What a great couple of weeks we have had at Frost as we push ourselves to end the school year Frost Strong!  Our students showed incredible focus and effort during the MAP mathematics test this past week and ready themselves for this week’s MAP reading test.  Two weeks ago, several of our Spanish Dual Language students took home medals at the District 54 Spanish Speech Contest and another group of Spartans showed off their expertise in STEM during the District 54 STEM Showcase.  During the Teacher Inservice two weeks ago, our staff devoted themselves to learning about the new Social-Emotional Learning curriculum that will be taught to our students in the fall.  Last week, two of Frost’s teachers were recognized for their incredible commitment to High Achievement and Positive Culture—congratulations to Mrs. Barrick and Ms. Joyce!  We have more excitement coming up this week as our Spartan performers show off their skills during our annual Spring Concert Series and our eighth grade students will be celebrating the end of their wonderful elementary school years with an eighth grade dance in our gymnasium.  The past two weeks and our next two weeks are a perfect example of our continual practice of accountability and celebration to ensure our students attain our stated achievement goals of High Achievement and Positive Culture.  Please read below for more information about our school-wide goals.

High Achievement

Spring MAP:  This week, our staff and students finish their spring MAP to end the school year “Frost Strong”.  The MAP assessment is just one of many ways we monitor the progress of our students.  As stated above, the MAP assessment is part of our continual practice of accountability and celebration to ensure our students attain our stated achievement goals for this school year:

• Reading—Frost will perform at or above the 95^th percentile in mean growth in reading
• Math— Frost will perform at or above the 95^th percentile in mean growth in mathematics

Most of our students will be taking their MAP tests in their language arts classrooms.  The MAP test sessions days are listed below:

• Reading: Tuesday, May 15 and Thursday, May 17

During our testing sessions, the building will be silent to ensure that all students can focus and give their full effort.  You can help your student do his/her best on the test by:

• making sure, if possible, that your student attends school on the days of testing;
• making sure your student gets a good night’s sleep the night before testing;
• providing a nutritional breakfast on the mornings of testing;
• reminding your student to ask the teacher questions if he/she does not understand the test direction;
• letting your student know that you are confident in his/her ability to do his/her best;
• advising your student not to worry about the test — just to do the best he/she can.

The eighth grade graduation ceremony will begin promptly at 8:45 p.m. at Conant High School on Plum Grove Road in Hoffman Estates on Thursday, May 24.  Graduates should arrive by 8:15 p.m. and report to the cafeteria.  Designated seating is available on the gym floor for guests with special needs.  Graduates with last names A-Kr will be seated on the east side of the gym, while Ku-Z will be on the west side.  Use these guidelines when selecting your seat.  Mead Junior High School will be graduating at 6:00 p.m. so please be respectful of their exit when you enter for our ceremony.  At the conclusion of the ceremony, please meet your graduate in the following locations:

• Graduates with last names A-Kr will meet their parents down the hallway leading out to the east doors/east parking lot (please note, students will not be allowed re-entry to the cafeteria after the ceremony)
• Graduates with last names Ku-Z will meet their parents down the hallway leading out to the south doors/south parking lot (please note, students will not be allowed re-entry to the cafeteria after the ceremony)

Students who have any missing assignments and students being promoted but did not meet district standards, will not be allowed to attend the ceremony.  All assignments are due Thursday, May 24, by 2:15 p.m.  Final grades for eighth grade students will be calculated on May 25.  As a result, the Presidential Achievement Awards (Gold and Silver) will not be determined until after the graduation ceremony.  Students will receive their certificates for those awards by mail after the ceremony Tickets are not required for the ceremony.  However, we recommend that you limit your group to six family members.  The Conant gym is large and should accommodate the estimated 2,000 guests without any problem.  Please try to limit your guests to family members only.  Please note the temperature during the ceremony in the Conant gymnasium can be excessively hot.  Unfortunately, we have no control over the gymnasium temperature.  As a result, we recommend that you please dress accordingly, bring items to help keep you cool such as a hand fan and/or water, and make every effort to sit in the lower level near the floor where it is cooler.  Graduation gowns will be distributed on Monday, May 21 at the end of the school day.  We recommend that students wear dress clothes under the gown.

