Dear Keller Families,
I hope this email finds you all doing well and ready to enjoy the weekend. The end of the first trimester is fast approaching. Starting next week, we will begin talking to the students about finishing the trimester strong. Our message will focus on maximizing the remaining opportunities in this trimester, and making sure they are getting their work done, in and out of the classroom. The students are truly having a great start to the school year, and now the coaching for them is to finish the trimester strong to set a successful tone for the second trimester. Lastly, as always, thank you for your support and all you do to set up our staff and students for success.
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our front office staff or me. Thank you for your patience, flexibility, and support and we will work “TOGETHER AS ONE” to ensure the success of our students.
Regards,
Tom Barbini
Principal
[email protected]
Important Dates to Remember:
- October 25: Halloween Movie Night from 6:00 – 8:00 PM
- November 8: Half-day Inservice; students released at 10:40 AM
- November 20: Full-day Parent-Teacher Conferences – no school all day
- November 21: Half-day Parent-Teacher Conferences – no school all day
- November 22-24: Thanksgiving Break – no school
- December 21: Winter break begins at the end of the day
- January 8: School Resumes
- January 15: Martin Luther King Jr. Day – no school
- February 16: Half-day Inservice; students released at 10:40 AM
- February 19: Presidents Day – no school
2023 – 2024 Keller Calendar
The 2023-2024 Keller Calendar can be viewed here: https://keller.sd54.org/aboutkeller/calendar/. This calendar contains upcoming events for Keller.
2023 – 2024 District Calendar
The 2023-2024 District Calendar can be viewed here: https://sd54.org/calendar/. Please click on the link for the Spanish version of the calendar.
Keller Junior High Website
Click here to navigate to the Keller Junior High Website.
Keller Sports, Intramurals, and Clubs
Please encourage your child to get involved in our Keller Sports, Intramurals, and Club offerings that take place after school. Please visit our Sports, Intramurals, and Clubs page for more information about these activities. Students must maintain academic eligibility to participate in sports, intramurals, and clubs. For information regarding upcoming dates for sporting events, intramurals, and club sessions please click on the link to view the building calendar on the Keller webpage.
Students participating in interscholastic athletic programs, including intramural sports, shall have an annual physical examination prior to tryouts and participating in any scheduled practice or contest. Physicals are effective for one year from the date of the exam. The physical exam form for District 54 can be found by clicking on the link. For additional information on District 54 Junior High Sports and the Sports Parent-Student Handbook please click here.
Infinite Campus Parent Portal
Infinite campus is District 54’s student information system that connects parents to information. Through Infinite Campus, parents will have access to the Parent Portal. The Parent Portal provides access for parents to information regarding their child including paying fees, viewing assignments, attendance, grades, academic schedule, and teacher comments.
If you currently do not have a Parent Portal account, please email [email protected] or you can call our front office at 1-847-357-6500 and our secretaries can assist you. If you need help logging on to the Infinite Campus portal click here, email [email protected], or call portal support at 847-357-5110. If you have previously created a Parent Portal account and cannot recall your username or password, you can reset them yourself from the portal website by selecting forgot password.
Lockdown Drill – October 24, 2023
As required by the Illinois School Code, our schools participate in fire, severe weather, bus evacuation and emergency response drills to ensure our students and employees know what to do should an emergency occur.
On October 24, 2023, our school will participate in a lockdown drill. Our past experience in conducting drills has shown us that most students are able to participate with the understanding that it is just a drill. However, we do allow parents/guardians to exempt a child from the drill. Should you feel this situation would be too traumatic for your child or should you want more information about the drills, please contact me at [email protected]. Under state law, schools must still provide alternative safety education related to an active threat to students who do not participate in the lockdown drill.
If a school were to have a real Lockdown situation, not a drill, every phone number associated with your child’s record would be called using our notification system. We will also text and email parents/guardians. We promise to communicate with you as soon as possible. Please be patient as our first priority will be the safety of our students and staff. While your natural instinct as a parent in an emergency is to go to your child’s school or to call the school office in an emergency, please understand that doing so may significantly impede the response capabilities of our local emergency responders. In addition, it is sometimes necessary to evacuate students to another location.
