Country Meadows Families,
While it's hard to believe it's already March, we have quickly and successfully moved into our third trimester of learning. We were also incredibly lucky to have had our Virtual Science Event that was so graciously hosted by our fabulous PTO. It was so fun to see so many students paritcipating and excited about the levers they were creating. Thank you to our PTO for finding such fun and engaging opportunties for our students to expand their learning in creative ways. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and we look forward to seeing you at our virtual Family Educator Conferences next week!
Warm Regards,
Meghan Bird - Principal
NEW *NURSE HOURS and IDPH DECISION TREE*
Our District 96 nurses are closely following the Illinois Department of Public Health school exclusion decision tree to determine when students are eligible to return to turn school. Thank you for your patience with students who have had to isolate or quarantine due to illness, household, illness, positive COVID-19, and/or close contact status. The building nurse will request appropriate documentation for students to return to school. While you may receive this documentation outside of school hours, the nurse will contact families regarding a return date upon receipt during the next school day.
If you would like to be in touch with one of the District 96 nurses, please note the hours that they are available:
Country Meadows, Ivy Hall, Kildeer, Prairie, Willow Grove: 8:00-3:15
Twin Groves, Woodlawn 7:30-2:45
NEW *IMPORTANT March 8 Communication to Parents of FULL REMOTE Students*
If you are the parent of a full remote student, please make a note to check on Mon., Mar. 8, for an email from District 96. The email includes a link to a survey to opt your student in for in-person learning, if you choose. Survey responses are due no later than 11:59 PM on Thurs., Mar. 11. Questions? Contact [email protected].
NEW *Spring Assessments*
The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) and the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) are tentatively scheduled for later this spring. We are waiting for further guidance from the state concerning the administration of these assessments before solidifying a testing schedule.
NEW *Early Release Thursday, March 11th & No School Friday, March 12th*
As a reminder, Thursday, March 11th is an Early Release due to Family Educator Conferneces, and students will be dismissed at 2:00pm. Please view the Early Release schedule here.
Students will not be in attendance on Friday, March 12th due to Family Educator conferences. If you have any questions regarding the conference schedule, please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher.
NEW *Student Report Card Access Mar. 10 After 3 PM*
Your student’s report card was made available for you to access online Wed., Mar. 10, AFTER 3 PM. If you need assistance, please SEE INSTRUCTIONS TO VIEW YOUR CHILDREN’S REPORT CARDS, to switch between your children’s report cards, and more. Report cards will be available for online access after 3 PM on Mar. 10.
*Acceso a las Boletas de Calificaciones de los Estudiantes el 10 de marzo después de las 3 PM*
La boleta de calificaciones de su estudiante estará disponible en línea el PRÓXIMO Viernes, 10 de marzo DESPUÉS DE LAS 3 PM. Si necesita ayuda, por favor VER LAS INSTRUCCIONES PARA VER LA BOLETA DE CALIFICACIONES DE SU ESTUDIANTE, intercambiar entre boletas de calificaciones de sus hijos, y más. Las boletas de calificaciones estarán disponibles en línea después de las 3 p.m. el 10 de marzo.
NEW *2021–22 Registration Emails Were Sent Thurs., Mar. 4*
Please check for registration email(s) for the 2021–22 school year, sent Thurs., Mar. 4.
Each registration email includes a link and a unique “snapcode” needed for access to register your returning student for 2021–22. EVERY student returning to District 96 for the school year ahead must be registered.
Information you provided previously will appear in your student’s online registration record. Please check that information carefully and update it if it is not accurate.
Completing and submitting online registration and making payment no later than Apr. 15, 2021, will save families $20 in registration cost per student. Fees increase after Apr. 15.
Questions? Please send email to [email protected] or call 847.459.4260, ext. 8022.
Spanish:
*LOS CORREOS ELECTRÓNICOS DE LA INSCRIPCIÓN PARA EL CICLO ESCOLAR 2021–22 SE ENVIARON EL JUEVES 4 DE MARZO*
Por favor busque el correo electrónico de la inscripción para el ciclo escolar 2021–22, que fue enviado el jueves, 4 de marzo.
