Pennoyer Family Newsletter - 3/22/24

Pennoyer Families,

I can't believe it's Spring Break already!  We return to school on April 3rd and only have about 8 weeks left after that.  It's been an amazing year so far, construction is certainly underway, we've had a lot of exciting things going on at Pennoyer lately.  I have to start with the 3 on 3 basketball tournament from last Friday.  It was awesome, and I couldn't have pulled it off without help from some of my Principal's Crew and our staff which included:  Mrs. Tronco, Mrs. Kula, Mr. DeVivo, Ms. Torossi, Mrs. Michaels, Ms. Wood, Ms. Denise, and Dr. Kopta.  In the end, for our 1st Annual Pennoyer 3 on 3 Basketball March Madness Tournament, we had 21 teams total enter from 3rd-8th grade and raised $513 for The American Cancer Society!  It was such a cool event, and I can't wait to continue it in the coming years.

We also had our 2nd graders crushing it again this year with some amazing Leprechaun Traps that I'm positive worked in the end!  Mrs. Michaels and Ms. Torossi did an amazing job getting our students ready to showcase their creations for the entire school to see in the MPR.

And of course we can't forget about Spring Spirit Week!  Pennoyer students and staff were in full force to celebrate with Pennoyer pride and spirit all throughout the week.

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. This survey closes soon! As of right now, we have around 20% 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:

*After the first few weeks of our new arrival/dismissal and lunch/recess procedures due to construction starting, I wanted to reach out with a few very important reminders...

• Please make sure to not pull through the East entrance gate and pick up students along the circle drive in front of the building.  This is ONLY for preschool parents.  We ask that even preschool parents that may have older children at Pennoyer, please drive around to the West carline that starts on Foster or you can park on the street or Salvation Army after picking up your preschooler and waiting for your other student(s).

• ALL cars MUST use the West Gate entrance off of Foster for both ARRIVAL and DISMISSAL times every single day.  It's important not to block the circle drive and front of our school for emergency vehicles and cars that are parked in our spaces that may need access to leave.  We also have students walking across the parking lot and their safety is so important.  

• Please watch your speed in our parking lot each and every day while driving in and out.  We have many students crossing the parking lot at different sections.  This is why it's so important to follow the correct flow of traffic that Officer Bob and Principal Adam Greenberg have set up for the safety of our students and staff.

• Remember, if you think it's more convenient and closer, families can certainly choose to park at the Salvation Army for arrival/dismissal time if they wish.  *(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!)

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

We Celebrate at Pennoyer!

I'm so incredibly excited about our celebration this week!  8th grader Julia Hnativ was nominated by Mrs. Koukari and her middle school team for the prestigious West 40 SCOTY Award this year!  The SCOTY Award is the highest honor a student in our West 40 region of schools can receive.  Julia was one of about 130 students total out of close to 100,000 that was bestowed this honor during a ceremony I attended with her family this past Wednesday at West Leyden High School.  The SCOTY Award stands for "School Citizens of the Year", and students nominated by school staff represent the best of our educational communities.  Julia was chosen for this amazing award for her willingness to help her classmates, especially those from the Ukraine.  She is always so polite and kind towards others, she performs at the highest levels in both math and ELA, and is part of our peer tutoring program because of her academic success.  Julia has multilingual skills to support all students when she's tutoring as well.  She also stays on task each and every day in the classroom, takes great notes, participates, and puts so much effort into everything she does.  Julia is a true Pennoyer Hawk that we're lucky to have at our school.  She is #Pennoyerpride all the way!!!

What’s Around the Corner?

• Spring Break starts Monday, March 25th through Tuesday, April 2nd.  Students return to Pennoyer on Wednesday, April 3rd.  Enjoy the time off!!!

• Happy Easter on March 31st for those celebrating!

• Pennoyer Literacy Night is coming up on April 18th!  Check out this flyer HERE and Save the date!!!

• District 207 STEM Summer Camp is back for all Middle School students!  HERE is a flyer with more information if you're interested.

• NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Spring sessions at the Eisenhower Library are open to all families and students. If you're interested, check out more information HERE.

Sincerely,

Adam

Pennoyer Principal

agreenberg@pennoyerschool.org