The Panther Post

Dear PH Staff, Students, and Families~

I hope this message finds you well and that you enjoyed a restful and joyful holiday season. The opportunity to spend time with loved ones and reflect on the many things we are grateful for is always a meaningful way to close out the year.

As we begin a new year, I find myself reflecting on the journey of the past year. Like any journey, it included moments of challenge as well as moments of celebration. The challenges strengthened us, while the successes reminded us of what is possible when we work together. Each experience—whether difficult or joyful—has helped shape us into a stronger and more resilient school community, ready to move forward with purpose and optimism.

As we enter 2026, a continued priority at Pleasant Hill remains the social-emotional well-being of our students, staff, families, and community. This year, we are excited to expand this work through the implementation of Panther Families, a new initiative we began at the start of the 2025-2026 school year. This initiative builds a sense of community and belonging, positive school climate and culture, social-emotional learning and character development, student engagement and motivation, stronger family and staff connections, and improved behavior and well-being. Students from all grade levels are mixed into different groups or families and meet monthly. During their time together, Panther family members have the opportunity to learn more about the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People throughout the year. This not only supports students in building leadership and life skills, but also engages families who participated through a parent book study centered on the 7 Habits.

In addition, we will continue to strengthen family engagement by offering a variety of opportunities for families to be involved in the learning environment and school community. Together, these efforts reflect our commitment to supporting the whole child and strengthening the partnership between home and school.

In the new year, we will also focus our efforts on developing a district strategic plan that will guide Pleasant Hill’s work into the future. This process will include the voices of various stakeholders, including staff, families, and community members, and will allow us to reflect on our strengths, identify areas for growth, and establish clear priorities. As part of this work, we invite you to complete the survey below to share your feedback and perspectives. Your input is essential and will help shape a strategic plan that reflects the needs and hopes of our Panther school community.

Thank you for your continued support, trust, and partnership. I wish each of you a happy and healthy new year filled with hope, growth, and connection.

Yours In Education,

Dr. Lisa Weaver

Superintendent

On December 15, the Illinois Department of Transportation announced that Harmon Highway (Illinois 116), just west of Peoria, will close to ALL TRAFFIC beginning January 2 and remain closed for most of 2026. This closure may affect school bus routes in the area.

The closure is necessary to remove and replace the Illinois 116 bridge over Kickapoo Creek, Kickapoo Creek Road, and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroads. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. A detour map is attached for your reference.

For more details, please see the IDOT press release: http://prez.ly/nW2d

Families, please be aware that there may be some delays in bus transportation due to the road closures and ongoing construction mentioned above. We appreciate your patience as we ensure all students arrive safely to their destinations.

Pleasant Hill School District 69 is developing a strategic plan to guide our work over the next several years. Your feedback will help us identify priorities, strengthen programs, and ensure we are meeting the needs of our students and families. All responses are confidential.

It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of former Pleasant Hill student, Lucas Abegg. In his memory, bracelets are being sold for $4 each to support epilepsy awareness.

Lucas’ family has created Lucas’ Legacy, a program dedicated to raising awareness about epilepsy and educating students throughout the area.

If you would like to purchase a bracelet and support epilepsy awareness, please stop by the office with your $4.

Let’s come together as a community to honor Lucas’ memory and help make a difference.

Helping Kids Handle Big Feelings and Build Confidence

Wednesday, January 14, 2026
6–7 pm CT

Big emotions are part of growing up. In this session, families and school staff will learn simple, age-appropriate ways to help kids:

• Sit with tough feelings instead of avoiding them
• Talk about emotions when kids feel overwhelmed
• Build confidence through small, everyday moments

The session is practical and supportive, with tools families can use right away at home and at school.

See the attached flyer for details and register here

The Every Student Initiative (ESI) is a special program from the Peoria Riverfront Museum that ensures every student in Central Illinois—public, private, and homeschool—can visit the museum each year in a way that connects with their classroom learning. Through ESI, students enjoy a field trip that ties directly to what they are studying, and each student also receives a free family pass so their family can return and explore the museum together. Pleasant Hill staff also enjoy a complimentary membership to the museum!

We are excited to share some wonderful news: thanks to the efforts of our amazing paraprofessional Mrs. Jennie Krager, local businesses in Bartonville were invited to support our students through ESI. After reaching out, H & S Mechanical, a small Bartonville business, generously offered to sponsor all Pleasant Hill students in the ESI program. Even better, this is a three-year commitment, providing our students with an ongoing opportunity to explore, learn, and grow.

We are so grateful to Mrs. Krager and to H & S Mechanical for helping make this incredible experience possible for our students!

Staff, students, and families will have the opportunity to learn more about the ESI program on Friday, January 16th at an all school assembly. More information to come for families who may want to attend.

Savanah-PK

DJ -7th Grade

A big shout out to Better Banks for their continued generosity and support in providing our Star Students with a $50 deposit in their new savings account! We appreciate you!

Pleasant Hill continues to utilize the Character Counts framework within the school to build a positive climate and instill the six character traits. Each month, the students focus on learning more about one of the six character traits. During the month of January, we are learning all about FAIRNESS! Be sure to ask you child to share with you what it means to be fair and give some of examples of how they exhibit fairness at Pleasant Hill!

