January 8, 2021

January 8, 2021

Dear Families,

Welcome back and Happy New Year! It has been incredible to see our students this week. It’s very clear that the time during winter break helped us all to reset and begin this year refreshed! All students had an opportunity to participate in a fluency screening this week and I know the collaborative effort was fun for the adults and students. Thank you for making reading a priority over the break and please know that it shows! 

One of my favorite thoughts thus far about 2021 is “12 chapters and 365 chances”. It resonated with me to think about the year ahead in smaller chunks and to be intentional each month about different goals. I wonder what chapters our students will write in 2021? I look forward to seeing them in action. 

Principal Hanrahan

NEW *January 13th Asynchronous Half Day* 

Grades 1-5

On January 13th, students will begin the day by participating in asynchronous learning while teachers collaborate and plan with each other to determine the best way to approach future instruction. Live learning on Zoom will resume at 10:15 am for students in Grades 1-5.

This month, students will be engaging in a variety of activities about how they can make an impact on others and/or how other children have made an impact on others in celebration of the New Year and the observance of Martin Luther King Jr holiday, the National Day of Service.  

Classroom teachers will be sure to prepare students for asynchronous learning by sending students materials and previewing expectations. If your student needs assistance during the morning of 1/13, there will be a Zoom session the students can attend to seek assistance.  The link to this Zoom will be available to the students in the materials that are shared electronically. 

As a reminder, future asynchronous dates and times are as follows:

  • February 24th live Zoom concludes at 12:45 pm
  • March 17 AM live Zoom resumes at 10:15 am
  • April 21 PM live Zoom concludes at 12:45 pm

NEW *MAP STUDENT REPORTS FOR GRADES 3-8*

At approximately 3 pm today, you will receive a message from Jeanne Spiller, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning with your Winter MAP Reports for your child(ren).  Please contact Jeanne at [email protected] if you do not receive a report or if you have any questions.  

NEW *SPECIALS MATERIALS*

There is a LINK HERE to inform you what materials students will need for the week for specials classes.

NEW *MATERIALS PICK UP*

Ivy Hall families that did not have an opportunity to pick up materials, we will continue to run a daily pick up at Ivy Hall this week outside. You can pick up materials outside from 8:00 am - 3:30 pm daily. We will move the wagons inside at 3:30 pm, but you can still pick them up from 3:30 pm - 4:00 pm by ringing the office bell. If you need accommodations for pick up please contact the Ivy Hall front office.

NEW *PTO Blog*

As always, please check out our PTO blog for updates. You can visit this blog by clicking the link here.

REPEATING *Pre Register for 2021–22 Kindergarten Beginning Jan. 11*

Preregister incoming 2021–22 kindergartners beginning January 11 and no later than January 31 to receive a free T-shirt for your incoming student. SEE MORE INFO

REPEATING  *Preordering Free Meals in 2021*

***Preorder by 10 AM on Thursdays*** 

Pick up preordered meals 11 AM–2 PM on Mondays (3 breakfast/lunch meal packs) and Thursdays (2 breakfast/lunch meal packs) at either Twin Groves or Woodlawn Middle School.

The first step to preorder is for families to create an account online and add each child receiving meals to the account. Please see this webpage for details and brief instructional videos of the account set-up and pre-ordering process. 

Link: https://www.kcsd96.org/about/meals

Please direct questions to the public information coordinator [email protected]

REPEATING *Monthly Asynchronous Wednesdays*

Once per month, beginning in December, students will participate in asynchronous activities for a portion of their school day.  The dates for each of these asynchronous Wednesdays are identified below.  You will notice that each date is identified as either AM or PM.  If for example, AM is indicated, this means that students will participate in the asynchronous activities during the morning or AM portion of the school day and then transition to their regularly scheduled school day in the afternoon or PM.  Specific times are indicated below with each identified date.  Teachers will communicate with students to be sure that they understand the expectations for each of these days.  

These monthly asynchronous days were created to give students the opportunity to participate in topics that will enhance our current curricular content, and so that teachers have time to collaborate and plan with each other to determine the best way to approach future instruction.  

Asynchronous Wednesdays will take place on the following dates.

  • January 13:  AM Asynchronous 
  • February 24:  PM Asynchronous 
  • March 17: AM Asynchronous 
  • April 21:  PM Asynchronous

REPEATING *Tech Hub*

KCSD96 Family Technology Hub! The District 96 Family Technology Hub is designed to guide families through technology tools related to Enhanced Remote Learning. On this site, you can find links to the recordings and the corresponding Slides decks for the parent/family informational sessions from last week. You can also find tutorials on how to use  ZOOM, Schoology, Seesaw, Clever, Notability, and other iPad essential tools for student learning. Additionally, there is a link to email the technology support desk. Please save or bookmark this site. It will be updated with tools, resources, and tutorials through remote learning to better support your family.