District 54 Virtual Learning University: Are you searching for an innovative way to empower your children over the summer? Are you looking for a comprehensive approach to summer learning that combats boredom and keeps everyone engaged? Look no further! We have created a new website with a wide range of challenges at each grade level to help prevent the summer slide. Visit the School District 54 Virtual Learning University to tackle challenges for literacy, math, science, social science, language and culture too!  Each content area has multiple challenges to keep your children’s minds focused and active throughout the summer weeks! Within each category, you will find family activities, individual activities and places to visit in our community and surrounding areas.  We hope you will encourage your children to visit our Virtual Learning University often throughout the summer to challenge themselves and to keep your family learning together. Click here to access the Virtual Learning University or find the link under Popular Links on the District 54 website.

Positive Culture

PTA Nominating Committee Report:  The Nominating Committee of the Frost PTA originally met on April 17, 2018 and submitted a slate of officers for the 2018-2019 school year.  We finalized the slate of officers and their positions as listed below. Officers will be voted upon at our General Membership Meeting on May 16, 2018.

President:                                                         Lisa Reck

1^st Vice President:                                             Domenica Iannotti

2^nd Vice President:                                            Theresa Banks

Treasurer:                                                         Gena Angelino

Corresponding Secretary:                                  Tracy Olender

Recording Secretary:                                         Maggie Joyce

Respectfully submitted by the Frost PTA Nominating Committee: Denise Lentz, Scott Ross, Christopher Schmid, Maggie Joyce, Lisa Reck and LaToya Walton.  Please visit our Frost PTA website for other important PTA information Frost PTA.

Join the District 54 Education Foundation for our 21st annual golf outing on Monday, June 11 and make a difference in the lives of District 54 students.  The golf outing at the Schaumburg Golf Club is the Foundation’s largest fundraising event. All proceeds support District 54 breakfast programs, STEM after-school clubs and grants for students from financially struggling households.  Please consider supporting District 54 children by becoming an event sponsor, volunteering at our outing or golfing. We are also looking for items for our silent auction, as well as gift cards from local businesses to award as prizes.  Visitwww.d54foundation.org/golf-outing for more information.

First Annual Frost Walk-A-Thon:  This year Frost will host its first annual Walk-A-Thon to support the Ronald McDonald House charities. During the months of April and May students and staff will raise money and collect pop tabs to donate. Fundraising envelopes and more information about the Walk-A-Thon were sent home on 4/13/18- please ask your student to see this information. We have a school goal of raising $5000, any support you can provide to your student in helping them raise money would be great! It is our hope that this end of the year event will provide a positive and purposeful experience for our students and our staff. A philanthropic event like this can truly allow our Frost Strong side to shine; the more collaboration and effort we can put in will result in a greater impact made as well as lasting memories and lessons of kindness learned.  On Wednesday, May 23, 2018, students and staff will participate in the Walk-A-Thon in the morning and celebrate all of their efforts in the afternoon. The Ronald McDonald House Charities support families of children who have medical needs that require them to stay in the hospital. There are currently five Ronald McDonald houses in this Chicagoland Area. When families come to Ronald McDonald houses, they are able to stay free because of donations from fundraisers like Frost’s Walk-A-Thon. They are able to stay together, have a warm meal, do laundry, and be part of a supportive community during their challenging times. All money and pop tabs collected during fundraising will be donated directly to the Chicago and Northwest Indiana Ronald McDonald House charity chapter. The date of this year’s Walk-A-Thon also correlates with the national “Red Nose Day.” Red Nose Day is when comedians come together to raise money to benefit children. They do this by putting on a comedy show and being silly with red noses. We will be supporting Red Nose Day by wearing red noses and having fun as we support a fundraiser for children at the Ronald McDonald Houses.  If you have pop tabs you can donate, please send them to school with your student. The Interact Club is collecting them to donate to Ronald McDonald House.  All Fundraising envelopes need to be turned in to your student’s homeroom teachers by Wednesday, May 16 at 7:30am.

