Friday Focus

• A Message from Marcie

• 109 Gives Back Holiday Gift Drive Needs Your Help!
• Join our South Park Team!

• Correction on Spring Conference Dates

• Weekly Tech Tips
• Parker's Picks
• This Week in Pictures
• News from Early Learners
• Other Important Info

Check out the PTO Spotlight here:

• Portillo's Dine and Donate
• Amazing Minds Enrichment
• and much more..

Thanks for a great week, South Park!

We've received a few questions about how we decide whether students go outside for recess, so we wanted to share our decision-making process in this week’s newsletter. Here are the factors we consider:

• Temperature: We take students outside if the temperature, including wind chill, is 15 degrees or higher.
• Rain: Recess is held indoors if it’s raining.
• Snow: As long as it’s not snowing heavily, students go outside. However, on particularly snowy and windy days—like Thursday, November 21—we may decide conditions are not suitable for outdoor recess.

Additionally, we always collaborate with at least one other Deerfield elementary school when making indoor recess decisions. For example, yesterday, we consulted with Kipling Elementary and used the AccuWeather RealFeel temperature—which accounts for factors like air temperature, wind speed, humidity, and solar intensity. Since the RealFeel yesterdat was 7 degrees, we determined recess would be held indoors.

Please know that it’s always our priority to get students outside whenever possible, as we recognize how essential fresh air and movement are for their well-being. Today, our students enjoyed outdoor recess followed by a special winter-themed holiday concert performed by the Deerfield High School choraliers!

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Marcie

The last day donations can be dropped off in school lobbies is Wednesday, December 11th. When dropping off donations, please label each item with the family name it’s intended for, as gifts are organized by anonymous family names.

We’re looking for a dedicated lunch/recess supervisor to join us after Winter Break. This position runs Monday through Friday, from 11:20 AM to 12:20 PM daily.

To avoid potential conflicts of interest, we cannot consider current South Park parents with children in full-day Early Learners, Kindergarten, or 2nd grade.

If you know someone who might be interested, please have them contact Dr. Faust at mfaust@dps109.org. We’d love to hear from them!

Our previous Friday Focus included an error regarding the dates for Spring Conferences. Please see the corrected dates below:

Thursday, March 20th (corrected date)

• Early Release at 11:40 a.m.
• Spring Conferences from 1:00-8:00 p.m.

Friday, March 21st (corrected date)

• Non-Attendance Day
• Spring Conferences 8:30-11:30 a.m.

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. What better time to introduce these tech tips than October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month! 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.

• The Book That Almost Rhymed: What do you do when you try to tell a carefully written, rhyming story, but your little sister interrupts with wild ideas that don’t rhyme? This hilarious picture book has themes of sharing, storytelling, and adventure.

• Fun With Outer Space: This latest book in the Fun With series features an outer space theme and has over 100 mazes, dot-to-dots, word searches, coloring pages, and more. Perfect for elementary-aged STEAM fans.

• BrainPLAY Funniest Puzzles Ever: Keep your kids entertained and engaged all winter break! This boredom-busting activity book contains 176 screen-free activities like finding your way through a slimy science lab or hunting for a cupcake at a doughnut race.

• Scaredy Squirrel Gets Festive: In this fourth book in Scaredy Squirrel’s graphic novel series, our anxious and rule-oriented hero invites his friends over to his tree for the holidays. What could go wrong?

• Science Magic Tricks for Kids: The perfect book for budding scientists and magicians, Science Magic Tricks for Kids offers step-by-step instructions and clear explanations of the scientific principles behind each trick. With common household materials, young magicians can learn and perform these age-appropriate tricks.

• The Misfits #1 - A Royal Conundrum: This is a fun mystery filled with quirky kids who work as undercover spies to help stop a jewelry heist that could lead to the destruction of their beloved boarding school. It’s a great pick for kids who enjoy the City Spies or Spy School series.

We have kicked off the Gingerbread unit, immersing the children in the beloved folk tale through a variety of interactive and hands-on activities. In the 3s classrooms, the children are exploring the Gingerbread Man folktale through various books, comparing and contrasting different versions of the story. They are also focusing on the five senses to enhance their descriptive vocabulary, encouraging them to use more detailed language when sharing their thoughts and questions. Meanwhile, in the 4s classrooms, the Gingerbread Man tale is brought to life through storytelling with props, helping to engage the children in imaginative play. Activities are also being introduced to improve multi-step fine motor skills, while the children explore the Gingerbread Man's emotions and action.

This week in Grady's Group, we explored how strong emotions affect our bodies, such as faster heartbeats, tense hands, stomachaches, and headaches, and discussed the importance of recognizing these physical signs for emotional regulation. We also identified strategies the Gingerbread Man could use to calm down, which helps slow the heart, calm the mind, and settle the body. The class read How Do Dinosaurs Say I'm Mad? to further explore these concepts. For home practice, parents are encouraged to help their child recognize when they're starting to feel upset, identify where in their body they feel it, and choose a calming strategy before emotions escalate.

We hope that your December is off to a wonderful start. We look forward to a month full of engaging activities and new discoveries with your child!

As South Park takes on the Let Grow Project as mentioned above, Early Learners wanted to provide our families with ways our youngest learners could also be growing their independence. Below are some ideas provided by our Early Learners team.

• All visitors to South Park School MUST bring a valid driver's license or state ID card to the main office before entering into the building. Beginning this year, we will collect IDs during your visit and return it to you as you leave.
• If your child is going to be absent from school, you need to call or email us by 9:00 that morning. ** Call 847-945-5895, ext. 2103 and leave a message OR ** Email Nurse Nora Moskos.
• Please follow our morning procedures, and drop your children off at their regular grade level doors. If you choose to drive through the front circle at arrival, kindly stay in your car when you drop off to help us reduce morning congestion.
• K-5 drop-off is between 8:35-8:45 a.m. Students who arrive after 8:45 a.m. will need to enter through the front door of the school, as all other doors will be locked.
• Dismissal for all Kindy and 1st-grade walkers and car riders will take place at their grade level door.
  
• Early Learners drop-off/pick-up info can be found here.
• When parking in our Birchwood parking lot, please remember that our preschoolers are dropped off and picked up by the west end (closest to the school). Sometimes, their parents' cars can block a parked car from exiting for a few minutes. To avoid that, we suggest that you park closer to Birchwood Avenue.

Wednesday, November 27-Friday, November 29th

• No School - Thanksgiving Break

• Last Day of School Before Winter Break

Tuesday, January 7th

• School Resumes for Students

• No School - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

• No School - Teacher Institute Day

Monday, February 17th

• No School - Presidents' Day

Thursday, March 20th (corrected date)

• Early Release at 11:40 a.m.
• Spring Conferences from 1:00-8:00 p.m.

• Non-Attendance Day
• Spring Conferences 8:30-11:30 a.m.

Monday, March 24th-Friday, March 28th

• Spring Break

2024-25 Music Concert Dates:

• 5th Grade - Wednesday, January 29th @ 6:00

• 4th Grade - Wednesday, February 12th @ 6:00

• 3rd Grade - Wednesday, March 19th @ 6:00

• 2nd Grade - Wednesday, February 12th @ 5:00

• 1st Grade - Wednesday, January 29th @ 5:00

• Kindergarten - Wednesday, March 19 @ 5:00

• Early Learners - Thursday, May 1 @ 5:00