News From The Nest

It was brought to my attention that the system was down and News from the Nest never sent last week. I apologize. Here you go!

Good evening, Graham Families,

Another week at Graham School comes and goes! We have a lot of fun events coming up in the next month. Let's use this weekend to gear up for it all.

If you haven't done so already, please make sure to sign up for parent/teacher conferences. We look forward to meeting with you all!

Don't forget it's a three day weekend! We will be off on Monday to observe Indigenous People's Day. ENJOY the time with family and friends! We'll see you on Tuesday!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

GO FALCONS!

Rachel Witkowski

• October 13th | No School, Indigenous People's Day
• October 14th | Digital Citizenship Week
• October 16th | Parent Teacher Conferences, 4:30-6:00
• October 17th | PTA Reflections Due
• October 17th | IPEF Pep Rally! 3:00
• October 20th | Parent Teacher Conferences, 8:00-3:00, 4:30-8:00
• October 24th | Harvest Parties, 2:15
• October 24th | Watch DOGS during recess & lunch

Stock up for the holidays with Butter Braids ($17) and Wooden Spoon Cookie Dough ($20) — delicious, crowd-pleasing treats that support Graham PTA events!

🥐Flavors include Apple, Cinnamon, Raspberry & more
🍪 Cookie Dough favorites: Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle & more

📝Order forms sent home + online ordering available via QR code
📦 Pick-up: Nov 11 | 4:30–5:30 PM @ Graham Elementary

Questions? Contact Michele: mcesario23@yahoo.com

Parent/teacher conferences for preschool, elementary, middle and high school will take place on Thursday, October 16, 2025 from 4:30 pm - 8:00 pm and Monday, October 20, 2025 from 8:00 am - 3:00 pm and 4:30 pm - 8:00 pm.

Elementary, middle, and high school parents can begin scheduling conferences through ParentVUE on October 8, 2025 starting at 6:00 am. Preschool families will receive directions for how to register for conferences from your child’s classroom teacher.

To schedule your conference for elementary, middle, and high school students, log in to ParentVUE and select "Conference" from the menu on the left side to see the times available. Once you have scheduled your conference, you can click "Email Schedule" to have the details emailed to you. You can also go back to ParentVUE at any time to view the information. Conference scheduling will remain open through October 14, 2025 at 6:00 pm.

IPEF Run Spirit Squad: Sunday, October 19th 7:00 am - FYI - Same location as last year

The Graham community will assemble at one location to cheer on our team.

Spirit squad members are encouraged to wear neon.

Pom poms will be provided.

Thank you for joining our team and doing so much to support IPEF and Graham.

Please be sure to submit your volunteer application for approval through the District as soon as possible.

Everyone needs to be pre-approved to volunteer at school for the Harvest Party. Please follow the steps below:

1. Fill out this form first

2. Submit the application online here and upload the document from step 1 for District approval

Researchers at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, are exploring the smallest, basic building blocks of matter, called fundamental elementary particles. They build special devices to make, catch, and study these particles. Neutrinos are the lightest known fundamental particles with mass, and they are very hard to catch—but they’re also crucially important for understanding how our universe came into existence! Some scientists are investigating how neutrinos are created from exploding stars, some design tools and write computer code to imagine and predict how neutrinos move and bump into matter, and others are curious about how many types of neutrinos exist. The SPARCtacular Science Series will explain how studying neutrinos can help us understand what our universe is made of, and how it works!

Mini Seminars, Mighty Minds: Inspiring the Next Generation of Thinkers in collaboration with:
Dr. Thomas Bussey, Teaching Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UC San Diego
Dr. Natalie Johnson, Head of Education and Public Engagement, Fermilab
Dr. Stephanie Ryan, CEO, Ryan Education Consulting

This series is designed for 5th graders and their families; however, Fermilab welcomes all interested grade levels. Learn about the fascinating world of scientific wonders studied at Fermilab! See the attached flyer for registration details.

Thank you so much for your flexibility this morning. Work began around 5:30am and they were finished by 12:40pm! Apparently that's the fastest completion so far! We are already back to our regular office business. Thank you!

All students entering preschool, kindergarten, sixth and ninth grades and those entering the district from out of state or from other countries are required to present documentation of a completed physical examination on the Illinois Certificate of Child Health Examination form.