Career Day:  On Wednesday, May 30, we will be hosting our third annual “Career Day” here at Frost.  On this day, our 7th grade students will be hearing several presentations from various professionals talking about their careers including how their work as a junior high school student prepared them for their job.  We are looking for parents and community members who are willing to come to Frost on this day to speak with our students.  We are hosting two sessions.  The morning session is 8:30-10:30 am.  The afternoon session is from 11:30 am-1:30 pm.  A complimentary lunch will be provided for all of our presenters to thank them for taking the time to talk to our students about their professions.  If you are interested in presenting to our students at our Career Day, please contact Mrs. Czarnecki at joanczarnecki@nullsd54.org or 847-357-2136.

Track and Field competes for the final time at the D54 Conference meet on 5/14 (held at Conant HS).

Boys Volleyball:  Starting in 2018-19, District 54 will offer Boys Volleyball as a competitive sport.  The season will start March 1 and run until May.  Please contact me if you have any questions about this opportunity.

Wacky Wednesdays are a fun way to lighten the mood as we come up on the end of the school year.  Our upcoming Wacky Wednesdays are Hawaiian Day on 5/16 and Red Nose Day on 5/23!

Please encourage your child to get involved in these upcoming Frost Club offerings by visiting our Frost Clubs and Activities page for more information about our upcoming clubs Frost Clubs .

Important upcoming dates:

• May 15, 17: MAP Reading
• Tuesday, May 15  Orchestra and Chorus concert
• Wednesday, May 16  Band concert
• Friday, May 18  Eighth grade dance
• Tuesday, May 22: Energy Summit
• Wednesday, May 23  Walk-A-Thon
• Thursday, May 24  Eighth grade graduation; last day of attendance for eighth grade students
• Friday, May 25:  Pep Rally
• Tuesday, May 24  Final day of pizza sales during lunch
• Monday, May 28  No school
• Tuesday, May 29  Field day
• Wednesday, May 30  Career day
• Thursday, May 31  Last day of attendance for seventh grade students

Please visit our Frost JHS website for the building calendar https://frost.sd54.org/ and para información de la escuela en español, favor de precionar bajo https://frost.sd54.org/hispanoparlantes/.  Finally, don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/frostspartans and follow us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/frostspartans to stay updated with the latest news and information about the great things happening at Frost.  As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Thank you for your continued support and commitment to ensuring your child’s educational success.

These past two weeks, our students have displayed an impressive amount of effort!  They are showing that anyone can start the race fast, but it takes someone who is Frost Strong to run best at the end of the race.  Our staff share this Frost Strong spirit by showing up committed every day to ensuring your child’s success by delivering highly engaged lessons while also starting to plan for next school year.  Starting this week, Mr. Schmid and I will return to Frost TV every morning to talk with the students about displaying Frost Strong behaviors every day in every way.  With our important end-of-year MAP assessment coming up, we are excited to see our school’s hard work pay off to attain our school-wide goals of High Achievement and Positive Culture.  Please read below for more information about our school-wide goals.

