Principal's Message 12.6.19

Principal's Message 12.6.19

 

Upcoming Event

Go Purple For Pancreatic Cancer Fundraiser: We are collecting money (no coins, please!) to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer Research! This fundraiser will run until December 17th. Please start bringing in money to support our cause!

Purple Day: Celebrate our collection by wearing purple on Tuesday, December 17th!


Exploration Lab News

1st - Students are working with partners to design/engineer…

  • A tower at least 10 inches high using straws and pipe cleaners

  • A bridge that will hold a cup of 50 pennies using straws and tape. 

  • A maze using straws, poster board and tape

2nd- After learning the story of Rapunzel, students are designing/engineering an escape plan so Rapunzel can see the world and get out of her tower! 

 

3rd- {Weil} Students are using the circuit blocks to build either a self-driving car or a drawing machine. 

{Ramont and Souza} Students are almost done coding our robots!

4th- Students are using Sphero robots to practice their coding skills. 

5th- Students are using a program called Tinkercad to design and print 3D objects. 

 


Lunchroom Wars 

The EcoClub would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all the families that participated in our first Lunchroom Wars. We weighed the trash for three days prior to the contest and then again for three days last week. Our students reduced lunchroom waste from 209 pounds to 132 pounds of trash. Congratulations to the 2nd and 4th graders for winning Lunchroom Wars!


 

SMART Watches & Other Distractions

SMART watches are showing up at school. Many SMART watches have similar capabilities to SMART phones (game, voice, and text capabilities).  If a SMART watch becomes a distraction, it may be confiscated and stored in the office to remove the distraction from the learning environment. Essentially, we will treat the SMART watches like a cell phone. Confiscated equipment may be picked up in the office at the end of the day by the student. If a pattern of distraction occurs, parents may be asked to pick up the technology. 


 

Girls on the Run 2020

Dear Parents of 3rd, 4th and 5th-grade girls,

We are excited to start recruiting for our 9th year of Girls on the Run- Prairie! Girls on the Run is an international social-emotional learning program for 3rd-5th-grade girls. During the practices we play games, do activities, all while training for a 5K run! More information about this incredible program is available at www.girlsontherun.org or www.gotrchicago.org

At Prairie, this program is about 12 weeks long and runs from roughly the end of February (tentative start date is Thursday, February 27th) through May. The program concludes with a huge running event in Lake County.  The program is done on Wednesdays AND Thursdays from 3:00-4:30pm and the girls must be present for BOTH sessions. There is a program fee of approximately $210 (there is financial assistance available from GOTR-Chicago) this fee is paid to GOTR-Chicago, not D96. The fee covers the curriculum, healthy snacks at each practice, entry into the big GOTR 5K, a t-shirt, a race medal, a water bottle, bus transportation and our end of season celebration.  We also request an extra $15 for fun Prairie specific extras. 

If your girl is chosen there will be a mandatory parent night to discuss the program in mid-February. If you have questions now, please contact our head coach, Erin Sauer at [email protected] or 847-634-3144 x3720. Additionally, parents will be encouraged to attend a practice 5K run, a celebration pasta party night, and attend the final 5K run with their girl. 

Girls on the Run is a very popular club at Prairie, and we want as many girls as possible to get to experience the program in one of the three years they'll be at Prairie. Girls on the Run, as an organization, limits the number of students based on how many coaches we have. For this reason, we do a modified lottery system to choose the girls to participate.  We want an even number of 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade girls to be able to participate. Preference is given to girls who have never participated in the program. Then we look at balanced grade levels. We give a slight preference to 5th grade as this is the last year they can participate.  With all things being equal, students are "picked from a hat" randomly. If there are any questions about the selection process, please contact Miss Sauer at [email protected].  

This year we will be having any girls who are interested to fill out a short application in addition to parents filling out information.  

Please complete this form CLICK HERE to show us that you are interested in having your girl participate in GOTR at Prairie. This is INTEREST only form. This is NOT enrollment. We will be sending out who was selected after winter vacation with a link to registration. Unfortunately, we will not be able to make exceptions to this timeline. 

Thank you and Sparkle Fingers!

Coach (Erin) Sauer, Coach (Robin) Lehtman, Coach (Melanie) Pawlow and Coach (Stephanie) Just


It's Cold Outside

Please remember to send your child to school daily with proper outerwear.  Weather permitting, students go outside for recess every day. In winter the temperature, wind chill, and weather conditions will be monitored throughout the morning.  The weather website and playground will be checked to determine whether conditions are appropriate for children’s outdoor recess. When the temperature or wind chill is below zero degrees, students will be kept inside for recess.  We weigh options when the temperature or wind chill is between zero to ten degrees, to determine if we have indoor or outdoor recess, such as how damp it is outside. We do try to allow the children to go outside whenever possible, so please help them to come prepared. Thank you!  If a student has a doctor’s note or a medical condition, he or she may stay inside the building office for recess.

Determination of whether children will have outdoor recess will be made prior to each recess period, based on the weather at the moment and in the judgment of the principal or his or her designee.  Any request for prolonged indoor recess MUST come from the child’s physician.


Revised 2020-2021 School Calendar

Please see the Revised 2020–2021 Quick List School Year Calendar

Questions? Please contact the public information coordinator.