BRUSSELS CUSD 42

PUBLIC HEARING On January 24, 2023, at 5:00 p.m., Brussels CUSD will hold a public hearing in the elementary cafeteria on a proposed plan to provide eLearning for students when in person instruction is cancelled. This plan will allow eLearning to be utilized in the case of bad weather, facility issues or other unforeseen circumstances in order to provide a continuation of learning without disruptions.

Hello All! No school on Thursday, December 21, due to predicted extreme weather conditions. Middle and high school students will still need to check in on the Brussels Strong page for attendance purposes. If you have questions, please contact your principal. mrmartin@brussels42.net or plong@brussels42.net Thank you and have a Happy Holiday! See you all in January!

Dear Parents/Guardians, Probably like you, here at school we are watching the weather predictions closely for what to expect on Thursday. From what I am seeing, it seems like there is a good chance that we will not be able to have school tomorrow. Your students are coming home this afternoon (Wednesday) with some learning materials provided by their teachers. If we are not able to have school on Thursday, your student should complete the materials and turn them in to his/her teacher when students return to school on January 5. These materials will be graded and used to record student attendance for the day. Thank you all for a great first semester and your continued support of the students who attend Brussels Elementary School! Happy holidays everyone! Stay healthy.

Elementary Field Trip Change! Dear Parents/Guardians, As you are probably aware, the weather on Thursday, December 22, is predicted to include the probability of snow and very cold temperatures. For the safety of our students and staff members, we are moving the planned field trip activities to Wednesday, December 21. Happy holidays everyone! Stay healthy. Mark R. Martin Superintendent/Elementary School Principal

Our BHS Sophomore class along with our BJHS students took a field trip to our own Calhoun County Courthouse. Judge Charles Burch spoke to our students about the judicial branch of government and answered all kinds of questions from our students. Thank you Judge Burch for providing our students with an experience they will remember. After our visit to the courthouse, our students went to the local restaurant, Straight Home, and received a great lunch and enjoyed a new experience for many. Thank you, Straight Home for accomodating our group of kids and providing great food and service. All in all, a great day for these BHS and BJHS kiddos.

Pep Club shirts are in and look fantastic! For those folks that missed out on the chance to put in an order, we are putting a second one in on Tuesday. If you're interested, please send us an order by Tuesday morning. These shirts will most likely arrive after the holidays.

TUTORING: The last day for tutoring for this semester will be December 19. Tutoring will resume on January 9. Please remind your student(s) to bring all the materials needed to make the most of their time. If you have questions, please reach out to your administrator. Thank you!

ATTN: EARLY BIRD PE STUDENTS Plans have changed! There will be early bird on Friday, December 16 in the gym. Please see Mrs. Long if you have questions. Thanks!

Learning opportunity through Lewis & Clark Community College. Please see the attached flyer.

After a 3 year COVID break, National Honor Society was excited to bring "Santa's workshop" back to Brussels. Our Brussels Elementary and St. Mary's students enjoyed shopping for their family members with the help of our NHS students. It is a great start to this holiday season. HO!HO!HO!

Dear Parents/Guardians, As you are probably aware, when we returned from our Thanksgiving break last Monday, we discovered that the HVAC system which worked perfectly before the break was no longer providing heat for the elementary school. Here’s an update on the repair work so far. Updike Heat and A.C. is the company that installed our updated systems in the grade school, high school and gym. Workers from that company have been here every day this week trying to diagnose and fix the problem. It took some time to diagnose the problem to determine if we had a leak or an electrical problem. Finally, it was determined that the compressor in one of the buildings three HVAC units has failed. While the diagnostic work was going on, an attempt was made to heat the building using just the two functioning HVAC units. After multiple attempts, this was unsuccessful. As the work was under way, we made arrangements for our elementary school classes to use available high school classrooms or the library if their room became uncomfortable. Yesterday afternoon, Chad Brodbeck experimented with reactivating the old electric heat system in the cafeteria and was successful. Work is underway today to do the same thing with the electric heaters in each elementary classroom. By lunchtime today, we had three classrooms heated with the old electric heaters. Our hope is that this can provide enough heat until the parts needed are available and repairs are made. It is most likely that those repairs will take place during our Winter/Christmas break. Sincerely, Mark R. Martin

