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Wrapping up September!

9/27/2018

Dear Families,

It was great to see so many of you last evening! I trust you found the event informative and you have a clearer understanding of what your child(ren) experiences during the day at Waters. All syllabi are posted on the school website if you would like to review any copies.

I saw many of you talking with Mr. Mark Williams, our lunchroom manager, at Curriculum Night. He had a table set up with snacks and was on hand to answer questions regarding our cafeteria offerings here at Waters. Did you know that breakfast and lunch is free for your child? There are many healthy options for your child to choose from. Any child may select one of two options when they enter school in the morning for breakfast and there are a variety of lunch options as well. Additionally, you can fill your lunch by adding a milk, veggie, and a fruit to a lunch a student has brought from home. We are happy to have Mr. Williams on our team. If you have any questions for him, please email him at <mewilliams302@cps.edu>

I can’t believe we are in the final week of September already! That being said September is “Safety Month” and we practice our safety drills. Safety drills include but are not limited to fire, bus evacuation, lockdown, shelter in place, tornado, and allergen drills. This is standard procedure for all CPS schools and our staff does a great job at explaining each scenario to the children. Please be aware that most drills are practiced throughout the school year.

MEDICAL EXCLUSIONS!!!
If you have not done so already, please turn in your medical forms to the school. If you child is not in compliance by October 15, 2018, they will be excluded from school until you provide the medical documentation.
If you have a doctor’s appointment scheduled, please have the doctor’s office fax (773.534.5087) or email the appointment information to your child’s teacher.

Special Event:
Global Cardboard Challenge!
October 13, 2018
9 am- 12 noon
Check it out the flyer in Green Notes!

Please be aware the Wilson Avenue Bridge will be closed starting October 1st for repairs. The city is estimating it will be closed for approximately 3 weeks. Pedestrians will be able to to walk on one side of the bridge but it will be closed to vehicles.

Thank you for your patience while waiting for your volunteer approval emails. This process is new for all of us! We are grateful for all the volunteers that have registered. Please be sure to spread the word that all parents must be approved as volunteers before they are permitted to participate in any school trips. The first step is to apply online at cpsvolunteers.org.

Have a great week!

Ms. Kipp
Principal

Busy Week at Waters!

9/20/2018

Dear Parents,

It was lovely to see many of you at the Local School Council meeting this week. Our Instructional Leadership Team opened our meeting with a presentation on “Growth Mindset”. This is one of many topics that will be presented at our LSC meetings this year, to connect our CIWP with the work we are doing in the classrooms. I strongly encourage you to attend one or more of our meetings as they are very informative! Our staff is thrilled to hear that their proposed budget was approved! We are excited to proceed with expenditures for much needed resources that will support programming at the school level. We are thankful for Waters Today and our supportive school community! For more information on approvals, please click here.

An agenda item at the LSC was a school wide Dress Code. While there were questions and suggestions at the meeting, I would like to invite all of our school families to particiapte and have a voice. A survey has been created and my staff and I would like to capture feedback from the entire school community. Here is a link to the dress code (English followed by Spanish) that was proposed to the LSC. We are accepting comments on the dress code via a survey. The survey will also be sent via email from each homeroom teacher. Please note: We are NOT advocating a school uniform.

Did you know Waters is graded on attendance? In an effort to remain a school that reflects a high level rating,, I am reaching out to encourage timeliness and great attendance for your child(ren). School begins at 8:15 am and dismisses at 3:15 pm. Please make every effort to arrive on time. While we are aware emergencies happen, patterns of tardies and absences are being monitored by the district. Please keep in mind that Chicago Public Schools uses this information and captures this data in our annual SQRP report. Please help us achieve our LEVEL 1 + status again by making sure your children are in school. Appointments, vacations and other activities should be scheduled outside of school hours or when school is not in session.

We are incredibly grateful to have so many parents who are able to volunteer at Waters School. Have you heard about the updated Volunteer Policy that we must adhere to?
ALL volunteers at Waters must go through the volunteer approval process. If parents are NOT on the approved list, they will not be allowed to accompany children on field trips, field day, walk-a-thon, etc. This is a mandate that has been set forth from the Board of Education. Please see the CPS Volunteer Programs Website to learn more about volunteering and how to register.

Upon completion of the online form, you must bring your photo ID to the main office at Waters.   At that time, your ID will be photocopied. Wait! You are not done yet. Once we have your photo ID, school staff have to approve the request online. Once you have been approved, you will receive an email from CPS confirming your approval. If you have not received this email, you will not be permitted to chaperone field trips or any other school related activities. Please get your application in and bring in your ID!