Cada correo de inscripción incluye un enlace y un “código” exclusivo que usted va a necesitar para inscribir a su estudiante que regresa al ciclo escolar 2021–22. TODOS los estudiantes que regresan al Distrito 96 para el ciclo escolar próximo deben estar inscritos.
La información que usted brindó anteriormente aparecerá en el registro de inscripción en línea de su estudiante. Por favor revise eso cuidadosamente y actualice cualquier información si no está correcta.
Si completa y entrega la inscripción en línea y hace el pago antes del 15 de abril, 2021 las familias ahorrarán $20 en la cuota de inscripción de cada estudiante. Las cuotas aumentan después del 15 de abril.
¿Preguntas sobre la inscripción? Por favor envíe un correo electrónico a [email protected] o llame a 847.459.4260, ext. 8022.
NEW: Country Meadows Spring Family/Educator Conferences Zoom Links
Our Spring Family/Educator Conferences will take place next Thursday, March 11th from 5 PM to 8:30 PM and Friday, March 12th from 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM. These conferences will be 15 minutes in length, and held remotely over Zoom.
Here are the Zoom Links that staff will be using to meet with families.
NEW: *Specials Materials & Materials for Students Reporting In Person*
For students reporting for in person learning, please look for specific information from your child's classroom teacher regarding materials he or she will need to bring to class on days he/she reports. Here is the updated Specials Materials List. Please reach out to your child's classroom teacher or specific specials teachers with any questions.
NEW: *PTO March Artistic Challenge*
Our incredible PTO is sponsoring another fun challenge this month! Please see this flyer for information regarding our March Artistic Contest!
NEW: *PTO February Artistic Challenge Winners*
We are so proud of all of our February Artistic Challenge participants. The Valentine's Day cards that were created were simply incredible! Our Top three winners of the February Artistic Challenge were:
1st Place: Parth B. - 3rd Grade
2nd Place: Ranya K. - 1st Grade
3rd Place: Harsh S. - 1st Grade
NEW: *PTO Blog*
If you are interested in being a part of our incredible Country Meadows, PTO Executive Board, please click here to show interest. Please take a moment to read this week's PTO Blog.
REPEATING: CM Library Book Check-out and Recommendations
Our Country Meadows library is open for book check-out through the Researcher app! Students' login is their student ID number and their last name is the password. Books are delivered to in-person students on one of their attendance days. Books are put in the vestibule outside the main office for pick-up on Fridays for our remote students. Please, click here, for specific instructions on how to check out books. Here are some slideshows with ideas for some of our popular library books to check-out in case your student wants some ideas and recommendations!
REPEATING: Illinois 5Essentials Survey
Share your thoughts about how your child’s school is doing on the 5Essentials for school success. On behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be administered online by UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago. District 96 will participate in the statewide 2020–21 5Essentials Survey to meet state legislation and the Board’s mandate. District 96 parents may voluntarily participate to complete the survey. Please select the Parent Survey and begin.
Beginning in February and through Apr. 2, students and teachers will complete surveys to help identify strengths and weaknesses in their school’s learning environment. In District 96, students in grades 4–8 will complete their surveys on Mar. 19.
This survey is designed to help school and district leaders better understand the parent/school relationship. All responses are anonymous. Parents are asked to complete a survey for each student attending a Kildeer Countryside District 96 school. The survey will be open through Apr. 2, 2021. Questions? See Frequently Asked Questions and/or contact 5Essentials Client Services 866.440.1874.
REPEATING: Kindergarten and 2nd Grade Parents Dental Screening Reminder
The Illinois School Code requires all children in kindergarten, second and sixth grades to have a dental examination by May 15th of each year in compliance with the rules adopted by the Illinois Department of Public Health. If you have not already done so, please submit your 2nd-grade child’s dental exam form to our building nurse. To see a complete list of the health forms required for students, please visit our Student Health Section of our Web page.
REPEATING: CM Library Book Check Out
We are excited to announce that we will be opening the Country Meadows’ library for Remote and In-Person learners. Recently, students have been provided with access to Sora, an app that allows students to check out Ebooks. Additionally, we are offering the opportunity to check out the diverse hard copy books from our library collection. The importance of reading books is vital for success!
Holds must be placed through Alexandria by Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. This will allow the time needed to organize and pull books off the shelves.
