Presidents Day: Leadership and Citizenship in Our Students

As we celebrate Presidents Day this month, we reflect on the qualities that define strong, compassionate leadership. Every single day I make it a point to uplift and affirm students and one of things I always try to speak into them is that they are kind and compassionate. As they grow, these are two of the qualities that I believe are necessary for growing into a positive leader- one who can change the world for the better. I reflect on Presidents Day and remember that it is more than just a day off from school; it’s an opportunity to discuss the importance of leadership, service, and responsibility with our scholars.

Great leaders, past and present, have demonstrated the importance of integrity, empathy, and perseverance. In our classrooms, we encourage students to embody these traits—not just through academic success, but in how they treat their peers, engage in their communities, and solve problems with creativity and resilience. We want them to respect each other's differences and to be open to learning new things from their peers that will open them up to new and wonderful ideas. I have seen students show these leadership qualities by: turning in money they have found, assisting students who need extra help, being an advocate for students who are too shy to speak up for themselves, sitting with other students at lunch who are not like them and making friends and getting to know others, coming to my office to tell me when a friend needs help, assisting teachers by leading a classroom discussion, telling peers that they are not making good decisions and what they should do instead, assisting lunchroom supervisors with lunch clean up, and so many more things!

Here are a few ways we are working to build up our strong and conscious, caring scholars:

1. Encouraging Critical Thinking: We ask students to explore historical events and decisions in social studies, for example, and also in our other content areas, helping them understand the impact of leadership and the importance of making informed choices to benefit the greater good.

2. Promoting Empathy and Collaboration: Through group projects and class discussions, students practice listening to different perspectives and working together toward common goals. In our half-days, for example, we are learning about ourselves and others so that we can appreciate our differences but also see that we share so many things in common.

3. Modeling Civic Responsibility: We talk about the importance of contributing to our communities—whether by helping a classmate, participating in service projects, or understanding the roles of leaders in our society. A small, but important example of this, is our students participating in composting & recycling every day at lunch. This small service action is helping our environment.

As we honor the leaders who have shaped our country in the past, we also celebrate the potential of the next generation. Thank you for partnering with us to support your child’s growth as a thoughtful, engaged citizen of the world.

Parents- we are all about safety first, and in watching the weather, the temps on Wednesday night are expected to be quite frigid, at 3 degrees, with real feel below zero. Because of this we will reschedule our Nichols State of the Union Town Hall event. I will release the reschedule date this upcoming week to give parents enough time to plan ahead. I apologize for the change, however, I do not want families coming out in such cold and frigid weather.

As many of you know, we get Securly alerts when a student types something on their iPad or enters a search that the system considers to be a threat to the safety of that student or someone else. Securly is designed to keep students safe and when we get alerts both in school and out of school, we are able to notify the appropriate adult to check in on the student. As a parent, you too, have this capability. In the SecurlyHome app, you’ll have a real-time view of your child's activity on their school device. There is also a web portal which you can access by clicking here. You'll also get a weekly email from Securly with a snapshot report of that activity.

Key features include:

• Activity Feed showing your child's online activity
• Notifications about potential safety concerns
• Ability to pause internet access on school devices when at home
• Web portal access for desktop viewing

To get started:

1. Download the SecurlyHome app from the App Store or Google Play
2. Open the app and tap "Login"
3. Enter your email address registered with the school
4. Click the verification link sent to your email

Visual directions to help you get started!

(Spanish Version)

As you know, it has been very important to us to engage parents in our growth and success. At Nichols, we are deeply committed to our partnership with parents. We have implemented numerous initiatives this year to foster open communication, safety, and support for our families. These efforts this year have included (but are not limited to):

• Listening Tours: We actively seek parent feedback through listening tours to understand concerns and suggestions. These were both in person and virtual.

• Weekly Principal Newsletters: Regular updates ensure families stay informed about school events and important information.

• Safety First: We've prioritized student safety by securing a crossing guard and reinforcing safety protocols throughout the day.

• Classroom, Grade Level, Counselor, and/or AVID Newsletters: We provide updates specific to their classes, helping parents stay connected to their child’s learning.

• Availability and Communication: We maintain an open-door policy for parent visits and concerns, and we commit to returning emails and calls within 48 hours—within 24 hours for safety concerns.

• PTA Engagement: We collaborate with our PTA to encourage parent involvement and organize family-friendly activities like our Back-to-School Family Fun event.

