Happy New Year!!!

 Thank you for standing with us, believing in our mission, and truly living the values that East Prairie was built upon.  Looking back on 2025, we are proud of how we collectively showed up for our students—prioritizing both their academic growth and their wellbeing.  Together, we pushed harder, set the bar high, and reached new heights.  We couldn't have done it without you!

We are grateful to our students, teachers, support staff, families, Board, and community members.  Over the past year we have accomplished so much together.  Some highlights from 2025 include:

- Further expanding our comprehensive, collaborative, and collective framework (RULER, Positive Behavior teams, MTSS) to support the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students;

- Creating a culture of care and support - over 93% of our staff are satisfied and engaged;

- Reaching all time high levels of learning for our students as measured by both the Illinois Assessment of Readiness and MAP assessment.

- Year three of the EPS/NN Mentoring Program, involving over 100 3rd through 12th grade students.  The mission of the program is to enhance the academic, social, and emotional growth of the students in our community through meaningful connections with one another;

- Expanded technology opportunities including the addition of a podcasting studio and soon to be shared hydroponic garden.  These initiatives foster creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking, empowering our students to become innovative thinkers and lifelong learners.

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

- Enhanced co-teaching and collaboration practices to support our growing special education and multilingual populations - these efforts led to a doubling, and sustaining, of our exit rate on the ACCESS test for our multilingual students;

- Extension and deepening of our writing practices, kindergarten through 8th grade;

- Robust and regular communications with families and community partners - weekly newsletters, Principal’s blog, new video page, The Gazette, social media messaging, updated website, and teacher communications;

- Expanding family events throughout the school year to provide more opportunities for our community to gather, connect, and learn together;

- Increased partnership with community organizations (University of Chicago, Niles Township Government, behavioral health centers, etc.) to connect resources, ideas, and opportunities to our students and families.

East Prairie educators have shared their knowledge and expertise with educators from throughout the country and state at the following: ASCD/ISTE National Conference, Multilingual Illinois Conference, Raising Student Achievement Conference, Sharing a Vision Conference, National Association of Bilingual Education Conference.

Our educators are actively shaping the future of instruction beyond our own classrooms.  By presenting at major national and state forums—such as the ASCD/ISTE National Conference, Raising Student Achievement Conference, Sharing a Vision Conference, Multilingual Illinois Conference, and the National Association of Bilingual Education Conference—East Prairie staff are collaborating with educators nationwide to elevate student achievement, bilingual education, and instructional vision.

For this work, and all that came before it, East Prairie has been recognized this year as:

- An “Exemplary” school rating from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

- A top school as rated by U.S. News and World Report - we are part of fewer than 2% of schools nationwide by giving our elementary and middle school top school status.

- Niche.com has again recognized East Prairie as a top performing school - rating us as a “Top 10 Best K-8 Schools in Illinois” and #3 in Cook County.

- ISBE Bilingual Award

- ISBE Gold Circle of Quality recognition for our preschool program

As the year draws to a close, it is the perfect time for reflection.  On behalf of everyone who has the privilege of working with your children and family, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude.  We are truly fortunate to be part of such a phenomenal community of students, educators, and families here at East Prairie. We wish you and your loved ones a wonderful winter break and a very happy New Year!  We hope these coming weeks allow you plenty of quality time with those you care about most.  We eagerly look forward to 2026 and all the successes, challenges, celebrations, and memories that lie ahead.

Books + Music!

Wow!  A huge congratulations to all our student performers, and to Mr. Berlinghof and Mr. Oliveira, for an incredible Winter Concert.  It was truly magical to see the entire band program—from 4th all the way to 8th grade—sharing the stage and making beautiful music together.  It’s also been thrilling to watch and hear our choir program grow and flourish.  A special shout-out to the middle school orchestra for their successful showcase on Monday at Niles North; you represented East Prairie beautifully.  Let’s give everyone involved a well-deserved standing ovation!

We are incredibly grateful to the PTA for hosting such a wonderful Book Fair.  Their immense generosity extended far beyond the event, as they donated outstanding literature to our classroom libraries and students in need.  A heartfelt thank you also goes out to the many parents and community members who volunteered their time throughout the week to help set up and run the fair.  We couldn't do it without you!

Thank you to Mrs. Noparstak, Ms. Matzke, Mrs. Engelberg, Ms. Kuhns, and Ms. Danielsen for the incredible hard work and creativity that made Family Reading Night such a success!  It was a fantastic evening, and we are so grateful to all the families who joined us to read, create, learn, and share stories together.

EPS Mentoring | Cohort 3

 

We are thrilled to announce the official start of the East Prairie Mentoring Program.  By connecting 17 of our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders with caring middle school mentors, we are actively creating bonds of community, connection, and support across our school.

Our first session focused on building a strong mentoring foundation.  Our learning intention was "I am learning to identify personal goals that I will work on with my mentor throughout the year."

Mirroring the effective structure of our Niles North program, the session began with a high energy team builder. This was followed by a focused, paired Q&A and a structured goal-setting conversation. Each mentor-mentee pair successfully identified a key aspiration, formalized a goal, and drafted an action plan that will serve as their roadmap for continued progress this year.

It was a fantastic first session filled with student voice, connection, and leadership!

Evening of Service

 

A huge thank you to the many families who came out to support this week's Evening of Service!  We are equally grateful to the PTA and our non-profit partners at Humble Helper for creating such a truly meaningful, uplifting, and enjoyable experience.  The generosity and care demonstrated this evening will directly benefit families within our school and the broader community.  This event is a shining example of the extraordinary compassion that defines our school community.

Our Community Pantry

We are excited to increase our accessibility!  We’ve expanded our community resources by moving a key component of the Panther Pantry right to the main office.

Introducing the Community Pantry: This resource features ready-to-eat snacks, quick meals, and essential toiletries.  If you need it, please simply take what you need from the shelf, no questions asked.  Our full-service Panther Pantry continues to operate as usual, providing clothing, winter gear, and school supplies ready for both pick-up and delivery.

Need something?  Take it from the shelf.  No questions asked.

Please leave all donations in the main office. 

EPS Night of Service

We hope you can join us next Wednesday, 12/10, at 6:30PM for a Night of Service in support of East Prairie families and our border community.  The PTA is joining forces with the non-profit Humble Helper to host an evening where purposeful giving meets outstanding fun.  If you wish to contribute, please consider bringing any of the following items with you to the event.  Please know that participation is entirely voluntary, and all are warmly welcome to join and help out, regardless of contribution.

• Gift cards: Target, Walmart, other local grocery stores

• Clothing: socks, sweaters, pants, leggings

• Outerwear: boots, shoes, winter coats

• Winter gear: hats, gloves, blankets

• Toiletries: shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, sunscreen, razors, comb, brush, lip balm

• First aid: badges, hand sanitizer

In addition to doing good for others through our service project, we'll warm up with a hot chocolate bar, get creative decorating cookies, and enjoy some teamwork building igloos!  This event is guaranteed to be a meaningful and enjoyable community-building experience for the entire family.

We look forward to a fantastic event dedicated to service and community connection.  We hope to see you there!