Kildeer Principal's Message- April 16th

bus

Dear Kildeer Families,

Raise your hand if you have a job that you love! ME! ME! ME! We had an incredible week back with our students that chose to return to full-time in-person learning. 

The halls were full of chatter, the roomies and zoomies were engaged in learning, and it was only "third time is the charm" to get parent pick-up in better shape. We appreciate the feedback and support this week as we navigated bringing more students back. 

Our staff has worked really hard and will continue to do so to ensure our students are safe, learning, and having a positive experience these last weeks of school.


NEW *Parent Drop-Off and Pick-UP Route*

Thank you for following our new route in the parking lot. This seemed to help quite a bit this week.

Also please note, if you are dropping your child off in the morning and it's after 8:25, you will need to park your car and walk your child into the foyer to sign them in. Thank you!


NEW *April 30th Half-Day Attendance*

All students will have a half-day of morning asynchronous work and NO students will attend in-person on this day.  The afternoon is a day off for students as teachers will be involved in professional development.


NEW *Assessment Information*

The district has finalized the dates for the MAP and IAR assessments for all students. If you have elected to have your remote learner attend in-person for these assessments, more information about attending on assessment days will be sent to your email and home mailing address prior to the assessment date. 

Families of remote learners who wish to change their assessment survey answers should contact Jeanne Spiller, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, at [email protected].

MAP: Dates for In-Person and Remote Students

  • Monday 5/3: Grades 5 and 6
  • Tuesday 5/4: Grades 5 and 6
  • Wednesday 5/5: Kindergarten and Grades 2, 3, and 4
  • Thursday 5/6: Kindergarten and Grades 2, 3, and 4
  • Friday 5/7: Grades 1, 7, and 8
  • Monday 5/10: Grades 1, 7, and 8

In-person students will have the same arrival and dismissal times as they normally would and complete the assessment as a part of the typical school day.

Remote students coming to test in-person will follow the schedule below and rejoin their classes via Zoom once they return home (except for kindergarten).

 

Kindergarten AM

Arrival: 8:45

Dismissal: 10:30

 

Kindergarten PM

Arrival: 12:45

Dismissal: 2:30

 

Elementary

Arrival: 8:45

Dismissal: 11:35

 

Middle School

Arrival: 8:00

Dismissal: 10:45 

 

*Remote students coming to take MAP in-person who have extended time will be contacted by building staff to communicate a dismissal time.

**Remote students coming to take the MAP in-person will also take the FastBridge assessments. FastBridge is a reading fluency assessment, which is typically administered in the same window as MAP.

 

IAR: Dates for In-Person and Remote Students

  • Monday 5/24: Grades 3-8
  • Tuesday 5/25: Grades 3-8
  • Wednesday 5/26: Grades 3-8

In-person students will have the same arrival and dismissal times as they normally would and will complete the assessment as a part of the typical school day.

Remote students coming to test in-person will follow the schedule below and rejoin their classes via Zoom once they return home. The dismissal time is different on Wednesday because the third English Language Arts test is shorter.

 

Grades 3-5

Monday 5/24 and Tuesday 5/25

Arrival: 8:45

Dismissal: 11:55

Wednesday 5/26

Arrival: 8:45

Dismissal: 11:00

 

Middle School

Monday 5/24 and Tuesday 5/25

Arrival: 8:00

Dismissal: 11:15

Wednesday 5/26

Arrival: 8:00

Dismissal: 10:15

 

*Remote students coming to take IAR in-person who have extended time will be contacted by building staff to communicate a dismissal time.

 

ACCESS: Dates for In-Person and Remote Students

In-person students who take ACCESS will do so during the course of their school day.

Remote students who are coming in to take ACCESS will be contacted by school personnel to schedule the test.  Students in kindergarten will have individual appointments as the test is administered one to one.  Students in grade 1-8 will participate in the assessment on Thursday, May 13th and/or Friday, May 14th.


NEW *Collection of Literacy Materials*

Over the course of the year, we have been sending home materials with students.  Starting April 19th, we are going to begin collecting these materials. 

For Students Attending In-Person

Please see the attached list of materials for your child(ren) by grade level. Gather these materials and send them back with your student to give to their teacher. 

Materials lists

For Students Learning Remotely 

Gather the materials from the checklist below, if you have not already done so. You may drop them off at the front office anytime between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. 

Materials that are still being used are noted in the checklist, and those can stay at home for now.

Materials lists

If you have any questions, please reach out to your student’s teacher. 


NEW *STUFF THE SQUAD Food Pantry Drive*

The Buffalo Grove Police Department invites KCSD96 families to donate food and essentials to support food pantries serving our local residents. Collection via centrally located boxes in schools will be underway at all KCSD96 schools in the weeks ahead. The last day to donate to “Stuff the Squad” is May 5. SEE REQUESTED ITEMS.


