September 2015 Newsletter
James Ward School
2701 S. Shields Ave.
Chicago, IL 60616
773-534-9050
WELCOME BACK!!!!!!!
1st Monday of the month: “Coffee & Donuts with the Principal”
● When: 1st Monday of every month (7:00 - 7:45am)
● Where: Library
● Who: Parents, staff & principal (Ms. Karen Anderson)
● Topics: School-wide initiatives and new policies
● Q & A period for last 10 minutes at the end of each meeting
● Please save the following dates:
9/14/15
10/5/15
11/2/15
12/7/15
1/4/16
2/1/16
3/7/16
4/4/16
5/2/16
6/6/16
LSC Meetings (one Friday a month at 8 AM in the Library)
9/11/15 (State of the School Address)
10/9/15
11/6/15
12/4/15
1/8/16
2/12/16
3/11/16
4/1/16
5/13/16
6/10/16
Upcoming Events
September 3- Meet the Teachers
Night from 5:30-7 PM
September 7- Labor Day
September 8- WELCOME BACK! First
day of school! Back to School rally at
1:30 PM in auditorium.
September 14- Coffee & Donuts with
the Principal from 7-7:45 AM in
Library; Peter Pan auditions for
students in grades 3-8
September 21- Washington DC trip
meeting for interested 7th & 8th grade
parents & students from 5-6 PM
September 22- Chinatown Library (2nd
grade)
September 26- Math Fair at Navy Pier
from 10AM-2PM. Information will be
distributed on a separate flyer.
September 29- BAC meeting at 8 AM
in Lunchroom B; Chinatown Librarygrades 2, 5 & 6; PAC meeting from
5:30-6:30 PM in Library
October 1- Fall pictures
“
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Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
~John Dewey
Updates from Specialist’s Team
Physical Education
Welcome back to P.E. class! I hope you had a wonderful and active summer. PreK-2nd is going to get moving (in many creative ways)
throughout the Movements Unit. 3rd-8th is going to start the year with FITNESSGRAM. They will practice and perform 4 tests this
fall and again in the spring. These are the P.A.C.E.R, Curl Ups, Push Ups and the Sit and Reach. We will be striving towards the
"Healthy Fit Zone" in all 4 areas but that will take participating in physical fitness OUTSIDE of P.E. class as well as trying their best in
class. This will be a great fitness goal for all 3rd-8th grade students. Let's get fit!
Coach Hahle
Art
Welcome to a brand new school year and a brand new art room!! We have new art tables, a new smart board, and a very excited art
teacher! Please consider donating a box of Kleenex or a pump bottle of hand soap to the art room to help supply some commonly
used products used by all students. Also, you can keep posted on the happenings in the art room through the art website:
http://jameswardartzone.weebly.com/! Here’s to a great year!
Music
Welcome back to music! We are starting out the year with team-building, rhythm study, and composing in small groups. Make sure
to check the Music Website ms-saunders.yolasite.com to check out what we are doing in music class. Auditions for our fall musical
Peter Pan are Monday, September 14th after school. See Ms. Saunders for permission slips and details. Auditions are open to
grades 3-8.
Spanish
Welcome to a new school year and to Spanish class! This” Reading Resolutions” year promises to be an exciting one, filled with new
learning experiences at James Ward School. I am very happy to be part of the CPS Foreign Languages in Elementary School (FLES)
Spanish program. My goal is to provide the tools to understand and communicate with others in basic Spanish for all of my students
who have little or no prior experience with the language and to increase the level of proficiency of those who have either previous
knowledge or are heritage speakers.
