Important Dates

Sunday 9/8 midnight - deadline to submit Room Parent interest form

Monday 9/9, 1:45-2:30PM - Library volunteer training

Monday 9/9 midnight - Elm Online Spiritwear Store closes

Thursday 9/12 - Special Lunch (Culver's)

Sunday 9/15 5PM - last day to sign up for the Elm Running Club

Wednesday 9/18 12PM - deadline to order Special Lunch for 9/26

Tuesday 9/24 - Picture Day

Thursday 9/26 - Special Lunch (Tropical Smoothie Cafe)

Friday 9/27, 3:30-5:00PM - 3rd Annual Fall Fest & Kickball Game

Sunday 9/29 12PM - The Wild Robot Movie Event

Sunday 10/6 - Hinsdale Rotary Run Charity Classic

Wednesday 10/9 - National Walk to School Day

Thursday 10/31 - last day to receive 10% discount on TreeRing yearbook

Principal's Corner

Rotary Run

The Hinsdale Rotary Run Charity Classic is on October 6, 2024. This event supports the Rotary Club in its international and local efforts, including these local non-profit organizations:

  • The Community House

  • D181 Foundation

  • Hinsdale Hospital Foundation

  • Rotary Foundation

  • Hanson Center-Ray Graham Association

Click Here for More Information

 

Hinsdale Rotary is offering a flash sale September 4-13: $25 for individuals and $75 for families of 4 or more. Help your school take home the prestigious “Mrs. B” and “Mr. K” trophies!

 

Click Here to Register

 



MAP Reports

The fall administration of Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) for 1st-5th grade students has ended.  Your child’s scores will be visible in Skyward starting Friday, September 13th. To access your child’s scores:

  • Browse to http://skywardfamily.d181.org/

  • Click on TEST SCORES in the left side menu

  • Scores will be listed in a table format, with the most recent MAP scores listed at the top

When viewing your child’s MAP scores, you will see two types of numbers. The first, called a RIT score, stands for Rasch UnIT.  This is a measurement scale developed to simplify the interpretation of test scores. It is an equal-interval scale, like feet and inches on a ruler. The RIT scale ranges from 100–350. RIT scores make it possible to follow a student’s educational growth from year to year. 

 

The second score you will see is a percentile rank. A percentile rank tells you how your child’s score compares to other students of his/her age and grade. For example, a percentile rank of 50 indicates that a student performed the same as or better than 50% of his/her same-age peers. Both scores help families and educators track student learning over time. 

 

This fall, NWEA introduced their enhanced item selection to take additional factors into consideration when selecting test items for students. This new test design selected test items closer to a student’s rostered grade level, which allowed NWEA to more accurately measure the content a student is learning in their core curriculum.

 

If you would like more information about NWEA MAP, please visit the family toolkit at https://www.nwea.org/parent-toolkit/.

 

Homework Helpers 

 

Walk and Roll to School Day

Elm School is participating in National Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 9th. Parents and students are all invited to walk/bike to school. This movement is aimed at inspiring our school community to come together in promoting health and safer routes for students to walk and bike to school. 

Sign Up to Become a Room Parent!

Are you interested in becoming more involved in your student's classroom? Sign up HERE. Interest form submissions are due no later than Sunday 9/8. Please reach out to roomparents@elmschoolpto.org with any questions or concerns.

Thank you for your support!

Maya Atassi and Christina Shima
VPs of Room Parents

Elm Spiritwear Available for Purchase through 9/9!

The Elm Online Spiritwear Store is now open and taking orders! This online store will close on Monday 9/9 at midnight.

Click HERE to access this year's spiritwear! Please note - not all colors are available in both adult and children’s sizes so please select carefully! Once all orders are submitted on 9/9, it will take 3-4 weeks for production and distribution. Your purchase will go home with your child once received. If we do not meet a minimum of 24 items for a particular logo, a decision will be made as to whether to order the additional quantity for inventory or to cancel the order. You will be contacted if this happens. Embroidered items are guaranteed as there are no minimums for these styles. This will be the only time that this store will be available for the remainder of the year so please order wisely! We will be ordering some extras to have on hand for some upcoming events, but it will not be guaranteed nor will we be able to order additional items at a later time.

Library News

Library Volunteers Wanted!
We are so excited to welcome volunteers to the Elm School Library for the 24-25 school year! Please complete this form to indicate your interest and to help us schedule your time.  Volunteers can come for one to two hours weekly, every other week, once a month, or to help with special projects like our Book Fair!  The full library/iLab schedule can be found on the Google Form.  We will have a volunteer training (for new and old volunteers) on Monday, September 9th from 1:45-2:30 PM.  If you can't come to the meeting, I can go over the information with you at a different time.  If you have any questions, please contact Susan Petersen, teacher-librarian, at spetersen@d181.org.
 

Picture Day is Tuesday 9/24

 

Afterschool Enrichment Activities

Elm is excited to offer the following afterschool enrichment activities. Registration closes one week prior to the first session.

 

Monday: Spanish (9/16-12/16, 3:05-4:05pm)

Tuesday: Chess (9/17-12/17, 3:05-4:05pm)

Wednesday: BAM Theatre (9/25-12/4, 3:05-4:05pm)

Thursday: Golf (9/19-12/19, 3:05-4:15pm)

Friday: Art (9/20-12/13, 3:05-4:15pm) ***second class added!***

Weekdays: Before and After the Bell with The Community House

 

Join the Elm Running Club

Students in grades K through 5th are invited to participate in Running Club! Sign up HERE. This morning club will be held at 8:00AM to 8:30AM twice a week starting on September 17th. Students will have the opportunity to gain an understanding of distance running and the benefits of exercise. They will also earn “Toe Tokens” for participating while keeping track of the amount of miles they run/walk throughout the club. Below are some highlighted details that are important to follow. This form will automatically close on September 15th at 5:00PM to ensure an attendance roster for the first day. We have a 60 student maximum so it may close before the anticipated date.

Students must have gym shoes/sneakers with either shoelaces or velcro to ensure safety (no crocs, sandals, boots, or flip flops). Students are encouraged to bring water bottles that are filled for hydrating throughout the 30 minutes.

Students will meet in the back blacktop area unless weather forces us to be inside in the gym. If there is rain in the forecast, students will participate in Elm School's gym area, entering through the front doors.

Please drop students off no earlier than 7:55AM.

Due to safety, we will only be accepting the first 60 students that sign up through the Signup Genius. If your child has any medical concerns, please email Mr. Kolar or Mr. Jensen. Mr. Jensen and Mr. Kolar look forward to working with those students interested and signed up for this club. If you have multiple children signing up, please make sure to sign them both up individually to ensure correct numbers.