Principals' Newsletter- September

We hope this message finds you and your families well! We are now two weeks into the school year and have already hit our stride. Students are exceeding expectations re: academics, SEL, routines, and more this early into the year. Thank you to our families for preparing the students for the start of the school year.

In addition to the exhilarating start to the school year, my partner and I have some exciting news to share with the Ravenswood community. Casey is pregnant with our first and our baby boy is expected in November! We are beyond excited and look forward to him being a Ravenswood Ram in the future!

This first few weeks have been off with a bang! Our school has had a variety of school and community events that could not have been pulled off without our AMAZING staff, students, families, and FORS!

• Ravenswood's Meet and Greet event took place on August 22, 2024. Our teachers worked hard to have classrooms ready for students and families. Thank you for joining us on this eventful night.

• FORS hosted the Welcome Parent Coffee Hour on August 30, 2024. Parents met in the North Court Yard and had an opportunity to mingle and get to know other families.

• The annual Back to School Block Party was a huge success! A special shout out to FORS and our community partners for providing the entertainment, e.g. pizza, beverages, obstacle course, dunk tank, and Cross Fit work outs!

Thank you for your continued commitment and support to our school. We appreciate you all!

Please join us on September 16, 2024 at 9am in the Multi Purpose Room for the first Bilingual Advisory Committee meeting of the school year. Your involvement helps build a stronger school community, and it fosters a better understanding between educators and families. Additionally, it provides valuable insights and resources to support your child's academic success.

Please reach out to Ms. Ashley Telman, English Language Program Teacher (ELPT) at atelman@cps.edu with further questions.

After school enrichment and academic programs run by Ravenswood staff are scheduled to begin the week of September 30th. Staff will be sharing information with students and families on how to register. If you have any questions, please reach out to our afterschool coordinator, Ms. Mejia at samejia1@cps.edu

Vendor Programs:

We are excited to announce that the following vendors will be partnering with Ravenswood this Fall. Registration information will be shared soon. A quick overview found below.

• Smiling Strings: Keyboard
• Smiling Strings: Ukulele

• Disc Golf

• Chicago Fire Football Club (Soccer)
• Young Rembrandts Art
• Chess

We are still looking for parent mentors that would like to partner and support students. If you are interested in learning more, please complete the survey HERE.

We'd like to take a quick moment to remind you of the Chicago Public School's policy regarding dogs. Respectfully, dogs are not allowed on the school premises including the playground. Unfortunately, some of our community members have been using the playground as a dog park on the weekends and excrement has had to be cleaned up on multiple occasions on Mondays.

Kindly, please refrain from from bringing your dogs to the playground. Also, if you see dog owners with their pets on the playground, please call 3-1-1 and request CPD to come to the school to address the situation.

Please see the following updates and action items:

• 9/12: Open House/Curriculum Night, 5pm
  

• 9/13: Picture Day
• 9/16: Bilingual Advisory Council Meeting (BAC) in the MPR - 9:00 am
• 9/20: Movie Night. K-4th must be with a guardian/parent. All families are invited - 5:45pm
• 9/27: No School for Students; Professional Development Day for staff
• 9/26: Quarter 1 Progress Report Distribution
• 9/30: After School Programs Begin

Save the Date

The annual Ravenswood Elementary Makers Market will take place on Sunday, December 8, 2024 from 12pm-3pm. Bakers, makers and crafters, please be on the lookout for vendor applications. Further information coming soon!

Parent Handbook

The Ravenswood Parent Handbook is your guide to Ravenwood's policies and procedures. You will find specific information as well as contact information for teachers and staff.

Volunteering at Ravenswood

• Interested in volunteering, click HERE

ASPEN Parent Portal

• Aspen Excused Absences: Parents and guardians can now submit and track student absences electronically. Here is more about this new feature: E-Absence Flyer.

ASPEN Student Portal

• Teachers in 4th-8th grade will be resetting passwords and will provide students with their email credentials to access the student portal. Please reach out to your child's teacher if your child needs access to student portal.

Ravenswood Rambler

• Use this LINK to subscribe to the Ravenswood Rambler and stay on top of upcoming school events.

Ms. Paredes and I are requesting your feedback. Please take a moment to provide us with some constructive feedback regarding our leadership thus far. The Google Form is anonymous and will be used to make shifts in our leadership for the remainder of the school year. The feedback form can be found HERE.

Carolina and I are grateful to be part of this AMAZING community of students, staff, families, and community members. We look forward to continuing our work in partnership with you all and supporting, sustaining, and enhancing Ravenswood!