Field Flash

Dear Field Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to Eugene Field Elementary School! I hope that you are enjoying your summer. We are looking forward to our first day of school on Wednesday, August 24th (all grades). Because it is a Wednesday, the day ends at 2:40 p.m. (early dismissal every Wednesday).

This newsletter includes a variety of information about the start of the school year, new updates, curricular news, introductions of new staff members, and important dates and reminders.Thank you, in advance, for reviewing this information! Once the school year begins, I will send this parent newsletter (Field Flash) each Friday afternoon.

During the 2020-2021 school year, Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 worked with a collaborative group of stakeholders to develop a new five-year Strategic Plan, which included an updated mission and vision. Our District vision statement is “Together we discover, learn, grow and care.”

The District's vision expands on this mission, and it says:

• District 64 will inspire all students to discover their strengths, embrace learning, achieve personal excellence, and demonstrate care; as

• Students thrive in a rich, rigorous, and innovative curriculum delivered by highly qualified teachers; where . . .

• Each student learns and grows in a safe, nurturing environment; and

• In collaboration with students, parents, teachers and the community, District 64 provides opportunities for each learner to investigate, be successful, be resilient, and become inspired and empowered as they contribute to our global society.

A link to the entire Strategic Plan can be found here. While the last several school years have proven to be a challenging, we are looking ahead to the start of our 2022-2023 school year and how we can continue to live into this mission and vision as a school community. On a personal note, I’m very much looking forward to the start of my third year here at Field. Christa and I both hope for many more opportunities to connect with parents and families in-person this school year.

Sincerely,

Dr. Courtney Goodman

Principal

(847) 318-4383

• Tuesday, August 16th: Notification of teacher assignments via email
• Thursday, August 18th: New Student Tour at 9am
• Monday and Tuesday, August 22nd & 23rd: Teacher institute days (no student attendance)
• Tuesday, August 23rd: School Supply Drop Off Event from 8:15-8:50 a.m. (optional for all families)
• Wednesday, August 24th: First day of school (2:40 p.m. dismissal as it's a Wednesday)
• Week of August 29th: MAP testing begins for students in grades 2-5
• Wednesday, August 31st: Parent Night from 6-8 p.m. (more details to come!)

New-to-Field families with students entering 1st through 5th grades are invited to join us for a school tour on Thursday, August 18th at 9am. Please come to the main entrance on Wisner. We'll gather in the gym for some informal Q&A and then take a tour of the building. Please note this is a optional - no need to RSVP. Please just come in you can! We look forward to welcoming you and your child(ren) to Field!

While our interior construction will be finished for the start of the year, our exterior will still need a bit more time. This means that we'll adjust some of our typical arrival and dismissal procedures while certain areas/doors are unavailable.

Both kindergarten and first grade will arrive and dismiss through the main entrance door on Wisner. To accommodate this, we'll have a rolling arrival entrance, starting on Monday, August 29th. This means when students arrive (starting at 8:35 a.m.), students will enter the building and go to their locker/classroom area. For the first three days, teachers will come outside and students will line up in the grass (1st grade to the north of the main door, nearest the flagpole; kindergarten to the south of the main door, nearest to Cuttriss). During dismissal, teachers will move to these grass areas to dismiss as well. Parents, please do keep to the sidewalks to help with this arrival and dismissal procedure.

All other grade levels will remain at their typically assigned doors. Third grade will condense to line up closer to the basketball hoops while the construction fencing is still up, but will enter through their typical door.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through these adjustments during the first weeks of the year!

If your child rides the bus to and from school, you will receive a separate email from our Transportation Department at the District Office about your child's bus stop and route. If you have questions, please call the main office here at Field. Ruth or Jillian can assist you.

On the first day of school, your bus rider will receive a tag for his or her backpack. Thank you in advance for keeping that tag attached to the child's backpack!

Another important note about our bus transportation: we take attendance each afternoon before loading the busses. If your child is not riding the bus, please call the main office and speak with Ruth or Jillian as early in the day as possible! Thank you so much for keeping your child's dismissal plans consistent.