I encourage you to contact me should you have any questions or concerns, or just to say hello! You can reach me via email at
[email protected] . Thank you for allowing me the privilege of working with your children! Marta Escude-Jesus
This is a snapshot of what we will learn in September:
 Greetings (hola, buenos días/tardes/noches, hasta luego, adiós)  How are you? (¿cómo estás? bien, muy bien, así así, mal, muy
mal)  How do you feel? (¿cómo estás/te sientes? triste, feliz, enojado, sorprendido, cansado)  What is your name? (¿cómo te
llamas? me llamo______)  Commands (siéntense, párense, levanten la mano, cojan el lápiz, suelten el lápiz, escriban su nombre,
dibujen una flor)  Ask permission (puedo ir al baño, puedo tomar agua). Academic content area in the Spanish class:


Math: numbers 1-100, geometric solids, one-step word problems involving addition & subtraction in Spanish
Literacy: phonemic awareness in Spanish (sounds, names of letters and blending), Spanish high frequency words, verbs
(infinitive form)
Social Studies: 7 continents and classify animals according to habitat
Science: Outdoor vocabulary, parts of a plant



Science Lab
Welcome back! I am so excited to be teaching Science to Preschool through 4th grade this school year! Preschool will be coming to
the Science Lab once a week, Kindergarten through 3rd grade will be coming twice a week, and 4th grade will be coming three times
a week. Beginning in September, we will explore various concepts through hands-on activities and investigations to familiarize
ourselves with the Scientific Method.
“
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Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
~John Dewey
Technology
Welcome to a new year of technology. My name is Mrs. Chacon and my email is [email protected]. Please feel free to contact me
with any concerns or questions you may have. Your students will be learning computer technology at their level throughout the
year. Some of the areas we will visit are Word, Excel, Power point, Google drive, email, internet safety, and other areas. Some new
programs we will have are formal typing for Kindergarten through 3rd grade and we are now a CS4ALL school, which means we will
th
be learning coding from Kindergarten through 8 grade. This will be another great year!
Team News
Pre-School
Welcome back to James Ward School! Both Mrs. Gunawan and Ms. Moy are excited to welcome all the new students to our
classroom. As our theme for this school year is “Reading Resolutions”, we would like to invite all families to make reading a part of
their daily routine. We would like to have all preschoolers and their parents dedicate at least 15 minutes of their time to enjoy the
reading experience. . Again, welcome back to school!
K-2nd
The primary team would like to welcome all students back to school. We are excited for a great school year! The primary team is
pleased to introduce our new first grade teacher, Jennifer Hung. This year, our team also includes Ms. Gunawan, Ms. Randle, Ms.
Tan, Ms. Kao, Ms. Bers and Ms. Zhang. For the first three weeks in September, the bilingual teacher Ms. Jian will be teaching
kindergarten in room 103 until Ms. Tan returns. We thank all of you for a successful night at Meet the Teachers Night. This month,
second grade students will be going to Chinatown’s new library on September 22nd. Please have your child arrive to school on time
every day. Make sure that you adhere to James Ward’s uniform policy. We are looking forward to a great start to the school year.
3rd/4th
The third and fourth grades would like to extend our greetings to parents and students at the start of our new school year!
The first weeks of school will mostly be centered on familiarizing students with classroom geography, school rules and procedures as
well as our Second Step and Foundation programs. It is imperative that parents review and sign the “Parent Policy” contract which
will be sent home on Thursday, September 10. Parents should also make sure to check homework assignment notebooks daily and
Grade Book weekly. Thanks and we look forward to great year!
5th/6th
Math- Hi! My name is Lily Ng! Welcome to a brand new math curriculum called “Everyday Math.” James Ward School will be using
this curriculum for grades Pre-kindergarten to sixth. Although this is only our first year using this Math curriculum, I will definitely
be implementing other math resources that would make your child’s learning as successful as it can be. The one great thing about
this math curriculum is that everything is available on-line (Textbook, HomeLinks, Math Journal, etc.). This will be made available to
you as soon as your child receives their log-in information. As for homework, every student is required to “PASS at least 2 Lessons”
from ThinkThroughMath (TTM) weekly. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at [email protected].
Literacy-My name is Mr. Farrell, and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming school year in literacy for the 5/6 pod. We’ll be
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starting out the year taking a closer look at storytelling, using the novel The One and Only Ivan in 5 grade, and journeys, using a
graphic novel adaptation of The Odyssey. New to this school year, we’ll also be taking monthly field trips to the Chinatown Library,
so please keep an eye out for a letter explaining the logistics of the trip and the permission slip.
