Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 5/26/23

                                              Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

Well, my week started out with a bang when I got to be the Mystery Reader for Preschool on Monday.  I brought two of my favorite books my kids liked before they were teenagers and too cool to like reading...The Thank You Book (Elephant & Piggie) and Sneezy the Snowman.  Now, little did I know that these are supposedly popular books that most of these kids read already.  I thought I was coming in to blow their minds with the best stories ever!  I did my best with funny voices and in the end, I think we connected on a real level.  These kids are amazing!  Thanks to Mrs. Gray for setting this all up with staff and parents.

I also wanted to let everyone know that after a long month or so of screening and interviewing a ton of candidates, we are fully staffed for next year!  I can't thank all of the staff members enough who were able to volunteer their time after school and help be a part of the hiring process with me.  It was truly a collaborative effort, and I couldn't have done it all without so much help and support.  You guys are the best!

      

Hawk Action Items 

• Our final safety drills are set for the year unless the weather doesn't cooperate.  Feel free to let students know so they're prepared.  Reach out to Denise if you need any updated evacuation signs in your classrooms.  Please make sure you understand procedures and reach out with any questions.  
• Bus Evacuation Drill on Wednesday, May 31st all day (HERE is the sign up everyone filled out.)
• Fire Drill on Monday, June 5th at 1:00pm

• Please make sure that next year's stipend, extra duties, leadership opportunities form is filled out for those interested by the end of the day today, Friday, May 26th.  Reach out to Adam with any questions.  Staff members will be informed of these extra duties/opportunities by June 5th.

• It's that time of year again when some students may need reminders about our school dress code.  We've actually had some parents reach out about concerns with what students were wearing at school.  I plan on adding some communication to my Family Newsletter starting today.  I'm asking teachers to take a few minutes to review our expectations with their students as well in the next week.  Maybe using Enrichment, homeroom time, or SEL time would be best.  I trust teachers to talk to students about this in an age appropriate way.  If at any time, you have an issue with student dress that you need support on, you can always reach out to Adam or Rachel.  
• Language from the Student/Parent Handbook

• Clothing must be appropriate for school and the weather.

• Clothing that shows inappropriate or offensive symbols, signs, and language  will be provided with alternative clothing to wear for the day. 

• When wearing shorts, they should be long enough to ensure that the student is appropriately covered..

• Undergarments must not be visible.   

• Appropriateness of clothing will be determined in alignment to Board of Education Policy 7:160 Student Appearance 

• HERE is the official checklist doc for the end of the school year.  Feel free to reach out to Adam or Denise with any questions or concerns.  Please read it over carefully so you can start planning for the end of the school year and getting your rooms ready.

• Remember for any staff not returning next year, please turn in your ID/Fob to Adam

• If any teachers need boxes, please put in a work order

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

"What's Love Got to Do With It" by Tina Turner          

Hawk Celebrations

This week I had to celebrate the incredible Art Showcase/Talent Show we had at Pennoyer this past Wednesday night.  What an amazing display of creativity, passion, and talent from our students!  I can't thank Ms. Meyer, Ms. Payne, Ms. Kopolous, and Ms. Strecker enough for being incredible directors and putting this whole event together.  So many of our staff members came out to help and support this night as well.  As most everyone knows, being on stage, playing music, and performing, have always been a huge part of my life, and I know how difficult it can be to put yourself out there.  With that said, our students were so brave and proud as they showcased their many talents, and I know the audience loved and appreciated every minute of it.  The Arts are such an important aspect of life to explore during childhood, and I'm so proud of Pennoyer for doing everything we can as a community to promote these interests with opportunities like our 2023 Art Showcase/Talent Show.  I know our students were grateful for the opportunity to shine this past week, and we couldn't be more proud of every single one of them!

May Birthdays! 🎂

Teresa Sego - 5/16

Amanda Payne - 5/22

George Rodriguez - 5/25

Frank Russo - 5/31

Connect - Collaborate - Celebrate

Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 5/19/23

                                          Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

Ok...whether you're a Bob Dylan fan or not, my show for this week on Netflix is Rolling Thunder Revue:  A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese.  What a cool biopic journey at the height of Dylan's creativity and a time he actually sounded like he could sing.

