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Dear Howe Families,

IAR (Illinois Assessment of Readiness) testing is here! This standardized assessment is used to measure student learning and school performance in relation to Illinois learning standards. The results help us understand each student’s progress and guide instructional decisions to support their success.

For students in grades 3-5, testing will take place on the following dates:

📌 Math Assessments

• Tuesday, March 11 – Math I

• Wednesday, March 12 – Math II

• Thursday, March 13 – Math III

📌 Reading Assessments (After Spring Break)

• Wednesday, April 9 – Reading I

• Thursday, April 10 – Reading II

• Friday, April 11 – Reading III (Field Test)

We have been selected to participate in the IAR Field Test. The field test is an opportunity for the state to test new questions that may be included in future assessments. While this portion does not impact student scores, it provides valuable data to improve the IAR for future test-takers. This adds Reading III to our testing schedule.

Important Testing Reminders:
⏰ Testing sessions will run from 9:30 AM – 11:15 AM.

🚪 Students who arrive after the test begins will not be permitted to enter the classroom and will be required to take a makeup session at a later date. It is very important for students to be in attendance on their testing dates.

To ensure a smooth testing experience, please make sure your child:

✔ Has working headphones for the test
✔ Gets plenty of rest the night before each assessment
✔ Arrives at school on time and ready to do their best

Thank you for your support in helping our students succeed!

Dear BPD3 Parents and Guardians,

The 5Essentials Survey is now open! This important survey helps shape a clear picture of our school and provides valuable insights into how parents and guardians view our learning environment. Your feedback plays a vital role in guiding our efforts to improve and grow.

The survey takes approximately 10-20 minutes to complete and is available from February 18, 2025, through March 28, 2025.

We highly encourage all parents and guardians to take a few moments to complete the survey and share their perspectives. Your voice matters!

Thank you for your time and support in helping us create the best possible experience for our students.

Parents,

Please utilize the Parent Portal to stay up to date with your child's progress. Grades, attendance, and other school communication can be found here. It is a valuable resource for our parents.

If you are not connected through your Parent Portal account in PowerSchool, you can always reach out to the main office with any questions. (847-599-5362)

Below are the details for the clubs that have been started this year at Howe.

Chorus

• Tuesday mornings

Student Council

• Tuesday 4:00-4:50 PM

Art Club

• Wednesdays 4:00-5:00 PM

Game Club:

• 2nd grade: Tuesdays 4:00-4:30 PM

• 3rd, 4th & 5th grade: Wednesdays 4:00-4:30 PM

March

4- SIP Early Release 1:45PM

7- Spring Pictures

9- Daylight Savings Time

10- Parent Teacher Conferences 12:00PM-7:00PM

11- IAR Math I (Grades 3-5)

12- IAR Math II (Grades 3-5

13- IAR Math III (Grades 3-5)

15- Multi-Cultural Festival @BPMS 9:00AM-2:00PM

17- St. Patrick's Day

- Board Meeting @BPMS 6:30PM

19- Classroom Community Meetings

20- HOTC Soccer Clinic - Ms. Julian @HW 4:00PM

- PTO Meeting @HW 5:30PM

24-28- Spring Break

31- School Resumes

April

8- SIP Early Release 1:45PM

9- IAR Reading I (Grades 3-5)

10- IAR Reading II (Grades 3-5)

11 IAR Reading III Field Test (Grades 3-5)

Our students need to be at school everyday! Please help us in fighting Truancy as a team. We need to teach our students the importance of their education as well as learning the lifelong skill of showing up. School becomes increasingly difficult the more a student is absent, which reduces confidence and brings anxiety. Let's help them succeed by sending them to school everyday.

Congratulations to our Howe Bears who received perfect attendance in the month of February! They will be receiving their certificates on SIP day.

