Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 2/23/24

                                             Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

I know I usually share things about my personal life in these weekly newsletters.  I hope you realize it's just my way of connecting with all of you, a comfort level I've always had, and sometimes I know many of you can relate to what I share.  This week is no different, but I think it certainly will strike a chord maybe a little bit more with the world of education we all find ourselves in.  My daughter Sadie is the love of my life, but she certainly is not perfect.  She unfortunately takes after me a little too much as a kid, and hasn't always made the best choices in and out of school.  Her teachers have reached out to my wife and I a few times over this past year with some negative behaviors she's been exhibiting at school and as a parent, it's definitely been hard to handle.  That being said, this past week, the same teacher that reached out to my wife and I a couple months ago about Sadie messing around in gym class, took the time to send this positive email.  It really impressed me, and reminded me of how important it is, for all of us, including myself, to connect with our families in both times of challenging behaviors and celebrations when our students are making good choices too...

"I am writing this email to celebrate Sadie. I'm assuming she has shared with you that we are currently in our dance unit in PE. This unit requires students to work with a group of their peers that have all different abilities levels when it comes to dance. They are asked to create a dance that all can be successful in and perform in front of their class. 

Throughout this 2 week unit Sadie has shown an immense amount of leadership and a very mature ability to create a dance that highlighted everyone's strengths. Even though not all of her group members' dancing abilities were at the level her's are, she took time and consideration to create something that all felt comfortable doing. The end product was performed today and she and her group shined! I am so proud and thoroughly impressed with her. She not only met the target for creating the dance but excelled at being an exceptional teammate, which is the bigger picture of this unit. Way to go, Sadie!"

Shout out from Julia Peters to Nina Torossi this week...

"Huge shoutout to Nina for keeping all of us in the loop with morning announcements! Making sure all announcements are read in time, juggling all the speaking parts, and motivating our student readers and calming those nervous ones.  We truly appreciate you!"

*Important IAR Prep Meeting on Wednesday, March 28th in lieu of Grade Band Meetings from 2:40-3:15pm in the MPR for all 3rd-8th grade teachers administering IAR testing to students this year.   K-2nd grade and Specials/PE can have their regular Grade Band Meetings on that day next week.

**We'll be having a visit from the new Superintendent of Maine 207, Tatiana Bonuma,  on Thursday, February 29th at 9:30am.  She'll be touring around our school for a little bit that day.

***Adam is out of town on Friday, March 1st next week.

Hawk Action Items 

• Trimester 2 ends March 1st next week on Friday, so final grades/comments are due in Skyward by Wednesday, March 6th, the following week by the end of the day. Grades/Comments will go live to families on Skyward on Friday, March 8th after 4pm.

• Attention all Pennoyer Staff...most of you should have gotten a link from UChicago by now to take the 5 Essentials Survey for this school year.  Thanks to many of you that have already completed this survey.  If you haven't had time to do it yet, I'm planning to keep our staff meeting open without any other agenda items on March 18th if you'd like to complete it then.  It's just due before March 29th, and last year we had almost 100% of our staff complete it.  I really appreciate this feedback for our school as whole.  There are some questions on the survey that might not be fully applicable for our non-certified staff, so just do the best you can to answer them.  If you need help getting onto the survey, just let me know.  Also remember, if you didn't receive an email to your school account to log in,  you can always go on to take the survey through this provisional link and it will count with our school data. Here it is...https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/teacher/provisional/  As I said, please reach out to me with any questions.  Our 4th-8th grade students should be taking the student version of the 5 Essentials Survey sometime starting next week, February 26th.  Login cards should have been distributed to all 4th-8th grade teachers by Team Leaders, and the following is the link you'll need to put up on Google Classroom and share with your students when you're ready for them to take the survey... http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/student/  I've already started pushing out the parent 5 Essentials Survey as well.  Thanks for your time and support with all of this!

• We still need Court Monitors for this event.  If you're interested in helping out at our 1st Annual 3 on 3 Pennoyer March Madness Basketball Tournament after school on Friday, March 15th...Check out this flyer and sign up to be a court monitor HERE. You really don't need to be an expert in basketball and know all of the rules to help out.  More than one person can sign up for a grade level to help supervise.  Please reach out to me with any questions you might have.  I'll make sure everyone who volunteers is ready and prepared to support our students at this event in March...I'm super excited!

