Dear Parents,

On  Memorial  Day  weekend  this  year  I  switched  the  thermostat  from  heat  to  air

conditioning without a break in between. To go from one high energy usage to another

overnight is abrupt and expensive. I hope you will be able to take a break from the high

energy needed to get through the school year to the high energy needed to get to all the

swimming lessons, baseball games and other summer activities. A little down time is good

for everyone. Please be sure to include some time for your kids to relax with a good book,

with nothing scheduled and time to “just be.” Their re­entry to the school year in August

will be so much better if they’ve had a little time without a starting time.

As always, it has been a busy school year. Our students, thanks to their hard work and the

home support from which they all benefit, have grown so much. As I travel through the

hallways during these last weeks of school, I marvel that these were the same little faces

we greeted last August. These are taller children with wiser faces now. They are ready to

move on and up to the next grade,  the next new learning,  the next new challenges. I

appreciate all you have done to support your children through the past year. It is because

of the support of their families that our students are so successful.

I must express my deep appreciation for all of you who have volunteered your time in so

many ways. We could not do it without you. Special appreciation goes to the high energy

members of the PTC Executive Board. I am amazed at this group that organizes so many

activities and events that contribute to our students’ success. These are amazing parents

who  manage  to  expend  high  wattage  in  everything  they  do  and  continue  to  seek

opportunities  to do more for our kids.  I’d  like  to extend special  thanks  to Mrs. Julie

Conger who has served as PTC president this year with such positive spirit and good

humor. She has made all the hard work seem like fun.

As I have watched the teachers guiding the children through the last few weeks of school,

I see them savoring their students’ success. Cossitt teachers work hard every day and

honestly enjoy their work because they see the payoff — they get to look back at each

child’s progress. We are fortunate to have teachers who invest so much into each day with

their students and who take each child into their heart for the school year. Suddenly

flipping the switch to summer is hard as they say goodbye to their classes after spending

177 days with them. But with a little break in the action, they will be back in August to

take a new group of children into their classrooms and hearts.

Like all of you, I look forward to a little decrease in energy expenditure this summer, but I

also look forward to next year. I cannot think of a better way to spend my time than here

at Cossitt School, surrounded by the Cossitt family.

Enjoy the summer!Mary TavegiaPrincipal

Mary Tavegia, PrincipalAndi McKenna, Designer

Cossitt School‛sTiger Times

6/1 Recognition Assembly6/3 End of the Year Event

6/4 LaGrange Pet Parade

6/6 Last Day of SchoolPTC Meeting & Coffee

8:20 a.m., MPR

8/9 Registration Materials Due

8/18 Teacher Assignments, Class Lists Mail

The Cossitt community had fun to the extreme Friday,June 3. The students danced, ate and had adventures fromthe Arctic to the jungle and under the sea.

Thanks to the wonderful committee of parents andteachers,  led  by  Mrs.  Tara  McGee,  who  spentmonths planning this terrific event. Thank you to Mr. KurtWisthuff who once again designed a t­shirt we will enjoyseeing around town all summer long. Thanks also to the

more  than  160  parent  volunteers  who  assisted  inhelping our kids experience an array of adventures thatcreated memories that will last forever!

A note of thanks goes out to Nonno’s Pizza for generouslydonating the paper products that held their deliciouspizza, which they provided at an incredible savings.Please support them!

End of the Year Event: Fun to the Extreme

School Office HoursThe Cossitt office will be openfrom 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.Monday through Thursday

throughout much of the summer.

The school is closed Fridays.Mrs. Ryan and Mrs. Nothnagel willbe  here  until  mid­June  and  willreturn in early August. Ms. Tavegiawill work much of the summer witha little time off at some point.

If you need  to contact  someone,please leave a phone message,and someone will return your call

as soon as possible.