Staff and students had SO much fun during the month of December with a holiday dress up spirit week, a visit from Santa, and Deck the Halls Family Fun Night!!

Pleasant Hill Panthers did a great job in collecting items for the canned food drive to support the Limestone Area families in need. We are so very proud of your generosity during this holiday season. Thank you so much.

The class with the most items collected, with over 120 items total, was Mr. Montemayer's 7th Grade class. They earned themselves a pizza party and an out of uniform day as a reward. CONGRATULATIONS!!

Happy New Year Pleasant Hill families! Here are a few reminders:

~Get your Flu shot and get your children their flu shots! Flu season is here!

~If you got a notice that medical records or a dental exam is needed for your student, please make those appointments and get them taken care of as soon as possible.

~If your child is in need of clothing or hygiene supplies, please let me know. We now have a store called the Panther Den for those in need! :)

As always, please contact me for any of your needs or your student's needs. I am here to help!

Mrs. K Naugle, BSN, RN, NCSN

School Nurse

Please remember that our policy states that all students must be kept home if they have FLU, COVID symptoms, or a fever of 100.4 or higher. Please do not give your child fever reducing medication and send them to school. They are generally miserable, unable to learn, and spreading illness to others. If you are unsure if you should keep them home, please call me :) Thank you so much for your help in our efforts to keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible.

🧥 Just a reminder that students will have outdoor recess if the real feel temperature is 20 degrees or above. Please be sure to send your children to school dressed appropriately to go outdoors for recess, which would include coats, hats, scarves and gloves or mittens. We encourage all students to get outdoors to enjoy ten minutes of fresh air during recess. Students will only be allowed to stay indoors for recess if they have a doctor's note for a medical condition.

⛄School emergency closings could happen at any time of the year. Please be sure you have plans (with a family member, neighbor, or child care provider) on what is expected should an emergency closing occur at Pleasant Hill School. School procedures call for an emergency school closing announcement to be given over local radio and television media. When listed, please look for Pleasant Hill School District #69 or Pleasant Hill Elementary School in determining if school will be closed. Information on school closings will also be sent to families via our automated phone messaging service, email, and text, as well as be posted on the school website and social media pages. If Pleasant Hill is closed due to weather, students will still engage in e-learning activities and the day will be counted as a day of student attendance. Therefore, students will need to check in on Teacherease and engage in online learning activities. Please click here for the Pleasant Hill E-Learning Plan.

📱If you have had a phone number, address, or email change, please call or stop in the office to update that information. This is very important in case we need to make calls to families using our automated system. If your information is not updated in our Teacherease system, you will not receive phone calls, text messages, or emails.

🏀A friendly reminder that all Pre-K through 8th grade students who attend Pleasant Hill home basketball games must be accompanied by a parent and supervised by that parent throughout the game (sitting with the parent). We love having spectators to cheer on our Panthers, but it becomes a safety issue when students are not supervised. Thank you for your understanding! GO PANTHERS!

• January 1-4-No School-Winter Break-Happy Birthday Josiah (K) & Kevin (4)
• January 5-No School-Teacher In-Service-Happy Birthday Finley (PK)
• January 6-Students Return to School-Boys Basketball Practice 2:45-4:30-BOYS BASKETBALL PICTURES 3:00
• January 7-Boys Basketball Practice 1:30-3:30
• January 8-Boys Basketball Game @ HOME vs. Hollis 5:00-8TH GRADE NIGHT
• January 9-Last Day of Quarter 2-Report Cards Sent Home
• January 12-Start of Quarter 3
• January 13-Boys Basketball Game @ St. Thomas 5:00
• January 14-Boys Basketball Practice 1:30-3:30- Happy Birthday Tony (7th) & Mar'Twan (5th)
• January 15-Boys Basketball Practice 2:45-4:30-Happy Birthday Amari (4th)
• January 16-Riverfront Museum ESI All School Assembly 8:30-Early Dismissal at 11:30 for Staff School Improvement Activities-Happy Birthday Thomas (6th) & Kohen (2nd)
• January 19- No School-Martin Luther King Jr. Day-Happy Birthday Ms. Turney & Ms. Amber Warner
• January 20-Boys Basketball Practice 2:45-4:30-Winter Olympics Family Game Night 4:30-6:00-Board of Education Meeting 6:00- Happy Birthday Rodrigo (1st) & John (6th)
• January 21-Boys Basketball Practice 1:30-3:30
• January 22-Boys Basketball Practice 2:45-4:30-Happy Birthday Mallavi (K) & Kalin (3rd)
• January 28-Happy Birthday Jensen (K)
• January 30-Happy Birthday Mrs. Shover (SEAPCO Area Administrator)
• January 31-Happy Birthday Ja'Niya (3rd)

Email: lweaver@phill69.com
Website: www.phill69.com
Location: Pleasant Hill Elementary School, West Malone Street, Peoria, IL, United States
Phone: 309.637.6829
Facebook: facebook.com/PleasantHillElementarySchool
Twitter: @PHillPanthers