Dear Parents,
We are excited to debut our first integrated school newsletter communication. This communication will come to your inbox twice per month, and afford you a look at the exciting learning experiences in all three schools. We will continue to share news and announcements, and will also highlight the work of our staff and accomplishments of our students.
I am excited for the spring weather and what that means for our construction projects. The construction crews have made great progress in spite of the severe winter weather, and you can track their progress by visiting our website. As you know, the winter weather caused us to cancel four days of school. We will be recommending to the BOE that three of those days be made up in June. We will also recommend that one of the make-up days be a virtual E-Learning Day on Friday, April 19. We are beginning to work with our teachers on what this type of learning experience looks like, and will be sending detailed communication home in the coming weeks. We will collect feedback afterwards to assess the viability of future E-Learning days next winter.
Sean Nugent
Superintendent
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PTA is looking for volunteers
The mission of the Maercker District 60 Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is to provide funds for additional learning experiences inside and outside of the classroom. We invite you to get involved in the PTA for the 2017-18 school year. Various committees can be viewed
here
. The PTA needs many volunteers! If you are a seasoned PTA volunteer, consider chairing a committee or join the board.
Maercker Education Foundation (MEF) is Looking for Volunteers
The MEF is the charitable fundraising arm of the district. It is a separate 501(c)3 organization that exists to raise funds through contributions, special events and other activities. The MEF then provides grants for innovative educational projects proposed by District 60 staff that directly enhance and enrich the existing programs, activities and facilities of District 60. Since its inception in October 2005, the MEF has raised and distributed more than $80,000 to District 60 schools.
Unfortunately, the MEF is in danger of closing unless new volunteers step forward to serve on the Board of Directors. Please contact
Sean Nugent
if you are interested in serving the Maercker community.
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Kindergarten Highlights
In February, Kindergarten
classrooms were visited by Assistance League Chicagoland West members.
Visiting members read in small groups with students. Each child received the book All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold with his or her name in it. The books were purchased at a discount, compliments of Anderson’s bookstore.
Kindergarten also learned about determination during our “Make a Wish” fundraiser week and shared in Seesaw what they were determined to learn. They also wrote about their favorite non-tech activity is and put it all together in a fun book using Book Creator!
First Grade Highlights
First grade students are having great behavior; classroom teachers are having marble jar celebrations (game day, movie day, PJ day etc.).
In unit 5, first grade asked parents to share a video of how they use technology at work or home. There were great videos from our parents to share with the kids.
First graders (1-H, 1-M, 1-We, and 1-Wi) wrapped up their light unit - they especially loved using mirrors and flashlights to discover how light “bounces”. They enjoyed using Kahoot! to make sure we could tell the difference between a shadow and a reflection.
First Grade discussed compassion and kindness and became “Compassionate Super Heroes” using Book Creator to share their stories. The following week students made “heart art” and wrote what it is to be kind. The day also included connecting with students in Israel and Kansas through Flipgrid and sharing what kindness means in their part of the world!
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Voya Unsung Hero Award
Congratulations to Mrs. Gorey and Mrs. DeCarlo for winning the VOYA Unsung Hero Award and Grant. They will be using the grant money to purchase the two buddy benches in honor of student Kadalise Brown.
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Top Fundraisers Rewarded With Breakfast
Staff served and cooked breakfast to students on February 7 as a reward for raising $6,500 for
Pennies for Patients Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
! Mrs. Hoffman, Mrs. Merrill and Mrs. Wadler led the fundraising with students and organized the breakfast event.
Kindness Rocks at Maercker School!
Our PBIS school-wide activity was held on Friday, February 8 where students made beautiful Valentine’s Day cards for the seniors next door at Burgess Square promoting community and service learning hours for all of Maercker students. The Student Leadership Teams delivered the cards on February 14.
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Second Grade Highlights
Students are excited to begin building arrays and relating them to multiplication and division for math studies!
In ELA - students are finishing Unit 6 “Tales to Live By”. Our Essential Question helped students to learn what other cultures can teach them!
Second graders (2-H, 2-J, 2-Mar, and 2-KMi) observed the entire life cycle of a plant using Wisconsin Fast PlantsⓇ seeds - the boys and girls were excellent pollinators and were amazed when seed pods developed. Parents followed along on Seesaw and enjoyed the progress. The children also created models of seeds and had to select the seed they thought would disperse farthest from the “tree” (Miss Lee on a ladder!) - it was a tie between the glider and the spinner.
Second graders learned digital skills in Learning Lab about searching images, formatting images, taking pictures & changing fonts in Google Slides. They used Buncee and Book Creator to share their response to “What would King Midas write in his diary?”
