Thank you for joining us last night at our Community Night! Your presence truly made the event special. We are grateful for your ongoing support and engagement. HERE is a survey for your feedback regarding last night.

We look forward to continuing our partnership to support the whole child of each student, ensuring their growth and success both in and out of the classroom. Together, we can make a lasting impact on our students’ lives.

If you were unable to make it or you want an in-depth look at the presentation, you can find the presentation HERE. We are also attaching a PDF of Yardsticks - the article we mentioned about developmental milestones. Feel free to check it out!

Thank you once again for your commitment to our community and the future of our children.

Best wishes,

Dr. Schoeffmann & Ms. Yoo

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We are writing to inform you that over the course of the year, students in all grades will be engaging in a Personal Health and Safety Unit. We will be utilizing the Rights, Respect, Responsibility (3R’s) curriculum developed by Advocates for Youth in alignment with both national and Illinois State Board of Education Standards. This unit includes content to address relevant state educational mandates such as Erin’s Law, or child abuse prevention education. This unit takes place at different times throughout the school year in different grade levels. Classroom teachers will send out individual emails ahead of their units, which will include summaries of the lessons to be taught.

The curriculum is intended to build foundational knowledge and skills for our students to develop their identities and build healthy relationships. It is also designed for students to use the knowledge gained to make well-informed and responsible decisions. The early elementary portion of this curriculum includes lessons on affirming different kinds of families, figuring out friendships, a basic understanding of bodies and how they grow and change, and safe touches. These lessons will set an important foundation for learning to come in future years. You can view an overview of the district’s entire K-8th grade scope and sequence here.

District 65 acknowledges that parents/guardians are the primary educators for their child(ren) on these topics, and we are committed to partnering with you to provide supplementary resources to support you in this role. We understand that these can be sensitive issues for people of all ages. Our hope is for active participation and maturity so that students can feel comfortable talking about these issues with you, other trusted adults, and their peers. You have the right to review the curriculum and to opt your student out of this unit, or specific lessons within the unit, if you do not feel they are right for your student. If you’d like to opt your student out of certain lessons or the unit, please let their classroom teacher know in writing (email counts).

The district will be hosting several parent/caregiver sessions in partnership with YWCA Evanston/North Shore to offer information and support. The first is a meeting to review the K-5th grade curriculum and answer your questions on Wednesday, October 16th from 6-7 P.M. This session will be virtual and can be accessed through this link.

Our partners at YWCA are also hosting two caregiver workshops on zoom this year focused on supporting parents and caregivers in having conversations about healthy sexuality and relationships at home. During these workshops, participants will explore their own experiences with sexuality education, clarify their family values, and practice responding to common questions children may ask. There are two workshop options this year:

• Thursday, November 14th at 7:00 PM, with a focus on families of K-4th graders

• Thursday, March 6th at 7:00 PM, with a focus on families with 5th-8th graders

Both events are free but require registration to attend. Parents/caregivers of students of all ages can attend either workshop and will take away meaningful information. Please stay tuned for registration information. For questions about the caregiver workshops, contact Hallie Cohen from the YWCA at hcohen@ywca-ens.org.

If you have further questions, please contact your students’ classroom teachers.

Thank you,

Dr. Schoeffmann & Ms. Yoo

As a reminder, the following was in our August newsletter:

"Student Smart Devices

We understand that some students may bring electronic devices, such as smartwatches, to school. These devices should be silenced and kept in the student’s locker throughout the day. Misused devices may be confiscated and kept in Dr. Schoeffmann's or Ms. Yoo's office."

Students may not be picked up from school unless the nurse calls home.

Students have been informed of the policy of keeping their electronic devices in their locker. Please help reinforce at home the fact that the devices may not be taken out of their locker during lunch/recess and bathroom breaks.

We appreciate your partnership with this!

In September and October, Orrington will have a series of soft drills (no alarms) and drills with law enforcement to practice fire drills and lockdown drills. If you wish to opt your child out of the drills with alarms and law enforcement, please let us know ASAP.

