Circle Center News You Can Use: January 18, 2021

Week of January 18, 2021

Good Afternoon CCGS Families,

We had another great week of learning at CCGS and a perfect end to our second quarter of school. It is hard to believe that we are half way through our school year. Each day I come to work with 518 reasons to smile. (The number of students we have enrolled remotely, hybrid, or in person all day.) Your child will soon be coming home with his or her reading and math goal for the third quarter of school. Students will be sharing their goals with Mrs. Anderson and I as well.

This week I had a blast at recess with Ms. Ripsch's classroom, spent time with our preschool friends, and had the opportunity to visit students in classrooms while they were working in small groups or on independent work. We have also been filling up our goal board in the hallway as students have reached their goals in school. Our teachers have been reading lots of books and teaching students about Martin Luther King Jr. this week. This will continue next week and into the month of February.

As a reminder, there is no school tomorrow, Friday, January 15th for students. It is a teacher Institute day. We will also have Monday, January 18th off in honor or Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Please add any January pictures you have taken to this album. Thank you so much for sharing your at home pictures with us!

I hope you have a wonderful long weekend with your family!

Mrs. Hamm

Congratulations to Ms. Crosby's classroom for being the Golden Platter Winner this week. I look forward to playing at recess with them this next week!

Miss Katie has ordered new school store items! Your child can bring money into the office to buy these items. They sell out quickly!

I wanted to make you aware of a few special adult programs the Yorkville Library is holding on MLK day – Monday, January 18 at the library.
"How Can I Serve?” Volunteer opportunities in our community panel discussion – Mon, Jan 18 @ 10:30-12:00 via Zoom King recognized the power of service. He famously said, “Everyone can be great because everybody can serve.” Observing the Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday through service is a way to begin each year with a commitment to making your community a better place. Join us as we hear about various non-profit and volunteer organizations in our community. Learn more about how you can get involved, volunteer, and contribute to many of these organizations. This program is presented via Zoom and registration is required. A Zoom link will be provided when you register for this program. (I have attached the resource booklet for this program to the email)
In the Belly of the Beast: King in Chicago –Mon, Jan 18 @ 7:00 via Zoom Sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Dr. Martin Luther King’s journey to the mountaintop included many stops along the way. Between Montgomery and Memphis, he visited Chicago many times in pursuit of justice. History seems to have ignored or forgotten those incredible chapters in his life, and today they feel as relevant as they were 50 years ago. Join entertainer/historian Clarence Goodman for his extraordinary narrative in an extraordinary life. Registration is required. A Zoom link will be provided when you register for this program.

The KCOEC is hosting a First Grade program for remote and hybrid learners Wednesday and Thursday January 20-21, at Hoover Forest Preserve from 1:00-4:00pm each day. It is an open-house style program, so families are welcome to come and go at their leisure. The activities are based on the Plants and Animals lesson and includes classifying, parent vs. offspring traits, and a wildlife exploration hike.

If your child was exposed to an individual who has tested positive for COVID and lives in the same household as that person OR if your child has tested positive for COVID, please email myself and our nurse at [email protected]. The quarantine requirements for school are different that than the CDC guidelines and the safety of all of our students and staff is my highest priority.

Please send two masks each day with your child. The disposable masks should not be worn each day to school without changing them. With the colder weather, masks can become uncomfortable and wet after being outside due to condensation. Over the weekend, please check the fit of your child's mask. We are seeing more masks falling below the nose and more reminders are being give. I think some are getting stretched out. It is a great time to do a fit check!

On January 1, the district transitioned to an upgraded alert notification system. The system is used to send emails, phone calls, and texts to parents, employees, and students. The change was made to consolidate the district’s communication systems and offer enhanced engagement with district stakeholders. In the future, the system can be expanded for use by teachers and coaches to further streamline communications with families, as well as allow families to customize their contact preferences. To ensure you successfully receive messages through the new system, please add [email protected] to your “trusted sender”/”do not block list” lists. In addition, if you have a new email address or phone number, now is a great time to contact your child’s school secretary to update the information. If you have multiple children in the district, please contact the secretary at your oldest child’s school. On Sunday, January 17, at 6 p.m., the district will send an email and phone message to all District 115 families and employees to test the new notification system. If you miss the phone message, you may dial 855-267-0402 to hear all the messages that were sent to you from the district in the last 30 days. Please send an email to [email protected] if your contact information is up-to-date with your child’s school, but you do not receive this phone and/or email communication from the district (please indicate your child’s school and full name in the email). Thank you for your cooperation as we work to continually enhance our services to our families.