Hello, Edison community!

It's hard to believe that we are nearly finished with the first quarter of the school year! Working with your students and all of the Edison families this year has been a true joy and I'm excited to continue our partnership throughout the rest of the school year.

Please see the newsletter below for helpful announcements and updates. Here are a few that I'd like to spotlight:

• Trackathon Donations: THANK YOU so much for your generous Trackathon donations -- these funds will be put to great use! As a reminder, fundraising will close at 10:59pm tonight. While I appreciate the buzz and excitement around particiation prizes, I do ask that you refrain from financially contributing to other students' fundraising campaigns in order to boost your class' participation rate. It's important that we respect students' and families' individual circumstances and giving preferences. If you are unable to donate or prefer to contribute in other ways, we would love you to share your time, talents and feedback with our school community. These things are invaluable!

• Expertise Needed: Speaking of non-monetary ways you can contribute to the school community, we are in need of a professional photographer who would be willing to donate their services. We would love to take some new photographs to showcase our amazing school on our school website.

• Nursing Services & Administering Medication: As a reminder, Edison does not have an on-site nurse to assist with student ailments or illnesses. Per CPS policy, Edison staff are able to administer medication and students are permitted to self-administer medication only if this form has been submitted to the school. This applies to all medication including headache medication and common cold medications. If you send medication with your student and we do not have the required form on file, the medication will be held in the main office.

• Lost & Found: We no longer have space to house a large amount of lost and found items so starting in November, lost and found items will be donated to Albany Park Mutual Aid on the first day of each month. Please be sure to label all items and check the lost and found at all-school events. Parent-Teacher conferences are a great opportunity to look for lost items before we make the first donation.

• Allergen Sensitive School: As a reminder, Edison is an allergen-sensitive school. Please refrain from sending in any food items that include nuts. Thank you for adhering to this and helping to keep our students safe!

• Gardening Club: Edison and Albany Park Multicultural Center are forming a joint gardening club for students in 5th-8th grade. The club will meet on Thursdays from 3:15pm-4:15pm through November 20th and will pick back up in the spring. Interested students should email Mrs. Santos-Cardenas at csantos15@cps.edu.

• Curriculum Night Presentation: If you missed last month's Curriculum Night, you can find my presentation deck here. Please reach out to your student's teachers for class-specific presentation decks.

• After-School Playlot Use: As a friendly reminder, Youth Guidance employees only supervise YG students on the playlot after school. Parents/caregivers of students not participating in Youth Guidance are responsible for supervising their child on the playlot after school.

• LSC Vacancy: The Local School Council has a parent representative vacancy. If you are interested in supporting Edison by serving as a parent representative through June (which is the remainder of this term), please contact LSC Chair Nora Sullivan at nnsergclsc@gmail.com and Dr. Valentine at kevalentine1@cps.edu. Application materials can be found here. Please submit materials by Friday, October 17th.

Thank you for your help with this! As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.

In partnership,

Karen Valentine, EdD

kevalentine1@cps.edu

Aspen Parent Portal

You can find CPS' Parent Portal here. If you need to update the home address in your Aspen profile; please contact Ky Pham at klpham@cps.edu.

What features does the Aspen Parent Portal have?

• Student assignments
• Student grades
• Student schedules
• Student attendance
• Grade and attendance notifications through email or text messages
• Student fees, including credit card payments
• Health compliance
• High school student's progress against graduation requirements
• Mobile-friendly format

To learn more about Aspen’s features, watch the videos below:

• Navigating the Parent Portal ( English | Español )
• Navigating the Mobile Interface ( English )