Country Meadows Principal's Message - November 9th

Country Meadows Families,

It's been another great week at Country Meadows!  Our 4th/5th grade orchestra was AMAZING last night during their first performance, our 5th graders experienced the first part of their "In School" field trip, and all of our students continue to work hard and have fun!  It's crazy to think that today marks the end of our first trimester!  Time is flying by, and we're looking forward to the great things ahead!

NEW * This is Us - We are Country Meadows* 

Community Input: In an effort to create a two-way communication model, please let me know if there is a time of day, specific student experience, or potential topic you would like to know more about or see in showcased in the "This is Us - We are Country Meadows" section of my Principal's Message!  Simply fill out this Google Form to provide input!              

This Thursday, our 5th graders had an "In School" field trip where the Lake County Forest Preserve visited to teach about birds of prey.  Students got to see and learn about two live rescue birds, a red-tailed hawk and a screech owl.  Students learned all about the special adaptations that these animals have which help them survive in the wild.  Students also participated in two hands on activities.  

NEW *Book Fair* 

Students will be attending the Book Fair with their classes next week.  Please look for communication from your child's teacher relaying information about the class visits to the Book Fair! 

NEW *PTO Update*

The Fall Book Fair is almost here, NOV 12^th – 16^th.  We are still looking for volunteers to help support the Book Fair, please sign up using Membership Toolkit.  Fall Parent/Teacher conferences are on November 19 & 20th.  We are looking for parents to help donate some items for the Conference Meal the PTO provides.  Please take a look at the follow link Teacher Conference Meal Donation and donate if you can help.  Country Meadow's Variety Show 2018-2019 will be January 31^st, 2019.  Like us onFacebook and log into Membership Toolkit to keep up with all the activities.

Find more information in the COUNTRY MEADOWS PTO BLOG!

NEW *Parent Educator Child Care* 

Child care will be available at each of the elementary schools during conferences.  Children ages 2 and up are welcome to join District 96 staff in the CM cafeteria so that parents can attend conferences and parent workshops.  There will be a variety of quiet activities available for children to participate in. Stop by, sign your child in and you are all set!  Please ensure that children attending are healthy.  Snacks will not be available and please do not bring food for your child.

NEW *Parent Educator Conferences* 

This year during Parent Educator Conferences, we will be offering parent education courses focused both on TeacherEase and Supporting Learning at Home.  These sessions will be run by District 96 staff and will be hosted in the CM Learning Center.   Please drop into one of the sessions listed to learn more about TeacherEase and how to support your child at home.  

Course Descriptions

*All Courses Take Place in the CM Learning Center*

TeacherEase: The purpose of this session is to learn about progress reports on TeacherEase. First we will make sure you know how to log in and access the report, then we will discuss what everything means.

Supporting Learning at Home: The purpose of this session is to learn about a variety of ways to support your child’s learning at home. The various ways discussed will support all content areas and can be easily implemented at home.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER  19 Location:  Learning Center

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20        Location:  Learning Center

NEW *Family Reading Night*

Family Reading Night is Thursday, November 15th from 6:30-7:45. Families will be able to enjoy quality time reading with your child! We will have teachers reading aloud and fun activities to go along with each book! Our theme is Reading Takes You Everywhere.  We are asking families to arrive on time or even early if you want to purchase books from the book fair.

Please keep in mind that children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.  There will be two sessions. Your family will decide which stations to attend. Once a choice is made, we ask that you remain with your child inside the classroom for the entire session.  We look forward to seeing you there for this community event to celebrate READING!

NEW *Final Call for Culture Night*

On November 28th, Woodlawn and Country Meadows will come together for our first annual, "This is Us... We are Woodlawn and Country Meadows" event!  Given the rich diversity of the cultures in our shared community, we are looking forward to engaging families and students in a night where we celebrate about our own culture, learn/celebrate the cultures of others, and build a sense of a shared WL/CM culture.

THIS IS THE LAST CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS!  If your child and family are interested in participating in this event, please indicate so by completing this Google Form (English) or this Google Form (Spanish). We will be communicating the logistics of the event when we have a better understanding of how many participants we will have and how they prefer to participate.

We are so excited that we already have 31 families committed to the event, “I am me… We are Woodlawn and Country Meadows.” We would like to answer some of the common questions in the FAQ below. We will also host two Question/Answer meeting for families who would like to further discuss and understand how to contribute to the evening.

There is NO required attendance, but we welcome participants to come to discuss the event.  

FAQ

Enjoy your weekend, and we look forward to beginning our 2nd trimester with students on Monday!

Warmly,

Meghan Bird - Principal