October 28, 2024
October 28, 2024
    Contact a teacher through the websiteSchool Vision and ThemeEPE Fall Fest: On behalf of the PTA, we would like to thank you for supporting our fourth annual Fall Fest last week. What a beautiful day we had and what an amazing turnout from our school community! Thank you to all of our students, families and staff for being part of this great day. We’d like to say a huge thank you to the volunteers that helped make this event a success. We are so appreciative of your hard work and commitment. We also wish to thank our Trunk or Treat volunteers, who generously offered their time and creativity so that we could have a Trunk or Treat at Fall Fest. In addition, thank you to everyone that gave Trunk or Treat donations. We were very fortunate to have an abundance of treats to supply our large crowd of trunk or treaters. The PTA also thanks the following sponsors: 1) Resurrection College Prep for sponsoring the Fall Fest games; 2) State Representative Brad Stephens, State Senator Robert Martwick, and 41st Ward Alderman Anthony Napolitano, for their monetary donations and sponsorship of the Pumpkin Patch; and 3) Moment in Time ENT for sponsoring the Photo Booth. We’d like to say a final thank you to Mr. Finelli and Ms. Whitfield for supporting this event and giving us the opportunity to provide a fun fall activity to our school community. EPE Walk A Thon: With our Walk-A-Thon coming up in less than two weeks, I wanted to share some details about past ones and future goals. Over the past two years, we have been fundraising to improve our outdoor area. Possible projects include a full basketball court, volleyball court, and a new playground. Unfortunately, it has been a true headache trying to get through all of the red tape with CPS to begin any of these projects. I have been fighting with them to provide basic estimates for these projects (which is the first step!) since October 2022 which they have yet to produce. The goal was to have an idea of what these would cost so we could set a particular goal that the school community could work toward. There is a silver lining to all of this. All of the funds we have raised have not been used and earmarked for these projects. However, we thought it was only fair to produce something in the short-term that benefits our students. This is the reason that we are raising funds this year to purchase a Gaga pit for our back area (which the kids love to play!), purchase additional outdoor tables (which the kids love to hang out by!), redo the “ceilings” to our pergolas and improve those areas (which our kids use ALL of the time), and a few other things. I will continue to fight with CPS about the other projects I mentioned because our students deserve the best!  Upcoming Events: *Here is a link to all key dates/events this school yearSaturday, October 19th: Fall Fest (1 – 4 pm)Tuesday, October 29th: Picture retakesThursday, October 31st: Spooktacular (for all K-2nd graders and all the students in our cluster programs) – see how to help below! Future Dates: Monday, November 4th: Parent-Teacher Conferences (see below)Tuesday, November 5th: Election Day (no school)Friday, November 8th: Walk-A-Thon at Olympia Field (see below)Tuesday, November 12th: LSC Meeting – State of the School (6 pm)   The end of the first quarter is quickly approaching which means we will have Parent-Teacher Conferences on Monday, November 4th. I am sending this email to all of the main contacts according to Aspen.Here are the details about the Parent-Teacher Conferences: Conferences will take place from 11 am – 6 pm on Monday, November 4thVirtual meetings will take place from 11 am – 1 pmStaff lunch will be from 1:00 – 1:50In-person sessions will be from 1:50 – 6 pmWe have asked staff to maximize the length of the meetings based on the number of students they have in their class. But please know that some can only meet for 10 minutes. Parents should sign up for their session using the links found here. Again, virtual sessions will be from 11 – 1 (left side with links), and in-person sessions will be from 1:50 – 6 (right side with links). Please follow the instructions on the right-hand side to select a time to meet. Please contact the teacher directly if you are having trouble signing up or the links are not working. They will be the best person to help with this. We have also included instructions on how to meet with enrichment, MTSS, and our English Language Learner teachers plus the school counselor and clinicians. Thank you.  WALK A THON INFO SHEET LINK The Walk-A-Thon is one of Edison Park School’s largest fundraisers and we couldn’t do it without you, your families, and friends! This year, we are focusing our efforts on funding smaller beautification projects around our school. As a school, if we meet our goal of raising $7,000, we will provide a T-shirt for every student to wear on Walk-A-Thon day! We hope you consider donating! *Families that donate $100 or more will get a photo featured on our Wall of Fame* WALK-A-THON SCHEDULE – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8th12:40 – K-8 Students Depart EPE and Walk to Olympia Park 1:00 Walk-A-Thon Begins (Wait for signal so everyone can start at the same time) 2:00 – Walk-A-Thon Finishes & Students Return to School This year’s Walk-A-Thon will circle Olympia Park & individual laps completed will be counted! Make sure to wear gym shoes and dress for the weather. Bring your reusable water bottle (with your name written on it). You must have a walking field trip permission completed to attend! If you did not complete it on DocuSign, it can be found HERE! **We are looking for parent volunteers. If you are interested in helping students record their laps, assisting the homeroom teacher walking with the class to Olympia and back safely, or just being available during the event, please email your students’ homeroom teacher directly. If you can’t volunteer, you can still join us and cheer on our walkers. Bring signs, noisemakers, or pom poms and be ready to cheer!  Check Out These Opportunities for Students:The following classes are for students to participate in throughout the year including the one on Parent-Teacher Conference Day, Monday, NOvember 4th.    REPOST: Spooktacular – Thursday, October 31st:Spooktacular is the annual PTA sponsored Halloween Party that takes place in school on the morning of October 31st. It is specifically for Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and all students in our cluster programsWe are in need of parent/caregiver volunteers to help setup, run games and activities, and clean up. Be sure to sign up for your student’s time. Sign up to help hereREMINDER: All volunteers must submit their CPS volunteer form before assisting Thank you for your help and please let Natalie Robbins at [email protected] if you have any questions.    REPOST: Halloween Costumes:All students in Kindergarten through 8th grade are allowed to wear costumes on Halloween. However, no costume masks or weapons will be permitted. We would appreciate it if you can keep the blowup costumes at home for your kids to wear AFTER school. Also, we are asking families to keep candy at home for neighborhood trick-or-treaters. (This is the nice way of saying “no candy!”) REPOST: Current Open Parent Position (through June 2026): We currently have TWO open parent positions on the LSC and taking applications through Friday, November 8th by 3 pm (see attachment). Applications must be turned into the main office in person and the person must have TWO forms of identification. Applications will be reviewed in preparation for the November 12th LSC meeting. If you have any questions, please contact Camille at [email protected]. WEEKLY POST: Purchase EPE Spirit Wear: Don’t forget to order your new EPE Spirit Wear. The easy-to-use website can be found here. WEEKLY POST: General LSC Information: If you are a parent, staff member, teacher, or community member, and you have a question/concern you would like the LSC to address, please contact those people using their emails found here. We are asking those who wish to make a comment or present a question during public participation at the next LSC meeting to complete this form. You have the option to have the Chair read the statements and questions aloud or to say them yourself. You can also sign up in person before the meeting begins Sincerely,  Files:Temporary LSC candidate nomination form.pdf |