HCS Parent Newsletter for 10.29.21
PRINCIPAL NEWS…
Thank you to all the families who attended the PTO Outdoor Movie Night! We had a really good turn out and the event went very well. Our wonderful PTO and associated committees will continue to look for opportunities to have students be able to have pre-COVID experiences and make school the community that we need to be. Beginning early in November, PTO will be hosting a virtual book fair, so please be on the lookout for additional communications to come. The students will have the opportunity to check out some of the books while at school, however all orders will be placed online and the books can be shipped directly to your house. As a reminder, if you participated in the tamale fundraiser, please plan to pick up your order on Friday November 5th beginning at 3:15! Also, please join our Virtual PTO meeting on Wednesday November 3rd, beginning at 6:30, if you need the Zoom link, please contact the office.
This week we were able to have our Wishtree nominations for October. We were pleased to have multiple students recognized for going above and beyond and modeling all of the 4 B’s at Storm (Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe, and Be Kind). With the leaves changing and eventually falling off the main tree in the circle drive, take some time to read all of the wishes that have been made thus far. By the end of the year, our Tree will have close to 400 wishes on it to culminate our amazing school year. There are high levels of enthusiasm in the building, with all students wanting to be nominated or celebrating with their classmates when their names are announced. Please continue to have conversations about these core skills and how they can be applied outside of the school walls into our Batavia community.
If your child was able to complete the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) in the spring, you will be receiving a score report. Please see the Partners in Achievement page of Curriculum and Instruction on the district website for more information on assessments and interpreting the score. If your child does not receive a report, there is no cause for concern, as this likely means your child did not complete testing.
In addition to the traditional paper Individual Student Reports (ISRs), ISBE is introducing the IAR Parent Portal, where parents/guardians can learn about their children’s performance on the IAR for English language arts/literacy and mathematics. The IAR Parent Portal User Guide has information on how to create an account, log in to the account, and add claim codes to access student score reports and a video of Individual Student Reports. The portal will also allow parents/guardians to track their student’s scores from year to year, beginning with the spring 2021 results. The IAR Parent Portal will be available to parents/guardians beginning October 26, 2021. The video score report communicates information from the ISR through animations and a voiceover in Illinois’ seven most common languages: English, Spanish, Polish, Arabic, French, Urdu, Gujarati.
Have a fun and safe Halloween weekend, please remind all of our students how to be safe while trick or treating and check all of the candy prior to opening it. As an early reminder, next weekend is Daylight Savings, which means everyone will need to change their clocks back 1 hour on Sunday, November 7th at 2:00 am. Please plan accordingly and begin having conversations about any changes in routines that may or may not come from the time change. Supervision will continue to be provided beginning at 8:45am when the doors open to permit students entry.
H.C. Storm and BPS have effectively completed 49 days of in-school learning.
Boletín completo En Espanol.
Important Dates:
- Sunday, November 7th @ 2:00 am – Daylight Savings (push clocks back 1 hour)
- Thursday, November 11th – Virtual Veterans’ Day Assembly
- Friday, November 19th – End of 1st Trimester
HC Storm Shares:
- Still need to order Fall Pictures? Here is the website: https://shop.hrimaging.com/pws/orghome.aspx?oid=8661
- Then Click Order Pictures, Select Our Picture Day Date (October 14)
- Enter Student Name, Last Name and First Name
- This must be done for each student.
- Veterans’ Day Assembly is Virtual this year. Click here for all the information pertaining to this special event. Pictures or names of veterans need to be emailed to Laura Bankemper by November 1st.
- Backpack Mail (Reminder). Check out future activities HERE.
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- Want to volunteer for the various PTO activities? Click here for the sign up and more information.
- Box Tops Fundraiser. PTO is excited to offer new prizes for scanning receipts so keep an eye out!! Make sure to give credit to your student before you submit your receipt. Still unsure of how to do that? See videos below:
- Credit your student: https://youtu.be/7zL4gsIIZhY
- How to use app Spanish: https://youtu.be/wZfs83eUjRA
- How to use app English: https://youtu.be/Hh94b2BvFK4
- Save the dates:
- Fall Picture Retakes: November 16th from 10:30am-1:30pm
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- Spring Picture Day: March 10th from 9:15am-1:30pm
- The Giving Tree is back again virtually for the 2021/2022 school year! We continue to appreciate all the extra work our teachers are doing yet again in an atypical school year and want to offer parents the opportunity to provide any classroom items that you may need. We also want to acknowledge that with the school supplies being a bit different this year, you may already be seeing items your classroom needs more immediately. Parents have the chance to fulfill any of the items to be dropped off at HC Storm or can send them to school with their child. We will be including the Giving Tree link in the PTO weekly emails starting next week. Email Katie Kramer at klicciardi@gmail.com with the subject Giving Tree.
- Please make sure to follow us on Facebook for the most up to date information: What’s Happening at HC Storm Elementary: PTO Updates. This will be the best way for remote learners to connect with Storm for the time being while email lists are sorted out through the district.
Other Important Information:
- Bulldog Nation Alumni & Friends. The Batavia Foundation for Educational Excellence invites you to join Bulldog Nation Alumni & Friends today! Whether you’re an alumnus, supporter or community member, joining Bulldog Nation Alumni & Friends is a way to get you plugged in to your alma mater and the Batavia Public Schools family. Bulldog Nation Alumni & Friends is an online community where you can stay connected and receive regular updates and articles, along with a wide range of information on special events, mentoring, and volunteer opportunities. There’s also an alumni directory where you can submit your name and connect with old friends and classmates. Join for free compliments of the Batavia Foundation for Educational Excellence and Batavia Public Schools. Thank you for being such an important part of what makes our school district and community so great. Visit https://bulldogalumni.nationbuilder.com/
- The Batavia Music Buffs is a booster organization supporting music in all of Batavia’s public schools from elementary to middle and high school. Fall is our membership drive time, and we’d like to invite you to become a member today. Anyone can be a member – parent, past student, grandparents, faculty, staff, friends, etc. Being a member simply means that you are financially helping to bridge the funding gap that exists in the district for music. Based upon the membership tier you select you may be eligible for some fun swag! Visit our website to join www.bataviamusicbuffs.org/membership and/or to get one of our awesome new metal yard signs www.bataviamusicbuffs.org/shop.
- Batavia Parent Special Needs Network (BSPN) to Host “Meet the Administrators” Event
The vision of BSPN is to create a support network for families in order to share resources and information, provide mentoring, and increase disability awareness in our schools and community. Their first event is scheduled for Wednesday, October 27th, Meet the Administrators.
- More Incentive to Become a Substitute Teacher. At the September Board of Education Meeting, the Board approved a pay increase for all substitute teaching positions. We have multiple jobs posted including openings for substitute teachers. More information can be found HERE.
- 2-1-1 Information/Referral Hotline Now Available in Kane County. Just like you dial 9-1-1 for emergencies, you can now call “2-1-1” in Kane County and be connected to a live specialist, any time of the day or night, to assist you with your human service and resource needs. Read more >