12/2/2022 Dear Parents/Guardians, As you are probably aware, when we returned from our Thanksgiving break last Monday, we discovered that the HVAC system which worked perfectly before the break was no longer providing heat for the elementary school. Here’s an update on the repair work so far. Updike Heat and A.C. is the company that installed our updated systems in the grade school, high school and gym. Workers from that company have been here every day this week trying to diagnose and fix the problem. It took some time to diagnose the problem to determine if we had a leak or an electrical problem. Finally, it was determined that the compressor in one of the buildings three HVAC units has failed. While the diagnostic work was going on, an attempt was made to heat the building using just the two functioning HVAC units. After multiple attempts, this was unsuccessful. As the work was underway, we made arrangements for our elementary school classes to use available high school classrooms or the library if their room became uncomfortable. Yesterday afternoon, Chad Brodbeck experimented with reactivating the old electric heat system in the cafeteria and was successful. Work is underway today to do the same thing with the electric heaters in each elementary classroom. By lunchtime today, we had three classrooms heated with the old electric heaters. Our hope is that this can provide enough heat until the parts needed are available and repairs are made. It is most likely that those repairs will take place during our Winter/Christmas break. Sincerely, Mark R. Martin

Parents & Students, Finals are right around the corner. Please see the attached picture for the schedule and more information. If you have questions, please reach out to me. Thanks! Mrs. Long

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE be aware that the cold and flu season is in full swing! Keep your child HOME if they are sick. They do not benefit from being at school while they don't feel well and sicknesses spread very quickly in the school setting. The "suck it up" attitude is only extending sickness as it keeps spreading throughout the schools. Let's work together to try to keep our kids and ourselves healthy!

Kids Night Out will be held on Friday December 9th at BGS from 5-9. It will be a fun-filled night of activities and food for students K-6! Please have forms and money turned in by December 2nd to reserve a spot(s)!!

We will begin offering tutoring for grades 5-12 tomorrow after school in the high school building. Tutoring will be offered 3 days a week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 - 4:30 (students should report to the high school directly after dismissal). If you would like for your student to attend or have questions, please reach out to your student's principal (mrmartin@brussels42.net or plong@brussels42.net) to let us know your student will be attending or to ask any questions you may have. Students must have their own transportation to attend as the district will not run a bus to take students home. Thanks so much!

The BHS students did a wonderful job decorating their tree at Rock Spring Park in Alton last week. Tonight is the first night the park is open for the season, and it is a walk through only night. After that, only cars can drive through to see the lights. Santa will also be there tonight as well. There is a monetary prize for first, second, and third place for the trees with the most votes. The only way we can get votes is for people to go through the park and vote on our tree. The light display is amazing and runs through December so come out and vote for tree #17!

If you are in need of some spirit wear this year, BHS Pep Club will be sending home order forms tomorrow before the holiday. We must have all orders in by Friday, December 2nd in order to get the shirts made before Winter break. It would make a great gift or stocking stuffer for the Holidays! All proceeds go to Pep Club.

Kids Night Out will be held on Friday December 9th at BGS from 5-9. It will be a fun-filled night of activities and food for students K-6! Please have forms and money turned in by December 2nd to reserve a spot(s)!!

BHS Seniors had their final speaker to help round out their interview skills and techniques. Today's speaker was Megan Hillen, who touched on behavior assessment interview techniques, leadership interviews, and round table interview skills. Thank you so much to Mrs. Hillen and all of our community members who have helped inform our students about "real world" situations and prepare them for life outside of BHS. GREAT DAY TO BE A RAIDER!