District 62 has started a Strategic Planning process to determine the direction that we want to take our district over the next few years. Parents and community members are encouraged to attend an upcoming forum to help determine our future priorities. Forum dates are Wednesday, March 7, at Algonquin Middle School or Tuesday, March 13, at Chippewa Middle School, both starting at 7:30 p.m. Click here for more information on how you can get involved in this very important process.
Please try to make sure that your children have some extra clothing at school during these last few weeks of winter. Their socks and pants will still get very wet from playing outside even when they have on boots and snow pants. We do not want want them to be uncomfortable in the afternoon due to wet clothing. Thank you. =-)
Mrs. Prost will soon be home with a brand new baby, so I wanted to introduce Michael Grippo, who will be her substitute throughout her maternity leave. Mr. Grippo has been subbing in our district for the past couple of years, and he is excited to join us for a couple months.
Report cards will be coming home next Friday. As always, if you have any questions once you receive them, please don't hesitate to contact your child's teacher.
Finally, PARCC testing will being for grades 3-5 students here at Terrace the week of March 12. Our testing schedule will be as follows:
- March 15
- March 16
- March 20
- March 21
- April 10
- April 11
- April 12
Please read the following updates below:
From Chippewa Middle School:
- On Wednesday, March 14th, CMS will be hosting March Mathness, a family math night, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Chippewa Middle School. This is an event for the entire family and will include pizza, math related games, sports, and crafts, and raffle prizes for attendees. The invitation is being extended to the feeder schools. Please click here to read the invitation if you are interested.
Illness:
- Please be mindful of your child's health as we are in full swing of flu season. So far, we are continuing to keep our classrooms as clean as we can, and we are reminding our students about hand washing throughout the day. Please look for symptoms and play it safe at home. If your child is displaying flu-like symptoms, please do not send them to school, especially if they have a fever over 100 degrees. In most cases, we will send them back home if they come to the health office displaying symptoms or a fever. Remember, they cannot come back to school until they are fever-free (without the aid of medication) for a full 24 hours.
Winter Weather Procedures:
- Our District 62 winter weather procedures can be found here: bit.ly/62WinterWeather
Crossing Guards:
- If you or a neighbor is willing to be a crossing guard, the DPPD is looking for volunteers. If you know of someone interested, please click here to apply directly. Thank you. =-)
School Volunteer Info:
Attention Volunteers! Please fill out the online volunteer application if you do not currently have one on file. In order to volunteer at school during the day or at any school function (field trips, popcorn day, etc), you must have an application on file. If you are not sure if you have completed one, please email Mrs. Lopatka at [email protected], and she can check for you. You may also apply online at the following website by clicking here.
Please read the following reminders:
Arrival Parking Lot Safety: Last week we had three unfortunate incidents in our parking lot during morning drop-off. Two different students were almost hit by cars running to their lines and a third fell in the middle of the parking lot running to the line-up area while cars were driving through the lot. These incidents were due to the fact that people are dropping their children off in the middle of the parking lot rather than coming through the front circle despite being asked many times over the years not to do so. In the interest of student safety, we are now putting cones at the north end of the parking lot to prohibit cars from entering to just drop off. Families will have to drive through the front circle to drop off. If you feel you need to park and walk your child to his or her line, please park on the west side of Westgate to do so. We apologize if this is an inconvenience to you, however, the safety and well-being of our students is our number one priority above all else. I spoke with the Des Plaines Police, and this change was thought to be an excellent idea. Thank you for understanding.
Dismissal Parking Lot Safety: Please remember that the safety and well-being of our students and staff are our #1 priority. After school you are welcome park your car in a designated spot in our lot and walk to the front to pick up your child. Or, you may drive through the front circle and pick up your child in the pickup line. DO NOT double park your car in the lot and ask your child to run over to your car. I have personally seen students do this and nearly get hit by a car in the lot. Please listen to and work with our traffic supervisors. We need you working together with us to ensure students and staff are safe. Thank you so much.
WeatherBug:
Please download the WeatherBug app and set Terrace as your home page. Here are the directions to download:
- Open the app, and tap the WeatherBug icon in the upper left corner to expose the main app menu.
- Select “Sign in”
- At the bottom of the login screen, tap “Sign up” and either login using your Facebook account or by creating a WeatherBug account.
- Then go back into the main app menu and select “Communities”
- Tap “Terrace Elementary School” – the plus sign should turn into a check mark – hit “Close”
- You should see the Terrace Elementary School Community card.
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:
- 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.
- 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.
Have a great weekend!