Dear Solomon Family--

Our first week is in the books, and it was a great opportunity to build some new relationships and develop the routines and structures we need to create safe spaces for our students and staff. We are excited for Week 2!

In the "In Case You Missed It" section below, all year I will post pictures of the work we do every day--engaging and student-centered learning activities, with relationships at the core. I hope you enjoy!

In partnership,

Chris Gamble

Principal

Hannah G. Solomon Elementary School

News and Notes

Are you interested in volunteering at Solomon this year? We need volunteers for a number of school-wide and classroom-specific events: Walk Jog Roll-a-thon, International Night, Picture Day, class field trips, and more! To declare your interest, please complete this survey, which we will use to organize our volunteers for the events. To register as a Level 2 Volunteer at Solomon, which is a district requirement, please click here to complete the volunteer application.

Sign-ups for Fall Sports (grades 5-8) opened up this past week, with the first week of competition scheduled for September 17. Students can sign up for Boys and Girls Cross Country, Boys and Girls Volleyball, and Boys Soccer. If your child brings an application home, please fill that out and have your child return it to our Athletic Director, Mr. Martin, as soon as possible. We are a small school and won't have enough students to support all of those, but we will try! Once we have our rosters set, our coaches will communicate with families about practice and game schedules.

All sports schedules for grades 5-12 in Chicago Public Schools, including Solomon, can be found at cpsathletics.com. For more information about the website and what you can find on there, please click here.

If you have an 8th grader and will be applying for a CPS high school or you are a Pre-K family living outside Solomon's attendance boundary and will be applying for Solomon's Kindergarten program, GoCPS is your one-stop-shop for learning about your options and applying to schools. The 2023-2024 application cycle opens up on September 14, and information about parent trainings will be posted on the website in September. Solomon's counselor, Mrs. Mulholland, will host parent and 8th grade student sessions this fall so that we can help our families with the high school application process, and we will share those dates soon.

In partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), CPS will offer on-site, preventative dental services at no cost to ALL Pre-K-12th grade students. Solomon will host these dental services for students on October 17-20 and October 24. For your child to participate, consent forms (English / Spanish) must be returned to the main office.

Friends of Solomon School Parent Teacher Organization (FOSS PTO)

The Friends of Solomon School Parent Teacher Organization is a welcoming community for all Solomon parents and caregivers. Our mission is to create additional opportunities for student enrichment. If you'd like to join their mailing list to find out more, please fill out the FOSS PTO Contact Form.

Our next scheduled meeting will be September 7th, in the library and on Zoom. Topics to be discussed will be school year planning, school needs, and fundraising opportunities.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3745222163?pwd=QU1YKzNmNUpiWi9ySldTck83aDBGdz09

Meeting ID: 374 522 2163

Passcode: D2RG5X

Health Protocol Reminders

Close contacts will not be excluded from school.

Only those with a documented COVID positive test will be quarantined for 5 days.

Document a COVID positive test at cps.edu/covidresults.

When there is a positive case, everyone in the homeroom will be considered a close contact (due to eating together). This will mean that everyone in the homeroom, vaccinated or not, will need to mask for 10 days.

Email is the only way we communicate positive tests, quarantines, or mandatory masking. So check your email regularly for updates from me or your child's teacher(s).

Wearing a mask is still advisable, as is getting that vaccination.

If you are sick, COVID symptoms or not, please stay home.

Students who are quarantined are eligible for remote learning until they return.

Things can change, so keep an eye out for district updates.

Important Solomon Links

Our entry and exit procedures document, which includes our early dismissal policies and a reminder about our health protocols still in place.

Our school fees for the year and how to pay them.

The district consent form for in-school COVID testing for your child(ren) once a week.You will need your child's CPS ID number, which you can find in Parent Portal on Aspen (aspen.cps.edu).

Our school safety plan.

Our school assessment calendar for the school year.

Our school organization chart, which has every staff member's email address.

Information on how to sign up for YMCA before-school care and register interest in after-school programming.

Our August breakfast and lunch menus (this will be updated once we receive the September menus).

Transportation reimbursement for eligible families: English and Spanish.

Solomon spirit wear purchases can be made through our partner, Squadlocker..

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:

Monday, September 5: Labor Day (no school for students or staff)

Wednesday, September 7: Friends of Solomon School PTO meeting (6pm, library or Zoom)

Tuesday, September 13: Local School Council meeting (5:30, library or Google Meet)

Tuesday, September 20: Solomon Curriculum Night (6pm, in-person)

In Case You Missed It...

Our 8th graders collaborating in teams for the Build a House challenge with Mrs. Reis.

Solomon teams collaborating during Week 0 on co-teaching practices and our English Language Arts curriculum.

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.