Barack Obama Parent Newsletter

January 2023

Happy New Year!

On behalf of the staff of the Barack Obama School of Leadership and STEM, we would like to welcome you back to school for the remainder of the 2022-23 school year. We hope you had an enjoyable winter break! The staff is eagerly waiting to work with your scholar.

We will follow our half day schedule on Thursday and Friday, January 5th and 6th and return to our regular schedule on Monday, January 9th.

We look forward to having all scholars at school by 8:15 am to begin their SEL support.

It is very important that all scholars are present and ready to learn at 8:15 am daily. Their attendance matters. Scholars may be dropped off at school at 7:40 am.

We have completed our Middle of the Year testing. You will receive information on how your scholar did on the tests as well as their 2nd quarter report cards at the end of the month. We will have 2nd quarter parent conferences Tuesday, February 7th from 1 pm - 4 pm.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to call the school at 708-668-9100.

Happy New Year to you and your family.

EVERY MINUTE COUNTS!!

We need all scholars at school by 8:15 am daily. Please call the Attendance Line if your scholar will be absent - 708-668-9150!!

Dates to Remember!!

Thursday, January 5th - Return to school - Dismissal @ 12:30 pm

Friday, January 6th - Early Dismissal @ 12:30 pm

Monday, January 9th - Return to Full Day schedule

Scholars will complete their Middle of the Year Writing Assessment

Monday, January 16th - No School in observance of Dr. King Holiday

Thursday, January 19th - Early Dismissal @ 12:30 pm

Friday, January 20th - End of Second Quarter

Monday, January 23rd - School Board Meeting @ 7 pm

Thursday, January 26th - Science and STEM Night @ 6:30 pm

Friday, January 27th - Spelling Bee

Community Partner Donations

Because of the generous donations by the Barack Obama PTO, Mayo AME Mission Society and New Holy Cross Baptist Church and City Helps, we were able to give each scholar a toy and a pair of holiday socks and cookies!!

Holiday Program

Thank you for joining us for our presentation of "A December to Remember". We were at maximum capacity with family and friends to see all of our scholars pay honor to the holidays of December. Special thanks to Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Meskill, Mrs. Hammonds, Mrs. Sutton and Ms. Dillard for supporting the scholars after school. Thanks to all of our staff for working with our scholars to learn their songs for each holiday.

Last Day before break - Pajama Day!

We ended our 12 Days of Christmas with Pajama Day. The scholars had a great day with their classmates preparing for their winter break!!

January Reading Strategy - Determining Importance!

Determining Importance may well be the most important strategy in helping students understand text for without this ability it becomes hard to summarize, difficult to make connections, and/or draw the right conclusions.

“Why do students need to be taught how to determine the importance of parts of the text they are reading?

In today’s world, children often encounter large pieces of reading they need to tackle. When completing a search on-line, this text can often be above their reading level. Students are challenged with the task of pulling out important pieces of information as they read.

Giving children direct instruction that teaches them how to pull out the most important information when reading will help students when they encounter more challenging pieces.

As they practice, students will need to learn the difference between essential and nonessential information in their reading. Children are determining what is important and what is not important as they read.

Proficient readers are able to automatically complete this task. By isolating this skill and providing direct instruction, we are helping our students build the ability to do this on their own.”

Character Trait - Empathy

Social and Emotional Domain: Empathy

Students display the trait of empathy (the disposition and ability to sympathetically understand and personally identify with the emotional states, needs, and feelings of others) by consoling, comforting, calming, supporting, and encouraging others.

Key Beliefs:

I will be a better student if I act on the following beliefs:

I can imagine what it’s like to stand in someone else’s shoes.
Being empathetic strengthens the community.
It is important to take someone else’s emotions and experiences into consideration.
Deepens relationships with my classmates and people I know outside of school.