The Franklin Flyer
September 9, 2022
Mark Your Calendars:
September 12 - 16: Safety Week
September 19: Picture Day
October 10: No School
October 11, 13, 18: Fall Conferences
October 20: Camp Duncan (5th Grade Only)
October 24: Picture Day Retake
October 31: Halloween
November 8: No School
November 21-25: No School - Thanksgiving Break
December 2: Trimester 1 Report Cards Sent Home
December 12 - 16: Winter MAP Testing
December 23 - January 6: Winter Break
January 9: School Resumes
Absences
Please remember to call in or email absences by 8:45 AM. You can call our student absence line (847) 318-4390 (ext 1) is available 24 hours a day or email Mrs. Linda Berleth at lberleth@d64.org.
You can view the current Franklin COVID-19 cases on the Franklin COVID-19 Dashboard found here. The dashboard is updated at the end of the day, Monday through Friday.
Picture Day is September 19th. Picture Day flyers will be in backpack mail this week.
Safety Week
Safety Week will be at Franklin the week of September 12th. We will support our students through fire, tornado, bus evaluation, and lockdown drills.
The School Safety Drill Act requires that within the first 90 days of every academic year, we conduct at least one lockdown drill. This drill addresses and evaluates the preparedness of school personnel and students for situations where there is an active threat or an active shooter within a school building.
Please be assured that the lockdown drill does not include any simulations that mimic an actual school shooting incident. The lockdown drill is announced in advance to all school personnel and students before it begins. Local law enforcement may attend this event to share feedback and guidance with the building administration.
This year’s lockdown drill will take place on September 16th. If you do not want your child to participate in the lockdown drill, please email Kristin Williams by September 14th. If your child is exempted from the drill, we will provide your child with alternate instructions related to an active threat or active shooter event.
Visiting Franklin
All visitors to Franklin must have a valid state ID or driver’s license. These will be entered into the Raptor identification system. This process only takes a short time to complete. Once you have clearance, a visitor pass will be printed and attached to a lanyard that you must wear throughout the building. The office will hold your ID until you return to the office and return the lanyard that was given to you. We request that you please be patient with staff as we proceed with this district-mandated safety procedure.
Student-Parent Handbook
Franklin Elementary School, along with all District 64 schools, operates following policies and practices that have been reviewed and implemented by the District 64 Board of Education. Please review the D64 Student-Parent Handbook before the start of the school year.
PTA Updates
PTA SAVE THE DATES-COMING UP
- Last day to order pizza is Friday, September 9th
- Class T-shirt ordering begins on Friday, September 9th
- Room Parent Sign Up opens - Thursday, September 13th at 9:00 am
- Chess Club begins - Wednesday, September 14th
- Back to School Bash - Thursday, September 29th from 5-7
- Raise Craze kick off - Monday October 3rd
PTA MEMBERSHIP IS NOW OPEN FOR REGISTRATION
Please see the info below with all the details on how to join the PTA! This is a great way to make sure you are always in the loop with what is going on at Franklin, and you have the choice to be as involved as your time allows in any PTA sponsored school event!
Joining the PTA ensures that you can take advantage of all PTA perks like access to our Facebook page, volunteering for events, Pizza Monday, and many other advantages that come along with being a member!
Thank you for joining and helping us make the year great! Our students and teachers really appreciate it!
The PTA Facebook page will be restricted to members only. Please join by September 12th.
MEMBERSHIP TOOLKIT
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
The PTA has big plans this year! In order to carry out all the fun events and activities, we
need volunteers. Once parents have registered for the PTA, a list of volunteer opportunities
will be posted on the membership toolkit. Please consider helping chair an event. If volunteers are not found we will have to cancel the event.
Thank you to all that have already signed up to volunteer! We really appreciate it!
Here are the current open volunteer opportunities:
● 5th grade promotion ceremony
● Lunch math club
● Grade level T-shirts
● Paint night
● International Fair
● Trunk or Treat
● Night of Stars
● Franklin Mascot
● Muffins with my VIP
PIZZA DAY
Pizza Mondays is starting September 19th! We will continue using Spuntino's Pizza as our pizza provider. If you would like to order Pizza for your child(ren) to be served on Mondays starting September 19th, please register for the PTA on membership toolkit. Ordering for pizza is open now and will stay open until 9/9. Option for ordering will only be available for PTA Members, and can be found on 8/26 at franklinpta.membershiptoolkit.com. We can't
accept late orders or make changes to your order after pizza day ordering closes on 9/9. Thank you for understanding!
