5th graders explored the ins and outs of shoe construction before engineering their own, wearable footwear designed to represent one of the Earth's spheres. You're invited to visit the public library next week to see their new, fancy footwear on display!

On behalf of myself (Mrs. Rossi)  & Mrs. Mikos, we would like to thank the student council for their generous donation of :

2 volleyballs

2 kickballs

2 basketballs

2 footballs

and sidewalk chalk to be added to the recess equipment.  Items were purchased on Amazon and should be here today or early next week.  If you see a student council member, please be sure to thank them for the new recess equipment!

Again, thank you-

Mrs. Ross and Mrs. Mikos

4th graders are excited to share their Rube Goldberg machines with their family and friends! Supplies for this amazing project were donated by community members and businesses. Come see what our students accomplished with your support! 

2024

March 25- April 1st Spring Break

April 2nd School Resumes

5th IAR Prep-Rally @ 2pm

Team Gear Day

8th-19th IAR / ISA Testing

10th BOE Meeting @ 6:30pm

17th Student Council Popcorn Sale (During lunch)

24th Early Release Day - NO LUNCH

25th Fire Drill @ 1:45pm

Anna McDonald Literacy Night @ 5-7pm

26th Mid-Trimester Activity (inflatables)

Please click on the hyperlink below to view Interactive Curriculum info.

Manhattan 114 Interactive Curriculum 

Congratulations to Mason Akileh and Cohen McCarron ranked 1st place in Regional and Sectionals with Little Celtics Wrestling

Congratulations to Kason Hack and Kaylie Chmura making to the  2024 State Wrestling Competition!!!

Local students  performed at the Precision Arts Challenge Dance Competition.  Several students competed and received awards, and their teams took home many gold, platinum and 1st place awards.  Also 4th graders Sammie Basile and Mabry Cooke were part of the Dance Company's Production  Ensemble, which was awarded 1st place overall and the 'Best in Show' award.

Give a 'Shout Out' to our Lincoln Way Special Recreation Association -HAWKS Jr. Basketball Team.  the team qualified for STATE, which is on March 8, 2024.  They will be headed to Illinois State University to take on the Niles Townsip Dist.  Special Education Raptors at 11:15am.  

Those students include Eddie Barella (8th), Faye Rossi (5th) and Nathan Falkenthal (4th).

Registration for next year will take place from March 5th through May 31st. In the first week of March, current MSD114 families will receive an email from PowerSchool with their unique snap-code letter to register.  Fees for next school will be included and ALL families will be required to upload proof of residency documentation.  Physical, dental, and vision forms can now also be uploaded through PowerSchool and should be submitted by August 1st, 2024.

If you have any questions, please contact the registrar at dejones@manhattan114.org.

Spring Pictures Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Wrestling Regional Champs

Girls

Kaylie Chumura 2nd

Lecie Ball               3rd

Boys 

16 Sectional Qualifiers, 6 Sectional Alternates

Weight Class (lbs) Wrestler Placing

65 Kason Hack 1st

70 Eli Novander 3rd

70 Wanderlei Martinez ALT

75 Nolan Thorpe 2nd

75 Brentyn Holba 3rd

80 Sebastian Rys 2nd

85 Kellan Hack 1st

85 Billy Nebel 3rd

90 Mike Scott 1st

90 Nathan Norwich ALT

95 Charlie Tustin 2nd

95 Kalan McCarron 3rd

100 Colydn Holba 2nd

105 Cooper Cox 3rd

119 Jonathan Wilkey 2nd

119 Jayden Reich ALT

126 Daniel Williams 3rd

135 Vincent Torres ALT

145 Brian Cadore ALT

155 Dominic Caponi 1st

167 Thomas (TJ) Smith ALT

215 Benjamin Humbrecht 3rd

March 2024

1st TEAM Gear Day

4th Pulaski Day-NO SCHOOL

5th Spring Pictures

8th PTO St. Patty's Dance @ 6:30-8:30pm

13th BOE Meeting @ 6:30pm

17th St. Patrick's Day!!

22nd PTO Spring parties @ 10:30am

Early Release @ 11:50am (NO LUNCH SERVED)

25th-April 1st Spring Break

4th and 5th grade Anna McDonald students have a chance to participate in an awesome event on April 13th at Liberty Junior High in New Lenox.

Ten students will be selected to sing, play instruments, and move to music at this year's Elementary General Music Festival.

Contact Mrs. Miller-Amato for more information!

