Pennoyer Families,
We had a good week at Pennoyer. Our 3rd-8th graders focused on IAR testing that will continue into next week as well. Our youngest students and their families headed out to Pennoyer this past Wednesday night for our annual Kindergarten Round Up event. We had a nice turnout, and we're excited for so many of our preschoolers starting Kindergarten next year at Pennoyer! They're a great group of students!!!
All Pennoyer parents/guardians, If you haven't had a chance yet, please take the time to take the parent portion of the Illinois 5 Essentials survey. As of right now, we only have 7% of our parents that have taken this 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. We need at least 20% of our parents to participate in this in order to get the results and use them, so please take a few minutes to complete the survey. 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:
*A final reminder about our first construction phase at Pennoyer that will be starting on Monday, March 11th next week. HERE is the student presentation our teachers showed to their classes this week. As I said before, we really don't anticipate this will disrupt our school days too much or our current processes we have in place. 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 is National Social Workers Week, so we definitely want to celebrate our amazing group of social workers at Pennoyer that do so much for our students, staff, and families each and every day. Mrs. Slawson, along with our two social work interns this year, Miss Gloms and Miss Sheedy, are a special group of social workers that we're so lucky to have at Pennoyer. They take on so much as a team and support our students in many areas such as academics, behavior, social emotional health, and attendance. Their impact reaches far beyond the classroom and school walls. They connect with our students on a daily basis to help them thrive both in and out of school. They support our staff and administration in building a restorative, thoughtful, and positive culture at Pennoyer that helps everyone achieve at high levels and reach their full potential. Mrs. Slawson, Miss Gloms, and Miss Sheedy are dedicated, thoughtful, creative, passionate, and they always put the needs of our students first. They model the best of how we want to interact with our students and teach them to be successful in their lives. We couldn't get through our days without this amazing team of social workers...#Pennoyerpride for sure!!!
What’s Around the Corner?
- Don't forget about Daylight Savings Time this weekend. We "spring ahead" and set out clocks 1 hour ahead this Sunday, March 10th.
- IAR (Illinois Assessment for Readiness) state testing in Reading, Writing, and Math will continue this coming week for all 3rd-8th graders at Pennoyer. Please make sure you get your student(s) to school on time, 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.
- Trimester 2 has come to a close, and you can check final grades/comments on Skyward today after 4pm.
- We're super excited to announce the 1st Annual Pennoyer 3 on 3 March Madness Basketball Tournament event coming up on Friday, March 15th. We had a good amount of teams sign up for this tournament and it's going to be a fun event! Games should start around 3:30pm, and other Pennoyer families and other students are more than welcome to come and watch! There will be concessions sold and a table to donate to the American Cancer Society, which our proceeds will go to benefit. HERE is a flyer for the event...we can't wait for our version of March Madness!!!
Sincerely,
Adam
Pennoyer Principal
agreenberg@pennoyerschool.org