These drills are crucial to the safety of our students and staff as we all practice how to quickly respond. We are also mindful of our students and sensitively approach these drills, and we are able to accommodate any sensory needs for the alarms.

HERE is a resource to support conversations at home about safety drills. THIS is also a resource explaining the importance of why we practice drills and the importance of practicing drills to ensure the safety of all children and staff.

Your partnership is important when it comes to ensuring that the school is aware of absences and changes to dismissal. If your child is not riding the bus or there is a change in person picking up, please inform your child's teacher and the front office, Ms. Edwards (edwardsr@district65.net) and Ms. Erickson (ericksone@district65.net).

For absences, please call the absence hotline 847-859-8752 or email ericksone@district65.net and your child's teacher.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

More than two decades of research have demonstrated the important role that social and emotional skills play in each child's success in school and in the community. Skills such as demonstrating self-control, persisting on challenging tasks, and making good decisions are all necessary to be successful students and adults. The process by which students learn these and similar skills is called social emotional learning (SEL). As part of our efforts to better support our students in developing positive social and emotional skills, we are using the SAEBRS SEL assessment for all students in grades K-8.

The SAEBRS assessment is a brief 19-question survey answered by your child's teacher for students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. If your child is in 2nd-8th grade they have the opportunity to complete the mySAEBRS survey, which asks them to self-assess using the same 19 questions their educator is answering. The purpose of SAEBRS and mySAEBRS is to identify which SEL skills your child has already learned and which skills they would still need to develop. Once our teachers identify the skills their students still need to learn, they will teach those SEL skills. Our goal is to ensure that your child continually develops the SEL skills they need for lifelong success. We believe that the information gathered with the SAEBRS and mySAEBRS assessment will be beneficial to your child's overall success both inside and outside of the classroom.

We are excited to implement SAEBRS this school year and continue to focus on whole children! If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher.

Sincerely,

Dr. Schoeffmann & Ms. Yoo

SCHOOL NAME

Upcoming Fall Session (9/23/24-12/6/24)

Scholarship Application Opens: NOW 8/27/24 (Tuesday)

Regular Registration Opens: 09/02/24 (Monday) this is a holiday Customer Service may not be active

Scholarship Application Closes: 10/04/24 (Friday)

Regular Registration Closes: 10/04/24 (Friday)

Orrington's Registration Page

Scholarship application page: Here

UPDATED SCHOLARSHIP PROCESS:

1. Families complete scholarship application

2. Families receive a coupon code in an email

3. Families create an account on our website

4. Choose their class

5. Enter their unique coupon code when prompted

6. Check out and complete registration process

7. They should now be enrolled in their desired class

Sign-up for the Orrington Directory!

Once you have signed up for the directory, you will be able to edit your information and indicate your information-sharing preferences. We also use this system to distribute our Orrington PTA E-Newsletter that contains information and updates you will not want to miss!

Follow this link to access the Orrington Elementary School Directory site: https://orringtonpta.membershiptoolkit.com/

Questions? Contact us at orringtonelementarydirectory@gmail.com

1) Click "Register/Login" and "Create Account"

Create your family's account and click "verify my email". Non-work emails are preferred as work based emails frequently are bounced because of employer firewalls

2) You've got mail!

Check your email for a link to complete the process. The link expires in 2 hours.

3) Finish your registration

Parent/Family and Student Info

Directory/Publish Preferences

Volunteer during Lunch!

Want to make your kid's or kids' day? Volunteer to serve lunch with your fellow friendly Orrington parents!

What: Parent volunteers help students properly compost and recycle their lunch waste. One volunteer are scheduled per day. Bring your ID for check-in in the school front office.

When: Volunteers are needed from 11:15 AM to 1:15 PM.

IMPORTANT: Please sign up only for yourself! Sign up HERE.

Questions: Contact Orrington PTA (info@orringtonpta.org)

Want to know what's going on around the community? District 65 uses a "Digital Backpack" to share community information. Please click the button below to view upcoming community events and activities.