Country Meadows Families,
Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year! I hope all of you were able to find time for relaxation, rest, and time with family and friends during these summer months. To those of you who are new to our Country Meadows family, welcome! We are so excited to have you join our incredible school community. I want to begin by saying that while I know this is not the way we anticipated opening this school year, the entire Country Meadows staff is ready and can't wait for the 2020-2021 school year to begin!
This summer my husband, Conrad, and I enjoyed spending time together with our now one-year old, Maisie James! Many of you have shared that your families have been missing Maisie this summer in the absence of her daily morning announcement appearances. Our sweet girl turned one, enjoyed lots of time outside, and is officially on the move!
I am looking forward to navigating this unprecedented time with all of you, and as always, placing the needs of our students above all else. We will get through this together, and I am so appreciative of the supportive school community we live in. If there is anything I can do for you or your child(ren), please do not hesitate to reach out!
Fondly,
Meghan Bird
NEW *Meet Mr. Williams*
I am incredibly excited to introduce our new, full-time assistant principal, Jason Williams. As many of you know, I was a special education teacher at Country Meadows prior to beginning my administrative career in D96. Mr. Williams is also a former Country Meadows instructional coach, and I had the honor of working with him as a colleague prior to our administrative team debut. We are an incredibly open and approachable team, so please do not hesitate to reach out! Here is an introduction from Mr. Williams himself!
Hello Country Meadows families! I’m Jason Williams, your new Assistant Principal, & wanted to share a little bit about myself. I began my teaching career as a 7th grade science teacher in Poplar Grove, IL. After a few years, I came to Country Meadows as the technology coach. (It’s great to come back home!) For the last three years, I served as the coordinator for teaching and learning at North Shore School District 112 in Highland Park, IL.
I graduated from Northern Illinois University with a degree in elementary education with middle school endorsements in general science, language arts, physical science, social science, speech/theatre, and theatre/drama. I also hold three masters of education degrees in curriculum design and education reform from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, literacy education with an emphasis in ELL/bilingual education from Northern Illinois University, and educational leadership from American College of Education. I am currently pursuing his doctorate in educational leadership at Concordia University Chicago. When I’m not in school, I’m usually playing with my two dogs, Coco and Pepper, or working on renovating my house. I also got married this past March!
I am so excited to be back at Country Meadows as your new Assistant Principal! I can’t wait to learn with you this year!
NEW *First Day of School*
Our first half day of remote learning will be Monday, August 24th. School day hours will be from 8:30am-11:45am.
NEW *Beginning of Year Events*
As an administrative team, we are working to reschedule and adjust our beginning of the year events to adhere by safety and social distance guidelines. These events include Meet the Teacher, Curriculum Night, and New Family tours. Details will be forthcoming as they are determined.
NEW *Technology News*
On August 12th, our technology department will begin syncing student data across our systems in preparation for the start of the 20-21 school year. When this sync begins, your student(s) may lose access to some services or applications that are currently on their iPads. This is by design as we prepare to make all of the 20-21 resources available to students for the start of the school year.
Please know that if you request a replacement iPad, Crayon, or accessory while picking up your resources, we will need a broken iPad, Crayon, or accessory from you in order to begin processing replacements. Any requests will also need to be fully documented before a replacement can be processed.
NEW *Health Form Deadline Extension*
The health form deadline has been extended to October 15th. All immunizations should be completed by this date to avoid school exclusion. Please refer to the D96 Student Health website for more information.
NEW *Supporting Our D96 Community Families*
The pandemic is creating challenging situations for many families in our community.
Community members who are able are invited to donate these items: macaroni & cheese (cups or boxes), canned foods (veggies/fruits/tuna/chicken/beans), granola bars, tortillas, cheese (shredded/sliced), eggs, deli meats, frozen ground beef/chicken.
Please deliver to collection boxes outside the Exceptional Learners Collaborative (ELC) front entrance, 990 Corporate Woods Parkway, Vernon Hills, from 8 AM–3 PM. Please observe social distancing when delivering donations and ring the doorbell when delivering perishable foods and/or gift cards.
If you'd like to deliver your donation to your student's school on the designated Materials Pick-Up Day, please place it in the donation box (non perishable/non-refrigerated items only, please) in front of the school entrance.
Questions? Contact [email protected]
NEW *Class Assignment Communication*
Student’s classroom teacher assignments will be finalized and emailed to you at about 9:00 AM on Wednesday, August 12th. Please know that teacher teams have shifted this year, and information regarding these changes will be included in a future Principal's Message. I am unable to communicate this specific information at this time as continual enrollment will affect teacher teams until early next week. If you do not receive notification, please email our administrative assistant, Cheryl Kelly, at [email protected], or give us a call in the office.
NEW *Supply Pick Up*
Instructional materials will be provided by the district to facilitate remote learning. Some items will be available during initial student materials pick-up and others will be available once the school year has begun via deliveries to neighborhoods (more information coming soon). Materials will include math manipulatives kits, workbooks, art and music supplies, etc.. Information is forthcoming related to technology workshops and sessions that will be available the week of August 17th in the evening.