Sleepy Hollow Elementary School

Week of September 21, 2026

SHES Updates

Sleepy Hollow Elementary School Families,

Sleepy Hollow students celebrated our school's 55th birthday with our first Fun Run of the school year on Friday last week. During the first lap of the course, students partnered up with their Buddy Classroom buddy to share about their own birthdays. Many partnerships chose to spend the entire Fun Run together! We love seeing these budding friendships and opportunities for student leadership. Be sure to ask your child(ren) about what they learned about their buddy!

We look forward to another great week of learning and connection at SHES. Our students are earning lots of key cards for demonstrating the 3Rs, being respectful, responsible, and ready at school. Key cards can be traded in for various incentives and weekly raffles. We are working on earning a whole-school incentive of bingo with prizes. Check out some of this past week's key card raffle winners!

Please note, we postponed our 2nd evacuation drill with the fire department due to the rainy weather last week. Stay tuned for upcoming communication once our drill is rescheduled. Kindly, see below for SHES and D300 information and announcements.

In partnership,

Kari Littlehale, Principal

Ashley Patterson, Assistant Principal

Melvin Caldwell, SSS

September Key of Excellence Focus: Speak with Good Purpose

For the month of September, Sleepy Hollow is focused on the Quantum Learning Key of Excellence: Speak with Good Purpose. Speak with good purpose means speaking honestly and kindly. This key involves being aware of the power of our words. We think before we speak, our intentions are positive, and the words we use are sincere. We look forward to recognizing one student from each classroom during our first Keys Assembly this Tuesday, September 22 who exemplifies this key!

Recess Footwear

We have had an increase in foot and ankle injuries in the health office due to improper footwear for specific recess activities. Thank you for understanding that proper footwear with heel support will need to be worn in order for students to play soccer or football during recesses. Best practice would be wearing gym shoes. Crocks with the back straps around the heel will be permitted. Students in flip flops or shoes without heel support will need to select a different recess activity for that day. Please direct any questions to Kari Littlehale, SHES Principal.

Attendance

If your student(s) will be absent, please make sure to call or email the attendance office by 8:00am. This helps us keep attendance accurate and ensures all our Sleepy Hollow students are safe and accounted for.

Call 224-484-4920 or Email attendance.shes@d300.org or Natalie.Chapa@d300.org

When calling please include your student’s:

Name, Grade, ID Number and a valid reason for the absence
CLICK HERE to review information on excused and unexcused absences.

*For any changes in dismissal, please notify the teacher AND the school office. Teachers do not always have the opportunity to check their email during the day.*

Attendance Notices

Sleepy Hollow has a school attendance team who monitors student attendance with the intention of partnering with families to promote good attendance habits. It has been shown that regular school attendance leads to school success. Starting in the month of October, all families will receive an automated monthly message keeping you informed of your child's attendance compared to same grade peers. Should your child's attendance rate drop below a specific percentage, a Sleepy Hollow staff member may be in contact to determine a plan to support future student attendance.

Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

SHES drop off and pick up procedures are linked here.

Our front parking lot is reserved for buses. Students may only ride as passengers to their assigned bus routes. Students with play dates or alternative dismissal plans are not able to travel via bus on a different bus route. It is unlawful to drive past our parked buses during arrival and dismissal as they have their stop signs displayed. Thank you for your patience and understanding to prioritize safety each day.

Thank you for waiting in the brief line to either use our "kiss and go" lane or park in an open spot. If you do plan to exit your vehicle and meet your child on the property, we ask that you walk to end of the parking lot first and avoid cutting through the car lanes. We want to keep everyone safe! Students are expected to dismiss directly to their dismissal plan. We appreciate our community's support in ensuring that students refrain from playing in separation of their pick-up designee so that we can safely release students after each school day.

Thank you for also being mindful and careful of community members when driving students to and from school. It is critical that the speed limit is maintained to keep pedestrians safe as many travel on foot on the edge of our streets surrounding our school. In order to assure student health and safety, animals are not allowed on school property, except in the case of a service animal accompanying an individual with a documented disability. Thank you for your help in ensuring student safety and well being with this expectation, especially during our arrival and dismissal times.

Throughout the school year should there be a change in your child(ren)'s dismissal plan, we ask that you contact our main office and the classroom teacher.

Nurse Notes

With the cold & flu season upon us, it is good to review with your child the importance of proper hand-washing, not sharing food or drinks, and covering their face (with their arm) when sneezing or coughing. If your student does get sick, here are a few guidelines when deciding to keep your student home:

A fever of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more, they should be kept home until they are fever free for 24 hours without the aid of medication.

Vomiting in the past 24 hours. May return after no vomiting for 24 hours.
More than one loose stool.
Rash with or without a fever, until a doctor has determined the rash is not contagious (doctor letter required to return)

Pink eye, until examined by a doctor and determined not to be contagious or until on antibiotics for 24 hours.
Head lice, until the day after the first treatment (please notify the school nurse).
Chicken pox, until all pox sores have dried and crusted (a minimum of 5 days after onset).
Any other bacterial infection or communicable condition (must be on antibiotics for 24 hours or until released by doctor).

***Remember that all medications need a completed medication form turned in to the Nurse’s office along with the medication (in its original container) by a parent or guardian. This includes ALL over the counter medications as well (i.e. Tylenol, Motrin, cough drops, vitamins, supplements...).

***Cough drops are the only ones that do not need a doctor’s signature, just a parent signature.

These forms can be found on the district web site or picked up in the office.

When you’re not sure if it is flu or cold remember the flu FACTS: Fever, Aches, Chills, Tiredness, Sudden onset.

Stay Healthy,

Nurse Joyce