Spartan Scoop 12/13/24

From door decoration to essay writing to periodic table exploration, the halls and classroom of Shepard have remained busy with our amazing Spartan students and staff. As we approach the final week of school in 2024, we continue to be impressed by the learning occurring and the camaraderie being built. We had the honor of recognizing several of our Principal's 200 Club Spartan Shout Out winners so far this year with more celebration to come in 2025, and we could not be more grateful for how our Spartans continue to represent our PRIDE expectations. Thank you for all you do as families to support your children and our school, and we hope you have a nice weekend ahead! Stay warm!

In this edition, you will find:

New Information:

• Holiday Gift Drive Drop-Offs Extended Until Monday, December 16th at 9:00 am
• Holiday Spirit Wear Day December 18th
• Winter Assembly December 19th
• Parental Tech Tips #10
• Social-Emotional Survey (Winter Administration)
• Reminder: Hot Chocolate Sales from StuCo
• Reminder: Shepard Learning Commons Bookmark Design Opportunity

• Clubs and Activities at Shepard
  
• ARC at Shepard
• Drop-Off Logistics
• Shepard Yearbooks
  

• Middle School Health Curriculum Note
  

• Remind App Information
  
• 8th-Grade Yearbook Flashback Page
  
• Lunch Information
  
• Medication and Attendance
  
• PTSO Information
  

Sincerely,

Rob Wegley, Principal

Cathy Van Treese, Associate Principal

Ginger Logemann, Director for Student Services

December 16 - 6th-Grade Basketball (Order: girls/boys) - Home vs. Caruso - 4:30 - 6:30 pm

December 16 - Choir Concert at Shepard - 6:30 - 7:30 pm

December 17 - 6th-Grade Basketball (Order: girls/boys) - Away @ Gemini - 4:30 - 6:30 pm

December 17 - Wrestling - Away @ Northwood - 4:45 - 5:45 pm

December 20 - No School (Winter Break Begins)

If you haven’t had a chance to sign up for a gift donation, you can do so here! The last day donations can be dropped off in school lobbies is Monday, December 16th by 9 am. When dropping off donations, please label each item with the family name it’s intended for, as gifts are organized by anonymous family names.

Attention Spartans! Get ready to show off your holiday spirit! On Wednesday, December 18th, StuCo is inviting all students and staff to participate in our festive Holiday Dress-Up Day. Whether it’s cozy sweaters, cheerful hats, or creative holiday-themed outfits, let’s spread some joy and celebrate the season together!

We will be holding a celebratory assembly on Thursday, December 19th at the end of the school day to recognize how our students are demonstrating their Shepard PRIDE and to engage in some fun games between staff and students. The schedule can be found above. We're looking forward to it!

While we encourage everyone to limit time spent on devices, we understand that these tools can foster meaningful connections when used wisely. However, in today’s digital age, it can be difficult to stay informed about the latest apps and trends to ensure your child's online safety. We want to do our part in supporting students and families in the various ways they can implement security settings on their children’s devices and monitor time spent online. Throughout the school year, we will feature practical technology tips in our newsletters, offering fresh ideas for families to use at home developed by our own Student Resource Officer, Lauren Maldonado, and our Innovations Specialist, Maria Galanis.

Here is a tech tip about Minecraft

Building students’ social-emotional learning (SEL) skills is important at Shepard. As a part of the learning process, we will be asking students in grades K-8 to reflect on skills related to social-emotional learning and the school environment. The survey will be administered to all students in grades K-8 between January 13 and January 31, 2025, and it should take no more than 20 minutes to complete. Per policy, if you would like your child to opt out of taking the survey, please contact me at rwegley@dps109.org no later than January 13th.

We'd like to invite students to participate in our Fifth Annual Bookmark Design Contest! This is a fantastic opportunity for students to showcase their creativity and design a unique, eye-catching bookmark that may be selected to be printed and featured in our Learning Commons! Students should check their email for information from our library information specialist, Dr. Trudeau, to learn more about the contest and get a link to the digital form. For printed forms, students may stop by the library circulation desk. We can't wait to see the amazing designs students come up with!

As you have noticed, we continue to emphasize inclusion at Shepard. One of the key ways to foster inclusion and a sense of belonging is through students getting involved in athletics, clubs, and activities at school. We have an updated clubs and activities page on our website. We have the same for athletics. We encourage you to take a look with your child to see if they may express interest in any they want to give a try!

During conferences, we heard it would be helpful to learn more about our ARC program and schedule at Shepard, so we want to share information here! Every morning from 7:15 - 7:45 am and every day after school (outside of Wednesday), we host ARC where students can come to work on homework with a staff member present to supervise. It is a nice resource of which all families can take advantage! Below, you will find the schedule. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Associate Principal Cathy Van Treese.

First and foremost, we are thankful for the partnership of our parent community who continue to navigate our drop-off procedures in line with the expectations of staying in the drop-off line and not cutting through the parking lot. We have some logistics that we are hopeful will help things move smoother that we'd like to outline here.

Spartan Traffic Guide: You will see a Shepard staff member stationed out front helping to direct traffic. They will primarily be encouraging cars to move further up and to help facilitate a quick drop off. You can help by gauging the flow of traffic, making sure you have pulled up as far as possible, and making sure your child is ready to get out of the car quickly. Thank you for being kind to our traffic guides!