Pizza day is broken into two "blocks." Block one will run from 9/19 - 12/19. Ordering for block two will open in November and will run from 1/9 - 6/5. When ordering you will have the option to select 1, 2, or 3 slices (prices below). There will also be an option for gluten free pizza, all pizza is cheese only. Please talk with your children about how much pizza they will need. Last year many families found their child wanted more pizza; however due to logistics with school and pizza company, changes in slice amount can't be changed until block two.
A few important things to note:
- Hot lunch ordered through my meal order will no longer be available on Monday’s starting September 19th. An email was sent from Lindsey Borchers. If you do not participate in the Monday Pizza lunch program, then you will need to pack a lunch.
- 2 kinds of pizza are offered- cheese and gluten free cheese. 1,2, or 3 slices can be ordered. Prices are the same for both cheese and gluten free.
- Drinks only for Mondays can be ordered through my meal order.
- All sides must be packed from home.
- You must be a Franklin PTA member to sign up for Pizza day.
Pizza pricing
1 slice Block 1- $47.00
2 slices Block 1- $75.00
3 slices Block 1- $103
Grade Level T-shirts are now for sale at franklinpta.membershiptoolkit.com
Every year, each grad picks a different colored shirt to represent their class and grade level. Students have the option of buying these t-shirts. The shirt design embraces this year's theme of making your mark at school by being a leader and making a difference to those around you.
Shirts are $6.00, and many Franklin students wear them on Fridays, at school events, and at PTA-sponsored activities. Adults can order one too! Shirts will be delivered to homerooms. The t-shirt shop will close on 9/21 to give enough time for delivery for the first assembly of the year - Raise Craze and Kindness Walk (more information on these activities coming soon)!
Kindergarten t-shirts will be handled separately so no need to log on to order.
**Sign ups open on Tuesday, September 13th at 9:00 am**
Here is some starting info and a few guidelines to keep it fair for all parents. Thank you in advance for signing up to help! We are excited to bring back this Franklin tradition in person this year!
- Only PTA members can volunteer to be a room parent. It is not too late to sign up for the PTA!
- Each parent can only be a head parent for one child due to parties happening at the same time for all classes.
- Head room parents are in charge of planning all classroom parties and organizing/purchasing a gift for the holidays and teacher appreciation week for their homeroom teacher. The gift collection for these gifts will be done via membershiptoolkit by the PTA board.
- Parents may sign up to help at Halloween or Valentine's Day parties for two different children, as long as you volunteer at a different party per child. You can not sign up to volunteer at both parties for the same child. If you want to do both parties for the same child, please sign up as head room parent.
- A mandatory Zoom meeting for all head room parents will be held in September - Date TBD.
We are less than a month away from our annual Raise Craze Fundraiser and Kindness Weeks and are looking for your help in creating an amazing event for our school! The event will run October 3rd - 14th.
Our co-chairs are looking for volunteers to help with various aspects of preparing for Raise Craze, including decorating the school on 9/29 & 9/30, counting and sorting various materials for each classroom throughout the event, collecting book donations, collecting Uncle Pete's sack lunch donations, and student supervision during the Kindness Walk on 10/14.
If you are interested in helping out, please head on over to Membership Toolkit to sign up! Any questions regarding Raise Craze can be sent to Deanna Barret and Alycia White at FranklinRaiseCraze@gmail.com.
Already an Amazon shopper? Did you know you can shop through smile.amazon.com and register yourself as a charity with Benjamin Franklin Elementary PTA. This will earn 0.5% back to the PTA for eligible purchases. This is such an easy way to help earn savings for Franklin!
It only takes a few seconds to download to Box Tops for education app and help our school earn some savings! Earn 10 cents per box top directly for our school. Our yearly goal is $1000.
Don't forget to scan your receipts for digital clips as well.
If you've been shopping online watch this short video on how you can still earn money for Frnaklin school through Box Tops. The video will walk you step by step in submitting digital receipts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfUGb_3JzZg&feature=youtu.be
