Maple Messenger

Happy May! It has been a whirlwind of a year and we wouldn't have wanted to spend our time with anyone else but your children! The Maple staff has worked tirelessly with students to grow them to be the best possible version of themselves. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve you and your children this year.

Did you know that all students experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer? Did you know that on average, students could lose approximately 2.6 months of grade-level equivalency in mathematical computation skills during the summer months? Did you know that if your child does not read at least four books over the summer, they could lose approximately a whole grade-level in reading? This is called "summer slide".

With the pandemic experience that today's students have experienced, it is more important than ever to work this summer to combat the dreaded "summer slide". Because your students will not be in the classroom with their teachers this summer, it is up to parents and their village to make sure students engage in some academic activities. Activities such as reading books, spending time on educational websites, visiting the local library, etc., are great ways to spend just a small amount of time each day on academic skills. The children also need to get outside, play, swim, and enjoy all those summer fun activities.

Below I am listing multiple sites, activities and resources to help parents and guardians combat the "summer slide". Give your child a great start to the 22/23 school year!

Resources:

https://blog.allaboutlearningpress.com/summer-slide/

https://www.brainbalancecenters.com/blog/fun-activities-prevent-summer-slide

https://www.waterford.org/resources/at-home-activities-to-help-fight-the-summer-slide/

https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading-resources/developing-reading-skills/three-ways-to-prevent-summer-slide.html

Links with activities for math and reading:

https://www.funbrain.com/

http://www.mathblaster.com/

https://www.mathplayground.com/

https://www.mathpyramid.com/

https://storylineonline.net/

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/free-ebooks/

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ (There are lots of free items on this site)

Here is a link to the Hoopeston Public Library Calendar of Events. Check them out this summer!

https://hooplib.org/calendar.html

It is an unfortunate reality that the summer months brings staff transitions. Maple Grade School is unfortunately losing some valued staff members.

Mrs. Jacy Rush, who currently teaches second grade, will be taking some time off from her education career to spend time with her family. The positive impact she has had on her fellow staff members, students and families will be cherished and missed.

Megan Acton, who currently teaches kindergarten, will be furthering her teaching career closer to her home. Mrs Acton has had a lasting impact on Maple students and staff and will be greatly missed!

Jane Long, who serves as one of Maple's librarians, will be retiring at the end of May. Mrs. Long has served Maple students for many years. Although we will miss her sense of humor and her love for kids and books, she won't be a stranger. She will be serving as a long term sub in first grade next year during the first semester!

As we say goodbye to some Maple family members, we are also welcoming several new members into the Maple family!

Sara Tribbey, will be returning to Maple to serve as a Pre-K para pro. We are excited to have her back at Maple as we have missed the enthusiasm she brings to the building!

Kayla Foster, will be filling one of our kindergarten positions. We are excited to have Miss Foster at Maple. She has much experience with children through her multiple years of service at Head Start. She brings a love for students and a passion for helping children learn!

Valerie Mims, will be teaching first grade at Maple next year! Mrs. Mims brings not only many years of experience in teaching to Maple, but also brings bilingual experience. She has eleven years of teaching kindergarten and first grade students. We are excited about the passion she will bring to the building.

Taylor Haskins, will be teaching second grade at Maple. Taylor is a product of the Hoopeston Area Schools. In fact Mrs. Root had her as a student! Yes, that makes her old! Mrs. Haskins has several years of classroom experience as a para professional and brings her love for kids and her pride of the Cornjerker! We look forward to adding her to the team!

Adam Drake, will be joining the Hoopeston Area Schools as a music teacher. He comes to us with numerous years of experience and a love for teaching children music. He will be teaching Maple's first and second graders. We look forward to watching our students grow musically.

Additionally, Maple will be hosting two student teachers from Eastern Illinois. Alexis Cade, who is currently a long term sub at Maple, will do her student teaching in first grade with Miss Jennifer Taylor. We are looking forward to watching her progress into an amazing teacher! Emily Coffey will be doing her student teaching with Mrs. Hofer, kindergarten, and Miss Deck, first grade. Emily is also a homegrown teacher and we look forward to watching her blossom into an elementary teacher!

• May 26th: 2:05 Dismissal and Touch a Truck Event
• May 27th: 2:05 Dismissal, PreK Field Day and 2nd Grade John Greer Tour
• May 30th: No School-MEMORIAL DAY
• May 31st: Last Day of School: 12:05 Dismissal and K-2 Field Day
• June 6th-June 30th Summer School 8:30-11:30
• Look for Online Registration materials the first week of August. It will come in the mail. Make sure Maple has your updated address.

Goal 1: ATTENDANCE

The attendance data and tardy data at Maple for the 21/22 school year has been staggering. A chronically absent student is defined by the State of Illinois as:

"Chronic absence" means absences that total 10% or more of school days of the most recent academic school year, including absences with and without valid cause … – 105 ILCS 5/26-18

This means any students with 18 absences or more (over three weeks of school) get reported to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) as chronically absent. This report, in turn, gets factored into the school's summative designation that ISBE issues each year to all public schools. The last designation Maple was issued was "underperforming". A large portion of that designation came from our chronically absent student report.

Maple believes that this is completely "fixable". We want to work alongside parents and guardians to greatly improve in this area. Consider the following stats:

As you can see, these statistics are alarming! 21% of Maple students are considered chronically absent and have missed over 18 days of school this year. Of those students, the average days missed is 26. That is five weeks of school that these students missed on average. Maple staff can't teach students that aren't at school. As you can see, we need your help!

Our goal next year is to reduce our percentage of chronically absent students to 15%.

We understand that children have allergies, colds, etc. Please consider the following guidance when deciding whether your child should come to school or not.

Students should not be sent to school for the following conditions:

• Fever
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Pink Eye
• Infectious conditions diagnosed by a doctor

Regular school attendance plays a VERY important role in the lives of our students. It promotes foundational development, appropriate social development, the development of good work habits, and so much more. Let's work together to make students present and ready to learn!

Goal 2: TARDIES

Mrs. Vines is going to be taking on a project next school year to help students arrive to school on time each day. She has been collecting data during this school year on tardiness–identifying students who are chronically tardy and how many minutes those students have been tardy.

So far this school year, through the end of April, students were tardy to school 602 times for a total of 18,714 minutes. That is almost 312 HOURS of lost instruction time due to tardiness this year!!

Arriving on time for school:

• Makes sure your child doesn’t miss out on the important learning activities that happen early in the day when they are most alert. This is often reading and writing activities.

• Helps your child to learn about routines and commitment–setting life-long habits for being on time and demonstrating that parents value their children’s education.

• Gives your child time to greet their friends before class and enjoy breakfast in their classroom with peers.

• Creates a smooth transition from home to school, allowing your child the opportunity to settle into the classroom, prepare for the day, and focus their minds on the lessons to come.

• Ensures your child hears morning announcements, which include birthday celebrations, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, positive Shout Outs for students from teachers, and the Joke of the Day.

• Enhances your child’s self-esteem and confidence. Arriving on time every day makes children feel good about themselves.

Expect to see regular information coming to you next year about arriving to school on time and where Maple School students are at in reducing the number of tardy minutes. If you are already struggling with getting your child to school on time, feel free to reach out to Mrs. Vines through ClassDojo or calling Maple School for ideas to try!

Email: rootsk@hoopeston.k12.il.us
Website: www.hoopeston.k12.il.us
Location: 500 South 4th Street, Hoopeston, IL, USA
Phone: (217)-283-6665