All Anna Mac Music students will be moving on from instruments in January, and beginning a Musical Theatre unit. We'll be working on exploring our vocal registers and expressing different feelings and moods while singing, using movement to express emotions and communicate a storyline, and discussing the technical side of musical theatre as well - sound amplification, lighting, props, costumes, sets, etc...

4th graders will focus on "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"

5th graders will focus on "Matilda"

Thank you to all of the families who joined us at the Manhattan Public Library to celebrate the culmination of 5th graders' coral reef unit! Their video, 3D printed reefs, mural, and all of the other coral themed activities made for a fantastic evening.

If you weren't able to join us or if you'd like to watch the video again, you can view it here or by copy/pasting this link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naR9awcftSI

Thank you!

--

Mrs. Ramsey

Instructional Technology Specialist

Anna McDonald School

Anna McDonald Music Info.

Anna Mac music students are preparing to go caroling around the school on the last week of classes. We will be spreading Holiday cheer to our school with some traditional and non-traditional Winter carols. 3rd graders will be singing as well as playing glockenspiel percussion instruments, 4th graders will be singing and playing their recorders, and 5th graders will be singing and playing ukuleles. Ask your students which songs they chose, and be sure to remind them to dress festively for their last music class before Winter break!

Choir will be performing Christmas carols at the Manhattan Park District's Round Barn Christmas Festival on Friday, December 1st. They will be the first group to perform that night, starting at 6:00, then the Junior High's choir will take the stage, followed by the Canterbury Carolers, a Library Stroy, and finally a "Grinch Dance Party"! Come join us for this fun, festive event!

Choir is also happy to announce that I've sent in nominations for some of our 5th grade members to join other elementary choir students from around the State at this year's Illinois Music Educator's Association's All-State Festival! It will be on January 28th, and take place in Peoria. Say congratulations to Addison Cooke, Kaylie Chmura, Alice Harvey, Carly Connelly,  Emilie Olszewski, Blaise Rose, Alyssa Marzec, Winter Reddicks, Kailey McGraw, and Mira Joseph! (These students were all nominated, but not all me be selected by the ILMEA organization, depending on All-State choir numbers).

5th Grade Band Info:

5th grade band:

Now that the Holiday break is quickly approaching, 5th grade band members are reminded to keep practicing 20 minutes a day! The more you practice over the Holiday break, the better and more prepared you will be to learn new notes and rhythms when we return after the break!

Also, any student who practices 20 minutes a day will receive an extra raffle ticket PER DAY practiced over the Holiday break! Be sure to practice!

Please contact Mrs. Pedziwater with any questions at cpedziwater@manhattan114.org.

#rd-5th Grade Gym Info:

Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade Parents!  Just a reminder, when your child is absent, on a day they have PE, they must complete their makeup assignment.  Their PE Assignment can be found on their iPad.  They open Google Classroom, Click on the GREEN Physical Education Classroom (with the soccer ball).  Once that is open, click on the word Classwork (at the bottom of their iPad).  This will then take your child to their assignment.  If there is a backpack with books, then your child does not have an assignment.  If there is a BLUE circle/dot with the month and day your child was absent, then your child needs to complete the assignment.  Students who complete the assignment (on time) will earn their 5 participation points.  ASSIGNMENTS are DUE on the immediate SUNDAY that your child was absent.  If your child was absent from PHYSICAL EDUCATION for two separate weeks, he/she will have 2 assignments to complete.

If you have any questions please email me at mrossi@manhattan114.org

Anna McDonald/Manhattan Public Library Info: 

Reminders:

• Dress attire

• • What students wear to school is what they go outside to recess or PE in, regardless of time of year. As the weather gets colder, please dress your student appropriate for the real feel temps

• Smart watches...to be used to tell time, not to communicate home with. Cell phones...powered down and kept in a backpack. Every classroom has a phone in the event of an emergency

• Importance of Attendance

  • We will continue reviewing attendance and making it the first filter before determining academic intervention services. If a student is enrolled in intervention and isn't exhibiting good attendance, they may be dropped from services for a student with much better attendance

• Students are reminded daily to make good choices, be kind, be a good friend, put a smile on their face, follow directions, and be at school for all the right reasons. This includes on the bus. Please reinforce these expectations with us. It has been a great year thus far. A real great year!

