Country Meadows Principal's Message - March 1st

Country Meadows Families,

Another productive week at Country Meadows is in the books, and we are excited for collaborative conferences next week.  Enjoy the extra time with your children this weekend, and make sure to read below regarding information on report cards, MAP reports, and schedules changes next week! 

Photo: Students in our 2nd grade biliteracy class practice their math skills with the Kagan Cooperative Learning Structure: Quiz Quiz Trade

NEW *Access Your Child's Report Card Online Today* 

Your student's report card is available for you to access online today after 3 PM. If you need assistance, please CLICK HERE for instructions to view your student's report card, to switch between your children's report cards, and more. 

To help you better understand your child's report card, see MORE INFO on the typical progression of standards-based scores for standards included on report cards, including standards that repeat in more than one trimester.

NEW *Winter MAP Results Available By Video* 

Parents of students in Grades 3 – 8 will have a new and different opportunity to view their student's Winter 2018 MAP (Measures of Academic Progress)–via a video specific to their child. 

To make this possible, District 96 is participating in a pilot program with the company Spotlight. Today (Mar. 1) parents/guardians were sent an email for each of their students in Grades 3–8. Each email includes a unique video link to that student's MAP results, explained using easy-to-understand visual info.

Please note that this is not new information. These Winter MAP results were already shared through a Jan. 11 email from District 96 to parents, with instructions about accessing those scores online. 

The MAP video link provided in today's email offers another opportunity to review and understand your student's scores.

Your feedback after viewing is particularly appreciated for this pilot program. Please complete the brief survey you'll find linked at the bottom of your student's video report.

NEW *Spring Collaborative Conferences* 

Our Spring Collaborative Conferences will be held next Thursday, March 7th, and Friday, March 8th (see below for details).  To accommodate this opportunity for families, this is a reminder that:

**Thursday, March 7th will be an Early Release.  Students will be dismissed at 2:00pm.**

**Students will not be in attendance on Friday, March 8th.**

NEW *No School Monday, March 4th* 

This is a friendly reminder that students will not be in attendance next Monday, March 4th.

NEW *Dual Language Program Registration*

Parents of incoming kindergartners interested in learning more about the Dual Language program beginning in the 2019–2020 school year have three weeks left to sign up! 

Questions? Please call 847.459.4260, ext. 8022, or contact the public info coordinator [email protected].

NEW *PTO Update* 

Country Meadow's 3rd -5th grade Science Fair will be March 14th, 2019.  We are also looking for parents who can help volunteer on March 14th during the Science Fair.  View the link and let us know if you can help out  Volunteer Sign Up for Science Fair.  There will be two after-school workshops for the Science Fair from 3-4pm on Feb 27th and March 6th for students to work on the projects.

Help make the Family Educator Conference Meals great for the teachers!  Please help out with a  Donation, select the item(s) you can donate to the meal.  Please drop items you donate at the school office by March 5th. 

School Supply Kits will be available for purchase for all grades starting March 1st on Membership Toolkit.  Click the link to order  School Supply Kit Order 

Like us on Facebook and log into Membership Toolkit to keep up with all the activities. 

Find more information in the COUNTRY MEADOWS PTO BLOG!

REPEATING *Spring Conferences* 

FAMILY WORKSHOP SCHEDULE (Schedule Here)

Spring Conferences are this upcoming Thursday, March 7th from 5pm-8:30pm and Friday, March 8th from 10am-1:30pm.   Here is the link to sign up for CM Spring Conferences.  

Spring Conferences are Collaborative Conferences!  

Collaborative conferences means that your child will be leading the conference.  The purpose of collaborative conferences is for educators, students and families to discuss, reflect and celebrate student work, and for families to experience school through their child's eyes.  Students have been working hard to prepare for the conference, and we are excited for you to learn about your child’s progress directly from your child!

Teachers will be available in the room as guides and will be available to answer student questions or elaborate on a point a student is making, but we ask that all participants respect that this is the student’s opportunity to lead the conference by sharing progress and reflections about their own learning.  

Please read below to learn specific information about how collaborative conferences will be structured for each grade-level.   

Grades EC-2

Families will sign-up for a 15 minute collaborative conference. Grades EC-2 collaborative conferences will be structured with one student in the classroom at a time with the classroom teacher as the guide and the student as the leader of the conference.  

Grades 3-5

Families will sign-up for a 30 minute conference. Grades 3-5 collaborative conferences will be structured with up to 3 students in the classroom at a time.  Student/Family partnerships will sit in a private space to engage in the conference. Classroom teachers and other building staff will be in the classroom to guide the process, but students will lead the conference.  Specials teachers will be in classrooms as guides in addition to the classroom teacher. Students should plan to bring their iPad to the conference.

Grades 6-8

Families will sign-up for a 20 minute conference. Grades 6-8 collaborative conferences will be structured with up to 6 students in the classroom at a time. Student/Family partnerships will sit in a private space to engage in the conference. The grade-level team of teachers will be in the classroom to guide the process, but students will lead the conference.  Exploratory teachers, PE, Health, Spanish and Band and Orchestra teachers will host an exposition of their courses. More information coming soon.  Students should plan to bring their iPad to the conference.

What is the Role of Families during Collaborative Conferences?

• Provide reinforcement, encouragement and praise

• Listen and ask questions

• Help students look realistically at quality of work

• Facilitate student’s self-reflection and goal setting

• Be a partner in learning

• See school through their student’s eyes

Questions Families Can Ask During the Collaborative Conference

• What is your favorite piece of work? Why?

• Describe your favorite activities or subjects.

• What experiences at school do you find the most exciting?

• Are there experiences that frustrate you, if so why?

• What goals have you set for yourself for this spring?

• How can I help you at home?

We will miss students tomorrow, but our staff is incredibly excited to learn among other educators in our consortium at our Common Institute Day tomorrow as this professional development opportunity will increase our cultural competence within the classroom!  We look forward to seeing students back at school on Tuesday, March 5th.

Warmly,

Meghan Bird - Principal