I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Year Book 2

Band Notes 4

Lego 6

Calendar 8

The Pony Express

2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7

E X E C U T I V E

B O A R D

C o - P r e s i d e n t s

K e l l y O ’ M a l l e y

T o n y a S c h m i d t

V i c e - P r e s i d e n t

C i n d y S m u c k e r

T r e a s u r e r

M o n i k a B i c k e r

S e c r e t a r y

D a n e e n V a n H y n i n g

1300 North Mill Street • Naperville, IL 60563-2500 • Phone: 630.420.6353

http://schools.naperville203.org/millstreet/

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 V O L U M E 1 6 , I S S U E 4

Candy Cane Caring is Coming... December 12th—-16th

We will be selling Candy Cane Grams during the lunch hour for $.25 apiece. Class sets that include a Candy Cane Gram for each student in the classroom will also be available for $5. Candy Cane Grams are paper messages decorated with a candy cane that can be purchased for other students, teachers or staff. On each Candy Cane Gram, students will be able to write a caring message to express their kind wishes for others during the holiday season. Candy Cane Grams offer two ways to care about others, as the funds collected from the purchase of Candy Cane Grams will help families at our school with special needs they may have throughout the year. In the past, Candy Cane Caring funds have helped to purchase holiday gifts, clothing and coats, spirit wear, yearbooks and other items for families in need of this assistance. December 22nd Candy Cane Grams will be delivered to the classrooms, just in time to spread some holiday kindness to the entire Mill Street family.

Mark your calendar Let's make Candy Cane Caring a Huge Success!

** In the past some families have chosen to make a special donation to Candy Cane Caring to assist Mill Street Families. Financial contributions or gift cards are a huge support for families with special needs during the holidays.

P A G E 2

TIME IS RUNNING OUT

to pre-order your

2016-2017

Mill Street

Yearbook!

Don’t miss out on our terrific 72 page, all color, yearbook! Students really love the yearbooks and treasure looking back them year after year. Backpack “paper” orders are closed – the only way to pre-order now is online. Each yearbook is $20.00. Orders, by credit card, may be made online at www.balfour.com. There will be a $1.00 convenience fee for the total transaction. Multiple orders may be made in one transaction. Online orders will close January 13, 2017. Don't miss out! This is the last chance to order and guarantee a yearbook for your student. Yearbooks will be distributed in May 2017. We don’t know how many extra overruns we will get from the publisher for walk-in sales and we always sell out. Please pre-order today.

Congratulations to all of our winners and artists!

The Yearbook Committee received a lot of amazing artwork from our 4th and 5th grader students in response to our Yearbook Cover Contest.

Before Thanksgiving, the 4th and 5th graders voted on their favorite “Top 20” entries. The winner of the front cover is Kieran Neill from Ms. Schramer’s 4th grade class! Congratulations Kieran – your design is amazing! The runners-up will have their artwork featured on the back cover of the yearbook:

Lillian Oberweis, 4th – Ms. Schramer Natalie Peterkin, 5th – Mrs. Southon Carmen Lavigne, 5th – Ms. Sweeny Taylor Zimmerman, 5th – Ms. Carrico Kaitlyn Garlough, 5th – Ms. Crouch

P A G E 3 http : / / schools .napervi l le203.org/mi l l s treet /

The WatchDOGS program is fast approaching full

capacity with 90% of slots taken.

It is not too late if you would like to spend a 1/2 day with

your child in the classroom and participate

as a role model to all.

If you are interested please contact

Lance Jansen at lance1612@hotmail.com to

receive the link to the WatchDOGS

program.

WatchDOGS

Mill Street welcomes many new students and families each year. The School Family Community Partnership (SFCP) is looking for families who would like to serve as a welcome committee for new families. We are hoping these families could be Mill Street ambassadors who would meet with new families and serve as a resource for questions as they become a part of the Mill Street community. If you would like to serve in this way, please contact Kristin Fitzgerald at kristin.fitzgerald@comcast.net or Lori Torcasio at loritorcasio@yahoo.com

P A G E 4

Mill Street Band Notes

Happy Holidays! By the time you get this, our first concert of the year will have come and gone!

Thank you, parents, for all of your support of your young, blossoming musicians! I know you are just as proud of their hard work as I am.

Concert Schedule for the rest of the year (please mark these dates on your calendar):

February 21, 2017 1:15PM – 4th and 5th Grade Band/Orchestra Assembly

6:30PM – 4th and 5th Grade Band Concert

April 26, 2017 12:00-2:00 – 5th Grade Band Field Trip to JJHS for rehearsal

7:30PM – 5th Grade Band Concert @ JJHS

May 2, 2017

1:15 – 5th Grade Demo Assembly

May 15, 2017 11:00AM-2:00PM – 4th and 5th Grade Band/Orchestra Field Trip Performance

@ Municipal Band Shell in Downtown Naperville Performance at 11:30

Over winter break, please ensure that your child dusts off their case and plays their instrument a few times. A Holiday Concert for the family is a great way to encourage at-home practice over break and a fun way to include the entire family.

Once school starts back up after break, please continue to encourage REGULAR at-home practice by establishing a practice schedule. Students should be practicing daily (with one or two days off

per week). Band students are expected to practice 60 minutes (4th grade) or 80 minutes (5th grade) each week. They should record their practice time in the practice log in their binder. This is where

you can also find their weekly assignment. Thank you for the encouragement and support that you provide for your children’s music

education.

