Take Home Tuesday

Dear Sward Families:

As the year goes on and the weather grows colder, we will have more and more drivers for arrival and dismissal. For safety and efficiency, please follow the procedures of the "drop-off zones." In the areas that there are bright orange cones that say "no parking" please do not park. If you would like to place your car into park, please pull to the other side of the street or pull to a parking zone.

Please be mindful of your language if someone reminds you that you shouldn't park in the no parking zone with the bright orange cones. There are many little Eagle ears listening (and sometimes repeating) the words they hear at drop off. While you may be frustrated at the moment of someone beeping at you for parking in the no parking zone, please keep in mind the drop zones are designed for a quick, efficient, and safe drop off zone to get our eagles into the school building.

Additionally, we have staff members that travel between buildings and need parking spots in our staff parking lot. Please refrain from parking in the staff parking lot. Also, for the safety of your children, please refrain from walking through the parking lot. It will be much safer to stay on the sidewalk and the students will form the good habit of staying on the sidewalks.

Your partner in education,

Mrs. Candy Kramer

Sward School Principal

This week brings about the time for our first SAEBRS (Social, Academic and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener) of the school year. Please click here for additional information in English, here for Spanish, and here for Arabic.

Please remind your children in grades 1-5 to charge their Chromebooks every evening before they go to sleep. It is important that the Chromebooks (just like the children) come to school in the morning prepared and ready to go.

The following links can be used to access your child's Grade Level Newsletter:

• Kindergarten
• Grade 1
• Grade 2
• Grade 3
• Grade 4
• Grade 5

It's that time of year again... time to enjoy taffy apples! Yum! Click here for a copy of the PTA Affy Tapple sale form. Mark your calendars: Order forms are due October 7 (no late orders will be accepted). Pick up will be Wednesday, October 19 between 3:30-6:30 p.m. in the Sward faculty lounge. All orders must be picked up by an adult (no orders will be sent home with students).

When you "catch your child" using real life math outside of school, please send a photo and statement of explanation to ckramer@d123.org . Check out this example of two Sward Eagles trying to determine if they have enough money to purchase the books they'd like to order from the Scholastic Book Order form with the help of their toy cash register. The photos and explanations will be added to a "Math Outside of School" bulletin board for all to see.

Our D123 Family Conferences will be held from 5:00-8:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 13 and from 11:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. on Friday, October 14. Families can schedule in Skyward Family Access as soon as 10:00 a.m. on September 29 and until 10:00 p.m. on October 10. When you go into the system to schedule, you will have 3 options: in-person, virtual, or telephone. Conferences are 15 minutes in length and scheduled back to back. All conferences MUST end at the proper time in order for the teacher's next conference to begin at the correct time. The scheduling of these conferences is completed on a first come first served basis. Once you have scheduled a conference, you will receive an automated confirmation of the time slot you have registered for. Families will be able to schedule conferences with their child's homeroom teacher and PE teacher. If your child currently receives Literacy Intervention Services, Math Intervention Services, English Language Services, or Special Education Resource Services, you will be able to schedule a conference with their specific teacher. If you would like to schedule a conference with one of the Encore teachers (Art, Library, or Music) those will only be available via virtual means or telephone, since our Encore team is shared with other buildings.

If you need assistance scheduling your conference, please call the Sward main office at (708)423-7820.

Additional resources you may find helpful:

• [VIDEO] How to Schedule Family Conferences as a Parent

• [DIRECTIONS] For Families

• [DIRECTIONS] For Families - Spanish Version

If your child has Ms. Molloy, Ms. Glasgow, Ms. Hathaway, or Mrs. Collura for their homeroom teacher and you have not yet paid the $5 for their assignment notebook, please send the $5 to school with your child as soon as possible.

Please ensure that your child knows what they are doing for lunch, whether it be that they brought a lunch from home OR they are ordering. Lately, we have been having more students than usual that make it to the lunchroom and realize they do not have a lunch. Even though teachers read the lunch orders back to the students, the students do not seem to notice anything is wrong. Once the orders are submitted in the morning, the company sends us that amount of lunches. While we typically have extra sides or breakfast items, we do not have extra entrees on hand.

Please refrain from utilizing the staff parking lot. The staff parking lot is for, well, staff parking. We have multiple staff members that travel from building to building throughout the course of the day and only a limited number of parking spaces available. That being said, with staff members coming and going throughout the course of the day, PLEASE do not cut through the parking lot. I have had multiple reports of children running through the parking lot and this is not safe on many levels. Please walk around the lot using the sidewalk in order to keep our Eagles and their little siblings (little Future Eagles) safe.

Please click here for the Spirit wear order form. Orders are due by Thursday, October 6.

Please click HERE to learn about the great ways to become involved with the PTA.

If your child is in grade 4, please remember to send the money to purchase their recorder for music class to Mrs. Glikis by the end of September.

If you are looking to place funds into your child's Skyward lunch account, you have a few options. You are able to place funds electronically into their account through the Family Access portal. Here is also where you will able to see when your child has made a purchase of a meal or milk. If you prefer to send cash, we ask that you send a minimum of $20 with your child to cover multiple meals. The cash deposits frequently take longer to be reflected in the accounts which can sometimes cause confusion. If you have questions or would like guidance through the process, please call the Sward main office at (708)423-7820.

Please be aware that if you do qualify for the free or reduced lunch and your child orders ONLY a milk (rather than the whole lunch), they will be charged the cost of the milk on their Skyward account. The cost for the milk is 60 cents.

Sward now has our very own Twitter handle. Throughout the weeks, you will see postings of exciting things happening throughout our building. It is always fun to have a glimpse into the learning or our students. Be sure to check us out at @D123Sward or scan the QR code to the side!

There are specific requirements for students entering preschool, kindergarten, second grade and sixth grade, as well as for all new students. Visit our Health Forms & Guidelines page for more information. Please note that these vaccinations and/or health examinations are required by state law.

Parents of children ages 3-7: Click HERE to check out this fun opportunity.

• Wednesday, October 5- Districtwide Late Start (school begins at 9:30 a.m.)
  
• Wednesday, October 5- PTA Meeting at 6:30 p.m.
• Monday, October 10- No School- Indigenous Peoples' Day
• Thursday, October 13- Student Early Dismissal- Students get dismissed at 11:30 a.m. (lunch is NOT served on this day)
• Thursday, October 13- Family Conferences 5:00-8:00 p.m.
• Friday, October 14- No School for students due to Family Conferences. Family Conferences will be held from 11:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

Website: d123.org/sward
Location: 9830 Brandt Avenue, Oak Lawn, IL, USA
Phone: 708-423-7820
Twitter: @d123sward

Email: ckramer@d123.org
Website: d123.org/sward
Phone: 708-423-7820
Twitter: @MrsKramerD123