High Achievement

Spring MAP:  Starting Wednesday, May 9, our staff and students will focus their attention on the spring MAP and ending the school year “Frost Strong”.  The staff works extremely hard each day of the school year to challenge our students. We continually utilize feedback received from students to inform our instruction. The MAP assessment is just one of many ways we monitor the progress of our students.  This is all part of our continual practice of accountability and celebration to ensure our students attain our stated achievement goals for this school year:

• Reading—Frost will perform at or above the 95^th percentile in mean growth in reading
• Math— Frost will perform at or above the 95^th percentile in mean growth in mathematics

Most of our students will be taking their MAP tests in their language arts and mathematics classrooms.  The MAP test days are listed below:

• Mathematics: Wednesday, May 9; Thursday, May 10; and Friday, May 11
• Reading: Tuesday, May 15 and Thursday, May 17

During our testing sessions, the building will be silent to ensure that all students can focus and give their full effort.  You can help your student do his/her best on the test by:

• making sure, if possible, that your student attends school on the days of testing;
• making sure your student gets a good night’s sleep the night before testing;
• providing a nutritional breakfast on the mornings of testing;
• reminding your student to ask the teacher questions if he/she does not understand the test direction;
• letting your student know that you are confident in his/her ability to do his/her best;
• advising your student not to worry about the test — just to do the best he/she can.

STEM Showcase: Since the start of the school year, students from across the district have been participating in a variety of STEM-based opportunities, and as a culmination District 54 has created a STEM Showcase highlighting this work.  Nearly 50 student projects will be on display in the PLC on Wednesday, May 2 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm.  Please see attached flyer D54 STEM Showcase with details about the STEM Showcase.  This is a great opportunity for our kids to showcase their innovative spirits, and we hope that if you have the opportunity you can be part of the showcase as well.

We are pleased to announce that this year’s eighth grade graduation ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 24, 2018 starting at 8:45 pm at Conant High School.  Specific details related to the graduation ceremony have been mailed home. Please mark your calendars for this special evening.  Reminder that in order for eighth grade students to participate in the graduation ceremony all homework assignments must be received by Thursday, May 24.  As we are into our third trimester, please continue to communicate with teachers and/or monitor grades online. We will continue to provide homework completion support for our students as we near the end of the school year.  Eighth grade dance has been set for Friday, May 18 from 6:30-9:30.  Information letters and permission slips were handed out two weeks ago to your eighth grade student.  Reminder that tickets are $5.00 and payment and signed permission slips are due to your child’s homeroom teacher no later than Monday, May 7.

Positive Culture

PTA:  Please read below for important information from our fantastic PTA.

• Nominating Committee Report:  The Nominating Committee of the Frost PTA originally met on April 17, 2018 and submitted a slate of officers for the 2018-2019 school year.  We finalized the slate of officers and their positions as listed below. Officers will be voted upon at our General Membership Meeting on May 16, 2018.

President:                                                         Lisa Reck

1^st Vice President:                                             Domenica Iannotti

2^nd Vice President:                                            Theresa Banks

Treasurer:                                                         Gena Angelino

Corresponding Secretary:                                  Tracy Olender

Recording Secretary:                                         Maggie Joyce

Respectfully submitted by the Frost PTA Nominating Committee: Denise Lentz, Scott Ross, Christopher Schmid, Maggie Joyce, Lisa Reck and LaToya Walton.

• Please visit our Frost PTA website for other important PTA information Frost PTA.

D54 Foundation:

• Thank a Teacher: Are you looking for a unique gift to give your child’s teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week May 7-11? You can donate to the District 54 Education Foundation in their honor by visiting https://d54foundation.org/donate, entering an amount and selecting THANKS (To Honor And Notice Kindness & Service) from the drop-down menu. We will mail a certificate to the teacher you are honoring, and your donation will support students in need in District 54. If you would prefer, you can fill out our printable form and mail it to the Foundation with your donation.
• Lou Malnati’s – May 2: The Foundation is partnering with Lou Malnati’s in Schaumburg to raise funds for students. Eat at or order from the Lou Malnati’s on Schaumburg Road or on Barrington Road on May 2, and 20 percent of total sales will be donated to the District 54 Education Foundation. You must bring in or mention the flyer at the time of your order. Click here for the flyer.
• Join the District 54 Education Foundation for our 21st annual golf outing on Monday, June 11 and make a difference in the lives of District 54 students.  The golf outing at the Schaumburg Golf Club is the Foundation’s largest fundraising event. All proceeds support District 54 breakfast programs, STEM after-school clubs and grants for students from financially struggling households.  Please consider supporting District 54 children by becoming an event sponsor, volunteering at our outing or golfing. We are also looking for items for our silent auction, as well as gift cards from local businesses to award as prizes.  Visit www.d54foundation.org/golf-outing for more information.District 54