Julie Higgins, Band Director jhiggins@naperville203.org

P A G E 5 http : / / schools .napervi l le203.org/mi l l s treet /

General Home & School meeting Tuesday, January 17, 7:00 pm in the MPR

All Mill Street parents/guardians are welcome to attend! Free pizza and wings (generously donated by Papa John's, 1220 W. Ogden Avenue) will be provided on a first come first serve basis. One of our Principals will be there to give a Mill Street update. You will also hear about what is happening within Home & School (upcoming events, activities, services, fundraising, and student enrichment). We hope you will join us on January 17th!

Mill Street Home & School Funds

Thank you for your donations and participation in fundraisers for Mill Street Home & School!

So far this year we have used the funds for:

New playground balls and equipment and a storage shed for use by all students during recess.

A BIG THANK YOU to Mr. Quaid for his help with this important project!

A new speaker system to be used at the Crosstown Classic, the Mustang Stampede,

during lunchtime, staff meetings, before & after school clubs, and countless other

events.

Manipulative materials for all Kindergarten students.

Movie Night for grades K-2 to build community at Mill Street. The movie, and water were

provided by Home & School. A grade 3-5 Movie Night will occur later in the year.

A free Mill Street t-shirt (coming in January) to be provided for all students and staff at Mill

Street to help build school spirit.

Fieldtrips Thank you to everyone for your generosity to Mill Street Home & School for the benefit of all

students!

Do you have a desire to be more involved at Mill Street? Home & School is seeking individuals to help organize and plan events for next school year. Please consider if one of these roles might be a good fit for you! If you are interested in leading one of these committees, please contact Cindy Smucker at millstreethands@gmail.com or 630-415-8174. 1. Book Fair - Spring 2017 (Help our 2 current chairpersons plan and facilitate the Spring Book

Fair during Parent-Teacher Conferences.) 2. Fun Fair - Fall 2017 (A carnival themed event with games and prizes for the whole family.

Held on a Friday evening. One of our most popular Home & School events!) 3. Mill Street Night Out - 2017-18 (Coordinate fundraising partnerships with local restaurants

throughout the year.) 4. Pony Express -2017-18 (Home & School's monthly newsletter.)

P A G E 6

Mill Street School is now 1 of 50,000 Little Free Libraries across the

United States!

Thank you to Mill Street Home & School for funding the library and partnering with Student Council to sponsor the program. This beautiful masterpiece was built and donated by a Mill Street Alumni family. Student Council helped make it Mill Street proud by painting it our school colors. Thank you to the Mill Street staff for installing our library. It is proudly placed near the Mill Street sign on Eagle Street (near the path).

Please feel free to "take a book, leave a book". The library is open to the public. Please use your best judgment in the condition and content of your donations. We are looking for local clubs or troops to help us maintain the integrity library on a monthly basis. If you are interested please contact Jen Weber jenweber@comcast.net.

® After School STEM Enrichment program – 1st through 5th grade

Bricks 4 Kidz offers hands-on curriculum that introduces students to STEM concepts and mechanics using LEGO® bricks, gears, axles and motors. This program provides students the opportunity to build motorized models using proprietary model plans and kits.

Winter Session — 1/23 - 3/3/17 Galaxy Far Away Star Wars

Spring Session — 4/10 - 5/15/17 Brick Critter

All sessions are 2:30pm - 3:30 pm in the Art Room. There is limited availability. Register online at www.bricks4kidz.com/naperville

P A G E 7 http : / / schools .napervi l le203.org/mi l l s treet /

Inside Out Club is coming to Mill Street! This inspiring program educates students on various charity organizations as well as creating empathy. Club lessons focus on the issues in the community, the charities addressing those issues and provide volunteer and learning activities. Students will have the opportunity to become young philanthropist while building character inside and out.

Grades K-2 are invited to participate on Feb. 1, Mar. 1, Apr. 5, and May 3

after school in the MPR 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm. Parent volunteers will play an important role in this program. Look for more details in an upcoming flyer. Inside Out Club also offers year round family opportunities. Please check out https://www.isupportcommunity.org/us/ for local events.

Thank you to everyone who made International Night a success. We had almost 500 people in attendance. The exhibits were engaging, the food was delicious and the entertainment was amazing. The kids loved it!

The Mill Street Home & School Hospitality Team thanks everyone for donating to the Veterans Day event. Special thanks to: Mill Street staff who helped with set-up and clean-up, Julie Hofmann for collecting the Veterans Day RSVPs and Karalee Anderson, Monika Bicker, Adri Boudeman, Jessica Child, Laura Fraser, Shaohua Fu, Rene Grady, Sarah Hoag, Sara Haumesser, Jennifer Jansen, Angie Langman, Maureen Matuszewski, Melissa Scacco, Marni Springer, Amy Wagner, Jeannie Wernimont, Beth Wolf-senall, and Linnea Zimmerman for your donations. We greatly appreciate your support in making this very special event a success! If you have any questions or would like to be added to our email list of Hospitality volunteers, please contact Sarah Carlson (smscarlson@gmail.com), Lauren Ferguson (lferguson@hotmail.com) or Heather Wolf (hparrilli@yahoo.com).

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