Wow! Our students were awesome at the return of our Veterans Day Assembly in the MacArthur gym. This was a new event for all of our students and many of our staff since we had't hosted since 2019! Our Student Senate served breakfast. Our student speakers were awesome (Blake Kuhns, Sara Che, Naomi Conklin, Lucas Noascono, and Michael Franczyk). Our band, orchestra, and chorus added their sweet sounds. And our veterans felt appreciated!

Hot chocolate on a cold day! Our Student Senate hosted our first 5k last Saturday. With over 100 registered participants and other donations, we raised over $1,000 in proceeds to benefit St. Judes Research! Thanks to those that came out and those that helped to organize, great job, Marauders!

Our Unified Advisory team has been constructing the Gratitude Chain to extend around the cafeteria. Each link for each student or staff member. There are some common themes of family and friends, just in time to spend the week with those very people!

Student Senate has been organizing turkeys on lockers for their "You've been Thanked" activity. Students write a note of appreciation for another student. These then get delivered to the lockers by our Student Senate representatives.

Sixth graders are wrapping up a month-long unit on Plant and Animal Reproduction and Growth. Last month students kicked off the unit with a community service field trip to gather native wildflower seeds from nearby Com Ed Prairie. Some of the seeds will be used to re-seed a small, naturalized area of land between Sullivan and MacArthur.

Next, students learned how aquatic animals spawn to increase the chances of successful reproduction by modeling the probability with paperclip casting and counting. They learned that animals try to increase their odds of finding a mate and keeping offspring alive in unique ways.

Finally, students got to dissect something!...a flower. This investigation allowed students to observe the male and female parts of flowers that make seeds. After studying seed dispersal methods, students came full-circle to our field trip in October which demonstrated several ways seeds are cast far from the parent plant. Now it’s on to Photosynthesis after Thanksgiving Break.

The 7th grade class recently finished up Unit 1 with the new StudySync curriculum. We are proud of the improvements students have made with their reading strategies and writing skills.  Students are consistently being driven to read with purpose while making connections and asking questions. 

We also recently completed our novel study of the historical fiction book, Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen, which tied in with our American Revolution unit in Social Studies. As a follow up, students researched a Revolutionary War battle in their Social Studies’ classes and then created a  “virtual classroom ” presentation to represent that particular battle. Students also participated in a “Mock Election,” which was sponsored by The League of Women Voters for the first time. Students reviewed the candidates’ stands on the major issues before voting for their favorites. Once the election was over, students had a chance to see how their votes compared to the actual Illinois results. As we begin Trimester 2, we will be starting our Constitution Unit, which will prepare students for the state-mandated Constitution Test this winter.

Basketball season is here so that means our boys and girls teams have been running up and down the hardwood, pressing and playing defense, trying to get the victory. Additionally, our Poms and Cheer teams have been working on their routines during breaks in the basketball action. It is great to have full gyms to keep the energy up with all these Marauders!

We have seen an increase in the amount of absences this week due to illness. Some of the symptoms have included but are not limited to stomachache, headache, vomiting, and fever. Please be sure to monitor your child’s health over the next few days.

If your child is sick, please be sure to follow these guidelines:

• If sick, children should remain at home until symptoms subside.
• Children who develop a fever must remain home until fever-free for 24-hours.
• Children who vomit must remain home for a 24-hour period following vomiting.

 We are taking the following additional steps that ensure our school is a healthy and safe place for students with the following precautions:

• Washing hands and using hand sanitizer as often as possible to minimize the spread of germs
• Increased cleaning and disinfecting classrooms and bathrooms
• Disinfecting high-touch point areas to minimize the spread of germs
• Maximizing outside airflow through the HVAC system to ensure fresh air is filtered through our spaces
• Masking continues to be optional. Masks are available in all school offices upon request.

The well-being of our school community will always be our number one priority. Thank you for doing your part to help keep our school community safe and healthy. We hope to keep this winter season as healthy as possible!

The end of the first Trimester was last Friday, which means we are one third of the way through the year. As we have shared here, all report cards are available through the PowerSchool Parent Portal. Here is what that access will look like! Do note, report cards are only viewable when accessing the Parent Portal on a desktop or laptop computer, not on the mobile app.

If you don't have a PowerSchool Parent Portal account or have forgotten your password or other general question about report cards, please do reach out to us in the office and we can help you on the 28th!.

All 8th grade students should have taken the PSAT on 10/29. Make-up sessions are available on 11/5, if needed. Please contact the high school for questions about this process. They will be the best contact for support.

Watch your Mail...

for an important survey being sent to all D23 residents later next week. We are seeking your feedback on the Building a Better D23 Project to help inform our next steps. The survey will include a stamped return envelop or a QR code link if you would prefer to complete it online. Surveys are due back by November 30.

FLU and COVID Vaccination Event - December 3 @ Eisenhower 8:30-11:30

District 23 is partnering with the Cook County Department of Public Health to provide Flu and COVID vaccines to our community on Saturday, December 3 from 8:30-11:30am at Eisenhower School. Please complete this form to sign-up for this event and indicate which vaccine you would prefer. We will share the information with CIMPAR, the agency providing the vaccinations, so they can bring the appropriate doses.

Staff members will ask for insurance information, but nobody will be turned away, we still will be providing the COVID vaccine for those without insurance. The FLU VACCINES will be provided to those individuals with insurance only. No, exceptions. 

-Institute Days: 1/9, 4/10

-School Improvement Days: 5/12

-Holidays: No School

  -Thanksgiving Break: 11/21-11/25

  -Winter Break:12/23-1/6

  -Martin Luther King Day: 1/16

  -Presidents' Day: 2/20

  -Spring Break: 3/27-3/31

  -Memorial Day: 5/29

-Additional Non-Attendance Days: 2/17, 4/7

-8th Grade Promotion (tentative): 5/31

-Last Day of Student Attendance (if no emergency days used): 6/2