And if that doesn't do it for you, what about this display of pride... This past Thursday was a very special day for many of our students.  “Vyshyvanka Day” is held on the third Thursday of every May and celebrated by wearing traditional Ukrainian embroidered clothes called Vyshyvanka. International Vyshyvanka Day fell on May 18th this year. This international holiday promotes the preservation of the folk tradition of creating and wearing ethnic embroidered Ukrainian clothes called Vyshyvanka, the ultimate symbol of Ukrainian culture. Our students were so proud!

Now I know I don't write lyrics like Bob Dylan, and I'm certainly not as adorable as our Ukrainian students in their cultural garb, but I'm gonna do my best this Saturday playing at the Long Grove Chocolate Festival.  The weather looks perfect, so whether you venture out to my neighborhood or not, I hope you have time to get outside, relax, and soak in some sunshine!

                

Hawk Action Items 

• Our final safety drills are set for the year unless the weather doesn't cooperate.  Feel free to let students know so they're prepared.  Reach out to Denise if you need any updated evacuation signs in your classrooms.  Please make sure you understand procedures and reach out with any questions.  
• Fire Drill on Tuesday, May 23rd at 9:30am
• Bus Evacuation Drill on Wednesday, May 31st all day
• Fire Drill on Monday, June 5th at 1:00pm

• Please make sure that next year's stipend, extra duties, leadership opportunities form is filled out for those interested by Friday, May 26th.  Reach out to Adam with any questions.

• HERE is our SIP day agenda for Friday, May 26th.  Most of the time will be spent on grade level vertical articulation, but there's time for other work as well.  It should be productive!  If rooms I assigned don't work for some reason or you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.  We'll be running Periods 1-5 next Friday.

• An official checklist will be coming, along with a final day sign up sheet, but as the end of the year gets closer, and you're starting to think about cleaning out your classroom spaces, here are some things to keep in mind when you want to get started...

• Put/store things away.  All desks, etc will be moved out so the room can be properly cleaned. 

• Take everything down from the walls so they can be thoroughly deep cleaned

• Anything that custodians need to take down could be thrown out

• Return Keys to Denise  and any staff not returning next year will need to hand in ID/Fob as well to Adam

• If teachers need boxes they should put in a work order

• Beginning the week of May 29th, our 7th grade Math 1 students will be available for peer leadership opportunities.  Check out this doc HERE, and add your name/grade to any days of the week for the last 3 weeks of school.  I plan on sharing this with our Math 1 students next week, and we'd love to have more opportunities for them.  This would be support anytime from 12:20-1:40pm.  If you only need 40 mins. certain days, just make a note of that.  It doesn't matter whose names you put information next to at this point.  We'll just end up breaking up these groups into probably 2-4 students that will stick together during these three weeks each that we would send to you.  You may have different groups of students on different days of the week.  If you have special requests, you can note that too.  Ideally, we would love to get these students in classes at least 2-3 days a week.  The other days they'll be in the LRC doing asynchronous math work on their own.  We were thinking this would be a great opportunity for PreK-5th grade classrooms as well as PE and Fine Arts to give these students a leadership role and help out in any way you choose.  Reach out to Adam with any questions.  Please have this filled out with all of your days and requests by May 25th at the latest...thanks so much!

• Interview Update For Next Week - For right now, we have no interviews scheduled, but I'll reach out by the end of the weekend if anything changes.  I truly appreciate all of the help and support with interviews over the last month.  We're in a good place right now for sure!

• Culture the Change Workshop opportunity - Click HERE if you're interested.

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

   "She was physically forgotten then she slipped into my pocket with my car keys..."     

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon          

Hawk Celebrations

Last week we were so fortunate to have an incredible group of students from Ridgewood High School, along with Mr. Tristan Kumor from the STEM department come and visit the 4th graders in Ms. Kopoulos' and Mrs. Kafka's classes.  They set up stations and led our 4th graders through some eye opening activities.  It was an amazing experience for our Pennoyer students who got to explore the world of STEM through hands on lessons that were so cool!  They made ice cream from rock salt, learned how electricity works with circuit boards, constructed architectural designs using toothpicks and marshmallows, and so much more!  Seeing our 4th graders collaborate with the high school students and staff from Ridgewood was a sight to see, and we know it sparked the interests of so many that were involved.  It was truly high levels of student engagement at its finest!