Schaumburg Parent University (SPU) is designed to involve more parents in the life of the school, to strengthen family relationships, and to improve parenting skills that will ultimately result in improved student success academically, socially and emotionally.

• Summer Camp Expo – May 1
  This event is for parents and students, but childcare is also available. Visit tables to learn about the various summer camps and programs available in Schaumburg Township and the surrounding area. Programs and agencies attending the expo will be listed at http://sd54.org/spu. This event will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on May 1 at the Professional Learning Center, 522 East Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg.
• Spring into Summer with Nature Crafts – May 16
  Come join us for a night of nature inspired crafts. We will be painting birdhouses and making birdseed balls. You will also have an opportunity to paint flower pots and plant your own flower. All supplies will be provided. The birdhouse, birdseed ball and flower pot will be all yours to take home at the end of the evening. Recommended for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade. Peanut butter will be used during the crafts.  This event will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. on May 16 at Lakeview Elementary School, 615 Lakeview Lane, Hoffman Estates. There is a limit of 50 people potting. There is a fee of $5 per pot. Please RSVP to let us know how many pots your family wants to paint.

To register, contact Meg Kwak at (847) 357-6586 or spu@nullsd54.org. Leave your name, contact information, the number of children requiring childcare and the name of your child’s school. If you represent an agency in the area and would like to reserve a booth at the Summer Camp Expo, please contact Meagan Kasper at (847) 357-5027 or meagankasper@nullsd54.org.

First Annual Frost Walk-A-Thon:  This year Frost will host its first annual Walk-A-Thon to support the Ronald McDonald House charities. During the months of April and May students and staff will raise money and collect pop tabs to donate. Fundraising envelopes and more information about the Walk-A-Thon were sent home on 4/13/18- please ask your student to see this information. We have a school goal of raising $5000, any support you can provide to your student in helping them raise money would be great! It is our hope that this end of the year event will provide a positive and purposeful experience for our students and our staff. A philanthropic event like this can truly allow our Frost Strong side to shine; the more collaboration and effort we can put in will result in a greater impact made as well as lasting memories and lessons of kindness learned.  On Wednesday, May 23, 2018, students and staff will participate in the Walk-A-Thon in the morning and celebrate all of their efforts in the afternoon. The Ronald McDonald House Charities support families of children who have medical needs that require them to stay in the hospital. There are currently five Ronald McDonald houses in this Chicagoland Area. When families come to Ronald McDonald houses, they are able to stay free because of donations from fundraisers like Frost’s Walk-A-Thon. They are able to stay together, have a warm meal, do laundry, and be part of a supportive community during their challenging times. All money and pop tabs collected during fundraising will be donated directly to the Chicago and Northwest Indiana Ronald McDonald House charity chapter. The date of this year’s Walk-A-Thon also correlates with the national “Red Nose Day.” Red Nose Day is when comedians come together to raise money to benefit children. They do this by putting on a comedy show and being silly with red noses. We will be supporting Red Nose Day by wearing red noses and having fun as we support a fundraiser for children at the Ronald McDonald Houses.  If you have pop tabs you can donate, please send them to school with your student. The Interact Club is collecting them to donate to Ronald McDonald House.  All Fundraising envelopes need to be turned in to your student’s homeroom teachers by Wednesday, May 16 at 7:30am.

