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Weekly Blog Post

10/22/2018

Dear Waters Parents;

I will be away from the school beginning Tuesday, October 23rd and will return to school on Monday, October 29th. There was a death in my family and I will be joining them during this difficult time. I will not be responding to email during this time. If you have an emergency, please contact the main office at 773.534.5090. I thank you for your understanding.

Please see the following schedule for our annual “Spirit Week” which will start this Friday with Country Western Day and ends next Thursday with Pajama Day. I look forward to seeing all of you next week for the Halloween Parade on Wednesday morning at 8:45am Fingers crossed for weather that allows us to hold our parade outside.

Please see our letter that was written last week regarding an expansion of Waters School and our ecology program.

Enjoy these beautiful fall days.

Sincerely,

Ms. Kipp
Principal

Waters Letter to Community

10/19/2018

Dear Waters Community,

Please see the letter below regarding the school addition and Water's School Garden.

Waters Letter to Community

Sincerely,

Ms. Kipp
Principal

October 18th Update

10/18/2018

We had a great turn out at our Local School Council Meeting on Tuesday night. Agenda items included a Growth Mindset five week update, Growth Mindset application in middle school science and an introduction to our work around Math Professional Learning Community. Thank you Mrs. Ballasch, Mrs. Vecchioni and Mr. Gil for sharing!

The proposed dress code was given to the Local School Council for review. The dress code will It will go to vote next month. Thank you to all families for your input and suggestions. You can view a copy here.

There has been a lot of activity regarding the future of our school garden and the proposed school addition. Earlier this week, exploratory drilling was scheduled without any notification to administration. An obvious concern due to physical education, recess and programs in the garden. In a concerted effort and many phone calls, Alderman Pawar and I were able to halt the scheduled work. A meeting has been set with CPS to discuss moving forward and adhering to specific protocols to ensure that a collective community voice is heard.   I, along with Alderman Pawar, are optimistic that there will be positive outcomes from this meeting.

I am working to ensure that we have accurate information as we move forward so that it can be shared with the school community. While I understand there are many opinions about the addition at Waters, I assure you, our growing neighborhood population, lack of Pre-K offerings, our leaking roof, our makeshift classroom spaces, lack of storage, office space for intinerant staff, teachers lounge, limited playground space, programs without designated space, are just a few of the reasons why Waters is on the approved capital improvement list.

Our fall sports season is well underway! I am so proud of our athletes and their enthusiasm!   Congratulations to all of our runners and Coaches Barlow and Herman, who just completed their fifth meet of the season.   18 finalist for City were announced this week and they will proudly represent Waters next Saturday, October 27, 2018 at Washington Park.

Athletes representing Waters are:
5th Graders- Madeline Herman, August McKinney, Jack Ranney, and Hunter Smith
6th Graders- Cecilia Barlow, Miles Barbick, Forrest Durnbaugh, Kelly Rodriguez-Olivera, Maddux Smith, and Timothy Zagar
7th Graders- Mallory Herman, Ismaias Medina, Diego Olivares, and Emmitt Singer
8th Graders- Alejandro Abundis, Nathan Bjurstrom, Ray Reshoft, and Frank Weinstock

Harvest Week begins next Friday with our annual pumpkin patch and petting zoo.  I look forward to seeing many of you volunteering during our Harvest Day Activities.

Thank you to our STEAM team for organizing our 2nd annual Cardboard Challenge. We had over 150 people attend and it was a great day of creativity!

Please note that there is no school for students on Friday, November 2nd as teachers will have a School Improvement Day.

Sincerely,

Ms. Kipp
Principal

October Update

10/11/2018

Dear Families,

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month on Wednesday, The Miracle Center presented a theatrical adaptaion of “There’s a Coqui in My Shoe” an award winning children’s book written by Marisa de Jesus Paolicelli. The story was based on a coqui, Puerto Rico’s national treasure. I am sure your children came home and shared their experience with you! If not, be sure to ask them. This weekend is the final show! Also, TMC (The Miracle Center) has generously discounted the tickets for Waters Famililes for $5.00 each. If you looking for a great family event this Friday evening or Saturday evening, this would be a great family outing.
Tickets are available at www.themiraclecenter.org and the discount code is:
Use the promo code "coqui" for Saturday’s matinee.
Use promo code "coqui5" for any show Friday, Oct. 12th - Oct. 13th to get tickets for $5

2nd and 4th grade parents- we made an adjustment in the entry/exit location for your children. Please be on the look out for an email from your teacher. Due to safety concerns, we made a much needed adjustment.

