Dear Solomon Family--

Welcome to the start of a new school year. I hope that your summer has been a restorative one so far!

For those of you who are new to the Solomon family, I am Chris Gamble, the proud principal of Hannah G. Solomon Elementary School. In this space, I send out weekly newsletters to all of the members of our school community with updates, shout-outs, and hopefully a lot of information that you can use. As I get into my school year rhythm, you can expect newsletters delivered to your email weekly on Sunday nights.

Please read below for our first set of updates for the school year. If you need to come by school to drop off any paperwork or just say hi, our main office returns to normal business hours (9am-4pm) tomorrow.

Our first day of school for students is Monday, August 22, at 9am. I hope to see everyone at Open House and Supply Drop-off on Thursday, August 18, at 2:45.

In partnership,

Chris Gamble
Principal
Hannah G. Solomon Elementary School
News and Notes
Mrs. Stirling, Solomon's awesome music teacher, has a Donors Choose project up and going to help us get new risers for our gymnasium, which we use for winter concerts, graduations, and other events. Today only there is a 50% boost from the Gates Foundation, meaning that any donation today will go ever further towards her goal. For more information on her project and to donate, click here.

Please check the calendar below, as we have a few opportunities next week for families and students to meet teachers and new friends. At our Open House and Supply Drop-off on August 18, we are asking families to provide a picture of your child and their family to the main office so that we can place them on our Solomon Family Tree in the main office hallway. It is an optional activity, but one that reinforces our core belief in family and community; the picture should be no larger than 4x6.

If you need before-school care for your child (7-9am), be sure to sign up with our new partners, the YMCA. You can sign up for before-school care here. At this same link, you can share your interest in any after-school enrichment programming as well. At this time, the YMCA will only be offering before-school care, as we did not have sufficient parent interest in after-school child care. If there is sufficient interest for afternoon programming, we will partner with the YMCA to bring in enrichment programming, like chess, STEM programming, etc., to help provide some after-school options for families. We will also offer free Solomon staffed programming (called "OST programming") for different grade levels a few days a week later in the fall. All before-school child care from the YMCA will be held in the Solomon lunchroom, and families can drop off their children at Door #6.

If you did not order the Teacher Tailored kits this past spring, then make sure you print out a supply list for your child's classroom and head over to the store. You can find the supply list on our website (solomon.cps.edu) or you can click here.

This past spring and summer, our Local School Council approved Solomon's Dress Code policy, which can be found here. It is more or less a continuation of last year's policy, and we are grateful for Solomon's Student Voice Committee leading that initiative. Additionally, the LSC approved our school fee structure for the year. You can find the letter describing the fees and how they are used here. You can use the E-pay link to pay fees online, or you can stop by the Solomon main office to pay.

Please review the district's minimum health requirements for all students here.

In district updates:

  • Due to the national driver shortage impacting CPS, the projected travel time for students can be 90 minutes each way. Diverse learner families and students in temporary living situations have the option to opt to self-transport their child(ren) and receive $500 monthly. If you are interested this year in self-transportation, you are asked to complete the following forms: English and Spanish 
  • Every CPS student or staff member who wants to enroll in weekly testing this school year MUST complete a new consent form. Consents from last school year or this summer WILL NOT be valid for the 2022-23 school year. Parents or guardians can click here to complete this year’s consent form. Once consent is given for the 2022-23 school year, staff and students will remain consented until they leave CPS. Please refer to this guide if you need assistance in filling out the consent form. You will need your staff or student’s ID number to complete the form. Testing will begin the week of August 29. For the first week of school, starting August 22, each student and staff member will be given a take-home rapid COVID-19 test.
  • For students or staff that are unvaccinated and identified as a close contact this year, the district will be implementing a Test to Stay program for all district schools. If your child is identified as a close contact, you will receive an email from the district detailing your options with the Test to Stay program. When a description of the program is uploaded to the district website, I will share that information.
  • Please continue to read all district communications sent out to families, including the most recent one on August 5 regarding this year's COVID-19 Safety Protocols, so that you have the information you need to make decisions for your family.

More information, such as our daily entrance and exit information and introductions to our new staff, will start in next week's newsletter, so stay tuned!
Solomon Calendar
All Solomon community events can be found on our school Google Calendar, linked at the Solomon website, solomon.cps.edu.

A few of the important upcoming dates:

Tuesday, August 16: Solomon Pre-Kindergarten (Room 108) Play Date (Hollywood Park, 10-11am)

Tuesday, August 16: Solomon New Student Orientation (grades 1-8 only) (Solomon Lobby, 3-4pm)

Thursday, August 18: Solomon Open House and Supply Drop-off (all Solomon classrooms, 2:45-3:45)

Friday, August 19: Solomon Kindergarten (Room 105) Play Date (Solomon Playground, 9:30-10)

Monday, August 22: First Day of School for Students

Monday, September 5: Labor Day (no school for students or staff)
If you would like to receive this newsletter as an email, please email crgamble@cps.edu to be added to the list. If you would like to be removed from this newsletter, please click "Unsubscribe" below.
Solomon Elementary | 6206 N. Hamlin Ave., Chicago, IL 60659