• Supporting Families: We find creative ways to support families beyond school hours and continuously seek feedback through surveys to better meet parent and student needs.

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey opens February 18th. The survey helps us gather valuable feedback for improvement planning. Individual responses remain anonymous, with schools receiving only aggregated data.

We value your opinion on how we are doing at Nichols Middle School and would like to have you share your thoughts! If you could please take a few minutes to share your voice. We need to have 20% participation to receive a report from the University of Chicago and I know our caregivers will have the highest return rate across the district because we have the MOST AWESOME CAREGIVERS EVER!!

Click on this link to complete the survey: 5Essential Survey

Many parents have requested information this year about the acceleration process. Please click this link D65 Acceleration via Grade Skipping process for more information. Additionally the district will be hosting a virtual informational so save the date! The next virtual acceleration information meeting will take place on March 12, 6:00-7:00 p.m. via Zoom. Stay tuned for details, which will be shared by JEH.

Important Timeline:

• April 11, 2025 – Deadline to submit acceleration requests for the 2025-2026 school year
• May 19, 2025 – Families who submit by April 11 can expect a decision by this date
• 2026-2027 Requests – Will open at the start of the 2025-2026 school year

For specific questions about the district’s acceleration process, you can reach out to alternateplacement@district65.net. If you have individual questions about your child’s placement, please contact David Wartowski, Director of Mathematics, at wartowskid@district65.net.

February 17th, 1942- Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was born in 1942; this date is also notable for the birthday of NFL legend Jim Brown, born in 1936.

Feb. 18, 1931: Toni Morrison Is Born-The Nobel laureate and author of treasured novels such as Beloved, The Bluest Eye and Song of Solomon, was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in Lorain, Ohio, in 1931. The beloved author died at 88 and was the only African American woman to earn the Nobel Prize for literature, according to The Guardian. She was also awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988.

Feb. 19, 2002: Vonetta Flowers Becomes First Black Athlete to Win Gold at Winter Olympics-After graduating from P.D. Jackson Olin high school in 1992, Flowers became the first person in her family to attend college. She accepted a Track and Field scholarship to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she would become the school's first seven-time All-American, according to her website. She then went on to try and qualify for the 2000 Olympic track team, but didn't make it. However, a twist of fate put her on the path to bobsledding.

Two years later, Flowers and teammate Jill Bakken beat out two front-runner German teams to win gold at the 2002 Olympics. They became the first American women to win, and Flowers became the first Black athlete ever to win a gold medal in the winter Olympics.

Feb. 20, 1929: Wallace Thurman's Broadway Play Harlem Opens in N.Y.C.-The trailblazing journalist, novelist and playwright — once described by Langston Hughes as "a strangely brilliant Black boy, who had read everything and whose critical mind could find something wrong with everything he read" — moved to New York City's Harlem neighborhood in the early 1920s and was regarded as one of the most forward-thinking literary minds of his day.

Feb. 21, 1965: Malcolm X Is Assassinated

Information from https://people.com/human-interest/black-history-month-facts-week-of-february-17/

The 4th annual District 65 PTA One Fund Native Plant Sale is live! Select from a wide variety of native plants, shrubs and trees and order by Friday, February 21. Proceeds from this district-wide plant sale helps fund every District 65 school via the PTA Equity Project's One Fund Initiative.

Pre-order pick-up will be held on Saturday, May 10 from 10am to 1pm in the Chute Middle School courtyard (1400 Oakton St., Evanston). A limited number of plants, shrubs, and trees will also be available for sale.

View available plants and place your order here. Donations to plant wildflowers and trees on D65 school grounds are also accepted.

We are seeing a lot of students and staff who are getting sick this time of the year. I, too, caught a nasty virus not to long ago. We know that students do not like to miss school, but we are asking that if your child has a fever, an excessive cough, or vomiting or diarrhea, that you please keep your scholar at home. Please notify the main office should you decide to keep your child home. Scholars will have the opportunity to make up any missing work once your scholar is feeling better.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/health/flu-season-hospitalizations-mrsa-ane/index.html

Ramadan is a period dedicated to spiritual growth, increased devotion, and worship. Those who participate fast from dawn until sunset, refraining from eating, drinking and smoking during daylight hours. This fast, known as Sawm is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and is intended to bring us closer to God and to remind us of the suffering of those less fortunate. We have students and staff that participate in this practice so we highlight this important event for you!

Here is an article that tells more https://www.hrf.org.uk/media-centre/blog/when-is-ramadan-2025/