Pennoyer Families,
I want to thank the parents that came out this past Wednesday night to our monthly Pennoyer Parent Meeting. It was a smaller group, but we had some real thoughtful conversations and dug into the important work we're doing both as a school and family community to help our students in not only areas of academics, but in their social emotional skills, behavior, and character as well. It's so important, and we're definitely a team working together for the benefit of these kids that are the focus of everything. If you missed it, please take the time to look over THIS presentation we created. We will certainly continue down this road and educate each other moving forward surrounding this important topic.
If you haven't had a chance yet, please take the time as parents/guardians, to take the parent portion of the Illinois 5 Essentials survey. Your participation in this parent portion of the survey is truly important and will help us reflect on family perception of the Pennoyer experience. Your feedback will certainly help guide our continued growth and improvement. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child. We had such a good percentage of our parents take this survey last year and it was very usual data that informed us. Thanks so much for your time and support with this!
The Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be open through March 29, 2024. To take the parent survey please visit http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/ and select the appropriate survey to begin. Please make sure to put in “Cook” as the county and start typing in and select Pennoyer Elem School in the appropriate box when it pops up.
School Information and Reminders:
*I wanted to share more specific details about our first construction phase at Pennoyer that will be starting in a few weeks. The construction fencing will go up the week of March 11th, so below shows our new procedures for arrival and dismissal time each day starting on that Monday, March 11th. We don't anticpate this will disrupt the flow of traffic and our current process that is already in place too much. The key takeaways are...
1. ONLY the EAST gate will be open during arrival and dismissal time each day.
2. Flow of traffic will continue in the same manner as it always has, but we'll be having the car line pull up a littler further to the district office at drop off and pick up times so we can accommodate families and students having to walk down the sidewalk in front of the school to and from the EAST gate.
3. We'll have some staff spaced along the sidewalk path to help students along and extra staff by the EAST gate to support that area and arrival/dismissal.
4. We'll be sharing this with our students as it gets closer so they know the updated arrival/dismissal process and where they're lining up
K and 1st grade line up on the East side area of Pennoyer and enter through K doors
2nd, 7th, and 8th enter through far doors on East side of the building in the back
3rd-6th grade enter through middle doors in the back of the building
Preschool area will remain the same
5. Families can certainly choose to park at the Salvation Army for arrival/dismissal time if they wish and think it's closer and more convenient. *(PLEASE just remember, it's very important that you park in actual spaces in the Salvation Army parking lot for safety concerns. Please do not pull up and park in their circle drive or near the sidewalk at the front of the building...thanks so much!)
Please reach out to Principal Adam Greenberg with any questions or concerns. Thanks for your patience, understanding, and flexibility with these minor adjustments as we start our exciting construction projects.
Want to get involved, volunteer, or have ideas for our school...Check out the PTC Link!
We Celebrate at Pennoyer!
This week we celebrate the come back of Scholastic Bowl to Pennoyer! It's been awhile, but with the support of our students who have really stepped up, and our very own Miss Bowden, who has taken this on all by herself this year, Pennoyer has been able to create a Scholastic Bowl team that we're so proud of! Coach Bowden has done her part to get these students ready, week in and week out, and although it's often been difficult for our crew during competitions this year, they always come with a positive mindset and a fighting spirit! Scholastic Bowl participants include Emma R., Konstanin P., Andrea C., Omar S., Peter S., and Penn D. The best news is that we're a young team of mostly 6th and 7th graders in the JV division, so there's so much potential for this group of Pennoyer students in the years ahead. These students show off their incredible cognitive skills as they study and answer questions in areas that range from math, to music, history, science, literature, and beyond! It makes my own brain hurt just thinking about how smart these students are. We're lucky to call them Pennoyer Hawks...#Pennoyerpride for our Scholastic Bowl Team and Miss Bowden!
What’s Around the Corner?
- Spirit Week is coming to Pennoyer starting this coming week on Monday, February 26th! Check out this flyer HERE for more information.
- IAR (Illinois Assessment for Readiness) state testing in Reading, Writing, and Math will begin for all 3rd-8th graders at Pennoyer the week of March 4th. We'll continue testing through the week of March 11th. Please make sure you get your student(s) to school on time starting March 5th, with a good night's rest, charged iPad, and supplies they will need during and after testing is completed each day such as working headphones, etc. Reach out to your student's teacher with anymore specific questions.
- We're super excited to announce the 1st Annual Pennoyer 3 on 3 March Madness Basketball Tournament event coming up on Friday, March 15th for any Pennoyer 3rd-8th graders interested! This was an idea that came out of our Principal's Crew this year, and I can't wait to make this happen. Packets were sent home with all 3rd-8th graders, but HERE is a flyer with some information, HERE is the Team Form that should be handed in with money, and HERE are the rules. Please have these in NO LATER than March 8th if students want to be a part of this special event. Any questions, please reach out to Principal Adam Greenberg.
- Pennoyer's Father/Daughter Dance is coming up on Friday, March 8th. We hope you can join us! Check out this flyer HERE if you're interested.
- Young Rembrandts Spring Session is Coming to Pennoyer! Click HERE for more information.
Sincerely,
Adam
Pennoyer Principal
agreenberg@pennoyerschool.org
