Congress Park Dolphin Newsletter

2.23.24

Dear Congress Park Community,

February is flying by! We continue to work together as a community to take care of each other and make Congress Park a place where all students are feeling safe, respected, and ready to learn. Many of our CP students have been "caught being kind" in the hallways and in the classrooms. Please ask your child to share some of the ways that they are showing kindness to others throughout the school day. Way to go, Dolphins!

Important Arrival and Pick-Up Reminders

Safe arrival and dismissal of our students is a top priority for us.  Please review the procedures listed below to help keep all of Congress Park’s students safe. 

Morning Drop-Off

  • Student arrival begins at 8:10 a.m., and there is no adult supervision prior to this time.

  • Please do not park on Madison Avenue or Raymond Avenue. These streets are one way streets and drop-off only.  

  • No drop-off is allowed in the parking lot/circle drive. 

  • Students can be dropped off along Madison Avenue on the school-side of the street.

  • All students should be dropped off from the curb side of the car.  

  • Students should avoid walking through the parking lot.

Afternoon Pick-Up

  • Please do not park on Madison Avenue or Raymond Avenue. These streets are one way streets and pick-up only.  

  • No pick-up is allowed in the parking lot/circle drive. 

  • Please wait inside the car for your child to arrive.

These traffic arrangements were made under the guidance of the Brookfield Police and Fire Departments in order to better ensure the safety of our students. If you are not the person that picks up your child after school, please pass this information on to whoever picks up your child. 

5Essentials Parent Survey: We currently have a 23% parent response rate. Your participation matters! To take the survey please click on this link and select the appropriate survey to begin.

5Essentials Congress Park Parent Letter

Curriculum Corner: One of the ways our district teaches foundational reading skills is through Structured Word Inquiry. This is an approach that allows for student investigation of the history of words and why words are spelled a certain way. Rather than giving word lists to be memorized, base words and affixes are explored in either a small group or whole class setting. For example, in kindergarten students explore the high frequency word <go> and add suffixes to the base to create words like going, goes and gone which are words our students commonly come across in kindergarten level books. 

Structured Word Inquiry is an instructional approach that has been found to be very effective with all levels of students. Since this strategy focuses on understanding meaning and spelling patterns, it is beneficial for students who may have hearing or speech issues that get in the way of “sounding out” words. For this reason, early elementary teachers instruct using both Orton Gillingham (traditional phonics instruction) and Structured Word Inquiry when teaching foundational skills.

Kind regards,

Amy Grieve

Congress Park Principal

CP NEWS

Summer School Programming

summer english

summer spanish

Kindergarten Information Night - 2024-2025

Please share this information with your friends and neighbors.

kinder info nite

kinder info nite spanish

REMINDERS

Attendance

If your child will be absent from school, please contact cpattendance@dist102.k12.il.us. This is a quick and easy way to communicate with the health office about your child's absence.

Congress Park Parent Calendar

Congress Park activities can be found on the District website, or parents can subscribe to our Parent Google Calendar.  Follow the link to subscribe.  Congress Park Parent Google Calendar

UPCOMING DATES

2/27 - Kindergarten Information Night for students entering kindergarten August, 2024

3/1 - NO SCHOOL - Parent Teacher Conferences

3/2 - STEM Expo

3/5 - PTO Meeting

3/8 - Coffee with the Principal

3/8 - PTO Spring Carnival

3/9 - Cossitt School Clothing Sale

From our Congress Park PTO

lemonade war

We hope you are having a great time reading this fun book with your family.  We have a couple of exciting announcements...

A reading club is available on Tuesdays in Mr. Velez's room (212).  The club meets the whole lunch/recess time and kids of all ages are welcome to join with their books and lunch. This is a drop-in club, so please encourage your kids to join in if they want to read with the group. If you are a parent interested in helping with this reading club, please email Akeya Holt (akeya_stewart@yahoo.com);

Our Family Lemonade Wars close-out event will be in the Congress Park gym on April 12th.  More details to come;

If you are having trouble accessing the read aloud version of the book on the web, try this:

Please share your pictures and stories about reading The Lemonade Wars on social media by positing to #CPReads! .  Lets start a reading movement with this first book :)

calendar

calendar spanish

PTO Volunteer Positions

pto

Your fellow Congress Park parents, through their roles on the PTO, put on our Back-to-School Bash, Trunk-or-Treat, Winter Carnival, One School One Book and many of the other fun activities we have enjoyed this year.  The current Board's term is up at the end of the school year, and we need new members to keep these activities going. If you have enjoyed these activities, please consider helping the school out by joining the Board. We literally can't do these things without you. 

 Open Roles Include:

 CO-President - Preside over meetings of the Board and General PTO. Coordinate the work of all PTO members to ensure duties are being carried out. Sign contracts and checks, serves as liaison between PTO and Administration/Staff.

 Events Coordinator - Oversee all committees that run and organize special events. Help to advertise events via fliers and digital communications with the help of the communications team.

Fundraising Coordinator - Oversee all fundraising efforts and committees tasked with fundraising. Identify and contact potential community supporters for advertising opportunities.

Communications - Oversee all communication efforts between PTO and parents through PTO website, social media, school newsletter and flyers. Assist with Directory Spot. Spanish translation skills nice to have but not required.

Member at Large - Assist the Board in whatever capacity is needed and learn the various roles of the Board in hopes that they can take on a position the following year.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4DA9AA22A0FA7-47842932-ptohelp#/

COMMUNITY EVENTS

run for 102

Early bird registration opens 2/15/24 for District 102's 9th annual  Race to the Finish 5K and 1-Mile Run/Walk! This year's event is taking place at Cossitt Avenue School on Saturday, May 11, 2024. The 1-mile fun run will kick off at 8:00 am and the 5K Race at 9:00 am.   Don’t miss out on early bird pricing through March 11th! $25-5K, $20-1 Mile Fun Run + $80 family pricing of 4 or more (use promo code FAMILY).  Also, if you have a child who wants to be timed for BOTH races but doesn’t need two shirts, please contact runfor102@gmail.com for more information on a discounted rate. Register at Runfor102.org 

STEM Expo YouTube

Saturday, March 2; Forest Road School

Check out the STEM EXPO website for more detailed information.  Register here to tell us you will be there.  Register by February 17th to ensure you get a t-shirt in your size.  Hope to see you there!

stem expo

We are egg-cited to invite all D102 families to STEM EXPO 2024 on March 2nd from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm at Forest Road School, 901 N Forest Road, La Grange Park.  This event is a great opportunity for you to see the amazing projects made by our talented students.  EXPO will showcase the hard work and creativity of our students as they present their STEM projects. 

You are also invited to the Open House on March 2nd from 10:00 am - 12:30 pm at the Science Center, 930 N Barnsdale Road, La Grange Park.   You will engage in some egg-speriments and egg-splorations, as well as visit our animal center.

ogden