Volunteer applications update:
Please be sure to follow procedure on approval for volunteering at Waters. Many of you have applied but have not provided your ID in the main office. Some of you provided your ID but have not completed the online application. Please be sure to complete the process in order for you to be approved.

Cardboard Challenge:
This Saturday is our Cardboard Challenge! If you haven’t already registered, please do so!
Don’t forget to bring your tape and cardboard to the Cardboard Challenge here at school this Saturday from 9 to 12.

SPORTS
Volleyball, Soccer and Cross Country are in full swing! We are so grateful to Mr. Changet, Ms. Okeefe, Ms. Barlow and Mr. Orlov for providing these athletic experiences for our students. Please be sure to check our school website for dates and times for all sports.

5TH GRADE BOYS BASKETBALL (Winter)
Northside League
Anyone interested in playing for Waters’ 5th grade boys basketball team in the Northside Basketball League should attend a tryout/informational meeting in the Waters gym on Nov. 8 at 5:30 pm. For those who played last year, you’ll remember we typically have one practice and one game per week. Games start in January but final rosters are due Nov. 15. Cost, which covers registration, uniforms and referee fees, will be determined by number of participants. We will have 1-2 practices in December before holiday break. Please note this league is in addition to Waters school 5th/6th grade basketball team. You are welcome to try out for one or both teams.

There will also be tryouts for this same league for girls. Grade levels and tryout times TBA.

October LSC meeting:

Tuesday, October 16 at 6:30 pm. Please attend to learn about the work our staff has been doing on Growth Mindset.

Spirit Week:
We are working on the schedule for our annual Spirit Week! Stay tuned for details.
We will host a Halloween parade on October 31, 2018. Students are welcome to come to school in their costumes. Please remember no weapons (real or fake) are permitted on school property.

Holiday Performance Dates:

Save the Date! The Holiday Show will be on December 19th & 20th.

Sincerely,

Ms. Kipp
Principal

October is here!

10/3/2018

Dear Families,

Thank you to the Heneghan family for organizing our 2nd Annual Golf outing last weekend!  If you didn’t get a chance to participate in this event, be on the look out for next year. It was a great time and there were some great prizes!!!
This week Choir auditions were held after school. It was wonderful to see so many singers participate. We look forward to providing you with song and voice throughout the year.

Chicago Arts Partnership in Education (CAPE) after school classes began this week. We look forward to the creative designs and ideas that will be shared at our annual expo in late spring.    Thank you teachers and artists for providing this learning opportunity for our students.

Kevin Changet, parent of one of our students, has graciously taken on the role of soccer coach for our 5/6 and 7/8 boys soccer teams. We are grateful that Mr. Changet will provide this sports experience for our student athletes. There will be tryouts Friday, October 5, 2018 after school on the soccer field at 3:30 pm for 5/6 grade boys and 4:30 pm for 7/8 grade boys. All boys interested in playing should come out on Friday.

Last week, the BAC (Bilingual Advistory Committee) held their organizational meeting. Elections were held and the new officers are as follows:

President - Alicia Mayorca
Vice President - Clarisa Medina-Poeliniz
Secretary- Carmen Campoverde
Representative-Rosa Hernandez
Alternate Rep- Hilda Segura

Thank you parents for taking on these leadership roles in our school. BAC meetings are held monthly (please refer to school website calendar for dates) and offer workshops/ guest speakers for all parents to attend.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the online Dress Code survey. Our Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) has reviewed the Dress Code survey. Based on some of the suggestions, adjustments in langauge and intent are being addressed. Further details TBA.

MEDICAL EXCLUSION -date drawing near…...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.
Don’t forget our upcoming Cardboard Challenge next weekend,Saturday, October 13th from 9 am to 12 noon. Please bring tape and cardboard to share. It will be a magical day at Waters.
As a friendly reminder, the Wilson Avenue Bridge has been closed as of October 1st for repairs. The city is estimating it will be closed for approximately 3 weeks so 2 weeks to go.

Remember there is no class on Monday, October 8th. The builidng will be closed.
The ABCDE Schedule will come into play on Tuesday. The children will attend their E class on Tuesday.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Ms. Kipp
Principal

Weekly Blog Post

Waters Letter to Community

October 18th Update

October Update

October is here!

Principal Kipp

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