- Remote Students will be picking books up at Country Meadows’ front vestibule outside the main office on Friday during school hours 7:45am-4:00pm the same week.
- In-Person Students will have their books delivered to their classrooms on one of the days they are attending (either Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday) the same week.
Please, click here, for specific instructions on how to check out books.
IMPORTANT: You should have received an email with your child's username and password. Please use this student specific information to reserve books for check out!
REPEATING *Obtaining Free Meals*
Preorder free meals for in-person students by 6 PM on Thursday for the week ahead. Order at onlineordering.linq.com only for your student's in-person days.
Pick up meal supplies for 5 days for remote students on Wednesdays from 11 AM– 2 PM at Twin Groves or Woodlawn. No preordering needed.
Please direct questions to the public info coordinator [email protected].
REPEATING *IMPORTANT REMINDERS FOR PARENTS OF IN-PERSON LEARNERS*
Parents who have children coming in must do their daily self-certification. It significantly slows down our arrival procedures when students don't have this.
Likewise, parents whose students do not bring their saliva samples will be called to come to the school and bring their student’s sample collection vial, barcode label, and plastic baggie and assist their student in collecting the sample.
Please remember that completing the daily self-certification and providing the weekly saliva sample is a commitment you made for your child to attend in-person. If there are repeat incidences for the daily self-certification and/or saliva collection, the student may need to go back to remote learning. Please set alarm reminders for yourself. I do not want anyone to have to move back to remote learning for this reason.
The schedule for saliva sample collection for EC–Grade 2 is as follows:
Monday
- Ivy Hall Grades 1-2 (Last names A-L)
- Prairie Grades 1-2 (Last names A-L)
Tuesday
- Country Meadows Grades 1-2 (Last names A-L)
- Kildeer Grades 1-2 (Last names A-L)
- Willow Grove PM Students
Wednesday
- Willow Grove AM Students
Thursday
- Country Meadows Grades 1-2 (Last names M-Z)
- Ivy Hall Grades 1-2 (Last names M-Z)
- Prairie Grades 1-2 (Last names M-Z)
- Kildeer Grades 1-2 (Last names M-Z)
See MORE INFO regarding saliva samples and collecting them.
To access the required Daily Self-Certification Form, you need to log into TeacherEase each day your student will attend in person to submit self-certification.
This VIDEO gives instructions, including how to access the daily self-certification form using your cell phone (iOS or android).
If you will be using your home computer to send daily self-certification, we suggest that you bookmark the TeacherEase website. The link is: https://www.teacherease.com/common/login.aspx
REPEATING: *News From the Library - Introducing Sora*
We are so excited to announce the purchase of over 1,500 e-books for our students to check out directly onto their iPads on an app called Sora by Overdrive. All of the classrooms have been introduced to this new app and students immediately began checking out books. Students can check out one book at a time and place one book on hold at a time.
Many of the e-books have a limited number of checkouts before they disappear from the collection. Because of this, we strongly encourage children to read a sample of the book before borrowing it. This way they can decide whether the book is a good fit and it will help our e-books last longer. In addition, we are asking students to return books as soon as they finish reading it so another student can check it out plus they can check out their next book right away.
An exciting feature of Sora is if you have a public library card, students can add their library card number to the app and have thousands more books to choose from. All you need is a library card. See this video for instructions on how to add a public library to the Sora app. Please feel free to reach out with any questions!
REPEATING *In Person Learning Protocols*
Parents whose hybrid in-person students will be learning in person, please be sure to review the Revised IN-PERSON LEARNING PROTOCOLS for information about health and safety protocols and expectations for families and their students who will be learning in person in our schools.
REPEATING *Updated COVID-19 Metrics*
This UPDATED COVID-19 METRICS is the information “dashboard” that maintains transparent and open communication around COVID-19 metrics. As a user of the dashboard, the District has access to COVID-19 data as recommended by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium. We review this data daily, update the dashboard weekly, and consider this data in making many decisions.
REPEATING *Family Tradition Survey*
Last year, families filled out a form to share their family traditions with us. We shared those traditions in a daily slideshow for students and the kids absolutely loved reading about themselves and other students in the school. We would love for you to participate again this year!
Read more about how you can share your family traditions this year. It will show you a QR code and a link you can use to participate.