Sleepy Hollow Elementary School

Week of October 12, 2026

SHES Updates

Sleepy Hollow Elementary School Families,

We hope all of our families are enjoying the long, holiday weekend including the Goebbert's Farm event sponsored by the SHES PTC on Friday. We look forward to welcoming our students back to school tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13 and keep growing in Quarter #2! Sleepy Hollow students continue to impress us with their commitment and efforts put forth each day to reach their academic and behavioral goals. We know lots more learning will be in bloom this week!

Kindly, see below for SHES and D300 information and announcements.

In partnership,

Kari Littlehale, Principal

Ashley Patterson, Assistant Principal

Melvin Caldwell, SSS

Although they are disguised in spooky glasses, these students' respectful, responsible and ready behaviors are easy to identify at Sleepy Hollow! These stand-out students were some of our raffle winners from the week.

October Key of Excellence Focus: Balance

For the month of October, Sleepy Hollow is focused on the Quantum Learning Key of Excellence: Balance. The key of balance is about living our best lives. This key involves balancing our activities to nurture our minds, bodies, and emotions by focusing on what's meaningful and important to us. We look forward to taking notice of students demonstrating this key throughout the month of October.

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.*

Halloween Celebrations- October 29

Sleepy Hollow will be celebrating Halloween on Thursday, October 29 as there is no school for students on October 30. Students may wear their costumes to school. Please make sure that your child can get in and out of their costume on their own if they need to use the washroom during the day. Kindly note the following costume expectations:

No weapons or look-alike weapons are permitted at school
Students must be able to see and speak through any type of mask.
Age-appropriate costumes are expected. Thank you for being sensitive to the age-range of our students to avoid any excessively frightful and/or gory costumes.
Halloween at school is intended to be safe and fun.

The classroom celebrations will take place in the afternoon. Due to district safety protocols, only volunteers who are pre-registered will be allowed to enter the building to assist with the celebrations. Families are welcome to join us outdoors for the SHES visit from the Headless Horseman.

To help keep all students safe, food and drinks may not be brought by students due to food allergies and dietary restrictions. Families who wish to celebrate Halloween may send students with a small non-food item if desired. Any candy brought in by students for distribution will be sent home with the student.

At approximately 1:45 students will parade in costumes following the sidewalk around the back of our school exiting from Door 8. Students will line up outside facing our park and field areas. The Headless Horseman will visit at approximately 2:00 PM. Following his visit, all students will quickly return to their classrooms to gather their belongings for dismissal. If you are taking your child home following this peak moment, thank you for remaining outside until your child is dismissed.

Due to the lack of parking at the school, visiting families may use the Dundee Park District Pool Parking Lot.

Be sure to communicate any alternative dismissal plans for October 30 to your child's teacher AND our main office at 224-484-4900.

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