Our Commitment to Our Community

Dear East Prairie families,

We know that many members of our community are feeling increased anxiety and concern regarding recent actions and changes in immigration enforcement policy.  Our priority is—and always will be—to ensure that East Prairie remains a safe, welcoming, and protective environment for every student, family, and staff member.  Please make sure that your emergency contacts are updated.  We want to continue to clearly outline our commitment to you and share the resources available during this challenging time.

The Law and School Protocol

All students in the United States have the right to a free K-12 public education, regardless of their or their family’s immigration status.  Our school is classified as a “sensitive location,” and our first priority is the well-being of your children.

What Happens If Immigration Officials Visit the School?

Our staff is committed to protecting the privacy and rights of all students. We continue to update staff on our current processes and procedures.

• School officials will not grant access to school grounds or student information to immigration enforcement agents unless they present a valid judicial warrant signed by a federal judge.

• Immigration administrative warrants (signed only by an enforcement officer) do not compel the school to allow entry or share student information.

• We do not track or record a student's or family's immigration status.

• Should enforcement activity be reported near the school during the school day, we will immediately activate our existing recess/PE safety plans.  If activity is reported at dismissal time, we will strictly follow our centralized dismissal process to ensure the safe, controlled hand-off of every student.  These distinct protocols reflect our continuous commitment to student, family, and staff safety.

Available Resources and Support

We consistently partner with families throughout the school year to provide connections to resources.  We are now intensifying these efforts to ensure every family is supported.

Emotional and Mental Health Support

We understand this situation creates stress for both students and adults.  Our school social work and related service teams are available for support.

• For Students: Our social worker and psychologist are available to talk with students and address anxiety in a confidential and supportive setting.

• Staff Contact: Please contact Mrs. Butera (abutera@eps73.net) or Dr. Schmeisser (hschmeisser@eps73.net) if you believe your child needs to speak with someone or you are interested in learning more about community partnerships to support emotional well-being during this time.

• Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): We are continuing to develop age-appropriate lessons to integrate into our morning meetings and dedicated SEL time.  These resources empower our educators and students, providing them with the necessary tools to effectively understand and respond to complex and evolving situations.

• Additional Resources: visit ISBE’s School Wellness/Mental Health webpage.  It includes information about Beacon, which has resources available in several languages.

Financial and Community Resources

Connecting our families with financial resources and general support is an essential part of our partnership every school year.  While we haven't noted an unusual surge in need yet this year, we are committed to being fully supportive. We can connect you with:

• The Niles Township Food Pantry, Community Clothing Closet, and more.

• Skokie Health and Human Services.

• Utility and housing assistance programs through the Niles Township Government.

• Legal aid and "Know Your Rights" resources available through our community partners.

• East Prairie Supports.

• Please contact Mr. Boule, Dr. Schmeisser, or our main office for a confidential referral.

Additional Resources and Information

Additional resources and information can be found on the Illinois Immigration Information Hub, a comprehensive website designed in partnership between leading immigrant-serving organizations and local and state government to empower immigrants with reliable immigration-related information and guidance.  Among other resources, the site offers:

• The Illinois Immigration Information Hub “Know Your Rights” Toolkit.

• A comprehensive overview of free and low-cost immigration legal services.

• A family emergency plan template, with step-by-step guidance.

• Organizational preparedness resources for businesses and employers.

The true strength of our community is our collective care and willingness to act.  We are here to support your child and family in every way we can.   Please do not hesitate to reach out to any member of your child’s team if there is anything we can do to ensure their safety and well-being. We will continuously adapt and update our plans to meet the evolving needs of our families. 

Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

Supporting Diverse Learners

We are excited to share our latest video, showcasing the purposeful strategies and collaborative mindsets that ensure we are successfully addressing the unique academic and behavioral needs of every student.  See our systems in action!

Supporting Diverse Learners at EPS

Looking to learn even more about the transformative happenings of our school?  Well, check out the East Prairie video section of our webpage.  You’ll get a firsthand look at what makes our school community both unique and extraordinary.

Celebrating Excellence: A Top 10 Ranking in Illinois!

East Prairie is proud to announce we have been recognized by Niche as the #10 Best Public K-8 School in Illinois!  This honor serves to validate our journey toward actualizing our vision: “to become the premier school district in the nation by focusing on community, innovation, and growth, so that all learners will be successful.”  We pursue this level of excellence not out of competition, but because we know this commitment profoundly enhances the learning and well-being of every student, staff member, and family. 

We have so much to celebrate and be proud of as we continue this successful school year!

Check-in/Check-out Behavioral Support

We are proud of our robust continuum of systems and structures, which are continually refined to support all of our students academically and behaviorally.  We consistently teach, model, and reinforce our schoolwide expectations every day.  Recognizing that individual success requires targeted support, we want to share more details about our schoolwide Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) intervention.

How CICO Works:

• Selection: Students are recommended for CICO based on our regular monitoring of schoolwide behavioral data.

• Goal: The support is intended to help students meet our schoolwide behavioral expectations in a consistent, positive, and caring way.

• Mentorship: Qualifying children are matched with a trusted mentor teacher - an adult with an established, positive relationship with the student.

• Daily Routine: The student checks in with their mentor at the beginning of the day and checks out at the end, receiving regular, ongoing feedback throughout the school day.

We take great pride in ensuring our systems of support lead to the success, learning, and well-being of every child.  Please see our family letter and contract for a detailed overview of the program's goals and stakeholder responsibilities.

Here is a video overview for families of our CICO support.

Pair-up Perfection

 "Caring is not just a word; it’s an action of the heart.”

- Jimmy Rollins

Our schoolwide grade-level pair-ups are a phenomenal example of our values in action.  These structured times create supportive opportunities for students of different ages to connect, have fun, and build community with an intense emphasis on care.

Social-emotional Learning

 We believe that teaching social and emotional skills is essential for helping our students become their best selves and contributing members of society.  This work is a key part of how we live our mission to “value the uniqueness of all and ensure the highest levels of learning.”  To learn more, here is a brief video overviewing our approach at East Prairie.

Our first unit on emotions is complete, and it was a wonderful success!  We spent the past five weeks focused on a student-friendly goal of “I can show kindness and respect diversity.”  To do this, we focused on utilizing community circles, a powerful and practical tool for building connection and student voice.  These daily routines are helping us create a safe space for meaningful conversations, which in turn builds deep trust and respect among our students.

We are now moving into our second SEL unit for the year, which is all about community, climate, and safety!  The student-friendly goal for this unit is “I can persevere through challenging situations.”  To get there, we'll be creating a Class Charter together that will outline how we want our classroom to feel and the behaviors needed to make that happen.  We'll also continue to utilize community circles.  The ultimate goal of all our work is to help our students learn these important skills and use them in their daily lives.

5 Core Competencies of Social-Emotional Learning

As with all of our work, we'll continue to share information and resources with our families.  The more we work together, the more we can achieve for our kids - and that's what this is all about.

PreSchool at Night

Preschool at Night is a long-standing East Prairie tradition that further connects our early childhood families with one another, our school, and their child's learning.

 A huge thank you to Ms. LaPata, Ms. Hernandez, Ms. Matzke, Ms. Simkins, Mrs. Byron, and Mrs. Butera for their hard work and creativity in making this happen. 

We also want to thank our families for their active involvement and unwavering support. 

This event is an excellent example of community involvement and care at East Prairie.