Ruggles' S.T.E.A.M. Family Updates

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Are you connected with us on Remind? Are you reading our Smore newsletters? Have you accessed the Parent Portal? Are you following us on Instagram - (marthamrugglesrockets)? We have a wealth of important information to share with you! Ensure you stay updated on all the exciting happenings here at The Ruggles S.T.E.A.M. Elementary School! If you need assistance signing up for any of these platforms, please don’t hesitate to contact the main office.

Thank you for your continued partnership in fostering a positive and productive learning environment. Together, we can help our students reach their full potential!

Dear Ruggles Families,

We have just completed an extraordinary week at Martha Ruggles Elementary, packed with major achievements, hands-on STEAM exploration, and exciting student celebrations!

Before sharing our weekly updates, our entire Ruggles school community extends our deepest condolences and warmest thoughts to Principal Weatherly following the passing of her father last week. Please keep Principal Weatherly and her family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Here are the incredible highlights from our week:

• 1st Annual "Secure the B.A.G." Incentive Paint Party: Our scholars celebrated their hard work by participating in our very first monthly "Secure the B.A.G." incentive! Students who "secured" their Behavior, Attendance, and Grades for the month of September enjoyed a fantastic paint party complete with music, painting, and snacks. A huge thank you to Dean Fuller for planning such an amazing experience for our scholars! For students who didn’t qualify this time, don't worry—October is a fresh start! Keep working hard to earn your points for our next "Secure the B.A.G." event coming up in November.

• HSAT Testing & High School Prep (Oct. 7): On Wednesday, our 8th graders took their High School Admissions Test (HSAT). To ensure a quiet and focused testing environment, our 6th and 7th graders spent the day on an educational field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. Before testing began, the entire school surprised our 8th graders with a grand rally in the hallway! Classes lined the halls with colorful posters and energetic chants to cheer them into their classrooms, leaving our 8th graders feeling confident, supported, and ready to shine. A big shout-out to our Middle School Team for creating such a supportive testing environment!

• Annual Rocket Day (Oct. 8): Thursday was our highly anticipated schoolwide Rocket Day! After weeks of designing, engineering, and testing their classroom rockets, our scholars brought their creations outside to launch them for the entire school. Students had a blast experimenting with their rocket designs and testing different "boost" fluids. It was a fun-filled day of true STEAM learning in action! A special thank you to Mrs. Mallory, Ms. Sharrieff, and Mr. Moton for leading and organizing a wonderful Rocket Day.

Important Reminder: Please note that school will be closed on Monday, October 12th in celebration of Indigenous Peoples' Day. We hope all of our families have a safe and enjoyable extended weekend, and we look forward to seeing everyone back at school bright and early at 8:45 AM on Tuesday morning!

Our students and staff continue to demonstrate what it means to strive for excellence every single day. Thank you for your continued support and partnership in making Ruggles such a vibrant place to learn!

Warmly,

Assistant Principal Beavers

Martha Ruggles STEAM Elementary School

No School - Indigenous People's Day: 10/12

Bullying Prevention Month - Wear Orange: 10/13

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink - Breast Cancer Awareness Month: 10/14

End of Hispanic Heritage Month: 10/15

Aviation Day NSTEM Honor Society Field Trip: 10/16

All School Picture Day: 10/19

To ensure a safe and efficient transition for all students, please follow our assigned door procedures below.

• Arrival Time: 8:45 AM

• Dismissal Time: 3:45 PM

🚪 Assigned Doors by Grade Level

☀️ Morning Arrival Guidelines

• Timeliness: Students should arrive between 8:45 am. Doors will close promptly at 9:00 am. Late arrivals must enter through Door 1 to receive a tardy pass.

• Line-Up: Staff members will be stationed at each door to supervise line-up and direct students into the building.

• Parents/Guardians: To keep entryways clear and secure, parents are asked to say goodbye outside at the designated line-up areas rather than entering the building.

📌 Cluster (K–2) Note: Staff will meet Cluster students directly at Door 4 to assist with entry and transition to classrooms.

🔔 Afternoon Dismissal Guidelines

• Pick-Up Locations: Parents/guardians must pick up students from their designated arrival doors.

• Authorized Pick-Up: Students will only be released to individuals listed on their emergency contact forms. Please have an ID ready. Authorized adults must be over 18 years ago.

• Multiple Siblings: Older siblings should dismiss through their assigned doors first before meeting younger siblings or parents at their designated pick-up spot.

• Traffic & Parking: Please keep fire zones and bus drop-off areas clear at all times.

A Huge Celebration for Our Attendance Leaders This Week!

