Solomon Principal Newsletter

October 10, 2022

Dear Solomon Family--

We are excited to invite the whole Solomon community to join us for our first Solomon Fall Fest on Friday, October 28, after school on the Solomon campus. Food, Jesse White Tumblers, “touch a truck”, bouncy houses, and more…and it is all FREE! No advance tickets are needed either. It is a great opportunity for you to meet others in the Solomon community, and we hope to see you there! All of this is courtesy of our awesome families and staff in the Friends of Solomon School Parent Teacher Organization.

About 42% of our families have signed up for Snap! Connect (formerly known as School CNXT), which we are transitioning to for our school-wide communication this month. This app-based system provides translation to over 100 different languages, and it meets us where most of us do our school communication: our phones! This evening you will receive your invitation (via text and/or email listed in Aspen), with instructions on how to download the app and create your account. Once on the app, you will see some welcome messages from our staff. 

This will be the second-to-last update that we will be sending through Constant Contact, at which point we will completely transition to Snap! Connect for the whole-school communication.

If you are having any difficulties with registering, please let us know at 773-534-5226 or crgamble@cps.edu. 

In partnership,

Chris Gamble

Principal

Hannah G. Solomon Elementary School

News and Notes

No worries if you missed Picture Day this past week. Our make-up date will be November 17. 

Thank you to the 85 or so attendees of our Hispanic American Heritage celebration this past Friday, as we watched Coco in our gym, talked about El Dia de los Muertos, and ate some yummy treats. Many thanks to Ms. Arceo and Ms. O’Donnell for organizing the fun!

Join us in-person or virtually for our next Local School Council meeting this Tuesday at 5:30pm. To join us virtually, click here for the Google Meet link.

Please click here to read about how we support students’ academic and social-emotional development through the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support process, courtesy of our Instructional Coach and Lead Interventionist, Ms. Zachar. 

The GoCPS application portal has opened up for our 8th graders applying for CPS high schools, as well as families who live outside of our attendance boundary and are looking to have their child join Solomon in grades K-8 for the 2023-2024 school year. High school open houses are ongoing throughout the fall. Join us for a Network 1 High School Fair at Rickover Naval Academy on October 18 from 6-7:30pm. For more information, contact our counselor, Mrs. Mulholland, at pamulholland@cps.edu or click here.

We are still looking for a parent or staff member that would be interested in coaching 5th/6th and 7th/8th Girls Basketball this season. If you are interested, please reach out to our Athletic Director, Mr. Martin, at cjmartin1@cps.edu for more information. 

For families that submitted their dental paperwork, Smile Dental will be coming to Solomon October 17-20 and October 24 to service our students.

The Albany Park branch (3401 W. Foster) of the Chicago Public Library hosts homework assistance for students every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 3-6pm. For more information, click here.

Friends of Solomon School Parent Teacher Organization (FOSSPTO)

We are looking for you to join the Friends of Solomon School PTO! By returning this document to the main office, we will add you to our email list and keep you updated on all of the great Solomon community events. First up for this year, a new Solomon event, join us from 4-8pm on October 28 for the Solomon Fall Fest!

Our school is participating in a creative fundraiser with Art to Remember that allows you to purchase keepsake products customized with your child's art. There are over 60 products and many are less than $15. These make great gifts and a percentage of every purchase goes right back to our school. Art to Remember forms will be coming home with students this week. When you have it, click on this link and enter the online order code shown on your child's order form or to search for your child's artwork. Then, have fun shopping!

To learn more about the mission of the Solomon FOSSPTO, click here.

Important Solomon Links

Our Solomon school organization chart, which has the contact information for all of our teachers and staff.

The opt-in form for COVID testing for your child at Solomon weekly.

Our October breakfast and lunch menus. 

Our Solomon school assessment calendar for the year. 

Our Solomon merchandise link from our partners at Squadlocker.

The volunteer registration form for anyone interested in volunteering at Solomon this year.

Solomon Calendar

All Solomon community events can be found on our school Google Calendar, linked at the Solomon website, solomon.cps.edu. You can also view our year-long calendar of community events here.

A few of the important upcoming dates:

Monday, October 10: Indigenous Peoples/Columbus Day (no school for staff or students)

Tuesday, October 11: Local School Council meeting, 5:30 (library and virtual)

Thursday, October 20: Last day of 1st Quarter

Friday, October 21: School Improvement Day (no school for students)