The Franklin Flyer

Mark Your Calendars:

November 20 - 24: Fall Break - No School

December 7: PTA - PTA Meeting 7-8 PM (virtual)

December 20: Holiday Sing

December 25 - January 5: Winter Break - No School

January 15: No School

February 14: Valentine's Day

February 16: Institute Day - No School

February 19: No School

Absences

Please remember to call in or email absences by 8:45 AM. You can call our student absence line (847) 318-4390 (ext 1) is available 24 hours a day, or email Mrs. Linda at lberleth@d64.org.

If the absence is illness related, please also make sure to include Franklin's nurse, Mrs. Queta Karstens, at qkarstens@d64.org.

Franklin Office Hours
School office hours are from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.

School Hours

School Hours (M, T, Th, F): 8:50 am - 3:30 pm

Wednesday School Hours: 8:50 am - 2:40 pm

Half-Day Kindergarten Hours

Kindergarten Hours (M, T, Th, F): 8:50 am - 11:35 am

Kindergarten Wednesday: 8:50 am - 11:05 am

If there are any significant changes at home that may impact your student(s) arrival or dismissal or impact your student(s) emotional at school, please reach out to notify Mrs. Williams or your child's teacher to best support your family.

You can find frequent updates or snapshots from our days at Franklin on Facebook and Instagram! Follow us at

Facebook: facebook.com/FranklinD64

Instagram: franklin.d64

2nd and 3rd Grade Author Visit

The Book Stall is bringing Adam Rex to meet our 2nd and 3rd graders on Nov 7th!

Adam Rex , an author illustrator will be talking about his new book: Gumluck the Wizard.

You can order your own personalized copy of the book here!

For this we will have 2 VIP seating sections.

VIP section 1: Make a fairy house of any sort. Drawings, dioramas, clay figures, drawing...all are welcome! These are Due Nov 6th to the LRC.

VIP section 2: Purchase a personalized book!

Any questions- please contact Ms. Hetzke ahetzek@d64.org

Supporting Conversations at Home

District 64 wanted to share some resources with families. The ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza is heart-wrenching. In a recent administrator newsletter from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), state superintendent Dr. Tony Sanders shared the following items, which may be helpful in navigating these conversations at home.

The National Association of School Psychologists has a downloadable flyer called Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Families and Educators, strategies for each grade level, and suggested talking points.

From Common Sense Media, an article called How do I talk to my kids about violence in the news? reminds us to get a sense of what children know before launching into an explanation, by using open-ended questions, like “What did you hear?” or “What do you know?” and “What do you think about it?”

We hope these resources are helpful to you if your children have questions at home.

K-8 Families,

We are offering an exciting opportunity for all K-8 parents/guardians that pertains to our new mathematics curricula. On November 28th, at 7pm, at Emerson Middle School, we invite parents/guardians to engage in a lesson simulation with a D64 grade-level teacher.

You will sit in the seats as a student and fully understand what it means to be part of a math class with our new curriculum resources (Eureka Squared: K-5, and Carnegie Math (6-8))!

A teacher will offer a brief introduction to the program and then teach an actual lesson your child would experience this year. Space is limited, so please RSVP using this form. Be sure to click the appropriate math placement for your child.

If you are not sure of your child’s placement, please call your school’s main office. We look forward to seeing you there!

*Note: Students in 7th or 8th Grade Channels of Challenge or 8th Grade Accelerated Math are not utilizing the Carnegie resources. Therefore, this opportunity is not available right now for those parents/guardians.

Best,

Samantha Alaimo

Assistant Superintendent of Student Learning

Please do not park and leave your cars in the drop-off area on Dee Road, which is for attended cars only. This area is designated for those who can remain in their car to drop off or pick up students.

Franklin's Holiday Sing program will be held on Wednesday, December 20th. We will have performances by grade. Our performance schedule is as follows:

9:00 - 10:00 a.m. - Kindergarten & 1st Grade

10:00 - 11:00 a.m. - 4th & 5th Grade

1:30 - 2:30 p.m. - 2nd & 3rd Grade

More details regarding the performances will be shared closer to the event.

For the health and safety of our students and community, no pets are allowed on school property. We realize the beautiful weather increases the amount of families who are walking. However, we ask that you please leave your dog or cat at home. Properly identified service animals are always permitted.

Please take a moment to review the contacts section of your ParentPortal. Any adult who has approval for after school pick-up or emergency pick-up for illness/injury should be listed. Franklin staff will not release students to adults who are not listed on the ParentPortal.

Chromebooks

As a reminder, each Franklin student will be issued an iPad (grades K-1) or a Chromebook computer (grades 2-5) as part of the District’s one-to-one digital learning program. Students will receive their devices during the first week of school. Your child will also be assigned a Google account to access Google Apps for Education and other digital resources at school and to explore further concepts introduced in class at home. The devices and their applications are technology tools that provide all students access to digital content and higher levels of individualized instruction.

You can find more information about the 1:1 Initiative, Chromebooks, and the other technologies available to our students here.

Drop-off of Student Items/Lunches

If your student forgets something at home, an adult may drop off items at the Franklin front office. Our front office staff will message the classroom for your student to pick up these items during a break in student instruction. The teacher will send the student to the office when it works best in the classroom schedule.

Visiting Franklin

All visitors to Franklin must have a valid state ID or driver’s license. Identification is entered into the Raptor identification system. This process only takes a short time to complete. Once you have clearance, the office staff will print a visitor pass for you and attach it to a lanyard you must wear throughout the building. The office will hold your ID until you return to the office and return the lanyard. We appreciate your support as we proceed with this district-mandated safety procedure for the safety of our students.

Student-Parent Handbook
Franklin Elementary School and all District 64 schools follow policies and practices reviewed and implemented by the District 64 Board of Education. Please review the D64 Student-Parent Handbook before the start of the school year.

Appreciation Spotlight

It’s been a busy few weeks and we have lots of volunteers to thank!

• Danielle Huber and Amy Indriolo kept our fantastic Franklin staff happy and fed during conferences the past two weeks, making sure we recognize and support the T in PTA!

• We’re grateful to Liz Feighan Kelly and Tom Pekic for coordinating Trunk or Treat

• And it wouldn’t be such a treat without all of the families who brought so much creativity to their trunks.

• Colleen Russell for her dedication, organization, and persistence towards the massive task room parent coordinator, making sure we have enough room parents for the ENTIRE school. Julia Baraglia was also a huge support in securing volunteers and providing party structure and ideas to make the volunteer experience as fun and simple as possible.

• The countless head room parents and Halloween party parents for taking time to plan and facilitate activities to celebrate on Tuesday.

Capture those Memories!

Don’t forget to add photos of all of the recent events to the yearbook. Easily upload from the TreeRing app or website, or email notification.photos.298362828@treeringphotos.com

Special Franklin Headband Spiritwear

Orders are in, and we’re waiting for the official delivery date. Once they arrive we will reach out to those who ordered to share more details on how and when you will receive your headband.

Connect with us on Facebook

Have you joined the PTA Facebook group? It’s a great way to stay informed on upcoming events, connect with other families, and quickly reach members of the PTA team and event chairs with questions. This is a private group for Franklin PTA members, so if you haven’t signed up yet, membership registration is open at franklin store.membershiptoolkit.com.