“The Power Of Our Words” Community Event

The ongoing pandemic and fights for equality and justice throughout our nation have exacerbated stress, strain, and mental health crises across our society, particularly amongst children.  The 

The United States Government Accountability Office shared this impact upon public schools in its report on Students’ Experiences with Bullying, Hate Speech, Hate Crimes, and Victimization in Schools.

At East Prairie, we continue to prioritize relationships, connection, and explicit instruction of tools and strategies to support emotional health and wellbeing.  All of this while continuing to live our mission and “ensure the highest levels of learning” for all.  We also know that this work is most effective when done in partnership with families.  

As such we are reaching out to share an upcoming community event at Niles North High School.  At 6:30PM this Wednesday evening, Calvin Terrell will host an event entitled “The Power Of Our Words” - a teaching on the history of hate speech and how we can eradicate it in our community.  Dinner and childcare will be provided - please use this link to register.

We will further address this matter at East Prairie during an upcoming family event on Wednesday, January 18th.  More details and information to be shared soon. Thank you for your ongoing involvement, care, and support around this and all of our work together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Dear East Prairie families,

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving,

turn routine jobs into joy, 

and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”

- William Arthur Ward

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday we wanted to reach out with a brief message of gratitude.  At East Prairie, gratitude is a part of our daily practice and we have so much for which we are thankful.  The opportunity to come together as a community each day in service to children, their learning and wellbeing, is a profound joy and blessing.

We are grateful to our teachers, support staff, families, and community members.  We have accomplished so much together in a short and undoubtedly challenging time.  This important work that we do together provides our children with the brightest of futures.  Some highlights of this work include:

- transforming into a true professional learning community (PLC) where adults work and learn together to achieve better results for the students they serve;

- achieving all time high levels of student growth and achievement for the students we serve;

- establishing a comprehensive, collaborative, and collective approach to supporting the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students;

- developing systems, structures, and supports that ensure every child is met where they are at and has a collaborative team working to guarantee their growth towards high expectations;  

- curriculum adoptions and professional development that ensure our instructional resources and practices are reflective of best practice. 

To our community members who make supporting East Prairie a priority and a focus - we thank you as well. We firmly believe in educating all children in a learning environment with high expectations and a sense of belongingness.  We look forward to continuing to build upon all of this work as we head into the new year and beyond, seeking to actualize 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 are filled with gratitude for the opportunity to continue to do the work we love and for those whom we share it with.  On behalf of our staff, we wish you and your family a very restful, safe, and happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for leading!

Being a board member is a complex, challenging, and often thankless responsibility.  It is also an incredibly impactful and important role in helping to shape the future for kids and a community.  This week we recognize the efforts and celebrate the contributions of our East Prairie Board of Education! 

Thank you to Mr. Atanu Das, Mr. Erick Tumang, Mr. Frank Santoro, Mr. Michael Hornick, Mrs. Amanda Martinsen, Mrs. Nina Johnson, & Dr. Sarah Connolly for their tireless dedication, commitment and care!  Our school community is stronger because of your leadership. 

Floating Pen!

 Joining each of our classroom's morning meeting times has been a true joy and highlight of every day.  It is wonderful to see the community circle tool being utilized throughout our school to center student voice and experience.  

Over the next few weeks, I'll be joining each class again to spend time, connect, and do some team building activities.  

We started off with the "Floating Pen" activity in middle school.  This activity builds communication and cooperative skills through laughter and fun!

Autumunal Awesomeness!!!

Building upon the success of past intergrade level events, we paired up classrooms across grade levels throughout the school for games and activities in the afternoon. It was amazing to see our older and younger students come together to work, play, and learn alongside one another!

We then had an all school assembly filled with singing, dancing, estimating (pumpkin seeds), performing, cheering, mummy wrapping, and lots and lots of laughing!  Lots of fun was had by ALL throughout the day. We are excited to continue building opportunities like this to come together and connect as a school community.