Dear Kildeer Families,

I continue to feel very grateful for this community. During such a difficult time, so many have reached out about how we can help those in need. The countless food donations, toys for tots gifts, and other thoughtful gestures say so much about how willing our Kildeer community is to give back.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your kindness and compassion. If you've been following the morning announcements, we've started a segment called "cross-pollination corner" and this next week's message is directly related! 

*NEW* December Book Talk Videos from VAPL

Looking to get your child excited about reading over winter break? Check out these amazing book talks from the staff at Vernon Area Public Library! 

1st grade: 1st-grade favorites

2nd grade: 2nd-grade favorites

3rd grade: 3rd-grade favorites

4th and 5th grade: 4th and 5th-grade favorites

For more book talk recommendations, please visit our Book Talk Help Guide at https://guides.vapld.info/booktalks 

NEW *Guess Who?*

In order to get our students, staff, and community excited about our I AM ME...WE ARE KILDEER virtual family celebration we are including a new addition in our weekly blog. 

Take a moment this weekend to see if you can guess which staff member identifies with the following information. The big reveal will happen weekly in the morning announcements!

Guess Who?

For my college summer job, I drove dump trucks, a tractor, laid asphalt and read water meters.

WHO AM I? (Watch the morning announcements next week to find out!)

Now that you are curious, won't you sign-up for our event below?!

We are excited to announce this year’s I AM ME...WE ARE KILDEER virtual family celebration on the evening of Thursday, January 14, 2021! The purpose of this evening is to learn from and about our Kildeer families. 

Would your family like to....

• Sign up to host a live virtual booth/performance via zoom?
• Submit a short video performance to play on our virtual stage?
• Submit a short video teaching others about a family tradition (i.e. family travels, a game, a dance, a recipe, etc.)
• Just RSVP that your family will attend?

Please CLICK HERE. The link has a lot more information for how YOUR FAMILY can get involved for our third annual I AM ME...WE ARE KILDEER family celebration on Thursday, January 14th  from 6:00-8:00 p.m. 

*LAST CALL TO SIGN-UP to attend by Monday, December 14 at 3:00 p.m.*  

Video submissions will be due at a later time.

NEW *Calendar Reminders*

• Tuesday, 12/15, is an Early Release.  Elementary students will end their school day an hour early at 2:00 pm.
• Buddy Classrooms are on Wednesday, 12/16 at 8:45 a.m.
• Asynchronous learning will take place on Wednesday 12/16 starting at 12:45.  Please see upcoming communication from your child’s classroom teacher for the Digital Citizenship assignment that will be worked on during this time. Any additional services are canceled for the afternoon in order for students to have time for the asynchronous opportunities.  Please note that students will not be penalized for not completing or submitting this work.

NEW *Winter Party 2020*

Winter parties will occur in classrooms on Friday, December 18th.  The themes will be designated to celebrate the Winter season.  If you prefer that your child not participate in this activity, please email the classroom teacher.

Repeat *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.

• December 16:  PM Asynchronous
• January 13:  AM Asynchronous 
• February 24:  PM Asynchronous 
• March 17: AM Asynchronous 
• April 21:  PM Asynchronous

SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE FIRST ASYNCHRONOUS WEDNESDAY:  DECEMBER 16th

The asynchronous portion of the day will take place in the afternoon or PM portion of the school day for all.  The asynchronous focus for this day is digital citizenship.  Students will be engaging in a variety of Digital Citizenship See specifics below for each grade. 

1st-5th Grade:  Students will engage in instruction as they typically would until 12:45pm.  At 12:45pm, the asynchronous portion of the day will begin and continue through the end of the school day.  Students in grades 1-2 will access the asynchronous work in SeeSaw and students in grades 3-5 will access the asynchronous work in Schoology.  Teachers will communicate with students to be sure that they understand the expectations and communicate where they should access the asynchronous work for each of these days.  While we prefer that the asynchronous work is completed during this designated time, timing can be adjusted based on what works best for your family as long as the work is completed before the next school day begins.

Repeat *REPORT CARDS*

You should have been able to access your child’s Trimester 1 report card beginning at 3pm yesterday, and if you have not yet done so, please CLICK HERE for instructions on how to access your child’s T1 report card.  

Repeat *TOYS FOR TOTS ANNUAL TOY DRIVE*

Thank you to all of the families that donated toys for children in need. The drive ended today! 

Repeat *Free Meals for Pick-Up for ALL D96 Students*

D96 is pleased to offer free meals for pick-up for ALL students (age 18 and younger), thanks to the Summer Food Service Program from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  

All District 96 families were sent an email on Mon., Nov. 16 (Subject Line: Fr Sch Dist 96: Free Meal Preordering and Pickup) with information about preordering free breakfast and lunch meals for their students.

Parents/guardians of all District 96 families may preorder and pick up meals at Twin Groves or Woodlawn Middle Schools for their children through age 18* on designated weekdays from 11 AM–2 PM. 

The first step 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 preordering process. 

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

Repeat *Gifts for Staff*

It's that time of year when families are thinking about gifts for staff.  Staff may or may not be in the building and therefore may have limited opportunities to retrieve anything left for them at the school building. If you make the decision to provide a gift, it is recommended that you consider a virtual gift that can be delivered to their email. Thank you for your understanding!

Repeat *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.

Repeat *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.

Please email [email protected] with any tech-related support needed.

***  PTO News ***

NEW BLOG! CLICK HERE!

• PTO GIFT ---LIGHT UP STEM CARD KITS ARE HERE!

LIGHT UP your holiday season with a Light-up Card Making Stem Kit purchased by the PTO for all Kildeer students. They can explore the STEM of circuits and create a unique greeting card for a loved one. Kits are available for pickup at Kildeer School inside the main entrance from 8am-3pm (M-F) while school is in session. Please note: Only 1 per student. 

• TEACHER HOLIDAY GIFTS

Together Let's Show Our Teachers How Much We Care! This year in Lieu of classroom collections, we are asking for general donations for teachers' holiday gifts. Funds raised will be used to purchase Holiday gifts for ALL Kildeer Teachers. If you would like to recognize an individual teacher, we ask that you coordinate that on your own. Please go to Membership Toolkit to donate by December 16th: https://kildeercountrysidepto.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/132971

• COMING SOON!

Look out for our PTO BLOG starting next week with more fun from the PTO and what we are planning for our students. Trivia Nights in Place of our Grade Movie Nights...Cookie Kits...and more!

I think we can all agree this year has been challenging. Yet, I'm finding myself grateful for more of the small moments together as a family.

This past week was my birthday and Mr. Kieser let the kids pick out birthday gifts. He asked them each individually what they wanted to get me, then he typed it into amazon, and finally allowed them to select the gift. I feel the need to share some photo evidence. Want to see? 

Drum roll, please......

I am the proud owner of this fabulous cat statue.

My 3 1/2-year-old has no idea just how much joy this statue brought to my week. To be clear, I'm more of a dog person (hence the new puppy. She's doing GREAT by the way...) However, I love that he had this idea in his head and the look of pure joy on his face when he gave it to me. This small moment melted my heart and whenever I look at my cat statue, I smile. 

I wonder what the small moments have been in your lives recently to make you smile? What is your "cat statue" that makes you smile? 

Speaking of smiles, let's end 2020 on a positive note and celebrate with a spirit week! We look forward to seeing all of the participation!

Fondly,

Mrs. Vail Kieser

Principal