Panther Post January 10, 2020

Message From the Principal Dear Sullivan Families, We have had a busy and productive first two weeks back to school in 2020! As you can see from the pictures in this newsletter, our staff and students have wasted no time getting back to learning and creating. This week we completed our winter FastBridge benchmarking in reading and math. These quick assessments help teachers make instructional decisions and ensure our kids are on track for a successful year. Our English Language Learners also completed ACCESS testing this week. Our next round of testing is not until after spring break, when we will take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR). The start of a New Year brings thoughts of becoming healthy, setting goals, and making positive changes in our lives. At this week's staff meeting, the Sullivan team talked about personal and professional goals for the upcoming year, and chose a word that will help focus and achieve our goals. Our students are working to set goals as well, and are entering them into our new Personalized Learner Profile (PLP) dashboard. The PLP dashboard is tool where teachers are able to view information about a student's academics, interests, and extracurricular involvement. This tool helps all teachers understand how are students are learning and growing in different ways, and paints a picture of the whole child. You will hear more about the PLP in the upcoming weeks. Next month, we are looking forward to an author visit from Partick Carman, the author of Towervale . Families are able to preorder the author's latest book if they wish. Please see the flier below for more information. Have a wonderful four day weekend. We look forward to welcoming the kids back on Wednesday. Warmly, Traci Meziere Principal Anne Sullivan School Click here to go to the Sullivan Virtual Backpack

Arrival and Departure Reminders

Please remember that drop off and pick up can take a little longer in inclement weather. Please drive slowly in our parking lots and follow the directions of school staff who are there to ensure the safety of our kids. Please also do not pass buses that are parked and unloading students in the turnaround between MacArthur and Sullivan. Taking a few extra minutes will help everyone arrive to and depart from school safely.

Girls on the Run

We are excited to be starting Girls on the Run this year at Sullivan. Information was sent home in backpacks earlier this week. As the number of students who can participate is limited to 15, we ask that you sign your daughter up ONLY if you can commit to attendance at practices consistently. Click here to sign up. Please contact Ms. Wessel or Ms. Finnander with any questions.

PAWSITIVE PANTHERS

Anthony comes into school each and every day with a smile on his face. He works hard and is kind and considerate to his peers.

Each week, a student from each grade level is recognized for their PAWSITIVE Panther attitude and for making our Sullivan community a better place to learn. Jacob works hard in every academic area. He is a good friend and always offers help when he notices others in need.

Aaron is always respectful to others and takes responsibility for his learning. He always puts forth 100% effort.

Evan comes to school each day with a Pawsome attitude, and is ready to work hard. He is kind and respectful to others and gives 100%!

Sullivan Snapshots

Recorder Ready! Our students are gearing up for their recorder unit in music. To help them prepare, Mrs. Luehr created stations where students could practice reading and playing music on the xylophones and boomwhackers, as well as recognizing and naming notes through games.

Aspired Living Mrs. Stasi's class made snowflakes with our friends from Aspired Living this week!

Old School News Mrs. Yager's 4th grade Literacy Enrichment students worked to create graphic organizers and to summarize news articles from the New York Times for kids. Many of our students had never read an actual newspaper before, since we get so much of our news digitally in 2020!

Counting their Steps Our 5th graders used pedometers this week in PE to track their steps while they played pickleball to prepare for the upcoming basketball unit!

FlipGrid Midwest Our 4th graders are studying the Midwest region in Social Studies. Mrs. Ganek's class uses FlipGrid to complete learning tasks in groups.

Disability Awareness Mrs. Travis' 5th grade literacy class is preparing to begin a new novel unit in literacy, and a main character in each novel has a disability. Last week, they participated in disability awareness presentations and simulations to learn about different disabilities and to try and understand the communication and mobility challenges that our differently-abled friends face.

D23 Ca$h for the Cure Fundraiser

We are proud to announce that Betsy Ross School and the Bulldog Ambassadors will be sponsoring the second official District 23 Fundraiser of the school year. The fundraiser will be called Ca$h for the Cure and all proceeds will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The fundraiser will begin on Monday, January 27th and continue through Thursday, February 13th. We have plenty of fun events scheduled throughout the fundraising window for students, staff, and families to enjoy. We encourage you to follow along with our schedule and join in the fun whenever possible. Our goal for this district fundraiser is to raise at least $3,000 to donate to our friends at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If we reach this year's goal, our students will have the opportunity of seeing Mr. Curtis and Ms. Meziere taped to the wall of the gym. What a treat! Please take about three minutes to click on the button included to view a video created by our Bulldog Ambassadors about the event. We thank you in advance for your continued support of all our fundraising endeavors. Below, you'll find the important highlights of our fundraiser: January 24: Ca$h for the Cure Assembly Dates: January 27th - February 13th Chipotle Night: January 29th January 27-31: Wristbands for Sale in AM for $1 Donation February 3-7: Valentines for Sale in AM for $1 Donation February 5: Hat Day for $1 Donation February 10-13: Raffle Tickets for Sale in AM for $1 Donation February 10-13: Tape for Sale in AM for $1 Donation (Limit 5) To Be Determined: "Tape the Principal to the Wall" Assembly To Be Determined: Pasta Party for Top Fundraising Class (per school)

Click Here to View a Video Created by the Ross Ambassadors

We're Hiring!

Looking to pick up a few hours this school year? Sullivan is in search of lunch supervisors! Our lunch supervision is from 11:30-12:30 each day. Work one day to five days a week supervising lunch and recess with our 4th and 5th grade students. These are great jobs for parents and grandparents who are looking to pick up a few hours and a few dollars each week. CLICK HERE for our current vacancies

Dates to Remember

1/20: No School - MLK Jr. Day 1/21: No School - Teacher Institute Day 1/30: PTO Meeting @ Ike 7PM 1/31: PTO Movie Night 2/12: Board of Education Meeting @7PM

PTO News

Thank you to the PTO for sponsoring the ProKids assembly last week. Our students LOVED the assembly and learned about having great character through appreciating, caring, being respectful, cooperating, and being responsible. Don't forget to mark your calendars for the next PTO meeting on January 30th!

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