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Solomon Principal Newsletter
October 24, 2022
Dear Solomon Family--
Please join us in celebrating Red Ribbon Week this week. We use this week to share our commitment to being drug- and bully-free at Solomon.
Also this week, our first Solomon Fall Fest is this Friday, October 28, after school on the Solomon campus. Food, Jesse White Tumblers, “touch a truck”, bounce 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.
If you have not signed up for Snap! Connect (formerly known as School CNXT) yet, our new host for our school-wide communication this month, please do so. 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! I will resend invitations again today.
This will be the last update that you will receive through Constant Contact, as we are completing the 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
Halloween Updates
Halloween will be celebrated at Solomon on Monday, October 31, 2022. Students are not required to dress up, and we offer this as an optional activity for students and staff.
- Nut-free candy can be brought to school for trick-or-treat purposes. Students will exchange candy, healthier snack alternatives, or trinkets (pencils, etc.) during a classroom trick-or-treat. Teachers will seal the bags after distribution so that students do not eat treats during the school day. This ensures that parents have discretion over what their child eats. There will not be any in-school consumption of treats. Note: Please help us keep our facilities clean by encouraging students to throw any wrappers or trash in the garbage cans around our campus.
- There will be a parade for students in grades K through 2nd grade, inside the building for students, starting at 12:50. Students will travel internally from Door #3 to Door #6, and then exit via Door #6, travel south on Avers to head off on their walking field trip to the convent. Parents are welcome to watch the parade from our lobby and main office hallway. While you may take pictures of your child, please do not take pictures or video record other students.
- Pre-K (108) will perform a few fall songs for parents outside of Door #1 at 9:10am and 1:20pm. If there is inclement weather, parents will be invited into our gymnasium for the performance.
- On costumes:
- Students should either wear their costume all day or have a costume they can put on themselves so that teachers are not required to assist.
- All costumes must be school-appropriate, which includes no masks, toy weapons, and fake blood.
- Teachers will follow up with parents directly if they have particular requests for their classroom on October 31, 2022. Teachers have the option of hosting classroom parties with parents this year, and if they choose to do so, they will communicate directly with parents.
News and Notes
In the school pictures shared below (in Snap!), be sure to check out some 8th graders working on a science project looking at the impact of different beverages on our teeth and 5th graders celebrating YES day with Mrs. Bakula. From Mrs. Bakula: “After earning 119 (like their room number) class points based on classroom agreements, the 5th graders cashed in for a YES Day. So what are some of the things Mrs. Bakula said YES to? Students wearing pajamas and bringing stuffies to class, 15 minutes on electronics, snack time, eating lunch with the students in the lunchroom, and (YES, they actually asked for) rehearsal time to perform Three-Headed Beast, a Greek myth featured in Storyworks. Regular day of instruction in pajamas + LOTS of creative student input = very fun Friday!”
1st Quarter Report Cards are in the process of being finalized. We will be sharing our plan with the community on how parent-teacher conferences will be scheduled in our next update, and we will be sending report cards, assessment data, and other district materials home with students before the conferences are scheduled, which are later this year than in previous years. More concrete information will be coming soon. Thanks for your patience.
We are excited to announce that our annual musical performed by Solomon students in grades 4 through 8 this year will be…Annie Jr.! Frozen Jr. was a smashing success last year, and I know that I’m excited to see our young performers on stage again. Paper copies of this sign-up sheet traveled home in the backpacks of 4th-8th graders today, and you can find another copy here. Please sign up in advance so that we know who we will expect to see during tryouts the week of November 28. Those who sign up will get updates from our director (and Solomon parent), Mrs. Kristen Williams Smith.
The GoCPS application portal is open 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.
8th graders at Solomon will be taking the High School Admissions Test on Wednesday, October 26, starting at 9:15am. Our 6th and 7th grade students will have a different bell schedule that day as a result. We wish our 8th graders the best of luck with the test–you’ve got this!
I’m excited to announce that after a 2 year hiatus due to the pandemic, our annual Veterans Celebration Day is returning on November 16, organized by our one and only Mrs. Reis. Be on the lookout for more information in the coming weeks on how you and loved veterans in your life can participate.
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.
Roosevelt High School (3436 W. Wilson) is hosting a Monster Mile fun run and Haunted House on their campus on Saturday, October 29. Be sure to check it out and see one of our CPS neighborhood high schools in the process!
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.
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! Orders are due by October 25 to ensure that you can have them in time for the winter holidays.
To learn more about the mission of the Solomon FOSSPTO, click here.
Important Solomon Links
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:
- Friday, October 28: Solomon Fall Fest, 4pm
- Thursday, November 3: Friends of Solomon School PTO, 6pm (virtual/lobby)
- Tuesday, November 8: No School (Election Day)
- Tuesday, November 15: Local School Council, 5:30 (virtual/library)
- Wednesday, November 16: Veterans Celebration Day
- Thursday, November 17: Picture Day Retakes
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