Country Meadows Principal's Message - January 14th

Country Meadows Principal's Message - January 14th

Country Meadows Families,

We had another great week at Country Meadows and even enjoyed the weather warming up a little bit! If you have not done so already, please check your email as you should have received MAP testing reports.  Enjoy the long weekend ahead!

Warm Regards,

Meghan Bird - Principal


NEW *UPDATE on PCR Testing Scheduled For Today*

Due to a shortage of supply kits regionally and the shortened school day today, the district did not receive the number of test kits needed for all participants.  

If your student received their kit and brought it home today, please have your child return the kit to school on Tuesday for testing. 

If your student did not receive their kit today, kits will be sent home on Tuesday and should be returned to school on Wednesday.  Specimens will be picked up on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week. 

Thank you for your patience as our vendor O’Hare Labs works to expand its capacity to meet additional testing requests. District 96 is one of many entities that has asked to increase their PCR testing frequency. As a result, O’Hare Labs is working diligently to accommodate the unprecedented increase in the demand for testing. The typical timeline is 48 hours, however, nearly all PCR labs are seeing a spike in specimen testing requests. Therefore, the delayed delivery of results that we are experiencing is due to this spike in the demand for specimen testing. O'Hare Labs has added an additional lab this week, so we are hoping to see a faster turnaround time very soon.

Finally, as a reminder, O’Hare Labs is your point of contact regarding specimen questions for individual student lab results. 

If you have any questions regarding your results (e.g. you haven’t received your results) feel free to contact O’Hare Labs by email at [email protected]


NEW *IDPH/ISBE COVID-19 Information*

On January 11, 2022 the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released new COVID-19 information related to school exclusion and test-to-stay protocols.  Please find all updated information on our website linked below.

https://www.kcsd96.org/covid-19


NEW *Technology Help Desk*

A friendly reminder that if you have technology-related issues at home with your student’s D96 technology (iPad, iPad Charger, Logitech Crayons, or iPad Case) please submit a help desk ticket at [email protected]

We have multiple technology personnel that are ready to help. Submitting a help desk ticket via the email address provided will ensure that somebody on the team sees your request. 


NEW *Calendar Reminder - MLK Day*

This is a friendly reminder that Monday, January 17th is Martin Luther King Day, and students are not in attendance.  We look forward to welcoming students back on Tuesday, January 18th.


NEW *Human Growth & Development*

We will be starting our Human and Growth and Development unit the week of January 24th. This unit is for grades third through fifth.

  • Third-grade lessons will cover plants, animals, and babies.
  • Fourth-grade lessons cover the development of babies and puberty.
  • Fifth-grade lessons cover puberty and a discussion on Erin's Law with our social worker Mrs. Johnson.

Fourth and fifth grade will be split on February 6th and 11th. The boys will be with Mr. Loessl and the girls will be with Ms. Almdale.  

The links below contain a document with more information and a waiver if you wish to opt out of the Human and Growth and Development unit. The opt out forms must be signed and returned to the PE team.

3rd Grade & 4th Grade (Info & Waiver for Human Growth & Development Unit)
5th Grade (Info & Waiver for Human Growth & Development Unit)


NEW *After School Sports Reminder*

The last session for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade after school sports will be Monday, January 24th.

4th and 5th grade after school sports will begin on January 31st. 


NEW *Art Club Reminder*

The last session for 4th/5th grade art club will be Thursday, January 20th.

3rd, 4th, and 5th grade Art Club will begin on January 27th. 


NEW *Golden Paws*

This year we have introduced the exciting GOLDEN PAW.  Golden paws are earned when an entire class is seen exhibiting PRO (People Respecting Others) behavior that is respectful, responsible, or peaceful.  For example, a class may earn a Golden Paw for being respectful to a substitute the day a teacher is absent, listening and adhering to lunch room expectations, or walking quietly/peacefully in the hallways.  

This weeks Golden Paws winners include:

  • Pauwels
  • Abad

Keep up the great work, Country Meadows PROs!


NEW *PTO Update*

Please take a moment to visit the PTO Blog this week!

Spirit Wear

Ongoing spirit wear sales continue online!  Ongoing spirit wear sales continue online!  Show some school spirit with a new shirt, sweatshirt or even pants!

Yearbook Committee

The PTO is currently seeking a parent volunteer to chair the Yearbook Committee for the 2022-2023 school year.  We are seeking to fulfill this position early to allow for training time on use of the software.  Please reach out to us at [email protected] to express your interest.


REPEATING *Cold & Snowy Weather and Recess*

Please remember to send your child to school with proper weather appropriate clothing.  Weather permitting, students will go outside for recess every day.  The temperature, wind chill, and weather conditions will be monitored throughout the morning to determine if there is a need for indoor recess.  When the temperature is below zero degrees, students will be kept inside for recess.  Alternate factors are used to make decisions when the temperature is between zero to ten degrees to determine if we have indoor or outdoor recess. We do try to allow the children to go outside whenever possible, so please help them to come prepared with gloves, scarf, hat, snow pants, and snow boots.  In order to play in the snow, students must have snow pants and snow boots.  


REPEATING *Vaccination Cards for 5-11 yr olds*

You can provide vaccination verification after your child has received his/her full vaccination.  Click HERE to complete the upload.


REPEATING *Symptoms, Close Contacts, and Travel Quarantine*

If you have any questions about symptoms, close contacts, or quarantining please visit the IDPH Decision Tree posted on the District 96 COVID-19 webpage

Additionally, as winter break approaches, please note the guidelines for unvaccinated individuals and international travel posted on the District 96 COVID-19 webpage.


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.