If you did not happen to see my Facebook post earlier this week, I hope you will join me in thanking Rivers Casino for generously funding yet another technology grant that I had written this past fall. The grant money will be used to help provide our third grade students with more laptops to use during instruction in their classrooms. We will also be purchasing Coding robots for Mrs. Raczkowski to use with her students in Coding Club (other teachers will be able to use them, as well). Each teacher will also be receiving a new Apple TV device in their classrooms. This will allow them to mirror images from a laptop, iPhone, or iPad to the screens in their rooms. Students can also present to their classmates in the same fashion. Finally, I am excited to announce that some of the funds will be used to make Terrace Elementary School a WeatherBug school! Soon, you all will be able to find Terrace Elementary School on the WeatherBug app to get real time views (via HD cameras mounted on the roof of the school) of weather events as well as up-to-date forecasts. WeatherBug also has STEM curriculum that our teachers and students can use for science instruction. As soon as installation is complete, I will send you all directions on how to download the app and find us. So again, we thank Rivers for the generous donation to Terrace and D62!
If the weather permits over spring break, you may notice a minor change to Terrace. Our building and grounds department will be removing the small playground equipment on southeast outdoor portion of our property. The equipment is dated and rarely utilized. In its place, the area in which the playground currently stands will be returned to a more natural grass state. We look forward to having some more green space where students can play or even sit and read with their classmates and teachers.
As a note, the second trimester ended today. Report cards will come home on March 11.
From Mr. Lair: Jumprope for Heart was another success! Congratulations Terrace! Through your wonderful fundraising efforts, our school has raised $2,900 so far this year! This exceeds the $2,792 we raised last year. Through your giving nature, we will be able to help more individuals with heart-related problems. Once again thanks to all the students and families who contributed to this worthwhile endeavor. Way to go Terrace! job well done!
Messages from Girl Scouts:
"Birthday in a Bag" Project:
In honor of Girl Scouts 104th Birthday, our Kindergarten & 1st Grade Daisy Troops are collecting supplies to create birthday bags to families less fortunate. A Birthday Bag is filled with boxed cake mix, canned frosting, foil cake pan, candles, balloons, tablecloth, birthday plates & napkins, and/or a small toy - all the supplies necessary to make a child smile & feel special! These Birthday Bags will be donated to our local food pantry in Des Plaines. There will be a collection box for donations just outside the office through March 11th. Thank you very much!
"Collect and Recycle Pop Tabs for Ronald McDonald House:
Across the Chicagoland area, hundreds of individuals, schools and companies are working together to collect pop tabs to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana (RMHC-CNI). Those pop tabs are then recycled by the RMHC-CNI recycling partner, United Scrap Metal, and the charity will then receive the market value of the recycled metal, plus a charitable match from United Scrap Metal. Last year, RMHC-CNI raised more than $40,000 from this program.
The fifth grade Girl Scout troop 41548 is collecting pop tabs here at Terrace School. We would love if everyone could take part in this initiative. It's easy, just collect your pop tabs at home, bring them to school and they will be collected in your child's classroom. Your contribution will help care for families of children with complex medical needs by providing comfort, compassion and a sense of community to families of hospitalized children together in a ‘home away from home’.
A reminder about parking and arrival/dismissal:
SPARK families, please DO NOT park on the playground (blacktop), in front of the garbage enclosure, on the crosswalk, and in the clearly-marked disabled parking spaces (unless you have the appropriate placard). These areas are prohibited from parking, even for a minute, because of many safety reasons as well as required accessibility for outside delivery and district vehicles. Please park in a designated parking spot in the parking lot and walk your children in and out of school.
All families, during arrival or dismissal, DO NOT double park behind those who are parked in regular parking spaces. Please either park and come to the front entrance to collect your student or drive through the line like most everyone else. The DP Police Dept. does routine lot checks and have/will ticket cars illegally parked in the disabled spaces and may issue citations for other violations. Thank you for your cooperation.
As a reminder, from now until the spring, students will come directly into the building at 8:45 a.m. They will not line up outside. Please do not drop them off prior to 8:45 unless with teacher permission, because we do not have teacher supervision until 8:45.
Internet Safety:
Families, as your children are getting older and are having more exposure online, a host of questions can arise about Internet safety. If you would like to learn more about what your children may be doing or what you can do as a parent/caregiver to protect them, please click here to read more.
Additional Notes:
The fresh fruit and veggies grant has run its course, so Friday Fruit Fun is on hold. I want to thank Arbor Management for helping us get this going to benefit all of our students.
If you are on Facebook and would like to see what is going on at Terrace, be sure to check out the Terrace Facebook page. Pictures are regularly posted to better give you an insight into all the great things that go on at school each and every day. Remember to click the "like" button so our updates appear regularly on your feed. Or, under the school address near the top left of this page, you can click Facebook, and it will direct you straight to the page. My goal is for us to get to 300 "likes", so tell your families and friends to "like" our page!
It is important for us to have a current email address and phone number for you at all times. If you want to ensure that you receive emails and notifications from Terrace and D62, please make sure our office has your most current email and phone numbers on file. If you send us your contact information, I ask that you please write very neatly so we can make sure we are entering the correct information in our student information system.
Congratulations to Mrs. Zanchelli's/Mrs. Willett's class for earning the Courageous Cardinal!
Click here for the brand new February Terrace Times!
Have a great weekend!