Documentation of a physical exam and up to date immunizations must be submitted to the health office by October 15, 2025. Illinois law provides that students NOT IN COMPLIANCE with these requirements shall BE EXCLUDED from school until the student provides verification of the received immunization/physical.

As outlined in the Illinois School Code, Section 27-8.1(1.5): “If a child does not comply by October 15, or by the earlier established date of the current school year, with the requirements of this subsection, then the local school authority shall exclude that child from school until such time as the child presents proof of having had the health examination as required and presents proof of having received those required immunizations which are medically possible to receive immediately. During a child's exclusion from school for noncompliance with this subsection, the child's parents or legal guardian shall be considered in violation of Section 26-1 and subject to any penalty imposed by Section 26-10 and subject to any penalty imposed by Section 26-10.”

The following class had no overdue books for the week. Thank you for all your support in keeping track of LMC books and having them turned in after two weeks.

KM

Remember if you need more time with your book, you can renew it in the LMC.

Great Job Falcons!

The district selected Graham as one of the five pilot schools to host a Bernie's Book Bank Book Drive.

Information about the organization

Our book drive will last from 9/29/25-10/14/25.

We will be collecting new or very gently (like new) used children's books (Birth-Sixth Grade reading level)

The Library Advisory Board will be collecting the books from each classroom donation bin and sorting/packing the books on Thursday, October 16th.

We will also have a general donation bin in the LMC.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

PS - If books do not fit the criteria, you do not need to do anything. We will sort and donate those books to an educational collegiate program.

Thank you for helping make this a successful book drive.

Michelle Shiles

Hello Graham Families,

As September ends, we are reminded how great of a community we have here at Graham! Today is the last day to join the PTA and be entered into the raffle! Winner will be contacted tomorrow!

As October rolls in, we have a LOT of opportunities for families to get involved and / or contribute. This will be a busy month and as always, the PTA Board is thankful for any participation that you can provide.

Here is this week's PTA Newsletter!

Highlights include:

- Parent Teacher Conference Donations

- Harvest Party Volunteer Signup

- Trunk or Treat Information and Signup

- Boo Bag Orders are live

- Butterbraid info coming soon!

Thanks for all that you do!

Graham PTA

If your child will be absent or late to school for any reason, you have a couple of ways to report their absence:

• ParentVUE
• Login to your app, select one of the valid reasons to report your child's absence
  
  
• 24 hour Attendance Line: 630-428-6900, press option 3.
• Share the reason for the absence, as our attendance system requires that a reason for the absence be entered. If you report the absence on voicemail, please include both your child's name and the reason for the absence. If our school nurse should need additional information, she will reach out to you directly.

In an effort to maintain a safe environment for staff and students, District 204 adheres to the following practices during arrival and dismissal.

Arrival Procedures:

• During the period of time when children are arriving in the morning, no adults, without an appointment, will be allowed into the schools. Children will be allowed in through normal procedures.

• Any adult, without an appointment, who wishes to go into the school to talk with the administration or drop something off at the school will need to wait until arrival procedures are completed for the students or call the office for assistance.

For all elementary schools, adults without an appointment will not be allowed between 8:50 am - 9:05 am Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Wednesday, that time is 9:00 am - 9:15 am.

Dismissal Procedures:

• At dismissal time, no adult will be allowed into the school during the time that students are being dismissed.
• Parents who need to speak with the office staff will need to wait until the dismissal process is completed for all students.

Any changes to dismissal plans need to be communicated to the school staff before 3:00pm. Any students being picked up for early dismissal should be picked up before 3:00pm.

All visitors will need to enter at the Main Entrance (Door #1), push the side doorbell button, and the Office staff will provide access to the building after the visitor has stated their name and purpose for their visit. All visitors will need to present identification upon arrival in the office. Visitors are allowed entry by appointment only during arrival and dismissal times.

Thank you, in advance, for adhering to these important safety procedures.

V. Blanche Graham Elementary School is a Prekindergarten through 5th grade school located in South Naperville. Opened in 1996, Graham is fortunate to have supportive parents and dedicated staff and students who come prepared and eager to learn. We are part of Indian Prairie Community Unit School District #204, which is dedicated to the mission to "Inspire all students to achieve their greatest potential."

Email: rachel_witkowski@ipsd.org

Website: http://graham.ipsd.org/
Location: 2315 High Meadow Rd, Naperville, IL 60564, USA
Phone: 630-428-6900
Twitter: @GrahamElem204