N E W S   A R O U N D   C O S S I T T

C O S S I T T   S C H O O L   T I G E R   T I M E S

Registration InformationRegistration

Once again, fee payments and volunteer sign­ups will be handled on a mail­inbasis. If you have completed your registration form and proof of residency, youwill receive a packet of information in late July. All the information you need toregister your child for school will be included.Forms  for  health,  dental  and  vision  exams will  not  be  included  as  you maydownload them from the District 102 website. You will be able to complete theforms, write the checks and send your packet back to school as you have time todo so. We will have a special mailbox set up for drop­off as well. Our only requestis that we have received your information by August 9. School supplies orderedthrough the PTC will be delivered to your child’s classroom for the start of theschool year.

Health Examinations

Public Act 95­0422, effective August 24, 2007, revised the school code such that ahealth  examination  is  required before  entering  the sixth grade of  any public,private or parochial school. All current fifth­graders need to have a health examprior  to  the  start  of  the  school  year  next  year.  Call  your  pediatrician  for  anappointment right away!

Vision Examinations

Public Act 95­671, effective January 1, 2008, requires that all children enrolling inkindergarten in a public, private or parochial school and any student enrolling forthe first time in a public, private or parochial school have an eye examination.All  health  examination  documents  are  available  for  download  at  the Districtwebsite. Any time you visit the doctor or dentist it would be wise to take a formwith you.

Looking for a Backpackfor Next Year?When you go out shopping for a backpack,please keep our locker size in mind. Many

of the new backpacks that sim­ulate wheeled luggage are toolarge for our lockers and cre­ate a hallway hazard if leftsticking out of the locker,and they are a classroomhazard if left on the floor.Frankly, given that stu­

dents must go up and down thesteps with their backpacks, those on wheelssimply don’t work well here. Any rigidbackpacks larger than 12 inches long or 12inches wide will not fit in our lockers andwill not be permitted for school use. Theywill be sent home with a request to staythere. Soft backpacks of any size should fitin our lockers.

Summer NewsSummer Reading

The LaGrange Public Library has  awonderful summer reading program forstudents.  Representatives  from  thelibrary visited with our classes to helpchildren understand how it works, andreading lists have been sent home withthe students to get them started withsome good books. Our beautiful newlibrary is a wonderful resource withineasy walking distance. Be sure to stopin and sign up.

Summer School

Cossitt School will be the host schoolfor District 102’s Elementary SummerPrograms.  Mrs.  Cheri  Gibbs  is  thesummer  school  principal  and  willoversee all summer programming. Shewill work out  of  the Cossitt SchoolHealth Office. Any questions related tosummer school should be directed toher.

Class Lists

Students  will  receive  their  teacherassignments  and  class  lists  aroundAugust 18. This will allow us to get allnewly  enrolled  students  placed  intobalanced classrooms.

Student Service Council,Safety Patrol Members RecognizedWe  appreciate  the  service  that  has  been  provided  by  the  members  of  ourEnvironmental Club, Safety Patrol and Student Service Council.

These groups celebrated a year of service with an after­school trip to the La GrangeTheatre. Mr. Dave Rizner, theatre manager, very generously donated the admissionto “Soul Surfer” along with popcorn and soda to every student who completed theirterm of service. We appreciate this kindness and generosity! Thanks also to Mrs.Tiffany Howard, Ms. Clare McDivit, Mrs. Vicki Abbinante and Mr. Tony Miglieri,who sponsored these student organizations.

Students Represent Cossitt in Pet ParadeThe one­of­a­kind La Grange Pet Parade will take place June 4 with manyCossitt children participating. We are especially proud of our fifth­gradersKristina Lynch and Yusuf Husain who will represent Cossitt School in thisannual local tradition.

N E W S   A R O U N D   C O S S I T T

The sun is shining. There’s not a cloud inthe sky. Summer break is almost here. Asyou make plans to keep academic skillsstrong, such as a weekly visit to the library,don’t forget to sharpen your child’s social­emotional competencies as well.

