Lincoln Families,

We’ve reached the home stretch on our journey towards Winter Break! Like your kids, I know myself and the entire Lincoln faculty are looking forward to the break and the opportunity recharge our batteries, spend time with loved ones and create new memories. Personally, I am looking forward to spending some time with family in St. Louis and my annual New Years trip to the Northeast with friends! Whatever your plans may be, I hope they are full of great fun, memories and laughter!

As you may know, this past spring, our students in grades 3 and 4 participated in the inaugural administration of the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers). The PARCC assessed students in the areas of Mathematics and English Language Arts. After much anticipation, state, district, school and individual student reports have arrived. Student reports have been mailed home and should arrive soon. As you begin to analyze scores, discuss performance and ponder questions, I encourage you to note that because this was the first administration of the PARCC, there is no longitudinal data to draw comparisons with. Therefore, this year’s data will serve as our baseline for moving forward. I also caution you not to draw parallels between the previously administered ISAT and PARCC. The rigor of these assessments and scoring are contrastingly different and therefore not easily compared.

Although only limited data has become available, Lincoln has much to celebrate! The percentage of Lincoln students Meeting or Exceeding standards in both Mathematics and English Language Arts is higher than both the state of Illinois and District 90 averages. While there is much to celebrate, there is also much to reflect upon and make progress towards. As more specific reports become available our staff will continue disaggregating this data to make instructional modifications to bring about increased performance in the future. More information about Lincoln and all other schools in Illinois can be found by accessing our school’s annual Illinois State Report Card. This intuitive site will give you a comprehensive view of Lincoln School and also allows for interactive comparisons between schools and districts statewide.

Should you have any questions or comments or just need assistance making sense of this data, please feel free to reach out. I am happy to help in anyway I can.  Looking forward, the 2016 PARCC assessment is scheduled to be administered in March of 2016.

Finally, as we close in on the “un-official” mid-point of the school year, it is a great time to reflect on our progress, celebrate accomplishments and set goals for the future. On a personal level, I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this community. I am humbled to serve as the captain of this ship and continue to be amazed by the passion with which this community supports our school.

In the event our paths don’t cross in the coming days, I wish you and yours a Winter Break full of relaxation and great family memories. See you in 2016!

CG

Please look for the next Lincoln Log on January 3, 2016!

Calendar

Monday, 12/14:  

• 4th Eagle Eyes Lunch Meeting
• Deadline for Young Authors Contest submissions

Wednesday, 12/16:

• Last day for Heartworks Mitten Tree donations

Thursday, 12/17:

• Lincoln Spirit Wear Day (due to Friday concerts)

Friday, 12/18:

• Lincoln Winter Concert Schedule:

First Grade: 9:45 am
Second Grade: 10:30 am
Third Grade: 1:00 pm
Fourth Grade: 1:45 pm

**Lincoln Spirit Wear will be available for purchase at the winter concerts**

• 2:30 pm EARLY DISMISSAL FOR ALL STUDENTS
• Fun Lunch: Subs

12/21-1/3: Winter Break

Winter Party/Winter Concert Entrance/Exit:

To better ensure student safety, account for school visitors and manage traffic flow please utilize the following protocols during this Friday’s Winter Concerts/Winter Parties:

Winter Concert: Please Enter and Exit though the Franklin Street Entrance

Winter Parties: Please Enter and Exit through the Park Street Entrance

If you are leaving the concert to attend a classroom party or vice versa please exit through the appropriate entrance and re-enter the building through the entrance designated above. Thanks for your support in keeping our school safe and making this a memorable day for our kids.

Holiday Party Reminder from the School Nurse

As holiday party planning continues, please remember to check with your class teacher or the school nurse for a list of food allergies unique to your classroom. Please remember that ALL food items must be store bought or made in a licensed commercial kitchen. All items must be nut-free and not manufactured in a nut facility or on equipment that is shared with any type of nut ( regardless of whether the classroom has a nut allergy). In addition, the items must be free of all allergens unique to the classroom and not manufactured on equipment that is shared with that allergen (example, soy).  Also please remember, food cannot be prepared in any way in your homes, i.e.. slicing fruit, or assembling themed food items. Thank you for helping keep all of our students safe.

If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to have your items reviewed, please contact Erin Godellas at “godellase AT district90.org” or 708-366-7340.

Heartworks Mitten Tree Project

Heartworks is sponsoring an annual holiday tradition at Lincoln–our Mitten Tree, which benefits the Hephzibah Children’s Association.

Lincoln families can donate NEW mittens, gloves, hats, and scarves for children ages 4-13 under care at Hephzibah. Hephzibah is a group home located in Oak Park that provides long-term support for traumatized children.

Students can hang their donations on the Tree in the Park Ave. Lobby between November 30th and December 16th.

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Young Authors Contest Deadline is 12/14

All writing pieces for the Young Authors Contest need to be submitted to Mrs. Moriarty by December 14th. 

The Young Authors’ Conference will be held on Saturday, January 30th in the Lincoln Auditorium.  Local children’s author and writing coach, Mike Grosso, will help celebrate our student authors at the event.  Please contact Mrs. Moriarty at “moriartyp AT district90.org” with questions.

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.

Chess Club is Back!

Chess and Backgammon Club will be meeting for 7 consecutive Wednesdays starting on January 6th.  The final day will be a tournament and pizza party on Wednesday, February 17th.

All grades and levels are welcome, as are volunteers!

Register on the PTO Web Store now.

• Fee is $15
• Wednesdays 3:15 to 4:15 pm (Jan. 6th through Feb. 17th)
• limited to 25 students

Questions?  Please contact Nikki Elza at “njselza AT comcast.net”

Help Fund Our PTO While You Shop

Do you shop at Target or on Amazon?  If so, this one is a no-brainer!

By registering your Target REDcard or Target MasterCard with Target’s Take Charge of Education program, Target will donate 1% of all of your purchases to the Lincoln PTO. That is IN ADDITION to your 5% savings with the REDcard. If you have a card already, all you need to do is register it by calling 1-800-316-6142 or by visiting www.Target.com/tcoe or an in-store kiosk. The primary cardholder of a Target Debit Card™ can sign up for the Take Charge of Education program by calling 1-800-316-6142.  Our school ID is 48034.  The Take Charge of Education Program will end on May 14, 2016, so take advantage of this valuable opportunity while it lasts!

In addition, when you shop at smile.amazon.com, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the Lincoln PTO.  Prices are the same as on Amazon.com, and millions of products are eligible.  Simply select “Lincoln Parent-Teacher Organization of River Forest” the first time you visit the site.

Lincoln also participates in the Box Tops For Education Program.  Click here for a list of participating box tops products.  Each box top is worth 10 cents to the school, so they really add up!  We will be having a box tops contest after winter break, so start clipping and saving them now.  The Box Tops website, www.BTFE.com, also offers coupons and recipes for participating products.

Save the Date: Lincoln Auction

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.
Please click here to sign up if interested.

Downloading 2015 photos?

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!

Young Filmmakers Contest

The contest is open to Grades 3 through College, with recognition in each category: elementary, middle school, high school and college. Submission deadline is 5 pm, Sunday, January 17, 2016.

Create a 3-8 minute film or a shorter animation on a specific topic related to climate change or sustainability.  See the attachment One Earth Film Contest  for details or click here for the One Earth Website.

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.