Spartan Signage: Who doesn't love a good sign? We now have signs that state, "Pull All the Way Up To The Other Sign" and "This is the Other Sign." Our hope is that visual is a fun and easy way to help us keep things moving.

As a side note, please know that—even with these measures in place—the line will continue to be slower as we get to the end of our typical drop off time (7:40 - 7:55 or so). There are all sorts of factors that lead to this. People have busy lives, it can be hard to get a middle schooler out of bed early, etc. We just want to be clear that this window at the end of drop off seems to be when the majority of cars are coming, so it is going to be the slowest time to drop off. If you can manage, getting to Shepard earlier on to drop off is beneficial!

Check out some awesome art from Shepard students as they designed potential covers for our 24-25 yearbook! All of this amazing artwork will be featured in some capacity in the yearbook to honor the dedication of these student artists.

Below is the link to purchase a yearbook at Yearbookforever.com. Parents should enter Alan B. Shepard Middle School (Deerfield, IL, not Texas)! The cost is $30. After January 15th, the cost will be $35.

yearbookforever.com

As part of the Physical Education/Health curriculum at Shepard, your child will take part in lessons designed to develop life-long health habits. Topics are aligned with the National Health Education Standards (NHES), which are designed to help establish, promote, and support health-enhancing behaviors. Middle school units of instruction are as follows:

• Social and Emotional Health (6th Grade)

• Nutrition (6th Grade)

• Mental Health (7th Grade)

• Injury Prevention & Safety (7th Grade)

• Violence Prevention (8th Grade)

• Substance Abuse & Prevention (8th Grade)

Specific sexual health topics are addressed in partnership with outside agencies. In February, 8th-grade classrooms partner with Candor Health for a live virtual session called Teen Sexual Health. Similar to the 5th-grade session titled Puberty I, an on-demand parent webinar will be provided prior and an opt-out made available. In April, speakers from Childhood Victories, Inc. provide age-appropriate presentations focused on sexual-assault and abuse awareness (Erin’s Law). This program occurs for all grades and an opt-out is made available. While not a stand-alone unit, sexual health topics may be discussed in Health classrooms as a result of student questions or in connection to related topics. If parents/guardians have concerns, they should email their child’s PE teacher no later than 12/20/24.

As we strive to keep you informed about important events and updates at Shepard Middle School, we are excited to use the Remind app again as a valuable tool to strengthen our school-family partnership. Through this app, you will receive announcements from our Student Council (also known as StuCo), led by Mrs. Greenberg. These announcements will not only keep you informed about spirit days, fundraisers, and other important events throughout the school year but will also actively involve your child in the exciting activities shaping our school community.

To sign up, please follow the directions below. Check out this video if you would like step-by-step instructions.If you require any assistance setting up the app, please do not hesitate to reach out to Mrs. Greenberg.

The Yearbook is looking for Elementary school photos of your 8th grader and friends for this year's Yearbook FLASHBACK PAGES!

* Please choose up to 3 of your favorite photos (include/tag Kipling or Walden and the names of the students) and send it to the link below.

* Our Yearbook staff works very hard to include as many students as possible, especially on these pages, so 3 photos max will be very appreciated.

* If you are new to Shepard for middle school, we are happy to add a photo from your student's other school. Please be sure to tag the school name.

Thanks so much for contributing K-5 memories and enjoy your day!

Flashback Photos

- The Yearbook Staff

Our amazing PTSO shared information on this in their welcome back letter, too, but we wanted to add a reminder that you can purchase school lunches through Lunch Solutions in advance! Ordering opened Tuesday, August 6th. Ordering for the following week closes at 10:00 am on THURSDAY each week. For information and ordering, please visit http://ptgms.com/lunchsolutions/shepard.

Medication

Please do not send any medication, over-the-counter pain pills (Tylenol/Advil/aspirin), or cough drops with your students. State law prohibits students from taking medication at school outside of the nurse's office with a doctor's note on file. We will confiscate any medications as listed above found outside of the nurse's office.

Attendance

If your student will not be in school, please report the absence to the health office by phone—(847) 948-0620 x5103 or email (shepardattendance@dps109.org) before 8:00 am. If you do not contact our school nurse by this time, she will contact you at home or at work to ascertain your child’s whereabouts. Children must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. Students will only be dismissed to a parent/legal guardian or to emergency contacts designated in Family Access.

Student Tardiness to School

Students who arrive late are greatly disadvantaged because they miss starting the day with their peers and miss out on the instruction given at the beginning of class. This means that they are often unsettled and confused about tasks, resulting in reduced achievement, regardless of academic ability. It is also very important that students establish good routines and habits in preparation for the rest of their lives. Punctuality is a life skill that is important to develop.

Tardiness to school will be unexcused even if a family member brings the student(s) to school. Oversleeping, missing the bus, car/traffic problems, etc. are all unexcused. Tardies are excusable under the following circumstances: personal illness of student, serious illness or death in the family, a doctor/dentist/professional appointment (a note or phone call from a parent or a professional), family emergencies, and religious holidays.

School begins promptly at 8:00 am. Students are expected to be in class ready to learn by 8:00 am.

Student Tardies to Class

Students are expected to be in class, in their seats, ready to learn at the start of class. Students who are not are subject to school discipline.