl is!), archery, cave painting, and pouch sewing. This type of immersive experience allows our students to get a truer feel for what their ancestors experienced in their daily lives.
Next week, we look forward to first and second grade students preparing a fall feast using the produce grown in their gardens. Each class will cook a different vegetarian stew recipe which will be accompanied by home-made cornbread using corn they have grown and ground. Bon appetit!
7th grade will be dipping their nets into the lake to gather critters and water. They will use this to assess our local water quality and gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which water cycles are affected by humans, and vice versa.

October is Anti-Bully Month

The week of October 23rd-27th, we will be recognizing National Bullying Prevention Month at PCCS through various lessons and activities. Although staff and students will celebrate and educate all through that week, we at PCCS celebrate anti-bully month everyday. Our teachers and staff address bullying in a number of different ways including whole-school assemblies, lesson plans and books for teachers, even staff t-shirts. The PBIS committee has given thoughtful consideration to the notion of "bullying awareness" and what is the most meaningful, impactful way to educate our students in an effort to maintain a peaceful environment where our students can feel safe and confident to learn. Our goal is to infuse our entire social-emotional curriculum with a focus on relationship-building, coping skills, empathy, and other concepts related to bullying prevention.

Upcoming Events at PCCS:

Monday, October 16th--Cheer Tryouts @ 3:45pm--Muir Hall

--Boys' Basketball Tryouts @ 3:45pm--Gym

Tuesday, October 17th-- Cheer Tryouts @ 3:45pm--Muir Hall

--Boys' Basketball Tryouts @ 3:45pm--Gym

-- Finance Committee Meeting 6pm

Wednesday, October 18th--Early Release: Dismissal at 1pm

Thursday, October 19th--Staff/Student Soccer Game at 2pm (Soccer Field)

-- Chipotle Restaurant Night in Gurnee from 4-8pm

Sunday, October 22nd-- PSO Fall Fest 12-4pm (PCCS Campus)

Save the Date:

Now through October 27th--Voting for Parent Election Continues