General Information

General Information

The following section contains general information about District 96 schools. While the Handbook is designed to be comprehensive, it cannot answer every question parents may have about our schools. Parents should call the building principals with any questions.

Official School Hours
Kindergarten Full Day:  8:40 a.m. – 3:05 p.m.
Blended Preschool/Early Childhood/ECSE: AM session: 8:40 – 11:10 a.m.; PM session: 12:35 – 3:05 p.m.
Structured Early Childhood: 8:40 a.m. – 2:40 p.m.
Grades 1 – 5: 8:25 a.m. – 3:05 p.m.
Grades 6 – 8: 7:45 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.; Optional Activity Period: 2:30 – 3:15 p.m.

General Guidelines for Student Supervision
Supervision is provided fifteen (15) minutes before the official start of the school day. Unless special arrangements were made, middle school students should not arrive at school before 7:30 a.m. at Twin Groves or Woodlawn. Elementary students should not arrive before 8:10 a.m. at Country Meadows, Ivy Hall, Kildeer, or Prairie. Willow Grove students whose school day begins at 8:40 a.m. should not arrive before 8:30 a.m. Willow Grove students whose school day begins at 9:00 a.m. should not arrive before 8:45 a.m. Willow Grove students whose school day begins at noon should not arrive before 11:45 a.m.

If children need to arrive at school before the time when supervision is available, parents are encouraged to enroll their child in one of the before-school care programs that are available for students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Those not enrolled in one of the before-school care programs who arrive earlier than fifteen minutes before the official start of school will be expected to remain outside until the doors are opened. No supervision is provided in this circumstance.

Middle School Activity Period
An Activity Period will be offered from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. at the middle school level. A variety of interest-based clubs, as well as study halls and rehearsals for the band, orchestra, and chorus, will be held during this time. Interscholastic sports will begin after the conclusion of the Activity Period at 3:15 p.m. Limited bus service from the middle schools to neighborhood stops will be available after the Activity Period. No bus service is available after interscholastic sports. Parents will be responsible for transporting their child home from those activities.

Registration and Eligibility for School
Children whose fifth birthday occurs on or before September 1 may enter the District’s kindergarten program. Children whose sixth birthday occurs on or before September 1 may enter first grade. The child’s birth certificate and proof of residency must be presented at the time of registration.

Early Entrance. District 96 parents requesting that early entrance to Kindergarten or to Grade 1 be considered for their child must request it by April 1 in the calendar year in which August enrollment would occur. To be eligible for consideration for Early Entrance, a student must be turning 5 years old (for Kindergarten) or 6 years old (for Grade 1) after Sept. 1 and no later than Dec. 1.

Who will qualify for early entrance?
Students who meet the age requirements stated above whose parents have requested consideration for early entrance will be assessed by District 96 staff to determine eligibility for early entrance.  Assessment by District 96 faculty and staff must reflect no concerns with the student’s social emotional functioning. Further, his or her academic achievement must be significantly above average (in the 99th percentile) for the student’s chronological age in all content areas assessed.

Registration is completed online annually. Proof of residency may be required for registration. All students shall be placed by administration in the grade level to which they are best suited academically, socially, and emotionally. The Board of Education believes that most students function best with peers of his or her own age.

Field Trips
Educational field trips will be planned by the school staff. Written consent from the parent/guardian is necessary before a child can participate. A form (paper or electronic) will be made available for the parent/guardian to sign and return. Fees may be collected to cover the cost of admissions, renting buses, and other related expenses.

Class Parties
Class parties can be valuable learning and social experiences for students. We encourage teachers and students to look at them as such.

Details of Class Parties. Class parties will be 30–40 minutes in length. Typically, all Willow Grove and elementary students may have one party on the last school day before winter vacation, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day. Costumes may be worn at the Halloween Party. Masks and/or facsimiles of a weapon are not permitted in school, on school grounds, or on the bus.

Distribution of Party Invitations. Children who do not receive invitations may naturally feel hurt. Out of courtesy to others, please do not send out-of-school party invitations for distribution at school unless inviting the whole class.