• Finally, please follow a natural chain of progression if there are concerns, issues or questions. If the concern, issue or question is with a specific staff member or incident in which staff is present, address it with that staff member to get all the specifics

In closing, I want nothing more than for your student to have the best experience possible while attending Anna Mac. It has been a great year to this point and I expect it will only get better. Thank you for everything you do as parents & friends to support your student(s) and our staff. In November we will be heading to a movie; December is the 18th Annual Holiday Dodgeball Tourney; Pizza Party & Games in January; Bowling in February; Inflatable Obstacle Courses in April; and the Slammers game, PTO Field Day, & 18th Annual Kickball Tourney in May. 

Ending our last year as a 3rd-5th grade building with a bang. Happy Holidays Anna Mac!

The 5th grade band, orchestra, and choir will be having their next concert on Tuesday, November 7 at 6:30pm in the JH gym.

Band students are to meet Mrs. Pedziwater in the bandroom at 6:00pm wearing the following:

white beginning band shirt, black dress pants or skirt, black socks, and dress shoes. No tennis shoes, please.

Students are to bring their instruments and band books to the concert.

This concert is open to all friends and family members so I hope you will all be able to attend!

Wednesday, November 8:

BUTTERBRAID FUNDRAISER:

If your child sold Butterbraids for the band fundraiser, all orders must be picked up on Wednesday, November 8 between 2:15-4:00pm in the bandroom. We cannot guarantee the quality of your items if they are not picked up on time. Please make sure someone is available on November 8 to pick up the items you sold.

Please contact Mrs. Pedziwater with any questions at cpedziwater@manhattan114.org.

November 2023

1st School Soft Program Opens to register for Parent/Teacher Conferences.  

3rd Team Gear Day

5th Daylight Savings Time...Fall Back (Please make sure you set your clocks!)

6th-10th ELA Benchmarking

8th BOE Meeting @ 6:30pm

10th End of 1st Trimester

14th School Soft Closes for Parent/Teacher Conferences

17th Early Release Day, NO LUNCH SERVED

20th & 21st Parent/Teacher Conferences (No School)

22nd-24th NO SCHOOL  (THANKSGIVING BREAK)

29th-Dec 1st MAR Field Trip

29th-3rd grade

30th-5th Grade

Dec. 1st- 4th Grade

Dec. 1st Team Gear Day

2nd  Fall Picture Re-takes

2nd-16th Band Booster Fundraiser (Butter Braids)

2nd-6th Historical Museum Week

3rd-5th 3rd Grade Field Trip -walking to the Manhattan
Township Historical Museum

6th Mid-trimester Activity (12:45pm & 1:45pm  Wiz Show)

TEAM Gear Day

9th Indigenous People Day (AKA Columbus Day) NO SCHOOL

16th Bus Evacuation in the A.M.

19th Great Shake Out (Earthquake Drill)

20th PTO Halloween Dance @ 6:30pm

23rd-27th Red Ribbon Week (BE KIND TO BODY AND MIND)

25th Fire Drill @ 10:30am

31st Halloween Parade @ 10:15am

PTO Halloween Parties @ 10:30am

Early Release Day @ 11:50AM  (NO LUNCH SERVED)

P.E. 

We have made a change in protocol for students that are exempt from PE class due to injury or other circumstances.  Moving forward, we are going to allow students to attend recess outside, HOWEVER, they are not permitted to participate in physical activity, which could do more harm and/or aggravate the injury or circumstance.  This is simply allowing students to hang out on the black top area with friends near the recess supervisor and get some fresh air.  We hope all of our students will take the opportunity to be mature and responsible with their own situation and circumstance and follow protocol.  If it becomes a problem for a child to be responsible, Mr. McWilliams will address it on a case-by-case basis and possibly omit that student from going outside.

Students who miss PE, for any reason (illness, appointment, out of town, vacation, band, orchestra, etc.) will be assigned homework in GOOGLE Classroom.  I will specifically only select those students who are absent on their PE days to complete their homework.

Each day a student comes to PE class, has their gym shoes on and tied, walks to their squad and sits quietly, they earn 5 points.  Students who are absent on the day(s) they have PE will have the opportunity to earn those 5 points by completing the assignment.  Students will have until the following Sunday to complete the assignment and submit it from Google Classroom.

There should be NO WORK on your part.  The assignment can be completed in their homeroom class (if time allows).

Please make sure all of your students have joined the Physical Education Google Classroom.  My access code is 2ruenes.

If you have any questions or concerns please let me know.

-Mrs. Rossi

Physical Education

Anna McDonald School

Student Council

Anna McDonald's 5th graders elected their student council representatives earlier this month. We commend everyone who put time and effort into their campaigns and congratulate the elected winners! These students will work hard throughout the upcoming school year to improve their school, help their community, and hone their leadership skills.