Weekly Attendance Shout-Out: Oct. 4 – Oct. 9, 2026!

A huge celebration goes out to Room 210 (Ms. Franklin) for hitting a perfect 100.00% attendance rate for one of her sections this week!

Shout-out to our green tier leaders and top attendance champions driving our schoolwide success:

• Room 210 (Ms. Franklin - 7th Grade) – 100.00% (Perfect Attendance!)

• Room 103 (Ms. Curington - 1st Grade) – 97.78% (Green Tier Leader!)

• Room 214 (Ms. Miranda - 8th Grade) – 97.78% (Green Tier Leader!)

• Room 210 (Ms. Franklin - 8th Grade) – 96.00% (Hitting our 95%+ Target!)

• Room 202 (Ms. Davenport - 3rd Grade) – 94.40%

• Room 209 (Ms. Moton - 7th Grade) – 94.29%

• Room 110 (Ms. Curry - 2nd Grade) – 93.33%

• Room 206 (Ms. Edwards - 5th Grade) – 92.14%

Our overall school attendance average for the week came in at 92.16%!

Thank you to our educators, scholars, and Ruggles families for showing up every single day ready to learn. Let's keep this momentum rolling into next week!

Dear Ruggles Rocket STEAM Families,

We hope you had a wonderful weekend! As we kick off Week 7, we want to encourage our families to attend the South Side Science Festival at the University of Chicago on Saturday, October 3rd! It is an amazing opportunity for our scholars to engage with hands-on science in our community, see liquid nitrogen demonstrations, and build world-record marshmallow towers.

Here are our major updates and important permission forms heading into this week:

📜 National STEM Honor Society (N-STEM) Chapter Updates (SY 2026–2027)

We are thrilled to launch the 2026–2027 school year for our Ruggles National STEM Honor Society (N-STEM) Chapter!

✈️ 1. Aviation Day Field Trip (Friday, Oct. 16th)

Our N-STEM scholars (Grades 5th–8th) and selected homeroom nominees have the opportunity to participate in Aviation Day at Midway Airport on Friday, October 16th! This exciting trip will allow students to explore real-world careers in aviation, flight engineering, and aerospace technology.

• Action Item: Please check your scholar's folder for an Aviation Day Permission Slip. Please sign and return this form to Ms. Price as soon as possible so your student can secure their spot!

🗳️ 2. Chapter Leadership Elections

Our N-STEM scholars are gearing up to run for chapter leadership positions!

• Action Item: Candidates who are running for an officer position will bring home a Candidate Permission & Eligibility Form. Please review this form with your scholar, sign it, and have them return it to their homeroom teacher.

📝 3. N-STEM Welcome & Parent Contact Form

We want to ensure strong communication between our chapter advisors and families throughout the school year.

• Action Item: Your scholar will bring home an N-STEM Welcome & Contact Form. This sheet details our monthly meeting schedule, chapter expectations, and includes a section to update your current email address and phone number. Please sign and return it with your scholar this week.

🗓️ Upcoming Events Reminder

• Wednesday, October 7th:

• 8th Grade High School Placement Test at Ruggles.

• 6th & 7th Grade Field Trip to the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI).

• Class Rocket Build Day across all homerooms Oct. 7th!

• Thursday, October 8th:

• School-Wide Rocket Launch Day! Scholars will gather outside to launch their official class rockets. Please allow students to wear lab coats on this day because it will get messy.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership, support, and dedication to our Ruggles STEAM scholars. Let’s make it a fantastic week!

Best,

Mrs. Mallory

Dear Ruggles Families,

Happy Week 7! What an incredible week of learning and community building we have had at Ruggles STEAM School.

A Huge Success: School-Wide LAUNCH Walks!

On Monday, our entire school community participated in our first official LAUNCH Walks, and it was a resounding success!

From our Kindergarten scholars to our 8th graders, students moved through key areas of our building (the main entrance, hallways, bathrooms, playground, PREP wing, and cafeteria) to practice what our expectations look, sound, and feel like in action. They practiced quiet transitions, keeping shared spaces clean, and encouraging one another along the way.

We are so proud of the pride, focus, and leadership our scholars demonstrated. Seeing our students model positive behavior across every corner of our school truly set the tone for an exceptional month ahead!

PBIS Trait of the Month: RESPECT in Action

As we jump into October, we are diving deeper into our PBIS Character Trait of the Month: RESPECT.

Tied directly to U – Use Kind Words and H – Help Each Other in our LAUNCH framework, our goal this month is to help students understand that respect is an active choice we make every day.