All students will eat in lunch in one of our large group spaces (north gym, south gym, or MPR). Students will sit at tables in assigned seats by homeroom. Students are able to bring their lunch from home or purchase a lunch in advance. If you are interested in ordering lunch from Quest, please visit our website linked here for more information. Lunch orders are due by Thursday at midnight for the following week. As a reminder, we do not allow lunches to be delivered to students from outside vendors or restaurants. If your child forgets his or her lunch at home, you are able to drop it by the main office and we'll deliver it to them. If you can't bring a forgotten lunch, we can offer your child cheerios and milk.

Children are also permitted to leave school for lunch. Parents need to come to the main office and sign out their child(ren). Students would remain home for the full hour of lunch/recess.

Our PTO sponsors a weekly pizza lunch on Tuesdays. This will begin the Tuesday after Labor Day, so please be on the lookout for information on ordering your child's weekly pizza!

During the week of August 29th, students in grades 2-5 will take the NWEA MAP test for both reading and math. Students will learn about their specific schedule for testing from their classroom teacher. Students are reminded to put forth their best effort, get a good night's sleep, and eat a healthy breakfast each day! Students MAP results will help their teachers plan learning activities.

As you and your family prepare for back-to-school, your children may experience big feelings, like anxiety. This article provides 4 powerful tips to help manage these feelings.

• Welcome to Ms. Kelsey MacBain, our new 2nd grade teacher. Ms. MacBain student taught last year in 2nd grade at Field, so we are thrilled to have her return as a full time teacher.
• Welcome to Mrs. Nicole Azark, our new P.E. teacher. Mrs. Azark has worked at Roosevelt for many years, and we are very excited to welcome her to Field.
• Welcome to Ms. Patty Mayer, our new Spanish teacher. Ms. Mayer has worked in the District for many years (including at Field!), so we are thrilled to welcome her back to Field this year.
• Welcome to Ms. Cindy Sanchez, our new kindergarten teacher. She joins us from Jefferson School, and we are so glad to have her on our team!
• Welcome to Ms. Tara Marolt, our new part-time art teacher. She also works at Roosevelt as an art teacher, and we are happy to have her join us at Field for a few classes each week.
• Welcome to Ms. Kim Becker-Less, our new part-time P.E. teacher. We are looking forward to having Ms. Becker-Less join our team, and we wish Mr. Zack Beyer well in his full-time position in another district.

We also have a few other Field staff members who either have new names or new roles this year!

• Mrs. Kim Kaniecki will teach primary challenge and 5th grade Channels of Challenge, so she will be at Field full time this year!
• Ms. Amy Lynch (kindergarten teacher) is now Mrs. Amy Ireland as she got married this summer!
• Ms. Katie Kreisel is teaching kindergarten this year at Field - last year she was in 5th grade.
• Ms. Jess Radek, our instructional technology coach, also married over the summer - she is now Mrs. Jess Ross.

Field PTO membership is now open!

Join the Field PTO! Membership helps fund a variety of PTO activities from electronic books, staff appreciation events, family events, to the operational costs of the PTO. More information to come soon about the PTO membership drive with prizes!

Visit https://www.fieldpto.org/join-the-pto

Donating made easy! There are two simple and virtually effortless ways your everyday purchases can support the Field School PTO. Please consider using both of them!

• Amazon Smile: Amazon Smile will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases. To use Amazon Smile, go to http://smile.amazon.com. Enter Eugene Field School Parent Teacher Organization in the search box, then click "start shopping"! Be sure to bookmark it, as you must use smile.amazon.com when purchasing to apply donations toward the Field PTO. Amazon Smile is now available on the Amazon app! Click here for details.

• Box Tops for Education: Download the Box Tops app to your phone for another simple way to help the Field PTO earn money on everyday purchases. Just remember to scan your receipt within 14 days for credit on items purchased! Click here for instructions.

From the library to the park district, our communities of Park Ridge-Niles have lots to offer, even virtually. For information on all the latest happenings, be sure to check the Community Info & Events webpage.

Website: www.d64.org/fie
Location: 707 N Wisner St, Park Ridge, IL, United States
Phone: 847-318-4385
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fieldparkridgeniles/?fref=ts
Twitter: @fieldd64