Birthday Treats. To celebrate birthdays at the elementary level, we only allow non-disruptive, safe, non-edible treats, such as pencils, stickers, bookmarks, or a book donated to the class library. Please check your item of choice with the classroom teacher for school appropriateness.

Lost and Found
Clothing, snow boots, tennis shoes, and other personal articles should be labeled with the child’s full name. Lost articles may be reclaimed by identifying them in the school office. Unclaimed items will be donated to charity periodically throughout the school year.

Communications Sent Home
From time to time there will be exceptions, but most notes, announcements, and non-school communications will be posted on the District website and/or sent via the District's selected notification system using email and links to Principals' Messages or to E-NEWS. Communication updates will be made on Fridays.

Approval of Flyers from Outside Organizations
Flyers, announcements, or advertisements from outside organizations may be distributed to students under limited circumstances. No materials advertising or promoting the interests of any commercial or political agency, individual, or corporation shall be distributed. Approval for material distribution is completed by the Superintendent’s Office. In order to have permission to distribute information to school buildings, the organization must be a public service agency, such as the park district, a social service organization, or a not-for-profit organization. If approved, a bundle of 25 flyers could be delivered to each school building for placement in the public brochure rack. This information is distributed as a service to families, but District 96 does not sanction or attest to the quality of any program offered by an outside organization. The flyer, announcement, or advertisement must clearly state that the program being offered is in no way affiliated or associated with District 96.

Solicitation of Funds or Donations
There shall be no general collection of funds or donations from children in the school without the approval of the Superintendent of Schools or designee. The sale of any fundraising items must also be approved by the Superintendent of Schools or designee.

Recess
The children have outdoor recess during each school day except in the most inclement weather; therefore, the children’s outdoor clothing should be appropriate for the weather that day.

In winter, the temperature, wind chill, and weather conditions will be monitored throughout the morning. The weather website and playground conditions will be checked in consultation with outside supervisors to determine if weather conditions are appropriate for children's outdoor recess. When the temperature or wind chill is 0–10 degrees, students may go outside for a shortened recess period or may be kept inside for recess.  If the temperature or wind chill falls below zero, students will be kept inside for recess. If a student has a doctor's note or a medical condition, he or she may stay inside in the building office for recess.

Determination of whether children will have outdoor recess will be made prior to each recess period, based on the weather at that moment and in the judgment of the principal or his or her designee. Any request for prolonged indoor recess MUST come from the child’s doctor.

Indoor Recess. Recess is an integral part of the school day for kindergarten through Grade 5 as it is important for academic learning, social development, and physical activity.  Students are aware of the activities and rules during indoor recess as directed by teachers and supervisors. Students engage in low-impact activities; for example, they may be allowed to draw on the whiteboard, play board games, work on puzzles, or read.  Activities are supervised by lunch/recess supervisors. In the event that a supervisor is absent, students are regrouped to be clearly supervised.

Telecommunication Device Possession and Use by Students
In general, students are allowed to possess cellular, radio, and/or other telecommunication devices at school, on school property, or at school-sponsored activities, but the use of these devices is restricted to areas designated by the building principal and only during before- and after-school hours. During the school day and/or while participating in school-sponsored activities, students will be expected to leave these devices in their lockers or cubbies in the off position. Cellular, radio, and/or other telecommunication devices found in a student's possession during the school day, while participating in school-sponsored activities, or outside the principal’s designated areas, may be confiscated, and the student may be subject to additional discipline. Parents are required to pick up confiscated items.

The school district also restricts parents' and/or visitors' use of cellular, radio, and/or other telecommunication devices to appropriate areas, to be used only in such instances in which either an emergency exists or the use of the device is not disruptive to the ongoing activity. Parents or visitors who violate this policy may be asked to leave the school building.

Students will not be allowed to make phone calls during the school day except as permitted by a faculty member. Students generally are not called to the telephone from classes except for emergencies.

General Rules for School Safety
Rules of safety are taught and encouraged by staff members. Fire, disaster, and other safety drills are held regularly. As a safety precaution, throwing snowballs, hardballs (legal baseballs), or other hard materials is not permitted on school grounds.