NEW *Make Lunch Plans*

Parents, please help.  With many more students learning in person in KCSD96 schools, it's essential that parents place their students' free meal preorders by 6 PM on Thursday of the week before. Find preordering instructions HERE. Questions? Contact [email protected].


ALSO, please remind your students of the meal choices you preordered, so the meals they request at lunchtime are the meal options that you preordered for them. Thank you!


*Repeat* Attendance Procedures for In-Person Students 

With the change to five days of in-person learning for all students beginning April 12th, the expectation is that students will attend in-person unless the student is under quarantine/isolation or is home ill. If for some reason your child needs to attend school remotely instead of in-person on a given day, attendance procedures are changing to state that the child’s parent/guardian will need to contact the school office prior to the start of the school day. 


Repeat *UPDATED Population Screening Schedule CHANGE*

Grades 1-2 will have a new drop-off schedule for their population screening. Grades 3-5 will maintain their current schedule. 

  • Kildeer- Wednesday- drop-off for grade 1-2
  • 3rd-5th graders will continue to collect the samples at school

Repeat* Keeping Students (and siblings) Home Due to Symptoms 

Per the IDPH COVID-19 School Exclusion Guidance, if any household member is showing any one of the symptoms listed below, ALL SIBLINGS must stay home from school. Please let the school office know when calling for attendance if your child is staying home due to illness, even if the student is participating remotely. 

The symptoms in which a student must stay home due to COVID-19 protocols are: fever (100.4°F or higher), new onset of moderate to severe headache, shortness of breath, new cough, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, new loss of sense of taste or smell, fatigue from unknown cause, muscle or body aches from unknown cause.


*Repeat* Calendar Reminders

Revised March–June 2021 Calendar

Please refer to this REVISED March–June 2021 Calendar (1-page), reflecting in-person learning schedule changes announced in Superintendent Julie Schmidt's Mar. 17 message.


Repeat *Parent Input for 2021-2022 Class Placement Survey*

Creating Balanced Class Lists - Parent Input for Class Placement

Creating balanced class lists that meet the needs of all students is a tremendously difficult job that takes many hours of thoughtful dialogue between classroom teachers, administrators, and specialists. We at Kildeer School take this process very seriously. The process for class list creation is as follows:

-Teachers think about the social and academic needs of each of their current students while recording pertinent information to assist in the decision-making process.

-Grade level teachers, the principal, specials area teachers, and specialists meet together to form class lists that are balanced in terms of academic, social, and emotional needs as well as considering friendships. This is no easy task and often takes several meetings. This team of educators considers each child’s personality, academic needs, friendship patterns, etc. as they make a match for each individual child.

-This team of educators creates a draft set of class lists taking into consideration parent input.  

-Class lists are then revised in August with summer changes for students who move in or out of the district.

-Class rosters are never final until they are released to families in August.

This process happens at grades 2-5. Willow Grove creates the class lists for our incoming 1st graders.  Our 5th-grade team provides data to Woodlawn related to placement decisions at the middle school level.

We strongly believe that this detailed and collaborative process creates learning environments that benefit all students. It is a delicate balancing act that takes much consideration and thought by professionals who know and care about your children. Our goal is to create balanced class lists that promote the success of each child. Please know that your child is placed in a classroom for very specific reasons. The process benefits all students.  Because of the input and thought given by teachers, specialists, parents, and the principal, we are very reluctant to make changes once this process occurs, as removing or moving one child can disrupt the balance of an entire class, impacting all students.

I welcome any insight you wish to share about your child’s strengths, needs, and learning style. I will take into consideration pertinent information received on or before FRIDAY, APRIL 30th. Please remember, while we welcome your input, specific teacher requests will not be honored.

If you'd like to share your input, please take the following survey: Kildeer Class Placement Survey for 21-22.  


Repeat *VAPL Book Talks* 

Take some time in APRIL to see some new recommendations by the Vernon Area Public Library. You won't want to miss this!

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 


*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 ***

  • The scholastic virtual book fair starts TODAY! Check out the blog for more information!

Check out the blog! CLICK HERE!


As you know, I have a Kindergartener and this is the first year I'm wearing my "principal" hat and "parent" hat of an elementary student at the same time. It's been a great experience and I have such appreciation for educators AND all the parents out there. This is not an easy job.

Riddle me this....when you finally sign your children up for after-school events or sports, how on earth do you juggle? Kudos to all the parents out there constantly balancing and coordinating. I for one, am still trying to get the hang of this.

Oh, and here is a helpful tip: The shin guards for soccer go under the socks. 

Enjoy the weekend ahead! 

 

Fondly,

Mrs. Vail Kieser


Principal