October News

Principal Message~
Happy Fall! This is my favorite season for so many reasons! I am one of those people who will buy anything labeled "Pumpkin Spice" and has fall decorations up far too early :) I also love that by the first day of fall, the hecticness of the early weeks of school has settled down and an energetic, productive vibe has settled through the building. Everywhere I look, I see students sharing ideas, researching topics, collaborating together, documenting their thinking and proudly demonstrating new learning. After you review the information below, I'll treat you to a few photos of the exciting things happening around the building.

                                                                                                                                 ~Mrs. Laura Garland

                                                                                                                   Principal

   

Important Dates & Information 

October 8th- No School- Columbus Day
October 10th- Fun Lunch- Paisanos
October 10th- School Board Meeting 7:00pm at Harter Middle School
October 12th-13th- PTN Clothing Sale at John Stewart
October 16th- PTN Meeting at 6:30pm at John Stewart
October 18th- K-2nd -Fire Prevention Assembly
October 23rd- District-Wide Elementary Parent Curriculum Presentation
                        6:30pm at Harter Middle School
October 24th- Fun Lunch- Ambrogi's Macaroni and Cheese
October 25th- Cosley Zoo Assembly on Humane Treatment of Animals- PTN Sponsored
                        (Related to The One and Only Ivan)
October 26th- PTN Family Movie Night 6:00pm
October 29th- Q&A Twitter Chat with elementary principals 3:00pm
October 29th- School Board Meeting 7:00pm at Harter Middle School
October 31st- Halloween Parties 2:30pm
                       Halloween Parade 3:00pm

Curriculum Night/ Twitter Chat
Each year our district holds a curriculum night for all k-5 families across the district. It is held at a central location; Harter Middle School. We are looking forward to seeing you there on Tuesday, October 23rd from 6:30-8:00pm. This is an evening where we focus on what is happening this school year and then provide opportunities for break-out sessions for parents to engage in more dialogue or ask questions in specific areas. This year, we will add a tutorial on Twitter at the end of Curriculum Night, as we hope to engage with our community throughTwitter chat. #AskKanelandPrincipals on October 29th


PTN Needs Your Help~
It's that time of year, where PTN is working on plans for our after-school enrichment program for John Stewart students.  ACE (After Class Enrichment) takes place on Thursday afternoons in February and is led by volunteer parents and local community businesses.  Many KST kids look forward to ACE and all of the programs we offer.  Classes like Tae Kwon Do, Lacrosse, Arts and Crafts, American Girl, Cooking and so much more.  We are in need of parent volunteers to teach or help facilitate outside businesses during ACE.  Parent volunteers can teach students a hobby, skill, interest of their choice for the four Thursdays in February.  All volunteers are provided childcare for younger siblings and reimbursement for any monetary needs for their class.  This program can only continue with your help.  If you are interested in participating or need more information please contact Becky Fair at 630-365-3294 or rrubeck@hotmail.com


Coming Soon..... 

Thank you to Ms. Mazurkiewicz, Mrs. Svhilik and Mrs. Orman for submitting and winning a Kaneland Foundation Grant to bring an interactive Lego wall to our school. Construction on the wall will begin this month. A special thank you to the PTN for funding additional Legos to use with the wall.




Message from the LRC
Please take a look around the house for any library books you may have forgotten to return. We currently have approx. $750 worth of books checked out last year and not returned. We appreciate your help!!

Halloween Party/Parade Guidelines
Specific information regarding the Halloween Party and Parade can be found: Here

As promised, here are some photos of the wonderful learning experiences taking place around our school! 

Principal Message~

September News

Principal Message~

Hello~ The school year is off to a great start! I've been enjoying getting to know our new students and welcoming back our returning students. In between hearing about all of our students summer adventures, we managed to squeeze in quite a few activities. In the past 8 days, all students have completed Expectation Walks for each common area of the school,  engaged in fall benchmark testing, enjoyed an all-school kick-off assembly for the One School, One Book project, had their fall picture taken and have begun to settle into their daily routines. As the year continues to progress, please do not hesitate to reach out if there is anything I can do to support you and/or your student(s). 

                                                                                                                                 ~Mrs. Laura Garland

                                                                                                                   Principal

   

Important Dates & Information 

September 3rd- No School- Labor Day

September 4th- PTN Charleston Wrap Fundraiser Begins

September 7th- Tornado Drill

September 11th- First PTN Meeting- 6:30pm at John Stewart

September 12th- Fun Lunch- Potbellys

September 13th and 14th- 5th Grade Outdoor Education

September 17th- Kaneland High School Traveling Homecoming Assembly for students

September 19th- Kaneland Community Homecoming Parade in Sugar Grove- 6:00pm

One School, One Book~ The One and Only Ivan

On Thursday, August 30th, our school kicked off a One School, One Book project with an all-school assembly. This project involves every student, teacher, bus driver, secretary, nurse... everyone, reading the same book following the same timeline. In Kaneland, every elementary school will be reading The One and Only Ivan.  At our assembly, each child was given a copy of the book to take home, along with a nighly calendar of readings.  We encourage you to read with and/or to your child and to discuss the story at home. If you or your child would like to hear the book read aloud by staff members, log on to our website or Click Here . Trivia questions based on the nighly readings will be read on the announcements each morning and those who participate will be entered into prize drawings. 

Visitors

If you have visited the school over the past week, you have experienced the new entry system. Visitors will need to ring the bell located to the right of the main doors to gain entrance. Once inside, the practice of scanning driver's licenses and wearing visitor badges will remain the same. Please remember to bring identification when visiting the school. 

**If you bring your child to school after 8:50am, be sure to walk him/her into the building. The exterior doors will automatically lock at 8:50am and visitors will need to ring the bell to gain entry.  Young children may be unaware of how to access the building if they are sent in alone after 8:50am. Parents are also required to sign their student in at the main office if they arrive after 8:50am. 

PTN  

If you have not already done so, be sure to sign up for the weekly PTN emails. You can sign up Here  The weekly email contains great reminders about all PTN events, including Fun Lunch! 

Exploratory Incentive Plan
This year, our Exploratory teachers (art, music, PE, computer, critical thinking) are trying something new. All classes will earn Exploratory Points for each exploratory they attend daily.  Each class that earns enough points by November 26th, will have a free-choice day during their regularly scheduled exploratory time.  Free-choice day means that each individual student will be able to choose whether they’d like to go to art, music, PE, technology or critical thinking during one of the 30 minute blocks on December 17th.  We think students will be motivated by the opportunity to choose their exploratory for a day. Classes that do not earn the minimum number of required points will follow their regular Exploratory schedule.

Music Performances

Given that many of our music performances take place during the day, we understand that some forward planning may be required to allow you to attend. Please note the date and time of each grade level's performance this year, so you can get it on your calendar early.

Kindergarten Performance- February 8, 2019 @2:45pm

1st Grade Informance- December 7, 2018 @2:45pm

2nd Grade Tea for Two- May 10, 2019 @2:45pm

3rd Grade Open House Performance- April 11, 2019 @5:30pm

4th Grade Recorder Performance- May 3, 2019 @2:45pm

5th Grade John Stewart Veteran's Day Celebration- November 16, 2018 @2:45pm

5th Grade Choral District Festival- April 9, 2019 @7:00pm at Kaneland High School

Enjoy a peek at our first few days!