Welcome to the start of the 2015-2016 school year! I hope your families have enjoyed a safe, fun and memorable summer.
When your student returns to school, they may notice some changes. At Palos East, eight classrooms in the second and fifth grade hallways have been renovated to include all new movable casework that feature whiteboards on the reverse side. The new casework will allow teachers greater flexibility in arranging their classrooms. At Palos West, a new U.S. map and games have been striped on the asphalt to provide additional opportunities for play during recess. Also at Palos West, a new playground designed specifically for our Early Childhood students will open for the start of school. Although designed to support our new Capstone Program for eighth graders, all Palos South students will benefit from the build-out of three new state of the art 21st century classrooms. Eighth grade students will utilize the rooms during their zero hour Capstone classes. All teachers will have the opportunity to utilize the rooms the remainder of the day. Lastly, students at all three schools will hear something new this school year. New public announcement systems were installed at each school with enhanced security features that will improve safety district wide. I'm excited about these improvements and I hope our students will be too!
Our theme this school year is, "Dream more, learn more, do more, become more." I believe this is a theme we all can relate to - students, teachers, administrators and parents. These are activities that successful people and successful organizations engage in on a consistent basis. Through the lens of our professional staff, I'd like to see us dreaming more about new and innovative opportunities for our students; learning more about ways to enhance every student's educational experience; doing more to contribute to the overall success of our schools and the communities we serve; and becoming more as professional educators and community servants. I'm looking forward to the many ways our staff will be dreaming, learning, doing, and becoming more this school year.
To celebrate the new school year, we will hold our annual Back to School Family Picnic on Monday, August 24 from 5:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. at Palos South. Please come out and join us on this fun family evening to kick off a new school year. Parking is extremely limited, so we encourage picnic-goers to carpool and to take advantage of the shuttle bus service at St. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Church at 8410 131st St. Rain or shine, I look forward to seeing your family there.
Our schools are excellent because of our outstanding students, dedicated staff, parents, PFA, Foundation, Board of Education, and supportive community. We are looking forward to a wonderful school year.
Welcome Back!