Career Day:  On Wednesday, May 30, we will be hosting our third annual “Career Day” here at Frost.  On this day, our 7th grade students will be hearing several presentations from various professionals talking about their careers including how their work as a junior high school student prepared them for their job.  We are looking for parents and community members who are willing to come to Frost on this day to speak with our students.  We are hosting two sessions.  The morning session is 8:30-10:30 am.  The afternoon session is from 11:30 am-1:30 pm.  A complimentary lunch will be provided for all of our presenters to thank them for taking the time to talk to our students about their professions.  If you are interested in presenting to our students at our Career Day, please contact Mrs. Czarnecki at joanczarnecki@nullsd54.org or 847-357-2136.

Track and Field runs two final meets on 5/1 (held at Eisenhower JHS) and the D54 Conference meet on 5/14 (held at Conant HS).

Boys Volleyball:  Starting in 2018-19, District 54 will offer Boys Volleyball as a competitive sport.  The season will start March 1 and run until May.  Please contact me if you have any questions about this opportunity.

Wacky Wednesdays are a fun way to lighten the mood as we come up on the end of the school year.  Our upcoming Wacky Wednesdays are Superhero Day on 5/2 and Hat/Wig Day on 5/9!

Please encourage your child to get involved in these upcoming Frost Club offerings:  Rocket Club, Club Unify, Frost TV, and Interact Club.  Please visit our Frost Clubs and Activities page for more information about our upcoming clubs Frost Clubs .

Please see attached reminders about Tick Prevention  from our school nurse.

Important upcoming dates:

• Wednesday, May 2: Half-day of attendance
• May 9-11:  MAP Mathematics
• May 15, 17: MAP Reading
• Tuesday, May 15  Orchestra and Chorus concert
• Wednesday, May 16  Band concert
• Friday, May 18  Eighth grade dance
• Tuesday, May 22: Energy Summit
• Wednesday, May 23  Walk-A-Thon
• Thursday, May 24  Eighth grade graduation; last day of attendance for eighth grade students
• Friday, May 25:  Pep Rally
• Monday, May 28  No school
• Tuesday, May 29  Field day
• Wednesday, May 30  Career day
• Thursday, May 31  Last day of attendance for seventh grade students

Please visit our Frost JHS website for the building calendar https://frost.sd54.org/ and para información de la escuela en español, favor de precionar bajo https://frost.sd54.org/hispanoparlantes/.  Finally, don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/frostspartans and follow us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/frostspartans to stay updated with the latest news and information about the great things happening at Frost.  As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Thank you for your continued support and commitment to ensuring your child’s educational success.

• Monday, April 16 – English Language Arts Unit 1
• Tuesday, April 17 – English Language Arts Unit 2
• Wednesday, April 18—English Language Arts Unit 3

• Please see attached for the STC Elementary Scholarship cover letter  and application.  
• PTA Hot Lunch is looking for more volunteers!  If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up to serve PTA Hot Lunch by simply visiting this site and submitting your desired time: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/4090D4AA9AB2DA4F85-volunteer. 
• Please join us for our next PTA meeting on April 17 at 7:00 PM in the Frost Lounge.  Please visit our Frost PTA website for other important PTA information Frost PTA. 

• A Girl’s Purpose Workshop – April 25

• Summer Camp Expo – May 1
  This event is for parents and students, but childcare is also available. Visit tables to learn about the various summer camps and programs available in Schaumburg Township and the surrounding area. Programs and agencies attending the expo will be listed at http://sd54.org/spu. This event will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on May 1 at the Professional Learning Center, 522 East Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg.

• Wednesday, May 2: Half-day of attendance
• May 14-18: Spring MAP
• Tuesday, May 15  Orchestra and Chorus concert
• Wednesday, May 16  Band concert
• Friday, May 18  Eighth grade dance
• Wednesday, May 23  Walk-A-Thon
• Thursday, May 24  Eighth grade graduation; last day of attendance for eighth grade students
• Monday, May 28  No school
• Tuesday, May 29  Field day
• Wednesday, May 30  Career day
• Thursday, May 31  Last day of attendance for seventh grade students