Cougar Clips
7 March 2025
Happy Friday Kipling Families,
The 2025 Kindergarten Registration online form is available! To register your new student please visit our registration page.
If you have an incoming Kindergartener for the 2025-2026 school year it is important that you complete the registration process as soon as possible as our staffing decisions are based on the number of fully registered students. Please share this information with friends and neighbors.
Please note that only those students who are fully registered will receive an invitation for our spring Kindergarten Round-Up.
After completing the online application, you will need to provide all required documents (listed on the registration website). Please reach out to our registrar, Rosa Castillo (rcastillo@dps109.org) with any questions.
All my best to you and your families over the weekend. Remember to SPRING ahead on Saturday night when you go to bed!
Respectfully,
Mr. Matthew O. Lombardo, NBCT
Principal
Kipling Elementary School
Kipling PTO
Don't forget to log in/sign up at the PTO site. Visit https://kiplingpto.membershiptoolkit.com/home to get started.
Please feel free to email ptokipling@gmail.com for any questions!
“Hold” Calls
As part of our Standard Response Protocol (SRP) that was rolled out in January, the "Hold" call is used for non-emergency situations. You can see the video and infographic that our district office shared here.
We may call Hold for a variety of reasons when we need the hallways cleared temporarily (student/staff member getting sick or needing privacy for some reason, a behavior incident, spilled water, etc.). Since it is temporary and a non-emergency, we do not typically notify families if we need to use a Hold. Teachers have discussed this with students to reassure them and remind them about the protocols we now have in place. In addition, Ms. Eagle or I make an announcement when a Hold is called and released letting everyone know that they did a great job and that things are OK.
Bernie’s Book Bank
Hi Kipling Families! The LMC Leadership Team is excited to announce that we will be hosting a Book Drive through Bernie’s Book Bank! Simultaneously occurring with our Spring Book Fair, this is the perfect opportunity to clear off your bookshelves to make room for some new books! The Book Bank will take place from March 10th - March 20th, and the donation bins will be located on Main Street. Please see the attached flyer and letter for more specific information and donation guidelines. Thank you for your support!
If you have any questions, please reach out to Molly Walzer (mwalzer@dps109.org).
Parent Teacher Conferences
Mark your calendars! Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, March 20 from 1:00-4:00pm & 5:00-8:00pm and Friday, March 21 from 8:30-11:30am. All DPS109 schools will hold in-person parent-teachers conferences this year with a virtual option for parents/guardians who are not available for an in-person conference.
Parents will sign up for a conference using Sign-Up Genius. The links for all teacher sign-up forms can be found here.
It is best practice to hold one parent conference per child, to ensure that both parents receive the same information regarding their child’s strengths and needs. Therefore, I ask that parents sign up for one joint conference per student.
Conferences are a discussion between parents and teachers. At this time elementary conferences do not include students and therefore we ask that children not attend the parent-teacher conference.
Instrumental Music Potbelly’s Fundraiser
Panorama Parent SEL Survey (Replacing the 5Essentials Parent Survey)
Dear Parents/Guardians of Deerfield 109 students,
Again this year, parents across Illinois have an opportunity to participate in the annual survey to provide feedback about the schools their children attend. District 109 is fortunate to be able to use the Panorama platform for this survey, which is the same used for students. Ultimately, the family survey is designed for you to share your thoughts on the home-school partnership and other important elements of school effectiveness. Your responses help guide our improvement.
We are currently at a 7.5% parent completion rate and we need to reach the 20% mark to receive a parent report.
To take the survey, please visit https://surveys.panoramaed.com/deerfieldil/1589963429/surveys and select your child’s school. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.
If you have children in multiple schools, we encourage you to provide feedback on both schools. Please know that your identity and responses are confidential and will not be connected to you or your child. Thank you in advance for taking the time to give us this important feedback.
Family-School Relationships Survey
Seeking Cultures to Showcase
Thank you to the Strobel family for filling our Cultural Collection case with your beautiful and rich Chilean artifacts. Thank you for taking the lead this year for our school community. We all have so many unique and special cultural perspectives and lived experiences to share with each other and I am very proud and eager to learn about each of yours.
In an effort to ensure inclusion of diverse populations and perspectives, we are looking for other Kipling families to use the Kipling Cultural Collection to teach the Kipling community about your culture! Display objects may include 6-8 traditional or cultural objects, a family video describing the significance of each object, recipe, flag, map, music, etc - anything to bring your vibrant culture to life!
Volunteering at Kipling
Composting
We need volunteers to help compost during lunch periods. This is a great chance to help the planet and see your kids in action!
LMC
The LMC is looking for volunteers every day between
8:50-11:20am and 12:50-3:25pm (Wednesdays 12:50-2:25pm)
Sign up for a slot and come in any time you are free.
DPS109 Info
Potential Bus Delays Due to Hazel Ave. Construction
The Village of Deerfield has started its Hazel Avenue Infrastructure Project this week. Due to the ongoing construction that is intended to last until mid-November 2025, there will be some expected delays in bus pick-up and drop-off times for routes that run along Hazel Avenue between Wilmot Road and Waukegan Road. Front offices will be notified, and students arriving late due to these delays will be excused.
For updates, you can sign up for notifications on the Village of Deerfield website. If you have questions about the project, please contact the Village of Deerfield Engineering Department at 847-317-2490.
Reminder: There are no enrichment classes the entire week of March 17
Due to conferences and a shortened week, there will be no enrichment classes from March 17 - 21. Additionally, there will be no ASC on Thursday, March 20.
Missed a Tech Tip? We got you covered!
In October, we began sharing weekly tech tips in our newsletters to encourage digital safety. If you missed a tech tip or just want to review them, we have a Digital Hub for you to view them at your convenience. Make sure to keep your eyes open for more tech tips to come in the following weeks.
Upcoming Important Dates
-Wed 3/12: 5th Grade Inquiry Fair, 1:30pm
-Wed 3/12: CIC Parent Focus Group, 1:45-2:25pm
-Thurs 3/13: Board of Education Meeting, District Board Room - 7pm
-Wed 3/19-Fri 3/31: LMC Book Fair
-Thurs 3/20: 1/2 Day for Students, 11:40am Dismissal
-Thurs 3/20: Parent Teacher Conferences: 1-4pm, and 5-8pm
-Fri 3/21: No School for Students
-Fri 3/21: Parent Teacher Conferences: 8:30-11:30am
-Mon 3/24-Fri 3/28: Spring Break
-Mon 3/31: School Resumes