Families,

A child's attendance at school has one of the largest impacts on their development for so many reasons. First, we are teaching them the importance of an education by making it a priority to attend daily. We teach them routines that they will carry through life, such as being punctual, present and focused on a purpose. Also, looking at our district's trends, attendance has become an area of concern and focus, as we have had a large increase in absences since recovering from schools being closed down. The truth is that we have to recover from this trend and make school a priority again. Below is a comparison of the percentage of students who are Truant as compared to the state average. Truancy is defined as the problem or situation of children being absent from school regularly without permission. (Cambridge) The numbers in the chart mean the following, based on our current student count of 375 students. If we have a truancy rate of 30%, that equates to saying that over 113 students attending Howe school have been absent a minimum of 9 school days. That is 1,017 school days missed (113 X 9). That is 6,610.5 hours of instruction (1,017 X 6.5). When students return after just one day of being absent, we know that it can be hard to catch up and not get frustrated because they missed the day before. We need our students in class to receive all of the support that we have prepared so that they grow as much as they can each day.

At the end of the year, we are required to submit all absences to the state, regardless of being excused, or not. Our goal is to reduce the number of students who are absent from school. This does not mean that we want, or expect students to attend students if they are ill.

We are going to encourage attendance for our students by recognizing students with Perfect Attendance for the first trimester during our monthly celebration in November. We are going to continue promoting Perfect Attendance each month after that, creating the opportunity for our students to reach this status with attending school each day.

Reminders for what you can do at home to help with having students ready to come to school and learn each day is to start with creating regular routines for bedtimes. Help them turn screens off an hour before their bedtime so that their bodies unwind and are ready for rest. Get them up at a regular time and make sure you feed them breakfast, or that they participate in getting breakfast at school each day.

Thank you for your continued partnership in your child's education.

Please review additional directions for pickup procedures to ensure safety for all.

• For Safety, cars may not park in lanes of the turnaround lot until 3:30 PM. This has to remain open in the event of an emergency.

• All student pickups will take place inside our fenced blacktop area, directly outside of the cafeteria. (Please see the map below)

• All Parents/Guardians are required to have the Student DriveLine Pass displayed in their window. If you do not have it, you must contact the office to arrange for a replacement during the school day. All other students will be sent home on the bus.

• Any changes to arrange for a student pick up at the end of the day must notify the office prior to 3:00 PM.

• No cars can be in the front Bus Line after 3:00 PM, as it will block the buses arriving.

• Students will begin being dismissed at 3:40 PM.

Daily Schedule:

Students enter: 8:55-9:05 AM

School Day begins: 9:05 AM

School Day ends: 3:45 PM

SIP Day Schedule (Early Release; The first Tuesday of every month):

Students enter: 8:55-9:05 AM

School :Day begins 9:05 AM

School Day ends: 1:45 PM

Reminder about making adjustments to your child's transportation.

Parents/Guardians must call the office BEFORE 3:00 PM if you are planning to pick your child up and they normally take the bus. There are a lot of moving parts at the end of the day and this must be arranged ahead of time. If you show up at the end of the day and ask to take your child home, we cannot pull students from the bus because it causes major delays in our end of the day systems which will not be permitted. They will be sent home on the bus. We appreciate your support in helping us get our students home safely.

Each month, the district has an early release day for our buildings. This means that at Howe, we dismiss 2 hours earlier at 1:45 PM. When our students leave, our teachers receive Professional Development to look at teaching practices and review building data.

During the school day, we change things up completely for our students. We focus on community and team up with Buddy Classrooms where our students can meet new friends and learn with other teachers. We start the day off by having a full-school assembly to review expectations, discuss our progress and celebrate all that is going well in our school. For the rest of the day, they have opportunities to do many activities, which include buddy reading, math games, SEL activities, Team Building, and Specials. They even eat lunch and have recess together. It is a chance for them to do something different and to do it with others.

In case you didn't hear, we wanted to make sure you heard that Howe School has moved from a Comprehensive status on the Illinois School Report Card to the status of Commendable. The staff of this building are amazing and work very hard to provide the best education for your children everyday. It takes a team to reach this status, which includes the support of our families. Congratulations to our community. We should be proud.