This October, we are recognizing scholars who show respect in three key ways:

1. Respect for Self: Giving 100% effort in the classroom, taking pride in their work, and practicing a growth mindset when learning gets challenging.

2. Respect for Others: Listening actively when peers or teachers are speaking, honoring personal space, and using kind, encouraging language.

3. Respect for Our Environment: Taking care of school materials, keeping our hallways and cafeteria clean, and helping keep Ruggles a safe, beautiful space for everyone.

Restorative Corner: Practicing Respect at Home

Building a strong character foundation works best when school and home speak the same language. Here are a few simple ways you can reinforce our October focus on respect at home this week:

• Model Active Listening: During family conversations, practice "eyes on the speaker" and avoiding interruptions to show what listening with respect looks like.

• Reflect on Choices: If a disagreement happens between siblings or friends, ask: "How can we express our feelings while still showing respect for each other?"

• Highlight Daily Acts: Ask your child at the end of the day: "Did you see someone show respect at school today, or did you catch yourself helping a classmate?"

LAUNCH Framework Spotlight: Hallway Transitions, Cafeteria & Recess

Now that our LAUNCH Walks are complete, our school-wide focus shifts to maintaining safe, respectful transitions throughout the school day:

Hallways & Traveling

• L – Look where you are going. Listen for adult directions.

• A – Walk on the right side in a single, straight line.

• U – Use a quiet voice (Level 0) and give silent waves to greeting friends.

• N – Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.

• C – Pick up any trash on the floor to keep our hallways clean.

• H – Move to the side to let others pass safely.

Cafeteria & Playground

• L – Look for friends to play with; listen for lunch/recess directions.

• A – Clean up your table space and take turns during games.

• U – Use inside voices (Level 2) in the cafeteria and encouraging words on the field.

• N – Stay seated while eating and use equipment safely.

• C – Recycle, throw away trash, and return recess equipment where it belongs.

• H – Help each other by inviting someone sitting or playing alone to join in!

Thank you for your continued partnership, support, and dedication to our Ruggles family. Let’s keep launching into success and teaching our students RESPECT together!

Warmly,

Dean Fuller

Hello Families! Our students had an exciting week—our 8th graders attended the Network 12 high school fair to explore high school options, and our 6th–8th graders visited UIC for their 5th annual middle school summit to experience college life firsthand.

We encourage families to attend upcoming high school open houses with their 8th graders and start conversations about higher education early by sharing your own college and career experiences.

Upcoming HSAT Reminder: Please ensure your 8th graders get plenty of rest and encouragement ahead of the High School Admissions Test (HSAT) on Wednesday, October 7th!

Thank you so much to all of our families and parents for your continued support, partnership, and dedication to our students every step of the way!

Counselor Smith

Hello parents, let me introduce myself. I’m Mrs. Johnson, Case Manager and Primary Special Education Teacher. It is a privilege to work with your students each day. Also if you have any concerns or need any information regarding your child's Individual Educational Plan, feel free to contact me at lsjohnson7@cps.edu. Have a great weekend.

Two important updates to take note of:

1. ANYONE who wants to volunteer as a chaperone MUST be level 1 volunteer.

2. Everyone must renew their volunteer status annually. So, if you know you want to chaperone a trip this year, we encourage you to take care of this step this summer as it requires a mandatory background check annually and can take some additional time and resources.

Please click here to begin your renewal process and reference the resources below as needed. You can add multiple schools if you have children who attend other CPS schools and your CPS employee ID number if you work for CPS.

All Level 1 volunteers must undergo a mandatory background check every school year before resuming volunteer activities. The background check will help us maintain a safe and secure environment for our students. Additionally, a comprehensive training will be available for all Level 1 volunteers in the fall. The training schedule will be shared with you in a future email.

Volunteer Resources:

• How to Complete a New Volunteer Application (English Video)
• How to Renew a Volunteer Application (English Video)
• How to Complete a Volunteer Application (Spanish Video)
• How to Renew a Volunteer Application (Spanish Video)
• New and Returning Volunteers Instructions and Guidelines

Thank you for your continued support of our schools and students.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Volunteer Programs team at volunteer@cps.edu.

Jereon Griggs: 10/9

Messiah Tucker: 10/11

Zephaniah Griggs: 10/12

Trinity Binion: 10/13

Jamari Bufurd: 10/13

Make sure to follow us on our school website, https://www.ruggleselementary.org/, and social media platforms (Instagram: marthamrugglesrockets) for the latest updates and news. Our website will also feature important resources for parents, including newsletters, event calendars, and educational materials. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher or the school office.