Fire, Disaster, and Lockdown Drills. Drills for various emergencies are carried out periodically during the school year. These drills are designed to acquaint children with procedures to cope with emergencies within the building that can possibly arise during school.

Bicycles and Bicycle Helmets. For the safety of all, bicycles should be stored in racks until school is dismissed. All students are expected to wear bicycle helmets, and riding bicycles on the playground during school hours is not permitted.

Transportation. School buses are an extension of the school property; as such, everyone must comply with district behavior expectations on the bus. In addition, parents are not allowed to board a bus at any time during its route.

Animals on Campus
As a general rule, animals are not allowed on the school campus or grounds during school hours when children are present. The exception would be when the assistance of a dog is required due to a disability. The service dog must be identified visually with a vest and harnessed, leashed, or tethered while on campus.  In all other cases, written permission must be obtained from the District Office before an animal is allowed on school grounds.

Inappropriate Materials
Occasionally, problems arise when children bring things to school that are dangerous to others and/or that interfere with school procedures in some way. Please help your child understand that items including but not limited to guns, explosives, paintball guns, caps, bean shooters, knives, matches, lighters, league-type baseballs, and other similar items must not be brought to school. If they are brought to school, they will be confiscated and appropriate measures will be taken. This list is not exhaustive. Parents and students should use common sense when determining whether an item should be brought to school.

Administrative authority to confiscate an item is not limited to those items listed above. Any item brought by a student to school that is considered to pose a threat to any person, property, or the orderly operation of the school may be confiscated.

Loss or Damage to Property
Valuable items including – but not limited to – collectibles, electronics, or other personal items should not be brought to school. The school cannot be responsible for the safekeeping or replacement of personal items such as these.

Charges for Lost or Damaged Property. Students are given many items on a loan or rental basis. These become the responsibility of the student. The student will be charged for any items that he or she loses, damages, or destroys.

Bicycles. The school is not responsible for damaged bicycles or lost equipment. Bicycle locks are strongly recommended and bicycles should be parked in the racks provided.

Student Damage of Textbooks. While normal wear is expected, if a textbook is unnecessarily damaged or lost, the pupil must pay a fee for replacement or repair. This also applies to books or other materials taken from the Learning Center. 

Student Damage of iPad and Accessories. Students will have two covered incidents of damage to the iPad and two covered incidents of damage for accessories (charging cable, charging brick, case, pencil). After those two incidents, students and parents will be responsible for the cost of repair or  full device/accessory replacement. The district reserves the right to NOT cover the cost of any intentional damage to these items, regardless of the number of incidents of damage to the device/accessory.

If a student device needs to be repaired, a new device will be issued to the student, and his or her original device will be sent for repair. The original iPad will not be returned to the student after the repairs are completed. Refer to the iPad Handbook for additional information.

Payments to School
Unless specifically requested, checks for any school payments should be made payable to Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96 and not to individuals.

Instructional Materials Fee. There are a great deal of consumable materials and textbooks used at all grade levels. To help defray the cost of these materials, a fee may be determined annually by the Board of Education and assessed each student.

Lunch Program
Most children take 15-20 minutes to eat lunch. If your child brings a bag lunch, please pack foods he or she can reasonably eat in that amount of time. Please contact your building principal if your child needs more time to eat or has an allergy to specific foods and requires special arrangements.

At all the elementary schools, a computerized "debit card" system is used for the purchase of hot lunches. At both Twin Groves and Woodlawn Middle Schools, meals and snacks may be purchased using a student ID card or cash. For all schools, parents must fund their child’s school lunch account for purchases to be made. At all schools, other menu items and snack options also are available. Students who bring lunch may make cash purchases of juice and/or milk. Contact the building school administrative assistant  for details of the lunch program for that school.

Students Leaving School at Lunch. Parents wishing to take their children out of school for lunch must follow the sign-out procedures established at each school. Any students leaving school grounds for lunch must have a written permission slip on file in the school office.

Parents Delivering Lunch for Students. If a parent is bringing a student his or her lunch, it must be dropped off in the office and labeled with the student’s name and grade. Parents may bring food only for their own child. School offices cannot accept lunch deliveries from restaurants or lunch delivery services.