Lincoln Families,

I hope you enjoyed the extra day this weekend with your kids. The extra day off during the long winter months is always a nice treat.

Although these dates are not in the immediate future, please note that the D90 Assessment Calendar has been modified for the administration of the PARCC assessment (Grades 3 and 4) and the Spring NWEA MAP assessment (Grades 2-4). The new testing window for these assessments is as follows. Hopefully this information will be useful to you as you might be scheduling appointments, vacations, or other absences. A more formal/specific calendar will be published upon completion.

PARCC 2016 Assessment Window (Grades 3-4) -April 11-April 29

NWEA MAP Assessment Window (Grades 2-4)- May 9-May 20

As we forge through this unpredictable winter, there will continue to be days where snow pants and snow boots are necessary. On those days, please be sure that your child attends school with an additional pair of appropriate shoes for PE class.

Finally, when picking up your child from school for appointments or other reasons, please do your best to inform the office and the teacher in advance. This notification will allow teachers the opportunity to have any work prepared and your child ready when you arrive.

As always, thanks for your continued support of our school. Please never hesitate to let me know if there is anything I can do to better support you or your family. Enjoy the shortened work week.  CG

Lincoln Spirit Day Winners 1/15/16:

Mrs. Stasys – 1st grade

Mr. Cheney – 4th grade

Calendar This Week

Tuesday, 1/19: Winter Sports Camp

Wednesday, 1/20:

• “Waste Free Wednesday”
• Chess Club

Thursday, 1/21:

• Winter Sports Camp
• Lincoln Auction planning meeting – 8pm at 121 Thatcher

Friday, 1/22:

• LATE registration deadline for Winter/Spring Fun Lunch
• Lincoln Spirit Day
• Fun Lunch – Chicken Tenders/Veggie Burgers

 Monday, 1/25:

• Yoga and tennis classes begin
• Coding Club – first meeting

Just a few spots are left for Yoga, Tennis & Coding Club

Keep your kids busy and out of the cold this winter. Register for tennis, yoga, or coding club! Log on to the PTO Web Store to register for the following PTO Programs.  Rev Track will not allow you to complete your order on a mobile phone, please use a computer.

Connect4Kids Winter Core Power Yoga

Calling All Yogis, Adrienne Smith and Laurie Solberg of Core Power Yoga will be teaching children’s yoga class for 1st – 4th grade students on Mondays in the Auditorium.

Class starts Monday, January 25 and runs for 6 weeks skipping President’s Day week and Pulaski Day week.

The program will provide children with an opportunity to foster greater self-awareness and improve their concentration and self-confidence.  The team will introduce the children to the fundamentals of yoga and incorporate social-emotional themes.

The cost is $70 for 6 classes.

Connect4Kids Play For Lot Tennis

Tennis will be taught by Mirka and Luka Bagos, professional coaches of Play For Lot, in the Lincoln Gym.  The 6-week program welcomes children of all skill levels, but classes are separated by grades:

Mondays are for grades 1 and 2.  First class is on Monday, 1/25; last class is on Monday, 3/14  (no class on Presidents’ Day & Pulaski Day).

Wednesdays are for grades 3 and 4.  First class is Wednesday, 1/27; the last class is Wednesday, 3/16 (no class the week of Presidents’ Day & Pulaski Day).

To find out more visit:  http://www.playforlot.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/playforlot/

The cost is $70 for 6 classes.

Coding Club

Mrs. Clasky will once again be hosting a Coding Club on Mondays after school. This is a repeat session of the fall club (repeat exercises not intended for past club members), and is limited to 18 Third and Fourth Grade students.

Meetings are on Mondays, 3:15 to 4:15 pm in the Lincoln School Library

Meetings are held on school days, January 25th through May 2nd.

There is no cost for this club.

Winter/Spring Fun Lunch Registration

Fall Fun Lunch ended last Friday, January 15th with Pasta.  If you did not order a full year of lunches in the Fall, then you need to order again for your child to continue receiving Fun Lunch through the end of the school year.

If you missed the January 15th registration deadline for Winter/Spring Fun Lunch, you can order until Friday, January 22nd, but there is a $15.00 LATE FEE PER CHILD. Whether this child receives 1 or all 4 fun lunches, there will be a $15 fee added. There is no registration for lunches after January 22nd, 2016.

Register right now on the PTO Web Store.

Not sure if you signed up for half year, or full year?  Check your order history on the web store:

• My Account
• Log In
• Order History
• click on the 2015 dates to see what was ordered  (Look for the words “Full Y” and a single menu cost of $38-$40 in the description)

Don’t get stuck making lunches–order by 1/22 !

“Waste Free Wednesdays” begin this week!

The Green4Good Committee will begin “Waste Free Wednesdays” during lunch on January 20th and will continue until Earth Week in April. We will be hand-stamping kids with lunches that are waste free. Lunches that do not cause any waste to be thrown into the landfill will qualify. The key is to pack lunch items in containers that are reusable, recyclable or compostable! See the attached Zero waste lunch flyer for more information.

This is a fun and educational tool that helps Lincoln students learn about earth-friendly practices.

Lincoln K-4 Jr. Scientist Expo – Register Now!

What: Lincoln Elementary K-4th Jr. Scientist Expo

When: 3/10, 6:15 display setup, display presentations and prize drawings 6:30-7:30

Where: Lincoln Elementary Gymnasium

Are you MAD about SCIENCE?  Does the word EXPERIMENT make you BUBBLE over?  If this RAISES your TEMPERATURE then the Lincoln Jr. Scientist Expo is for you!  Groups of one, two or three Scientists can share a science project, completed at home, with friends and family.  All will be recognized for their effort and eligible for prize drawings during the Expo – grand prize is a real microscope!

