Hello Knights!  I hope the start to this school year has been good and you are excited to be back.  We are extremely excited to begin and prepare for another successful school year.  In an effort to reach out and connect with our communities in a different format, I plan to submit an article to our local papers at least once a month on various topics.  It is our hope that you enjoy them and find them useful.  For this first article, I’ve gathered some information on how to ensure that your student can get off to a good start and maintain that positive momentum throughout the school year.  

Tip #1 - Develop and maintain a daily routine.  Transitioning from the summer routines and getting back into the groove of school can be challenging.  Developing a consistent routine for reading every day, homework completion and studying for tests and quizzes will prove helpful in the long run.  Once routines are established, students thrive with the extra responsibility and these positive habits follow them into the next stages of their adult lives.   Included in that daily routine should be expectations for students to get enough sleep each night.  As younger students continue to grow and their brains continue to develop an adequate amount of sleep each night positively contributes to that development.   

Tip #2 - Set goals with your student(s).  Setting realistic goals can be a great source of motivation and setting goals with your student(s) help can also help build a shared ownership into accomplishing those goals.  If you need assistance in where to start with those goals, please reach out to your student(s) teachers.  They would love to hear from you and would be excited to help guide you in that process.  

Tip #3 - Reach out early to your student(s) teachers to establish open lines of communication.  You don’t need to wait until there is a problem to reach out, in fact, the teachers and administrators would rather you reach out in an attempt to be proactive rather than reactive.  The teachers in the Arthur CUSD #305 are amazing and they want to establish that positive partnership with you in order to maximize your student(s) potential.  The more they know about your student(s) the better and who better to learn that information from other than you?  

Tip #4 - Celebrate success.  This is a tip that we live by as an Administrative team and something that if you have been to a board meeting we try to end all Superintendent reports with a list of celebrations for the month.  It’s important and extremely impactful to celebrate the good things that are going on in your student(s) school experience and nothing is more motivating than celebrating your student(s) successes.  In many ways it does your own soul good to celebrate with your student(s) as they can experience your genuine excitement for them.  

Tip #5 - Encourage your students to be as involved in the schools as possible.  Schedules are busy and it’s hard to commit to extra “things” but research shows that students that are involved in their schools, enjoy the experience more and actually perform better socially and academically.  There are many opportunities to be involved and I would encourage you to reach out to either your student(s) teachers or administrators for more information.  They would love that type of communication and would be glad to steer you in the right direction.  

Tip #6 - Encourage reading on a daily basis.  Reading daily has proven to increase academic performance.  Even if it is only 15 minutes a day, that is better than nothing.  

Tip #7 - Pick a designated study area at home.  In conjunction with establishing a daily routine, having a designated study area at home can be helpful.  The study area should be free from distractions and should be a place where the student can feel comfortable.  For some of our younger student(s) this could also be used as a source of motivation if you allow them to help choose and design the space for themselves.  

Tip #8 - Eating a healthy breakfast is a great start to the day.  As we prepare ourselves for the day we need to make time to eat a healthy breakfast to prepare our minds and bodies for what the day has in store for us.  I would also like to remind everyone that breakfast and lunch is free for the entire school year at each building. Through grant funding the free breakfast and lunch program has been extended for the entire school year.  

Although the list provided isn’t an exhaustive list, it should provide a solid foundation for your student(s) to be successful.  We hope that you find these tips helpful.  Finally, I want to let you know if there is anything that we can do to make your student(s) experience better, please feel free to reach out.  I am listing the contact information for each school below.  Thank you and have a great school year and rest of your week. 

Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond High School

301 East Columbia

Arthur, IL 61911

217-543-2146

Principal - Mrs. Steffanie Seegmiller

seegmillers@cusd305.org

Atwood Hammond Grade School

316 North Illinois Street

Atwood, IL 61913

217-578-2229

Principal - Mrs. Kristin Nall

nallk@cusd305.org

Arthur Grade School

126 East Lincoln Street

Arthur, IL 61911

217-543-2109

Principal - Mr. Andrew Peralta

peraltaa@cusd305.org

Lovington Grade School

330 South High Street

Lovington, IL 61937

217-873-4318

Principal - Mrs. Marla Graham

grahamm@cusd305.org