Take advantage of the beautiful weather toturn off electronic devices and spend timein the great outdoors. On a rainy day, haveyour  child  sort  through his or her  toys,books or clothes to find gently used itemsto  donate  to  others  in  need.  Provideopportunities for your child to help and dogood for others, just for the sake of doinggood.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social andEmotional Learning (CASEL) offers thefollowing tips for promoting SEL at home:

1. Focus on your child’s strengths.2.  Follow  up  with  consequences  formisbehavior.3. Ask your child how he or she feels.4. Stay calm when you are angry.5. Avoid humiliating or mocking yourchild.6. Be willing to apologize.7. Give your child choices and respect hisor her wishes.8. Ask questions that help your child solveproblems on his or her own.9. Read books and stories together.10. Encourage sharing and helping.

The skills we model and practice todaywill serve them well, not only in the nextschool year, but into adulthood and for therest of their lives.

C O S S I T T   S C H O O L   T I G E R   T I M E S

Keep Supporting Social-Emotional Skills

With our Appreciation ...

The Green Thumb Award goes to the Kriha family for planting and maintaining thegarden outside our Visitors Entrance along with the urns that grace each side and thearea around the flagpole. Planting, weeding and watering  these areas  is a weeklyfamily activity for the Krihas. We appreciate being greeted by their fine work eachday.

For Excellence in Editing, thank you to Mrs. Andi McKenna who has been ourTiger Times editor this year. We thank Andi for her talent, skill and patience in puttingtogether all the news for our community.

Need some reasons to read this summer? Here are lots of them!

Rebecca Caudill

Grades 4 -8

Bluestem

Grades 3 -4

Recent Award Winners

Monarch

Rhyming Dust

Bunnies by Thomas

Rebecca Caudill

The Hunger Games

by Collins

Newbery

Moon Over Manifest

by Vanderpool

Caldecott

A Sick Day for Amos

McGee ill. By Stead

Pura Belpré

The Dreamer by Ryan

S U M M E R R E A D I N G L I S T 2 0 1 1

Monarch 2012

Grades K-3 Aylesworth, The Mitten

Barton, Shark vs. Train Becker, A Birthday for Bear

Bishop, Butterflies and Moths

Butler, The Case of the Lost Boy Clements, Dogku

DiPucchio, Grace for President

Fleming, Imogene’s Last Stand Floca, Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11

Fucile, Let’s Do Nothing! Jenkins, Never Smile at a Monkey: and 17

other important things to remember

Lichtenheld, Bridget’s Beret Long, Otis

Robinson, Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson

Rosenthal, Duck! Rabbit!

Ryder, Panda KIndergarten Scillian, Memoirs of a Goldfish

Smith, Little Mouse Gets Ready

Stein, Interrupting Chicken Urbanovic, Duck at the Door

Birney, World According to Humphrey

Buckley, Sisters Grimm: the

Fairy!Tale Detectives

Clements, Extra Credit

Davis, Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook

Deedy, 14 Cows for America

Harper, Just Grace

Howe, Bunnicula Klise, Dying to Meet You

Korman, Swindle

LaFevers, Flight of the Phoenix Lord, Rules

Markle, Animal Heroes: True

Rescue Stories Mochizuki, Passage to Freedom

Naylor, Faith, Hope and Ivy

June

Nelson, Bad News for Outlaws Ryan, Riding Freedom

Sachar, Sideways Stories from

Wayside School Scieszka, Knucklehead

Sturm, Adventures in Cartooning

Corretta Scott King

One Crazy Summer by

Williams-Garcia

Sibert

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the

World's Strangest Parrot by

Montagomery

Non Fiction for K-3

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by

Barack

A Pair of Polar Bears: Twin Cub Find a Home at

the San Diego Zoo by Ryder

Tarra & Bella: The Elephant and Dog Who

Became Best Friends by Buckley

Flush!: The Scoop on Poop Throughout the Ages by Harper

Red Zone by Barber and Barber

The Year Money Grew on Trees by Hawkins

The Year of the Dog by Lin

The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by O!Connor

Dragonbreath by Vernon

Favorite Scary Stories of American Children by

Young

Fiction for Confident Readers (grades 3 and 4)