They ended the month with celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday with a variety activities centered around his amazing books!
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Spelling Bee
The
Maercker Scripps Spelling Bee
was held on February 13. The winning student from Maercker was Karthink Gunne and the winner from the district was Edward Thomas. Mrs. Douglas has been preparing students since the beginning of the school year for the contest.
Principals Giannoulis and Quirk Attend Conference
Dr. Margo Giannoulis and Mrs. Amber Quirk attended the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) conference on February 12 as part of DuPage ROE’s Team LEAD and SEED grant. This grant focuses on developing principals in time utilization, the leadership framework, and cycles of inquiry. The conference provided sessions on small group and individual coaching, instruction for students with limited English proficiency, and new insights into social-emotional learning. All information will be shared with staff.
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Music News
Our Composer of the Month is John Philip Sousa. Mystery Musicians are welcome all year to email
sbeglen@maercker.org
to set up a time to perform for your child’s class.
PE News
Balance was the focus of February. Students learned how to use the climbing wall, stilts, balance beams and balance boards. We also saw the rise and fall of our heart rate using the heart rate monitor after participating in cardio exercises.
March is the start of our Speed Stack Unit.
Students will be able to shop until 03-22-2019 by visiting the
direct link
to our school’s online payment.
Payment must be made online and items are limited. Orders are on a first come, first serve basis, so please have a 2nd or 3rd color choice in mind.
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Maercker School celebrated Black History Month as a school with our Student Leadership Teams (SLT) reading poems, history and quotes weekly. Our teachers integrated
lessons from BrainPOP
during Daily 5 time to promote leaders and history past and present.
Family Literacy Night
We are planning another amazing parent evening at Maercker for parents and the community around promoting literacy! Administration and staff are excited to welcome parents on March 14th from 5pm to 6:30pm for activities such as Read-Alouds, Harlem Charade Activities and more.
Click here to view the flier.
Maercker 5th Graders Take
On Shark Tank
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8th Grade Information:
8th Grade Dinner Dance
- 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., May 28, 2019 - Save the Date!
Reminder, there are still opportunities for for volunteers to assist with the Dinner Dance. Volunteers can be from any grade level - assistance is appreciated!
8th Grade Dinner Dance Volunteer Form
8th Grade Awards Ceremony
Parents of student award winners will be contacted in advance with an invitation to attend an All-School Award Assembly the morning of May 30, 2019.
8th Grade Promotion Ceremony
- 7: 00 p.m., May 30, 2019 - Save the Date!
In order to walk in promotion, students must cumulatively pass all classes and all fees must be paid.
Each family will receive four promotion tickets in early May. It is important each attendee presents a ticket for admittance. Due to limited space, we are not able to admit anyone other than the 8th graders without a ticket. There will be an area reserved for handicapped seating. If your family is in need of additional tickets, please fill out this Class of 2019 Extra Promotion Ceremony Ticket Request Form. Remember, due to our tight space in the gym, there are no guarantees. As tickets are returned to the office for redistribution, we will begin contacting families in the order that the additional tickets were requested through the form above.
8th Grade Great America Trip
- May 29, 2019 - Save the Date!
High School Information for Current 8th Graders
Please call your respective high school if your child is not yet registered.
All Grades Information:
Late Bus - If your child is not staying after school for a supervised activity, then he or she may not ride the late bus home.
SnapChat - Please monitor your child’s online presence. You can call your carrier to see how to mirror the phone you pay for (your child’s) with the one you use yourself. Have conversations with your child about what is appropriate, and what is not appropriate, to post online.
Locker Use - Earlier in the year, we allowed students to wear their coats and jackets if the classroom temperatures were fluctuating throughout the day. Now that the temperatures are regulating accurately, please share with your child that they must keep their coats and jackets in their lockers. We will make announcements during all lunches about this expectation before we begin to have students use passes to return their items to the lockers. We appreciate you helping with the communication to your children!
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Wilbert Chu Places 1st In Math Counts Competition
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Wilbert Chu (7th Grade) won 1st Place Individual Award at Chapter Math Counts competition for the second year in a row!
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Students in Mrs. Konidaris’ 3rd block class participated in a Traveling Tale. The class worked with students from Ukraine, Spain, India, and Canada to create a digital story using the theme of gender equality.
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EarthQuest, Westview’s STEM Club, participated for the third year in a row at the 3rd Annual American Water Works Association’s Water Tower Model Competition on Saturday, February 23, at Westmont Junior High School.
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1 S. Cass Avenue
Westmont, IL 60559
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