I look forward to seeing you at our annual Curriculum Night on Wednesday, September 26, 2018.   If you are new parent to Waters, please join us in the gym at 6:00 pm for a State of the School address. Here you will meet staff, LSC and Waters Today members. Returning parents, please arrive at 6:45 pm to join your child’s teacher in their classroom.

If you are in need of child care( students who attend Waters only) for this evening, please complete this form by the end of the school day Monday, September 24th.
The evening will wrap up around 7:30 pm.

Student fees: Please log on to our school website at www.waterselementary.org and click on the “pay fees” button to pay for your child’s student fees. Information about our Student Fee will also be available at Curriculum Night. This fee is essential for purchasing school-wide curriculum materials, such as planners, textbooks, consumable workbooks, and technology supplies (like ink and toner)—materials that are not covered by our limited school budget.
We strongly encourage online payments!   (http://tinyurl.com/jhn62au). We ask that this fee be paid by Friday, October 5th. If paying on-line is not an option, please stop in the main office. Payment plans are available, and a fee waiver form is available in the office if you cannot afford the fee.

Our BAC (Bilingual Advisory Committee) will hold its first meeting in the teachers lounge from 8:30 am to 9:30 am on Wednesday, September 26th. This will be our annual organizational meeting.

Picture Day is also on Wednesday the 26th. If you wish to order pictures, you may do so on-line.

It has been great to see our Volleyball players and Cross Country Runners getting ready for the upcoming season.   Please come out and support our athletes!

Our 2018-19 Recycling Captains have been selected and have been busy keeping our school green.

It has been a very busy month thus far and October is just around the corner! Be on the lookout for our annual High School Information Night, Cardboard Challenge, Hispanic Awareness Month activities, Spirit Week, Harvest Day, Dia de Los Muertos, and other exciting events!

I hope that you have a fantastic week!

Sincerely,
Ms. Kipp
Principal

Sailing into September

9/12/2018

Dear Families,
It was wonderful to hear our school buzzing with the noise of our learners back to work. We welcome many new families to our school this year as well as all of our new kindergarten students.
Last week, we kicked off our Grade Level Team Meeting (GLTM) Professional Learning Community (PLC) Staff Professional Development which is being led by the teachers on our Instructional Leadership Team (ILT). This year’s members include Ms. Aguilar, Ms. Bricker, Ms. Collins-Gonzalez, Mr. Gil, Ms. Herman, Ms. Nunoz-Johnson, Mr. Orlov, Ms. Rivadeneria, and Ms. Vecchioni along with Ms. Alvarez and myself. The ILT met for two days over the summer at our ILT Retreat to plan this Professional Development. At our upcoming Local School Council (LSC) meetings, you will learn more about the professional learning our staff is engaged in.
I am thrilled that staff are in their classrooms and engaged in learning with students. Staff has come back energized and ready for the new school year. Our teachers patience during enrollment season has been exemplary! They have shown flexibility and understanding as it pertains to new classroom assingments and grade levels. As many of you know, as a neighborhood school our enrollment window never closes. Students enroll throughout the school year. This can present a challenge. As we prepare every year, many factors are taken into consideration, teachers grade level requests, interests, endorsements and certifications are included in this equation.
Upcoming events where I will be:

Local School Council Meeting, Tuesday, September 18th at 4:00, School Gym
School Curriculum Night, Wednesday, September 26th, 6 pm for new parents in school gym and 6:45 for returning parents in childrens homeroom
Waters Today Golf Outing, Sunday, September 30th at 8 am, Robert A. Black Golf Course

We have our first Local School Council (LSC) meeting next week Tuesday. I strongly encourage you to attend these meetings. Our goal this year is to present information on learning in the classroom that is directly related to our CIWP. All community is welcome to join us for these meetings.
School Curriculum Night is a parents only event where you can meet your child's teachers and learn more about “a day in the life of your child at Waters”. We invite those parents new to our community at 6:00 pm so you can learn more about our school before heading to your child's homeroom at 6:45 pm. We will complete the evening by 7:30 pm.
Right At School has generously offered FREE childcare for Waters students K -8. Stay tuned for details on sign up/drop off information.
Attendance is extremely important at our school! We appreciate everyone being prompt in dropping off their children so they are ready to enter the building at 8:15 am.

Thank you!
Sincerely,
Ms. Kipp

Wrapping up September!

Busy Week at Waters!

Sailing into September

Principal Kipp

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