Pennoyer Family Newsletter - 10/13/23

Pennoyer Families,

We had so many fun things going on all week at Pennoyer!  The rain was on and off, but we still had plenty of sunshine in our school.  During our Board Meeting on Wednesday night, we celebrated Pennoyer Pride with our Peer Leaders coming in to present all of the wonderful things they do for our school.  They are true leaders that step up and do all they can to make a difference, and we couldn't be more proud of them!  Thanks to Miss Torossi as well for supporting and leading this group week in and week out.

We also had some of our local firefighters come out this week to put on a presentation all about fire safety for our K-2nd grade students.  This was a great way to kick off our school safety week starting next Monday, and help some of our youngest students understand what firefighters do, and what they can do even as young children to make the best choices in case there's ever an emergency.  They loved seeing the fire truck and all of the cool equipment they brought!

Finally, looking to next week.  I'm so excited to be presenting with our Superintendent Dr. Kopta and Shawn Messmer from Maine South on Wednesday, October 18th at 6:30pm in our MPR at Pennoyer.  We're inviting all of our parents to come out to this first nightly meeting of the school year that is going to focus on some new programming ideas, scheduling changes, and the exciting ways we're planning on supporting our students at Pennoyer with opportunities moving forward.   HERE is a flyer with information as well.

School Information and Reminders:

*Please remember that students need to have proper gym shoes every day at school to participate in PE class.  This is really about safety for our students, and making sure they can properly and fully participate in gym activities.  We ask that students not wear footwear like sandals and Crocs.  We've been seeing more and more injuries due to students not having the correct types of footwear for PE classes.  Students can certainly keep an extra pair of gym shoes at school if they choose.  Thanks for your understanding and support with this.  We want all of our students to have the best experience possible during gym classes.  Feel free to reach out to Mr. Nelsen or Mr. DeVivo with any questions.  

Want to get involved, volunteer, or have ideas for our school...Check out the PTC Link!

We Celebrate at Pennoyer!

What a special celebration we have this week as we honor our very own Mrs. Kula, who has been awarded the Excellence in Education grant award by the Illinois Retired Teachers Association!  This amazing accomplishment is certainly well earned by Mrs. Kula.  Out of 219 applications that came through, Mrs. Kula was one of only a few to be rewarded this grant money to help benefit, enrich, and support our students at Pennoyer.  Mrs. Kula applied for this grant and special honor with our newcomers and EL students in mind.  Her passion centered around finding creative and more efficient ways for our students to communicate with their peers and staff when a variety of supports like others that may speak their native language are not always available.  With this in mind, Mrs. Kula is looking to spend this awarded grant money on new pocket translators that will help our students communicate with more ease, particularly our younger students that don't have the reading and writing skills just yet and want to express some basic needs.  We're so proud of Mrs. Kula and everything she brings to our school, students, and families...#pennoyerpride.

What’s Around the Corner?

• October Parent Monthly Meeting Opportunity - Our first Parent/Administration Meeting will be on Wednesday, October 18th at Pennoyer from 6:30-7:30pm in our MPR.  We're so excited for this first meeting to Connect - Collaborate - and Celebrate together.  We'll be focusing on our new program opportunities for students as we begin making plans for new construction projects and expanding our school.  Myself and Dr. Kopta will be there, along with Shawn Messmer from Maine South.  HERE is a flyer with information.  We hope a lot of our families can come out...please SAVE THE DATE!

• Safety Week is coming up October 16th.  Please take a moment to read THIS letter for more information.

• Maine South information for our current 8th graders entering high school there next year and their families.  Click HERE and HERE.

• Maine South Football Spectator Information - Please take moment to read through THIS letter if you or your children are attending football games at Maine South this year...thanks.

• Our PTC sponsored Trunk or Treat event is on Friday, October 20th.  Click HERE for more information.  We hope to see a lot of our families and students out for this spooktacular event!

Sincerely,

Adam

Pennoyer Principal

agreenberg@pennoyerschool.org