Purchase Legends of Lotus Island Books #2 and #4

5/9/2026 9:21 pm

Did you miss buying additional books from the Legends of Lotus Island series at Fine Arts Night? Good news!

We have extra copies of book 2: Into The Shadow Mist. Choose paperback and unsigned ($8), or hardcover with Christina Soontornvat's autograph ($17). Discounted copies of book 4 are also available ($12). These can be purchased until Wednesday, May 13 with cash, check or Venmo. See this order form for more information, or email Mrs. Swanson -- rswanson@d181.org. Thank you!

5th Grade End of the Year Party Signup

5/9/2026 9:17 pm

5th graders: Let’s kick off the beginning of summer with a fun summer-themed party at Ruth Lake!

Parents: sign up your 5th grader up to attend by sending $35 to Megan Caplis by 5/11.

Venmo is @Megan-Caplis
Zelle is megan.caplis@gmail.com

Prospect Teacher and Staff Gifting

5/9/2026 9:15 pm

To show our appreciation to Prospect staff, the PTO is using GiftCrowd to facilitate year-end gifting to Prospect staff. GiftCrowd enables families to make a contribution to any staff member and include a personalized message. (Room Parents will continue to coordinate classroom teacher gifts.)

Click here to access the Prospect staff gifting page.

Notes:
- You may choose to give to whomever and however you wish. But gifting a smaller amount ($2-$5) to staff who work with most students is appropriate as this is one collective, school-wide gift.

- This is a comprehensive list (less the classroom teachers who will have their gifts coordinated by room parents). Our intention is to include everyone that families may have a connection to in order to streamline your gift-giving process.

- Please note that while teachers/staff will see which families contribute to the collective gift, the amount you contribute will be private.

- Unlike the holiday GiftCrowd, custodians are included on this list. Mr. Angel is retiring at the end of the year after MANY years as a Prospect custodian.

As always, these group gifts are completely optional and the monetary contribution is up to each family. Should you wish to contribute, please do so by Thursday, 5/21. Gifts will be distributed on Friday, 5/22. Thank you so much for your involvement and support!

Camilla Quan Selected for Illinois State Art Show

5/9/2026 9:12 pm

We would also like to extend a special congratulations to Camilla Quan, whose artwork, 3 Pumpkins Collage, was selected for the Illinois Art Education Association State Art Show. As part of this honor, her artwork will travel throughout Illinois over the next year as part of the exhibition. Congratulations, Camilla, on this outstanding achievement!

Prospect Students Featured in the D181 Art Show

5/9/2026 9:07 pm

We are excited to share that several Prospect students have been selected for the D181 Art Show at The Community House!

The art show will be on display from May 6th to 15th, and we hope families will stop by to enjoy this wonderful celebration of student creativity. It is always so special to see our students’ artwork showcased in the community. The show will be open to the public throughout its run.

Prospect Prides

5/9/2026 5:37 pm

What an incredible week celebrating our amazing teachers and staff! We are so grateful for this wonderful community and everyone who helped make the week so special. 🎉🍎

🌸 Monday
We kicked things off by creating beautiful bouquets from all the flowers the students brought in. It was such a colorful, thoughtful, and heartwarming way to start the week!

🥐 Tuesday
It was all hands on deck as we stocked the lounge for the final time and treated our staff to a delicious breakfast from Village Gourmet.

📚 Wednesday
Teachers and staff were gifted beautiful planners from The Everygirl, special shoutout to Alaina Kaczmarski for helping make that happen!
We also gifted our crossing guard a special thank you gift and celebrated our very own Mrs. Richardson for Nurses Week!

A huge thank you as well to our Panther family member Denise Novak for the incredible handmade cookies. We are so grateful!

🌮 Thursday
We enjoyed a delicious taco lunch from Coco Taco Truck and gifted each staff member a car wash gift card from Fuller’s Car Wash.

🍓 Friday
We wrapped up the week with yummy build-your-own açaí bowls, a fun and healthy treat to end an amazing week!

Thank you again to everyone who donated, volunteered, organized, and helped us celebrate the incredible teachers and staff who do so much for our students every single day. ❤️🐾

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Spring Book Fair 2026 Thank Yous!

This year’s Spring Book Fair was a huge success, raising over $2000 for new books for Prospect’s Library. Thank you to all the students and parents who purchased books to make this happen!

Thank you to our librarians, Mrs. Swanson and Mrs. Bodrozic, for all your hard work, and for bringing the Author, Christina Soontornvat, to our school! It was such a pleasure to meet her in person!

Big thank you to the parent volunteers, who helped set up, worked the registers, and helped take everything down and get the library back to working order: Erica Camiliere, Sarah Hermann, Parin Katwala, Kristen Kester, Manish Kumar, Robin Moore, Divya Punjabi, Oojwala Rajmane, Simmi Rakalla, Katie Schmidgall, Jennifer Teubl, Parul Thukral, and Yali Zhang.

Huge thank you to the Book Fair Co-Chairs, Megan Bartelli, Trisha Lewin, Olivia Rickert, and Elizabeth Toscano. Special thanks to Trisha who has chaired 9 book fairs, this one being her last! Your dedication, knowledge, and help these past years have been such a treasure and you will truly be missed!

Lastly, we want to thank all who contributed to “Prospect Cares” -- the jars by the registers. 100% of your donations help children in need right here at Prospect. It means so much to us knowing how generous our community is!

A Note from the Principal

5/2/2026 7:39 pm

Please check out this week's SMORE from Principal Cummings for info on MAP testing and Prospect's ABC Countdown!

ABC Countdown: Week of May 4

5/2/2026 6:48 pm

Prospect Fine Arts Night!

5/2/2026 6:47 pm

Mark your calendars for this year’s Prospect Fine Arts Night on Wednesday, May 6. This year’s celebration is themed around Literature and features our One Book, One School author, Christina Soontornvat. We are thrilled that she will be joining us in person to autograph books during the evening.

Families will have the opportunity to enjoy a Book Fair, explore the K–5 Art Show, take part in an Art Scavenger Hunt, create a shell necklace, and visit the “Guardian” Family Creature Gallery. The evening will conclude with “Simon at the Art Museum,” a musical retelling of the story by Christina Soontornvat, performed by the Prospect Choir and Ukulele Club.

This is a wonderful chance to celebrate the incredible work Prospect students have done all year in Art, Music, and Literature. We hope to see you there!

Fine Arts Night Program

5:30–7:00 p.m. (Book Fair, K–5 Art Show, Art Scavenger Hunt, Shell Necklace Making, Author Signing, “Guardian” Family Creature Gallery)

7:15 p.m. “Simon at the Art Museum” Performed by the Prospect Choir & Ukulele Club

Collecting Donations at the Book Fair!

5/2/2026 6:37 pm

Donate to the Prospect Cares Committee at the Book Fair this week!

Please let your child know if they can donate any book fair change or bring a donation to drop in collection by the registers. This year the Prospect Cares Committee supported Angel Fund, People's Resource Center, and made birthday cards for distribution at West Suburban Food Bank's Birthday program. Stay tuned for more this month and help us grow to do more support and service projects next year. Thank you for your support!