Country Meadows Principal's Message - Friday, October 25, 2024

Posted October 22, 2024

Dear Country Meadows Families,

What an incredible week it has been! I want to start by extending a huge thank you to our amazing PTO for putting together a fantastic Fall Fest. It was so much fun seeing families come together and enjoy time together after school hours. The event was a wonderful reminder of how special our school community is!

This week, we also took time to celebrate and show our appreciation for our 13 wonderful bus drivers on October 22. They truly are the backbone of our school day, being the first and last adults our students see each day. We are grateful for the important role they play in getting our students to and from school safely. Thank you to our drivers for all that they do!

Additionally, our Cubs had another great experience with Cub Communities this week. The theme for this month is BE CURIOUS! The students learned how to play new games with their buddies, fostering friendships and teamwork across grade levels. It was inspiring to see the excitement and collaboration in these activities, and we look forward to more community-building moments ahead.

Thank you for your continued support, and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Warm regards,

Aska Lempke

Principal

My favorite tree at Country Meadows! This time of year, it’s absolutely stunning and a daily reminder of how lucky I am to be part of this incredible school. Each morning, I feel so grateful to work alongside wonderful students, dedicated staff, and a supportive community!

2024-25 School Year Calendar & Hours

CM Virtual Backpack

Upcoming Dates

October 31 - Halloween Parade and Parties
November 5 - NO SCHOOL - Election Day
November 8 - Report period ends, EC-Grade 8
November 15 - Trimester 1 report cards issued
November 19 - EARLY RELEASE DAY
November 27 - NO SCHOOL District Holiday
November 28 - NO SCHOOL District Holiday
November 29 - NO SCHOOL District Holiday

NEW *Parent Pick Up*

If you were in the Parent Pick-Up line today, you may have noticed the pick-up zone extended around the curve. Thanks to the number of supervisors available, we’re able to safely assist students into cars more efficiently.

A reminder: please stay in your vehicle and place the name card in a visible spot. This will help our team quickly identify who you’re here to pick up, ensuring a smooth process for everyone. Thank you for your cooperation!

REPEAT *Human Growth and Development*

Illinois State law requires all school districts with a comprehensive health curriculum to provide instruction on specific health topics including human growth and development. These topics align to the Illinois Physical Development and Health Standards. KCSD96 recognizes that parents/guardians are the primary educators for their families on these topics.

This instruction falls under a specific list of topics that you may elect to have your child excused from, as outlined by Illinois School Code. If you choose this option, please submit a specific request, in writing, to the school principal, asking that your child be excused from the class during that specific period(s) of instruction, and we will provide an alternate assignment.

For questions about the 4th grade program, please consult the links below. Parents of 5th graders will receive more information after the start of the school year. If you still have questions, please contact the school’s principal or assistant principal.

For specific materials, please see below.

Fourth Grade

This year KCSD96 will be hosting Candor Health Education (formerly Robert Crown Center) on November 18th. Candor Health will provide the learning to 4th grade students, and 4th grade teachers will be present during this learning experience. As in the past, students will not be separated by gender during the presentation by Candor Health.

Please click on the links below for a helpful overview of the program. The letter contains tips for parents to start conversations with children at home. The video will show you everything the students will see during the presentation.

Candor Parent LETTER

School Program Overviews for Parents – Candor Health Education VIDEO

Password Premier25

REPEAT *Halloween Costumes*

Our Halloween festivities will be here before we know it. We look forward to students dressing in their Halloween costumes for our Halloween Parade and classroom parties on Thursday, Oct. 31st. Please help us with the following costume guidelines. Students will change into their costumes after their lunch period at school. Please ensure that your child can get the costume on with no or minimal help.

Costumes must be appropriate for school. If costumes are not school-appropriate the student will be asked to remove their costume.

Please no masks, blood, super scary stuff, general ickiness, or weapons
Please no cigars or cigarette items
Please no bare tummies
Please keep hair coloring and make-up simple

REPEAT *Halloween Festivities on Thursday, October 31*

On October 31st, all students will have the opportunity to participate in a parade outdoors at 1:45 pm (dependent upon the weather) as well as the classroom party. Please see the image below for families wishing to view the parade outside.

Please see some reminders below:

The parade may be viewed by families outdoors. If it rains, it will be indoors for students and staff only.
The Halloween party in the classroom is only for volunteers already identified via the PTO. At this point, you know if you are a Halloween party volunteer (if so, please no extra siblings)!

Thank you for your help with this and we look forward to the creativity from our students this day!

Once students have walked around the school, they will come back inside the building for their class party. Only Halloween party volunteers will be allowed in the building after the parade. If you are a parent volunteer for the Halloween party, you must enter through the front door and sign in as usual. If you have questions about being a party volunteer, please reach out to our PTO. As a reminder, there is no outside food allowed at Halloween parties.

If the weather does not cooperate and we are unable to have the Halloween parade outside, we will email parents before 1:00pm notifying you that the outdoor parade has been canceled.

REPEAT *IMPORTANT NOTES FOR PTO PARTY VOLUNTEERS*

Parents attending the parties may not bring additional family members, other children, etc. We need everyone to abide by this and will have to ask you to leave if you come with other attendees.

Every PTO volunteer approved to come into our school MUST have their license or ID scanned through our security system to enter. If you have never volunteered at Country Meadows then you must come in to scan your ID or license ahead of the party. You have to bring this with you or you will not be able to enter. There is typically a very long line to enter at this first party, so please anticipate this. The more people who come and complete this early, the shorter the line will be on October 31st.

**Thank YOU Bus Drivers**