May Birthdays! 🎂

Teresa Sego - 5/16

Amanda Payne - 5/22

George Rodriguez - 5/25

Frank Russo - 5/31

Connect - Collaborate - Celebrate

Pennoyer Staff Newsletter

                                               Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

Ok, I have another interesting show on Netflix that caught my attention this past week...King of Collectables - The Godlin Touch.  Check it out HERE!  This guy and his company have made millions selling some of the coolest memorabilia out there.  I can't believe what some of this stuff goes for, but I'd love the original Jordan jersey, Jim Morrison's driver's license, and the coolest Jackie Robinson jersey with blood stains still on the inside of it.  That's just the start of it folks!  His daughter is kind of a brat, but it's crazy to see all of the incredible stuff out there that people are willing to pay hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars for.

Whatever you have planned for this weekend, I wish all of our moms out there on the Pennoyer staff a wonderful Mother's Day this coming Sunday.  I am lucky to have a very close relationship with my mom who has been an amazing support to me my entire life.  I'm the youngest of three boys, so I'm her baby, and my older brothers constantly remind me of that every chance they get, and how I was spoiled for may years.  I just remind them that I was the best child between the three of us and rewards always go to the Golden Child...lol.

Finally, looking ahead to next weekend, I have a gig on Saturday, May 21st at the Long Grove Chocolate Festival from 2-3:30pm.  It's a really cool outdoor festival with great food, an array of shops, live music, and rides/games for younger kids.  Come check it out with friends and family if you want to venture out to my neck of the woods.  HERE is more information!

*Staff Meeting AGENDA for Monday, May 15th in the MPR                                      

Hawk Action Items 

• Beginning the week of May 29th, our 7th grade Math 1 students will be available for peer leadership opportunities.  Check out this doc HERE, and add your name/grade to any days of the week for the last 3 weeks of school.  I plan on sharing this with our Math 1 students eventually.  This would be support anytime from 12:20-1:40pm.  If you only need 40 mins. certain days, just make a note of that.  It doesn't matter whose names you put information next to at this point.  We'll just end up breaking up these groups into probably 2-4 students that will stick together during these three weeks each that we would send to you.  You may have different groups of students on different days of the week.  If you have special requests, you can note that too.  Ideally, we would love to get these students in classes at least 2-3 days a week.  The other days they'll be in the LRC doing asynchronous math work on their own.  We were thinking this would be a great opportunity for PreK-5th grade classrooms as well as PE and Fine Arts to give these students a leadership role and help out in any way you choose.  Reach out to Adam with any questions.  Please have this filled out with all of your days and requests by May 25th at the latest...thanks so much!

• Spring MAP Testing next week for all K-8th grade students.  If you know students are leaving early in the week, you can certainly test them outside of your classroom window time if possible.  Also, we are planning on returning to sending MAP reports home to families.  When all testing is completed, we'll be printing off MAP report sheets for all homeroom teachers to send with students on Friday, May 26th most likely.  These will have Fall, Winter, and Spring progress on them.  Reach out to Melissa or Adam with any questions.  

• Interview Update For Next Week - I'm looking to continue to do interviews next week if good screeners come through. They'll start about 30 mins. after school is out each day.  I plan on putting a specific schedule together this weekend and pushing it out to staff again.  I really appreciate anyone who would like the opportunity to be part of the interview process.  I truly value your input in this collaborative process.  I definitely understand those that are not able to be a part of these interviews though, or staff that are not interested.  Thanks again to everyone that has given their time up after school these past few weeks.  Reach out with any questions.

• Culture the Change Workshop opportunity - Click HERE if you're interested.

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

                                               "Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight" by Amos Lee                                                           

Hawk Celebrations

This entire week was all about celebrating our amazing staff!  They truly make Pennoyer everything it is for our students each and every day.  Our staff goes above and beyond in our small but mighty district, and I know how incredibly lucky I am to be working alongside them at Pennoyer.  Thanks to our PTC for putting together a great week, along with our Board of Education and Administrative Team.  The baseball theme was a huge "hit"!  A lot of schools talk a big game and say they're a family and a community, but we truly live and breath it here at Pennoyer.  Our staff is there for each other and our students and families though good times and through challenging ones.  They have stepped up whenever needed in so many capacities beyond the classroom walls.  Every week should be staff appreciation week as far as I'm concerned, but I'm glad we had these past 5 days in particular to honor everyone.