Auch, One-Handed Catch

Broach, Masterpiece

Burg, All the Broken Pieces Carmichael, Wild Things

Clements, Extra Credit

Cochrane, The Girl Who Threw Butterflies

Cody, Powerless

Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia

Tate Lin, Where the Mountain Meets

the Moon

Magoon, The Rock and the River Mass, Every Soul a Star

O’Connor, Greetings from

Nowhere

Parry, Heart of a Shepherd Paulsen, Woods Runner

Philbrick, The Mostly True

Adventures of Homer P. Figg Prineas, The Magic Thief

Scieszka, Knucklehead

Smith, Peak Smith, Flygirl

Westerfield, Leviathan

2

LA GRANGE SCHOOL DISTRICT 102 SUMMER 2011

Fiction Books for Older Readers

Science Fair by Barry

Countdown by Wiles

Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Trafton

Popularity Papers by Ignatow

Return to Sender by Alvarez Walls Within Walls by Sherry

All the Way to America: the Story of a Big Italian Family and Little

Shovel by Yaccarino

Keep Your Eye on the Kid: the Early Years of Buster Keaton by

Brighton

Testing the Ice by Robinson

An Eye for Color: the Story of Josef Albers by Wing

Middle Grade Biographies

The Journey that Saved Curious George: The

True Wartime Escape of Margaret and H.A.

Rey by Borden

The Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr by

Debon

A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie

“Peanut” Johnson by Green

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Kehret

Biographies for Young Adults

A Great and Sublime Fool: the Story of Mark Twain

by Caravantes

Jim Henson Puppeteer and Filmmaker

by Parish

Stephanie Meyer: Queen of

Twilight by Newkey-Burden

Sparky: the Life and Arts of Charles

Schultz by Gherman

Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook

by Stewart

A Place Where Hurricanes

Happen by Watson

My Daddy Snores by Rothstein

Arnie the Doughnut by Keller

Bad Day at Riverbend by Van Allslburg

Little Grunt and the Big Egg:

A Prehistoric Fairy Tale by DePaola I Feel a Foot! by Maranke

Easy Picture Books

The Trouble with Chickens: A J.J. Tully

Mystery by Cronin

Big Nate: in a Class by Himself by

Peirce

Bink & Gollie by DiCamillo

Super Burp! #1 (George Brown, Class Clown) by Krulik

Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Lin

Stink: The Ultimate Thumb-Wrestling Smackdown

by McDonald

Beginning Biographies

Half Brother by Oppel

Words in the Dust by Reedy

Okay for Now by Schmidt

Payback Time by Deuker

The Running Dream

by Van Draanen

Fiction for Young Adults

Non Fiction

for Young Adults

Fiction for Young Readers

All Star!: Honus Wagner and The Most Famous Baseball

Card Ever by Yolan

Biblioburro : A True Story from Colombia by Winter

Before There Was Mozart : the Story of Joseph

Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George by Cline-Ransome

Jimi : Sounds Like a Rainbow : A Story of the Young Jimi

Hendrix by Golio

Skit-scat Raggedy Cat : Ella Fitzgerald by Orgill

Car rides, Rainy days, Plane trips, Bad cases of

sunburn. . . Just 20 minutes of reading a day keeps

those skills strong! Get a good book yourself and join

your child in literacy maintenance.

Brought to you by the LRC Directors

of Distr ic t 102

Confident Reader Biographies

100 People Who Changed the World by editors of

Life

Plate Tectonics, Volcanoes, and Earthquakes by

Rafferty

Short: Walking Tall When You!re Not Tall at All by

Schwartz

Which Way to the West? by Sheinkin

They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of

an American Terrorist Group by Bartoletti

!

español junio 2011

K i n d e r g a r t e n s t u d e n t s f i n i s h e d u p t h e i r a n i m a l s u n i t w i t h “ I S p y ” , “ A c t l i k e a n A n i m a l ” , a n d a c l a s s r o o m s c a v e n g e r h u n t .

