News

Dear Addams Community:

It looks like winter has finally arrived in Chicago! We are staying warm and active inside Jane Addams Junior High!

A few highlights from the week:

• The Addams Multicultural Club has been busy highlighting the Chinese New Year (the year of the rabbit) this week. As some examples, the group played authentic music from China as the students were walking into school during the morning, decorated the cafeteria and held trivia contests during lunch periods to raise cultural awareness.
• The Addams Student Ambassadors journeyed to the district office to take part in more leadership training while connecting with student leaders from the other junior highs. We look forward to hearing back from them and having the SA’s help implement ideas to make the excellent learning environment at Addams even better.
• Wrestling and girls volleyball seasons have officially begun! We look forward to watching these student athletes as they grow and compete against the other schools in the district.
• Addams students have really taken to the idea of the Energy Bus! They have created a vision/goal and came up with methods to fuel their success. We will continue our journey next week during Inspire by discussing “roadblocks” to our success and to learn how to overcome them to achieve our goals.

Have a great weekend!

Regards,
 

Chris Bingen         Bill Musselman 

Principal               Assistant Principal

 Important Dates to Remember: 

• Feb. 10: Fire and Ice school dance, 6 to 8 pm
• Feb. 16: Family Bingo Night, 6 to 7:30 pm 
• Feb. 17: Half day for students
• Feb. 20: No school, Presidents Day

8th grade Graduation Update

The 8th grade graduation date will not be finalized by the school district until March. The School Board and administration wait until the threat of inclement weather/snow days are over before settling on a date. However, we have already begun preparations for graduation. Last week, all 8th graders were measured for their graduation gown in PE. Soon we will send out a link with information on how to purchase the gown and keepsake medallion for the graduation services.

Family Bingo Night

On Thursday, February 16 from 6 to 7:30 pm, we will be holding a Family Bingo Night at Addams in our cafeteria. There will be opportunities to win gift cards and other prizes. In addition, we will sell food, play music and ask trivia questions, “would you rather” questions, etc. between each round of Bingo. Please talk to your child and consider signing up for the event.
Click here to sign up.

Fire and Ice Dance
Tickets will go on sale Monday for $3 during lunch for the Fire and Ice Dance that is being held on February 10th from 6 to 8 pm. Dress attire for the event is meant to be casual. Students can dress up if they choose but they absolutely do NOT need to.
 

Social Media 

As we came back from winter break, all students were given refresher lessons on Digital Citizenship. We would appreciate if parents ask about the presentations and discuss the messages with your child. Recently, we have had some situations where students are taking pictures and videos of others without their permission. Please take a couple minutes this weekend to reiterate to your child that it is never OK to post something about another student without their permission. Additionally, the students know they are not allowed to take pictures or videos during the school day unless under the direction of a staff member. Thank you for your help as we all navigate our digital world!

5Essentials

Once again we are reaching out to our families and asking you to participate in the annual Illinois 5Essentials Survey to provide us with your perspective and help guide our school improvement efforts. The parent survey will be available online through March 31, 2023, at survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois. 

The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and is available in English and Spanish. Note: the survey will time out and you will need to start over if you don’t finish in one sitting.

If you have more than one child, you may complete the survey for each child. You will be asked to select your county and then your child’s school. Be aware that there are other “Jane Addams” schools in Illinois so make sure you are picking the one in Schaumburg. 

District 54 Personal Assessment of Core Competency Survey 
 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 Survey on Monday, January 9th.  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.
 

Residency for 2023-24
District 54 will hold kindergarten/new student registration for the 2023-24 school year by appointment only. Starting Wednesday, January 25, 2023, families that have a student currently enrolled in District 54 can register incoming kindergarten students through their Parent Portal account. Families new to District 54 can register through the link on our website (http://sd54.org/registration ).

Once your online registration is complete, please contact your school to schedule your in-person appointment to complete your student’s registration and provide documentation. If you have any questions, please contact our office.

Eighth Grade / High School Transition

District 211 has updated its comprehensive transition guidebook for the high school graduating class of 2027.  The guidebook highlights important information the families of current 8th grade students will want to know.  Each District 211 high school has a unique version of the Class of 2027 Transition Guidebook.  You can locate electronic copies of each high school’s guidebook on the District 211 webpage devoted to incoming freshmen information.  Please contact your student’s prospective high school for more information about the high school transition.    

Now available!  Become a District 54 Paraprofessional Using a Short-Term Paraprofessional License.
 Have you always wanted to work full-time in District 54?  Have you always liked the idea of assisting a teacher or helping a student reach their full potential?  If you hold a high school diploma (or the equivalent) you are now qualified to become a District 54 Paraprofessional through the short-term paraprofessional license.  It is simple to apply for this license and the information is available here.  Be sure to visit the District 54 website and click on the Careers button to apply! 

District 54 Severe Weather Response Plan
 In order to help parents better prepare for the severe cold weather and snow we often get during winters in our community, please review the District 54 Severe Weather Response Plan.

District 54 Virtual Backpack
 District 54 shares information about community events with our students and families through our Virtual Backpack.  We know that parents are interested in extracurricular activities. At the same time, we don’t want the homework, letters from the teachers, school news and other important district information to get lost among the countless other pieces of paper in our students’ backpacks.  Please click here for additional information.