• Kristin and I are starting to share construction plans with families, and I've shared some of this with our paraprofessionals and lunch/recess supervisors, but wanted everyone to see our upcoming plans we'll begin utilizing starting the week of March 11th.  Please look over the plans HERE.  I also plan to put together a short presentation to show students as well the week of March 4th sometime so they're prepared for some of these changes ahead of time.  I will share that with all of the teachers when it's completed.  Thanks in advance for your flexibility, patience, and support as we embark on this construction process.  I know it won't always be easy, but it will definitely be worth it in the end!!!  Reach out with any questions or concerns to Adam or Kristin along the way.

• Spirit Week is coming up starting next Monday, Feb. 26th, and then we have our Trimester 2 PBIS Spirit Assembly on Thursday, February 29th!  Let's kick up that spirit and Pennoyer Pride!!!

• HERE is the part 2 video of our continued PD on Restorative Practices with PBIS Rewards Coach Adam Efird.  The video link does expire on March 4th, but we'll be sharing out other resources as well moving forward.  I thought it was a productive 2nd hour of professional development as we continue down this road to build our capacity for these thoughtful practices and shifting our mindsets.  More to come with all of this for our staff in the future for sure.  Reach out to Adam or Rachel if you'd like any support with incorporating some of these ideas into your everyday classroom or have any questions.

• As we prepare our students for IAR testing that will start for 3rd-8th grade the week of March 4th, don't forget about these IAR supports/resources you can utilize during ELA/Math blocks and/or Enrichment time.  Reach out to Adam with any questions or support if needed.

• If you're interested in signing up to supervise and facilitate any Behavior Academies after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, feel free to sign up on the  spreadsheet.  Here's a reminder about the protocol for our Behavior Academies if you're interested.  Thanks to everyone who has been supporting these. 

• I hope all is going well with instituting our universal expectations each day of the week for EVERY CLASS PERIOD they teach a new group of students to support behavior, expectations, and build connections.  3 to Succeed! 

                  1. Greet students every morning.

2. Display School PBIS expectations OR PBIS Expectations (BLANK) in the

classroom and review everyday. Example: What are 2 ways we are

responsible in the classroom? In school? (This doesn't have to take long each

day and each class period)

3. Anytime your kids are in the hallway (arrival, dismissal, transitions,) you are

in the hallway with them. Middle school - transitions between classes.

• Wanna make somebody's day at Pennoyer...don't forget about our staff shout outs we'd like to get started up again this year!  It's real easy; if one staff member wants to give another staff member at Pennoyer a positive shout out for something that week, just send a quick email blurb to Adam, and he'll feature it in our weekly Hawk Happenings!

• Great job with all the social media posts shared for the month of January! Keep it up in February. Here's the Google Form for teachers to complete.  Thanks!!!

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

Seasons by Chris Cornell

Hawk Celebrations

This week we celebrate the come back of Scholastic Bowl to Pennoyer!  It's been awhile, but with the support of our students who have really stepped up, and our very own Miss Bowden, who has taken this on all by herself this year, Pennoyer has been able to create a Scholastic Bowl team that we're so proud of!  Coach Bowden has done her part to get these students ready, week in and week out, and although it's often been difficult for our crew during competitions this year, they always come with a positive mindset and a fighting spirit!  Scholastic Bowl participants include Emma R., Konstanin P., Andrea C., Omar S., Peter S., and Penn D.  The best news is that we're a young team of mostly 6th and 7th graders in the JV division, so there's so much potential for this group of Pennoyer students in the years ahead.  These students show off their incredible cognitive skills as they study and answer questions in areas that range from math, to music, history, science, literature, and beyond!  It makes my own brain hurt just thinking about how smart these students are.  We're lucky to call them Pennoyer Hawks...#Pennoyerpride for our Scholastic Bowl Team and Miss Bowden!

February Birthdays! 🎂

Nina Torossi - 2/11