Don’t wait…each participant must register at the PTO Web Store before January 29th for this free Lincoln PTO sponsored event.  If registering as part of a group, you must enter the names of all other group members.

CLICK Lincoln Jr Science Expo Flyer for more details and suggested website resources.

Kindergarten “Sneak-Peek” and Registration

Please don’t forget that Kindergarten registration for the ’16-’17 school year will open on February 6.  Also, don’t forget to mark your calendar for February 23 at 7:00 PM for our Kindergarten Sneak Peek for the ’16-’17 school year. More information on these events is coming soon.

Reminder re: Online School Directory

The AtoZ Directory, District 90’s online student directory, is available for families to access from cell phones, tablets, and computers. Families are able to use the directory to obtain contact information of their student’s classroom friends and to update their own contact information. The AtoZ Directory uses a secure format that is based on a simple password system.

To use this directory, families must login to create a unique password and must verify their directory information.  Last Thursday, families that had not yet signed in to verify their directory information received an email from “River Forest School District Directory (riverforest@schooldirectory.com)” enabling them to verify directory information.  Be on the lookout for that email if you haven’t signed into the directory so that you can access this valuable resource!

Lincoln Yearbooks are now on sale!

Yearbooks are now available to order on the PTO Web Store.  Reserve a copy for your student(s) before March 1st and you’ll save $5.  $20 gets you a hardcover book and a souvenir pen.  Books are distributed during the Ice Cream Social on Friday, May 13th.

Save your confirmation email from the PTO Web Store so you can quickly confirm your order when “end of the school year” panic sets in!

Do you have some precious photos of Lincoln students at school events?

Share some of your best school photos with the Lincoln Yearbook!  We’d love to see your PTO event, playground or classroom photos.  Please email them to Ann Mills at “anncieslica AT msn.com” or Cheri Gearhart at “cheri AT gearhart.com”.

Please note, we can only use high resolution photos, so please select a large file size and know that only 3-5 photos will fit on a single email.  We don’t mind receiving multiple emails!  Or you can always share via google drive or drop box.  Thank you!

Lou Malnati’s Lincoln Night is 1/27

Order or dine in at Lou Malnati’s anytime between 11am and 11pm and a portion of your sale will be donated to Lincoln’s PTO. Please be sure to print out the attached flyer. Contact Nikki Elza with any questions at njselza@comcast.net.
Print out the flyer: OP.LincolnElemPTO

Connect4Kids Book Talk

In the winter months we think it may be time to curl up with a good book.  Order yourself a copy of:

Teach Your Children Well: Why Values and Coping Skills Matter More Than Grades, Trophies, or “Fat Envelopes” by Madeline Levine, Ph.D.

We invite Lincoln and Willard parents to our first Connect4Kids Parent Book Club on February 11th, 2016, 7pm @ Lincoln School.

This talk will be moderated by Dr. Cara Lanza Hurley.  Dr. Hurley is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with nearly a decade of specialized training and expertise.  She will lead an intimate discussion encouraging us to reflect on insights from the book and process the art of parenting with peers.  We are delighted she will be facilitating our post book discussion as she comes to us with positive reviews after several parent book talks in Hinsdale.

Please RSVP here by February 8th.

Extra copies of this book will be available in the Lincoln and Willard offices if you want to stop by and check them out.

Girls on the Run at Lincoln This Spring!

Make a difference: volunteer as a coach for Girls on the Run!

Girls on the Run is a non-profit, after-school program for 3rd and 4th grade girls that uses the power of running to educate girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. The program combines training for a 5k event with interactive lessons that encourage positive physical and social-emotional development.
WHEN do we meet?
 Twice a week after school for 75- 90 minutes with your team. The program will be held on Tuesday and Thursdays at Lincoln School starting in March through May and is led by trained, volunteer coaches. (Cost will be $175 for 12 week season).
Lottery sign up to begin in February.
WHERE can I learn more? www.gotrchicago.org
Volunteer as a coach for Girls on the Run!
You don’t need to be a runner or have previous coaching experience – just the passion to change the lives of young girls.
Contact Kristin Bailitz at kristinbailitz@gmail.com if interested.

Jump Rope for Heart

Our school is proud to collaborate with the American Heart Association to help kids with special hearts! Mark your calendars now for our upcoming Jump Rope for Heart/Hoops for Heart event taking place on 2/10/16.

Materials and information on collection donations will be sent home this Friday.

Grades 1-4 only.

Lincoln Auction on 3/11; Planning Meeting on 1/21

PTO AUCTION FUNDRAISER – Friday, March 11, 2016

Please join us for an evening to support our PTO.
Food, Drinks, Friends, and Competition – bid on prizes for sports tickets, getaways and more!

A volunteer meeting will be held on Thursday, January 21st at 8 pm at 121 Thatcher.  Please click here to sign up if interested.

A Reminder from our School Nurse

As cold weather begins, so does our cold and flu season. Please help keep all of us at Lincoln healthy by following our best practices. Please remember that children with a fever of 100.5 or greater need to stay home for at least 24 hours and until they are fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications. Also remember, if your child is vomiting or has diarrhea, that they need to remain home from school until they are free of vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you in advance for doing your part.