In addition to holding drills, we also focus on prevention by forming relationships with our students to provide support when they need it and so they feel comfortable reporting to us when they hear or see concerning behaviors. Please reinforce this with your children at home. Let them know that they can also come to you when they feel unsafe and remind them that they should report any suspicions and concerns about school safety.
After each drill, we reflect as a staff and with local emergency responders to determine if there are any procedures we might need to review with the staff and students. The safety of your children is very important to our staff. Should you have any questions about this drill, please don’t hesitate to contact me. For more information, visit our website at sd54.org/safe-schools.
Keller Halloween Movie Night October 25th
Keller will be hosting a Halloween Movie Night on Wednesday, October 25th from 6 to 8pm in the Keller field. All students and family members are welcome to attend! There will be food for sale and a few Halloween activities to partake in. Feel free to bring lawn chairs and blankets to help enjoy the event! We hope to see you there!
Adult ESL Classes at Keller
District 54 is offering classes to learn how to speak English. These classes are for all parents who are interested in learning basic English conversation skills as well as beginning reading and writing skills in English. Classes will run Wednesdays from October 4th through November 29th from 5:00-7:00pm at Keller Junior High School. Click here to learn more in Polish, Spanish, Ukrainian, or English.
2023 Personal Assessment of Core Competency
District 54 is committed to ensuring not only the academic success of each child, but also their social-emotional wellbeing. Your insight as a parent/guardian is essential in creating the most well rounded picture of your student’s strengths and opportunities for growth. To gather your perspective, District 54 will send families of students in grades 3-8 an email link for each child to the District 54 Personal Assessment of Core Competency on Monday, October 2nd . The survey will remain open until Friday, October 20th. Thank you in advance for participating in this survey, as we believe the home-school collaboration is critical to best support your child’s overall well-being.
Picture Day Ordering Reminder
Don’t forget to this year’s school pictures. Enjoy 10% off your order. Code: F202310OFF. Redeem Now
Erin’s Law
Again this year, we will be implementing a child sexual abuse prevention program in our schools as the result of the passage of Public Act 097-1147, also known as Erin’s Law. Lessons and resources have been carefully created and selected and give the students the knowledge and skills necessary to keep themselves safe. The delivery of these lessons will be occurring in health classes in October, November, and December. More information about the legislation and the lessons is available in the attached letters below. Please do not hesitate to be in contact with me if you have any questions or concerns.
Message from the Keller PTA
Keller Wolves Takeover Night is this Saturday October 14th. Ticket sales ends this Friday at noon, get your tickets HERE
PTA Reflections Project
The deadline to submit a project to the PTA’s Reflections Art Program is Thursday, October 19th. Students can turn in their art project and completed entry form on the 19th during their lunch period to the PTA volunteers at the hot lunch table in the cafeteria. Click on the link below for information.
PTA NEWS
Here is the latest issue of The Keller Wildcat:
In this issue:
- Hot Lunch
- Volunteers needed
- Picture Retakes
- Reflections Art Program
- PTA Member Goals
- Committee Openings
- Dine to Donate
- Box Tops
No Food Deliveries Allowed
With a focus on student and staff safety, District 54 will not allow food delivery services (including, but not limited to, GrubHub, DoorDash, and local restaurants) to our schools. We will continue to have hot lunch days, which are planned events, organized and supervised by school or PTA volunteers. However, we will no longer accept other outside food deliveries to keep our schools secure.
McKinney-Vento Act
The U.S. McKinney-Vento Assistance Act defines homeless children as those who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime abode.
In general, children or youth living in motels, transitional housing, shelters, the street, cars, parks, bus or train stations, abandoned buildings and other inadequate accommodations may be considered eligible for McKinney-Vento services. Please visit our website for more information.
Keller Junior High