Mr. Elkins' Weekly Wrap: Week of March 24

Hey Panda Family,

Thank you to everyone for the great start to our Boosterthon fundraiser! We have already raised over $8,000 for our school and we still have a whole week to go. We couldn't do it without your help, support, and promotion. Keep it up! Fun Run details are below! Have a great weekend! Only 8 weeks to go! 🐼

Here are the Weekly Wrap updates for this week:

New Updates

Boosterthon Fun Run: The Boosterthon Fun Run will be next Friday, April 4. We will have the Fun Run outside. Please click on this document for the full details and schedule - Fun Run Schedule & Details

Fun Run Schedule

9:00 - 2nd & 3rd Grade
10:00 - Kinder & 1st Grade
11:00 - 4th & 5th Grade

Incident Reports: One of the problem areas from the Sedge Garden investigation deals with incident reports and lack of reporting. This is just a friendly reminder that when a student gets hurt here at school please make sure to apply care, contact the parents, and complete the yellow incident report form (these are located in the office). If you have any questions regarding incident reports please reach out to Mr. Elkins.

Infinite Campus Courses: If you have completed your registration for Infinite Campus you should have begun receiving some emails about webinars and trainings. I have checked with the IT department and you do need to start completing these. You can complete these lessons at your own pace.

April Drills: Fire drill. It will be unannounced.

Terms of Employment for 2025-2026 (from the district): The purpose of this communication is to provide you with the attached Terms of Employment and Staff Calendars for the 2025-2026 school year. Additionally, we are listing a few important updates and reminders below.

Pre-Service Days: All pre-service days (RS, PD, RT) are required for all employee staff who are under terms of employment. Annual Leave (AL) will not be approved on these days, as attendance is required to ensure we are prepared to welcome students on the first day of school.
RT Days after the first student day: On the other five RT days, employees may take AL days if the RT days are within their terms of employment. 10-month employees who positions permit remote work may telework on the RT days on December 22, 2025, and January 2, 2026
RS/PD Days on August 5 and 6: The professional development (PD) days on August 5 and 6 will be designated separately for elementary and secondary staff, with one day allocated for each group. The remaining day will serve as an RS (Reserved) day for schools.
RS Days after the first student day: Employees may be approved for Annual Leave on RS days with supervisor approval and if their job group does not have professional development.
Specific employee groups (such as Teacher Assistants and certain support staff) have designated mandatory R days, as detailed in the Terms of Employment document.
Inclement weather makeup days are noted by a snowflake symbol on April 6, and May 26-29. In the event of an inclement weather day, the day becomes an RT day for 215-day employees unless otherwise stated. The district is developing a clearer specific code structure for inclement weather days for next year which will be shared in August.
May 29 indicates the last paid employment date for the 215-day school year. Please note that this date may be adjusted due to inclement weather, which could result in changes to the calendar.

Please ensure you review the Terms of Employment and the attached 2025-2026 Staff Calendar to understand the expectations for your role. If you have any questions regarding your specific schedule, please reach out to your supervisor or the Human Resources department.

Thank you for your commitment to ensuring a successful start to the 2025-2026 school year. We appreciate your dedication and look forward to another great year ahead.

2025-26 Terms of Service Document

2025-26 Staff Calendar

SCC Baseball Game Event: Come join SCC for a fun family evening of baseball!! On April 2^nd The Dash is doing a special promotional game with tickets being just $0.52!!!! We are sending this out now so you can get a good seat. We plan on sitting in section 110, just to the left of behind home plate. We do NOT have a plan for exact seats, just a section of where we want to be. See the information below and click the link to purchase your tickets. Limited Time Offer - Grab your tickets to the Future Sox Showdown for just $0.52 when you use promo code SOX52! Celebrate the combined years the Dash and Cannon Ballers have been affiliates of the Chicago White Sox with this special limited time ticket deal, the regular ticket price for this event is $5.

Click the link below to view the tickets.

Baseball Ticket Link

Student Work: Please make sure to continue to post student work outside your classroom. I love seeing the beautiful work our students have completed!

PBIS Event: PBIS is hosting a new "event" this year - Panda Personalization (aka Make It Yours). Students will pay their classroom teacher 75 Paw Bucks to receive a personalized item. They will choose their item (clipboard, water bottle, hairbrush, beach ball, or sunglasses), font, and font color. (There is also an option for students to only get their name in vinyl to put on an item of their choosing. The price is still 75 Paw Bucks.)

Teachers, once your student pays you can either have them complete the Google Form to "order" or you can help them complete it. All orders are due by Thursday, April 10.

Items will be delivered to them sometime in May once personalization is complete.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your PBIS rep.

Shout-out 🎉: From Carol Mason - shout-out to the Specialist team! Always working together to support each other. I got sick last Friday and my team took my last class so I could go to the doctor. Thank you!

Updates from Last Week

PTA Reimbursements: All PTA reimbursements are due by April 30. Please make sure you keep your receipt. Here is the link to complete your reimbursement request - PTA Reimbursement Link

Updated Piney Grove Calendar: Please take time to review the PGE Event Calendar 2024-2025. We have added EOG Dates, adjusted Awards Day celebrations, and set a date for 5th grade graduation. Please review and mark your calendar accordingly. Here is a link to the calendar: PGE Event Calendar 2024-2025
Awards Celebrations
Kindergarten - May 16 @ 10:00
1st Grade - May 14 @ 12:00
2nd Grade - May 16 @ 12:00
3rd Grade - May 20 @ 10:00
4th Grade - May 20 @ 12:00
5th Grade - May 21 @ 10:00
EOG Dates
Reading EOG - May 13
Math EOG - May 15
Science EOG - May 19
Read to Achieve - May 19