Country Meadows Families,
It’s hard to believe that we are winding down the last official days of summer. We sure have lucked out in the weather department, and students have enjoyed playing outside at recess and participating in P.E. outdoors. My hope is that we can keep the nice weather just a little bit longer! I am continually impressed as I walk through the classrooms to see learning in action. Students are working hard, not only on academics, but also building relationships with each other and focusing on social-emotional learning. In just a few short weeks our staff will have the pleasure and opportunity to update you at Family Educator Conferences. and we can’t wait! Enjoy the weekend ahead!
Kindly,
Meghan Bird - Principal
NEW *Thought Exchange Partnership*
The District 96 Thought Exchange Partnership (TEP) offers parents opportunities to give feedback and receive information about District instruction, programs, and initiatives. Understanding parent perceptions is helpful for planning and communicating. Contact District 96 Community Parent Liaison Lubna Andrabi, 847.459.4260, ext. 8136, with questions. In particular, the District invites parents who have students enrolled at Willow Grove Early Learning Center to consider joining the Thought Exchange Partnership. The first meeting is scheduled for October 21, 2021 from 7:00-8:30 via Zoom.
NEW *Fall Family Educator Conferences*
The conference dates are Thursday, October 7th from 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM and Friday, October 8th from 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM.
We will be using Meet the Teacher as an electronic sign up for conferences. A School Messenger email will be sent to families on Monday September 20th at 6:00PM with a link to sign up for conferences.
Conferences will be held over zoom unless parents request an in-person conference using the instructions below. A document with all the staff zoom links will be sent out on Wednesday, October 6th at 2PM.
REQUESTING AN IN-PERSON CONFERENCE
After selecting the teachers you wish to meet with and choosing a time for each conference, Meet the Teacher will prompt you to save the appointment and ask if you want to add a message for the teacher. If you want to have an in-person conference with the teachers, you must notify the teachers via this messaging feature (see picture below).
Elementary parents will have the option to sign up with the classroom teacher, specials teachers and any related service providers their children sees.
NEW *Erin's Law Education*
An Illinois law known as Erin’s Law requires schools to implement an age-appropriate sexual assault and abuse awareness/prevention curriculum for Kindergarten through Grade 12.
Kildeer Countryside CCSD 96 researched and observed best practices and programs for delivering this instruction, selecting Victor Pacini to present Be Seen & Heard ©.
The focus of this developmentally appropriate and interactive program is to teach children skills to keep them safe from danger or abuse. Concepts discussed will include distinguishing safe from unsafe touches, safety rules at home and school, saying NO, safe/unsafe secrets, and telling a trusted adult, as well as reinforcing that an adult’s touching him or her is not the child’s fault. For more information about this presentation please go to www.victorpacini.com/peace-of-mind-2.
The presentation to Country Meadows students will be during the school day on Thursday, September 30th.
If you prefer that your child does not attend this prevention education session, please submit your written request - or your questions - to me at [email protected].
NEW *Parent Pick Up Reminder*
While picking up or dropping your children off at school, please ensure that your child exits/enters the car CURBSIDE to ensure the safety of all students. We appreciate your continued cooperation.
NEW *Change of Plans Reminder*
If you find yourself needing to send an email or note for change of plans, please be sure to include our clerical aide, Deb Stanton, on all communication (in addition to Cheryl Kelly and classroom teacher), to ensure all office staff have access to this important information.
NEW *Upcoming Fire Drill*
On Tuesday, September 21st, Country Meadows will be conducting a Fire Drill. Students will be evacuating the building during the drill. If the weather does not cooperate, we will reschedule the drill and communicate the rescheduled drill date.
NEW *Virtual Author Visit*
Next week, Mo O'Hara (My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish) visits Chicago-area students "virtually" to celebrate her new graphic novel series for young readers, Agent Moose! Mo will be joined by illustrator Jess Bradley for a virtual presentation that incorporates Mo's signature humor and creativity, and an original case to solve during the live broadcast. They'll be coming to us live from the United Kingdom! The new book in the series, Agent Moose: Moose on a Mission, has just been released.
You can learn more about the Agent Moose series here. Please order books for this upcoming author visit using this form!
NEW *PTO Update*
Please take a moment to read the PTO blog this week!
There is one more week to get your Spirit Wear orders in! The class with the most orders will win their teacher a T-Shirt. As of this morning, the Larson class is in the lead! There is a huge selection of items to choose from and the proceeds help to support all of the events hosted by the PTO.
Next Friday will be our first General PTO Meeting at 9:00am at the school (virtual option is also available). All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend, especially all who have volunteered to be a room parent. Keep an eye on the Country Meadows PTO Facebook page for more information.
Upcoming events:
- September 13-24: Spirit Wear Sale
- September 24: PTO General Meeting 9am (Room Parents and Committee Chairs are highly encouraged to attend)
REPEATING *Contact Tracing Clarification*
Contact tracing is completed when a confirmed COVID-19 case is reported. If a student is identified as a close contact, families will be notified. Contact tracing in District 96 is based on the current IDPH definitions of close contact which are included at the bottom of the D96 Quarantine Decision Making Matrix that has previously been shared with families.
- In classrooms, hallways, etc., close contacts are defined as being closer than than 3 feet with inconsistent masking of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes over a 24-hour period.
- In the lunchroom, close contacts are defined as being closer than than 6 feet with inconsistent masking of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes over a 24 hour period.
- In general, individuals who are solely exposed to a confirmed case while outdoors will not be considered close contacts.
As part of the contact tracing protocol we check with the classroom teachers, specials teachers, and related services staff to ensure that no student was unmasked, for more than 15 minutes cumulatively, within a given setting. If this is the case, additional close contacts would be identified and notified (i.e. snack, water, etc.). Please note that this may mean a student who sits 3 feet away from a confirmed positive case in the classroom setting (consistently masked) IS NOT identified as a close contact, while a child who sits within 6 feet of a confirmed positive case at a lunch table (inconsistently masked) IS identified as a close contact.
District 96 does not define what a close contact is, rather follows the IDPH definition. Likewise District 96 does not alter contact tracing or notification protocols, rather strictly follows those provided by the IDPH.
REPEATING *O’Hare PCR Results*
If you do not receive your child’s PCR results over the weekend, we apologize for the inconvenience.
Please feel free to contact O’Hare Labs by sending an email to [email protected]. This email is monitored frequently each day and is the preferred method of contact. Please be sure to include your child’s First Name, Last Name, DOB, and test date in the email.
If preferred, you can also call the Call Center at (800) 604-0197 Monday-Saturday between the hours of 10am-5pm.
REPEATING *Covid Metrics*
To stay up-to-date this school year on local metrics, please visit the COVID DASHBOARD for District 96. Our priority remains to keep our students safe and follow guidance from the CDC. If your student is identified as a "close contact", you will be notified individually through the contact tracing process.