The Hawk Happenings: Pennoyer Staff Newsletter

Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

It was a busy first week in May, and we definitely had a lot of positive things to smile about! To begin with, it was National Nurse's Day this past week and we're so incredibly lucky to have Nurse Alana keeping us and all of our students healthy at Pennoyer. She is such an asset, and I know how lucky we are to have her. Alana also received her CSN-PEL from the University of Illinois Chicago this past week and is now a certified school nurse!!! This was an incredible accomplishment that she juggled on the job and really sets her apart.

I thought I saw it all with Travel Club, but when our new Garden Club rolled onto the scene over the past two weeks, it went to another level. They literally had 52 students show up this past week and have already planted things outside in the front of our school and created flower pots for Mother's Day coming up! Mrs. Kula and Mrs. Tronco have done an amazing job with inspiring our students and getting them involved. They even needed to bring in reinforcements, so Mrs. Raffaelli thoughtfully volunteered her time to support this new club. She's been an amazing colleague. Pennoyer is certainly "growing" in positive ways!

*HERE is the plan for Monday instead of a Staff Meeting...Enjoy the time to yourselves and get home early!!!

Hawk Action Items

Happy Staff Appreciation Week for Monday, May 6th - Friday, May 10th! We can't wait to cook it up BBQ style with you and celebrate all of the wonderful things you do for our students, families, and community every single day. We have the best staff ever at Pennoyer! #PennoyerPride

Monday, May 6th, we're excited to have our 30 minute assemblies on Internet Safety, Social Media, and Digital Citizenship for all of K-8th graders. Kindergarten is from 9:00-9:30am in the gym, 1st Grade is from 9:50-10:20am in the art room, 2nd Grade is from 10:25-10:55am in the classroom, 7th and 8th Grade is from 11:00-11:30am in the gym, 3rd-5th Grade is 11:45am-12:15pm in the gym, and 6th grade is from 12:25-12:55pm in the gym. We'll be giving follow up surveys to our 5th-8th graders afterwards to gauge their understanding and connect on possible supports they might need.

We need to get a headcount of all staff members attending 8th grade graduation at Ridgewood High School on Thursday, May 30th in their field house. The ceremony begins at 6:30pm. All staff will have special seating behind our graduates on the floor, so whether you're coming to help out, or just to support our students and be a guest at graduation, please take a moment to RSVP and fill out the form HERE by next Friday, May 10th. Thanks so much!

Thanks again for all your hard work with creating initial class lists for the 2024-2025 school year. Don't forget that final revisions for teachers are due by Friday, May 10th. Please reach out to Adam with any questions or support that's needed.

On Friday, May 17th, Eisenhower Library will pay a visit to our K-6th graders to do 20 minute assemblies in the gym focusing on their Summer Programs and Summer Reading for our students! K-2 will be from 10:30-10:50am, 3-5 will be from 2:00-2:20pm, and then 6th grade will be from 2:25-2:45pm.

HERE are the final results from our Professional Development poll from our last staff meeting. Thanks for participating in this and giving your voice. We need to create a PD committee moving forward to help guide our decisions for our school and staff. I'm really excited about this opportunity for our staff to collaborate together. I'd love to get as many participants as possible. HERE is an example of the form we'll utilize for some of our major PD days. I'm thinking this committee will most likely meet once a month, and I can certainly be flexible and work with staff who are interested in being a part of it. Please reach out with any questions, and let Adam know if you'd like to be a part of this new committee by Monday, May 6th. Thanks so much!

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. *New addition to the protocol...please make sure to let the supervising teacher know you're sending someone when you sign a student up for a Behavior Academy. Thanks to everyone who has been supporting these.

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 April! Keep it up in May. Here's the Google Form for teachers to complete. Thanks!!!

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

Well I don't mind stealing bread, from the mouths of decadence. But I can't feed on the powerless, when my cup's already overfilled."

-Hunger Strike by Temple of the Dog

Hawk Celebrations

This week we're celebrating Principal Liz, who certainly gave me a run for my money. Liz was the leading student in raising money for our Walk A Thon this year, so she was awarded being Principal for a Day and she didn't disappoint! Liz made sure she had the energy to do the job with a great pizza lunch, and then she was ready to go. Principal Liz watched some educational videos...Baby Shark might have been a part of those videos, sent off a social media post, and learned her way around the office. When it was time, Principal Liz got out into the classrooms with me and explored what students and staff were doing. She made her way into everything from our preschool classroom to middle school. She even found some time to hang out in the Principal's office with a few older students. Principal Liz capped it all off with an announcement over the loud speaker to the entire school to end the day. She was absolutely amazing, and I seriously had the best time hanging out with her and watching her enjoy the experience. #Pennoyerpride for Principal Liz!