News

Greetings Margaret Mead Community,
 
Please see below for information about how we continue towards ensuring the Mead community is Fostering Academic Achievement and Creating a Positive Culture.  
 
Fostering Academic Achievement
 
District 54 Summer Camps: Summer is right around the corner and the perfect way to enjoy it is to join a Summer of 54 camp! District 54 students can build robots, design a t-shirt, learn a new sport, brush up on music skills, and so much more! Registration will open in your Parent Portal at 9:00 am Wednesday, April 5, and will close at noon Friday, May 5. (Instrumental Music camp registration will close at noon Friday, May 26.) For more information on the camps offered click on the links below. 

• 2023 Summer of 54 Camp Brochure 
• 2023 Summer of 54 Camp Brochure – Spanish

Seats fill up fast, so sign up early if you want your children to be a part of the Summer of 54 Camp family! Information regarding camps designed for English learners and students in the dual language programs will be shared the week of April 10.
 
Eighth grade information:   

• The date, time, and location of our 2023 Eighth Grade Graduation Ceremony will be set by the Board of Education soon.  We will inform you as soon as the Board sets the ceremony details.  
• Our 2023 Eighth Grade Dance has been scheduled for Friday, May 12. We will inform you as soon as more dance details are set including start time and theme.   
• District 211 has posted some basic information on their website at Incoming Freshman Information. Please contact your student’s prospective high school if you have any questions about your student’s high school transition.     

 
5Essentials Survey: 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. For more information, visit the District 54 website.
 
Academic Support:  If your student requires academic support or just help with organization, then please see below on various ways that we provide support at Mead to ensure your student’s success.

• The District 54 Infinite Campus Parent Portal provides access for parents and students to information including 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 1-847-357-6000 and our secretaries can assist you.  If you have previously created a Parent Portal account and cannot recall your username or password, then you can reset them yourself from the parent portal by selecting “forgot password”.  You can also pay your students fees through your parent portal account.  This includes your $50 consumable fee, optional instructional device insurance (grades 3-8 only), and milk.  The consumable fee will increase by $15 if payment is not received by November 15, $25 if not received by February 1, and $35 if not received by April 1.  If you believe your student will qualify for the Free Lunch Program and therefore will qualify for a fee waiver, do not pay the consumable material fee at this time. Applications for the Free Lunch Program are available online and in the school office.  
• Chromebooks: We use the organizational tools on the Google platform via Chromebook to help develop your student’s organizational skills and learn responsibility. This platform also serves as a communication tool between home and school.  Please remind your student to charge their Chromebook nightly and to bring their power cord with them to school every day.  For more information, please click on this link: Parent/Community Instructions for Accessing their Child’s Google Calendar for helpful information for you to help your student manage their Google Calendar.  
• Mead Homework Website:   On a daily basis, you can see what assignments your student has to complete and to see when they have upcoming tests/assessments by visiting our Mead homepage and clicking on our Mead Homework Website—you can click on this LINK to begin using it now.  Be sure to bookmark this site to stay up on your student’s assignment list.
• After-School Academic Content Study Halls:  Our language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science teachers host after-school content study halls are open to all students who either need academic support from content specialists or just want a quiet place to study with peers at Mead.  Please know that teachers are also available by appointment by emailing your student’s teachers to request extra help either before or after school.  
• Class Work Support Program: If your student has 5 or more missing assignments, then they will take part in our Class Work Support Program to support their missing assignment completion.  The Class Work Support Program includes some or all of the following:
  1. A Class Work Guide (Mead staff member) may meet with your student to develop a plan to complete their missing assignments for the week. 
  2. An optional Afterschool Class Work Support Study Hall is available for your student to attend after-school on Monday or Tuesday to support them in completing their missing assignments. 
  3. A mandatory Afterschool Class Work Support Study Hall may be required for your student to attend after-school on Thursday to provide a protected time to hold them accountable in completing their missing assignments. 
  4. A daily check-in with a Mead staff member to review a daily homework sheet to support your student’s organization. 
  5. A Class Work Mentor (Mead staff member) may be assigned to them to work with them on organizational skills.   

 
Creating a Positive Culture
 
PTA: Please visit our Mead PTA Facebook page for information including how to join the PTA and how to sign up for volunteer opportunities through our PTA.   Please see below for other important information: 

• If you are interested in being a Mead PTA Officer next school year, then please email our PTA at Mea[email protected].  No experience necessary!
• If you are available to volunteer to serve our students their hot lunches on Thursdays, then please sign up at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040E4FADAF2BAAF49-thursday.  This link is also on the Mead PTA Facebook page.  
• We are also looking for volunteers to come and serve our students their pizza slices.  If you are available to volunteer one or more times, please sign up at: https://bit.ly/MeadPizzaVolunteers2022FirstHalf 

Signs of Suicide Lesson: Every year, school staff work to teach students about mental health and how to seek help if they are worried about themselves or a friend. We are using a program called SOS Signs of Suicide. The program teaches students about this difficult topic and encourages them to seek help. SOS has been used by thousands of schools over the past few decades. Studies have shown that it effectively teaches students about depression and suicide while reducing the number of students’ self-reported suicide attempts. Through the program, students learn: 

• that depression is treatable, so they are encouraged to seek help  
• how to identify depression and potential suicide risk in themselves or a friend 
• to ACT (Acknowledge, Care and Tell a trusted adult) if concerned about themselves or a friend 
• who they can turn to at school for help, if they need it  

This coming Wednesday, March 22, students will watch age-appropriate video clips and participate in a guided discussion about depression, suicide, and what to do if they are concerned about a friend. Following the video, students will complete a response slip which asks whether they would like to talk to an adult about any concerns. School staff will conduct brief meetings with any student asking to talk. We encourage you to visit www.sossignsofsuicide.org/parent for information on warning signs for youth suicide, useful resources, and some of the key messages students will learn. If you have any questions or concerns about your student’s participation in this program please contact me at 847-357-6070 or any of our school counselors.
 
Boys Volleyball and Track and Field start their seasons after spring break. Boy Volleyball plays on 4/6 @ Keller, 4/10 vs. Frost, 4/11 @ Addams, 4/13 vs. Lincoln Prairie, 4/18 vs. Eisenhower, 4/20 vs. Keller, 4/24 vs. MacArthur, 4/25 @ Frost, 4/27 vs. Addams, 5/1 @ River Trails, 5/2 @ Eisenhower, 5/5, 5/8, and 5/9 @ D54 Tournament.   Track and Field compete 4/11, 4/25, 5/2, 5/9, and at the D54 Conference Meet on 5/15.  All track and field meets are held at Eisenhower Junior High School.  For more information about these two sports, please visit our Sports page HERE on our Mead website.  
 
Clubs and Intramural Sports:   Please encourage your child to get involved in these upcoming offerings: Creative Writing Club, Dissection Club, FUSE Club, Pride Club, Club Unify, Tennis Club, Garden Club, Golf Club, and Mead TV.  Please visit our Clubs and Intramural Sports page on our website for more information and downloadable permission slips for these clubs and intramural sports! 
 
Important upcoming dates: 

• March 24: Pep Rally
• March 25 – April 2:  Spring Break
• April 4: No school
• April 7: No school

 
Please visit our Mead JHS Website for the building calendar.  Don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram and watch our YouTube Channel to stay updated with the latest news and information about the great things happening at Mead.  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 student’s educational success.
 
Have a great week,  
 
Scott