Mark your calendars! We are excited to invite Meyer families to the MEYER SHOWCASE on Thursday, May 2nd from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Meyer School. Students will share their hard work and learning with their families. Feel free to come by anytime between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. Please enter through Door #7 by the parking lot. We’re looking forward to seeing you!

What is an Informance? An informance is a way to inform parents of what a typical music class is like. It is similar to a performance in that there is an audience, but instead of rehearsing set pieces, the students demonstrate what they do during music class. The setting is smaller and more intimate than a larger performance. Parents see first-hand how their child experiences music at Meyer School!

WHEN:

• Ms. Huynh’s class: Monday, May 13th at 11:00 a.m.
• Ms. Solomon’s class: Monday, May 13th at 12:00 p.m.
• Ms. Mpistolarides and Ms. Zaccone’s class: Monday May 13th at 1:00 p.m.
   
• Ms. Lancioni’s class: Tuesday, May 14th at 9:30 a.m.
• Ms. LaBarbera’s class: Tuesday, May 14th at 10:30 a.m.

Each Informance will last approximately 25 minutes. Seating is limited so we ask that each child invites a maximum of 2 adults.

Please check in with your ID at the Meyer office. Plan to arrive approximately 10 minutes early to allow time for check in. Thank you!

See this FLYER for information. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Castellini at [email protected]. We hope to see you there!

SAVE THE DATE! Help us celebrate the accomplishments of our 5th grade students! Join us in the Middleton gym on Wednesday, May 29th from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. for poetry, art, and a fond farewell as they prepare to move on to 6th grade.

Current 5th grade parents and guardians are also invited to visit McCracken Middle School on Thursday, May 9th from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. for "On to 6th Grade." Check the McCracken section below for the "On to 6th Grade" parent/guardian event invitation and more information.

ON TO 6th GRADE & 5th GRADE VISIT. Current 5th grade parents and guardians are invited to visit McCracken Middle School on Thursday, May 9th from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. McCracken administration and 6th grade team members will be present to review important information to support the successful transition of our incoming 6th grade McCracken Hornets. The team will review general information about advisory, student schedules, lockers, August Meet and Greet, PBIS and CHAMPS behavior supports, social and emotional supports, and extracurricular programming. The administration will also lead an optional tour for families at the end of the program. All of this information will also be shared digitally for families who were not able to participate. We are also looking forward to welcoming 5th grade students who will visit McCracken on Thursday, May 16th during the school day! Please review this "On to 6th Grade" parent/guardian event invitation (available in multiple languages).

McCracken students engage in community building and cover social and emotional and digital citizenship learning standards during extended advisory classes each Friday. Second Step is our SEL curriculum which covers a range of lessons aligned to the Illinois Social and Emotional Learning Standards. A scope and sequence of the units and lessons across each grade level can be found HERE.

Students learned about perspective taking this week with the overall goal of being able to explain how to listen to and consider someone else’s perspective during a conflict. Our digital citizenship lessons are adopted from the Common Sense Digital Citizenship Curriculum. The units covered during April were social media as it relates to relationships and appropriate and healthy communication. In addition, lessons in middle school covered cyberbullying, digital drama, and the use of hate speech. Check out these Family Tips on supporting kids with Online Cyberbullying (also available in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Russian, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese).

8th GRADE PARENT/GUARDIAN GRADUATION COMMUNICATION. Please review recent communication to families regarding important graduation events coming up at the end of the school year to celebrate our McCracken 8th grade class of 2024. We communicate information by email, postal mail, and through our Weekly newsletter.

• March Graduation Parent/Guardian Letter (graduation ceremony, yard signs, t-shirt orders, graduation rehearsal, 8th grade end-of-year celebration, and more!)
• April Parent Reminders: 8th Grade Parent/Guardian Communication (April 12, 2024)
• Hub's Dine Out Fundraiser on Tuesday, April 30th

Please see the message below about our end-of-year celebration from the 8th grade parent committee:

Help our 8th graders celebrate their year-end in style! Please consider making a donation to fund food, decorations, and a DJ. Please consider making a donation now using THIS LINK to give our students a great sendoff!

McCracken students will have the opportunity to be entered into a monthly attendance raffle recognizing students who are on time to school and those who miss no more than one day per month. Each student who achieves 95% attendance will be entered into this raffle and those who have 100% attendance will be entered twice. There will be three prizes distributed to students in each grade level. We are excited to welcome students to school each day for a full day of learning. Please note that religious holidays will not count toward any absences.

Did you know that missing two days of school a month, over the course of a school year, can affect a student's academic success? Please help us make school attendance a priority! If you know that your child will be absent for the day, please call our school nurse, Ms. Warda, at 847-676-8235 by 8:00 a.m. on the day of the absence. Please review the McCracken Attendance Reminders for more information about the importance of consistent school attendance and keeping your child engaged in school.