T h e 3 r d g r a d e r s g o t t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o e n d t h e y e a r w i t h s om e f u n r e v i e w a c t i v i t i e s . W e c o m b i n e d e v e r y t h i n g w e h a v e l e a r n e d t h i s y e a r t o c r e a t e s om e w o n d e r f u l p r o j e c t s ! A l s o , l o o k f o r y o u r s t u d e n t ’ s “ A l l A b o u t M e ” p o s t e r i n t h e h a l l w a y s a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f n e x t y e a r ! !

1 s t g r a d e s t u d e n t s f i n i s h e d t h e i r a n i m a l s u n i t w i t h a d r y - e r a s e b o a r d d r a w i n g g a m e , a n a n i m a l s s o r t , a n d a b o o k !

!O u r 2 n d g r a d e r s f i n i s h e d u p t h e i r l a s t y e a r l e a r n i n g a b o u t a n i m a l s ! T h e y t a l k e d a b o u t t h e i r f a v o r i t e a n i m a l s , d i d a l i s t e n i n g a c t i v i t y , a n d p l a y e d a n i m a l c h a r a d e s !

5 t h g r a d e s t u d e n t s h a d t h e c h a n c e t o c r e a t e a n a l p h a b e t b o o k t h a t w i l l b e u s e d w i t h C o s s i t t ’ s y o u n g e r s t u d e n t s i n y e a r s t o c o m e w h e n t h e y b e g i n t o l e a r n t h e S p a n i s h a l p h a b e t ! !

I h o p e t h a t a l l o f y o u h a v e a s a f e a n d h a p p y s umm e r ! I l o o k f o r w a r d t o s e e i n g a l l o f y o u n e x t y e a r ! 6 t h g r a d e r s , I w i s h y o u a l l t h e b e s t o f l u c k a t P a r k—I k n o w y o u w i l l a l l d o g r e a t ! - M i s s M e l e

Ten un buen ve r ano ! H a v e a g o o d s umm e r !

!

4 t h g r a d e r s u s e d t i m e a f t e r t h e i r F i n a l E x a m s t o g o b a c k t o t h e i r F o o d u n i t a n d w r i t e a n d p e r f o r m R e s t a u r a n t s k i t s . T h e s e w e r e e s p e c i a l l y f u n b e c a u s e t h e s t u d e n t s c r e a t e d t h e i r o w n m e n u s w h i l e s t u d y i n g t h e s e w o r d s e a r l i e r i n t h e y e a r ! !

6 t h g r a d e s t u d e n t s d i d a v a r i e t y o f c u l m i n a t i n g a c t i v i t i e s , i n c l u d i n g w r i t i n g s om e a d v i c e f o r s u c c e s s i n S p a n i s h c l a s s f o r n e x t y e a r ’ s 6 t h g r a d e r s ! !

4 t h , 5 t h , a n d 6 t h g r a d e s t u d e n t s r e v i e w e d f o r a n d t o o k t h e i r 3 r d T r i m e s t e r E x a m . Y o u r s t u d e n t s h a v e m a d e t r e m e n d o u s g r o w t h t h i s y e a r a n d I a m e x t r e m e l y p r o u d o f t h e m ! O n t h e 3 r d T r i m e s t e r B e n c h m a r k s y o u w i l l b e a b l e t o s e e h o w y o u r s t u d e n t p r o g r e s s e d f r o m t h e 1 s t T r i m e s t e r t o t h e 3 r d T r i m e s t e r . O n c e t h e e x a m s w e r e f i n i s h e d , w e w e r e l e f t w i t h a f e w w e e k s t o d o s om e f u n r e v i e w p r o j e c t s u s i n g e v e r y t h i n g w e h a v e l e a r n e d ! !