May Birthdays! 🎂

Teresa Sego - 5/16

Amanda Payne - 5/22

George Rodriguez - 5/25

Frank Russo - 5/31

Connect - Collaborate - Celebrate

Pennoyer Staff Newsletter

                                          Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

Ok...this week was certainly filled with a lot, but I couldn't start any other way except with the world of Securly.  I'm gonna spare everyone, but let's just say the week started out with a Securly about animals and certain parts of their bodies a particular student was curious about.  The week ended with an example of why it's important to know how to spell, understand sentence structure, and know a little bit about the importance of commas.  This was from a second grader...'toys for cats butt in the plane that they don't get bored'

Well, if that doesn't make you smile, maybe this will.  Watching Sava and Filip step off the Norridge Fire Truck after their ride to school that they won at the Taste of Pennoyer raffle was priceless.  You should have seen their faces.  So much joy, and an awesome way to start the morning.

It doesn't end there though...the week wouldn't be complete without a nod to Star Wars, which if you've seen my office, I'm a little obsessed with.  Baby Yodas were in abundance in Ms. Strecker's and Ms. Barzano's 1st grade classrooms.  May the 4th Be With All Of Us!

Finally, I can't thank everyone enough for the wonderful signs, and cards that now adorn the door to my office and were brought down throughout the week.  I'm so thankful to be your principal each and every day, and I hope I've done you all proud this first year.  These kind thoughts absolutely made my week!  But I have to say, I wasn't alone as the principal this week.  My two Principals For the Day winners crushed it on Thursday and made my job a little easier.  I had so much fun with Principal Samantha from 1st grade and Principal Kosta from 6th grade as we traveled around to classrooms, sat in on a Principal's Crew meeting, made announcements, picked the Friday end of the day songs for the next two weeks, and talked about the importance of keeping up good communication each week.  I told them about this weekly newsletter and my family one as well and how that's an important part of my job.  Here are their contributions I promised I would share this week...

Samantha wrote, "Help Pennoyer School.  New paint on the walls, new decorations everywhere, and new tables in the classrooms.  Thank You."

Kosta wrote, "Our school needs new equipment, stairs, walls, supplies, locker rooms, lab stations, and more. The school is great but small with somewhat small classrooms. We should make the cafeteria have better equipment since we won the vote."

                                              

Hawk Action Items 

• Interview Update For Next Week - We'll most likely have interviews for our open positions next Wednesday and Thursday after school.  They'll start about 30 mins. after school is out each day.  I plan on putting a specific schedule together this weekend and pushing it out to staff again.  I really appreciate anyone who would like the opportunity to be part of the interview process.  I truly value your input in this collaborative process.  I definitely understand those that are not able to be a part of these interviews though, or staff that are not interested.  Thanks again to everyone that has given their time up after school these past few weeks.  Reach out with any questions.

• It's all about our amazing staff next week.  I can't wait to celebrate each and every one of you and all of the hard work you put into making Pennoyer everything it is for our students and families.  You certainly earned next week!!!  Enjoy the weekly celebrations.

• Culture the Change Workshop opportunity - Click HERE if you're interested.

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

"You would stay just to watch me darlin'.  Wilt away on lies from you.  Can't stop the habit, of livin' on the run.  Take it all for granted, like you're the only one..."     

                                                                                        Minute by Minute - The Doobie Brothers                                                                 

Hawk Celebrations

This week it's all about celebrating the best of our school and community with a huge shout out to our students, staff, and families who came out last Saturday in the cold rain for Community Kindness Day at Pennoyer!  We certainly didn't let the weather hold us back.  Students of all ages came out with positivity and enjoyed the time together.  We chalked the sidewalk, made posters spreading kindness messages around our school, ate donuts, played music, created potted plants to take home, and had read alouds with our older students supporting our younger ones.  We had so much fun hanging out together as a school, community, and family.  One big part of the day didn't get completed due to the weather, but when it's finish, the new fence art design in the front of our school is going to really shine.  For now, it says...Be Kin (kind of appropriate since we're such a family at Pennoyer), but soon enough, it will say, "Be Kind Be A Hawk".  So proud of everyone that came together and a special thanks to Ms. Kiera Strecker and our PTC that helped make this day possible!

May Birthdays! 🎂

Teresa Sego - 5/16

Amanda Payne - 5/22

George Rodriguez - 5/25

Frank Russo - 5/31

Connect - Collaborate - Celebrate