“
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Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
~John Dewey
Social Studies- My name is Ms. Dilley. I am the Social Studies teacher for fifth and sixth grades. It is my first year here at Ward and I
am so excited to be working with your students! I have my Bachelors degree in political science and geography from the University
of Wisconsin - Madison, and a Masters degree in teaching from the University of Chicago. In September, fifth graders will be learning
critical media literacy their first month, and sixth graders will be diving into urban geography with an in-depth study of their own
communities.
Science- My name is Mrs. Croitoru. Welcome to another exciting year of science class as we venture into preparing for our science
projects. More information is available on my website(wardscience.webs.com) and classroom Google which your child can share
with you. It was a pleasure to have met some parents already during our Meet the Teachers night. Please be prepared to sign up for
ClassDojo when your child gives you the access code. ClassDojo allows all of your child's teachers to collaborate and keep everyone
updated with his/her weekly progress. Also know that I may always be reached at [email protected] anytime, and if you should
need to meet with me personally, feel free to make an appointment before or after school.
Diverse Learners- My name is Ms. Ferrell. I will be supporting the fifth and sixth diverse learners as well as anyone who needs a
little extra support. Here are some strategies to kick off a successful school year: set up a homework routine right after school, find
an area with minimal distractions to complete homework, get to bed early, and eat a good breakfast!
7th/8th
Literacy - Welcome back to a new year full of "reading resolutions!" Some new features to look forward to this year include
quarterly trips to the Chinatown Library to explore all the resources offered to you as well as a full year of Accelerated Reader to
support independent reading. I'm also looking forward to working closely with the 8th graders as a homeroom teacher as they go
through their final year at James Ward and prepare for the transition to high school.
Math/Algebra - Welcome back! We have a new math curriculum this year called Connected Math, which is an extension of Everday
Math, which is being used by PreK - 6th grade. We will continue to use TTM for individual math support. Looking forward to a great
year!
Science - In science we are going to have an exciting year! We are going to begin the year with 2 science challenges. We also are
going to kick-off our science expo on September 11th. Students will be researching a topic of interest and develop an experiment
based on their topic. Parents and guardians, more information will be sent home on September 11th and it will also be posted on my
webpage at http://cmslowik.webstarts.com.
Social Studies - Hello, everyone! My name is Rachel Marazzi and this is my first year at James Ward. I am so happy to be here! I
have just returned from three years living in Germany and teaching at an international school. Besides living in Germany I've lived in
and spent time in many countries around the world over the past ten years and I’m excited to incorporate everything I experienced
from my adventures overseas into making 7th and 8th grade Social Studies as interactive, interesting and relevant as possible!
Volunteer Registration Packet
If you are interested in volunteering at James Ward School, please pick up a packet in the main office.
Selective Prep class for 8th Graders
Register NOW for SelectivePrep’s After School James Ward Selective Enrollment Program (for 8 th Graders)
One third of the entrance score is determined by your child’s performance on the Selective Enrollment High School Entrance Exam.
SelectivePrep offers an intensive program to help prepare students for the Selective Enrollment Entrance Exam. SelectivePrep’s
course will review all the exam’s Reading, Math, Language, and Vocabulary topics and discuss optimal test taking techniques.
Included in this program is a Study Guide containing extensive content review and exercises.
Classes at James Ward will start on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 and run for 8 sessions from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM. We will need a
minimum of 10 students to run the class at James Ward – so please spread the word.
If you need more information or have any questions, please visit our website at selectiveprep.com or call 312-409-8411.
Jonina Lerner (Partner, SelectivePrep)
[email protected]
312-409-8411
www.selectiveprep.com
ALL NEWSLETTERS WILL BE POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE (STARTING IN OCTOBER). HARD COPIES
OF THE NEWSLETTER WILL NOT BE DISTRIBUTED AFTER THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER!
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Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
~John Dewey