Kildeer Principal's Message- February 4th

100 days of school

Dear Kildeer Families,

100 days of the school year are officially in the books! Our first graders arrived this week dressing for the occasion and made our hearts smile. I'm not sure about you but all of a sudden I'm feeling like this school year going by very quickly. 

Last night we had Kindergarten registration in the Kieser household. Remember when Colton was born my first year of being the principal at Kildeer? Well, that boy is moving on up and it's kind of breaking my heart. As I dropped him off at preschool this week I felt my heart aching a little for how quickly the time goes. Can you relate? Does anyone have any cures for time to slow down?


NEW *Valentine’s Day Parties*

Valentine's Day parties are just around the corner. If you choose to include an item with your child's Valentines, please note that only non-food items are permissible. Candy, snacks, or any sort of food item will be sent back home with your child on Valentine's day if sent to school. Non-food items are permitted, and there are many pre-packaged Valentines that can be purchased that include a trinket (i.e., pencil, erasers, bookmark, etc.). If you have any questions about what can be included in Valentine's, please contact your child's classroom teacher.


Repeat *Parent Drop-off & Pick-Up*

I wanted to take a moment and remind Kildeer families about the procedures in place for a safe and efficient parent drop-off and pick-up process in the mornings and afternoons.

If you are dropping off your student in the morning, you may ONLY do this through the rolling drop-off line. (blue arrows). THANK YOU FOR PULLING UP ALL THE WAY TO THE 'STOP HERE' SIGN TO ENSURE OLD MCHENRY DOES NOT BACK UP. 

If you are parking to drop off your student, you must walk them along the sidewalk or escort them across the crosswalk. (red circles)

Please remember our staff has left the front row of parking alongside the building with access to the sidewalk for student safety and for your convenience. We would highly encourage as many families as possible to use the rolling drop-off line as this is the safest and most efficient option. 

As an additional reminder, thank you for not parking in the wheelchair-accessible parking spots unless you have a need. We are counting on our community to come together and help this morning process to be as safe and efficient as possible for all students.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our office. 


Repeat *Masking Reminder-PLEASE READ*

As a reminder, all individuals present on school grounds must continue to wear a face-covering consistent with Board of Education policy 4:182 until further notice.  Any individual's refusal to wear a face-covering shall constitute a violation of the District's applicable rules of conduct and may subject the individual to disciplinary action or prevent the individual from entering or remaining on school district property.  We are hopeful that, in the not too distant future, conditions will be conducive to reducing our mitigation measures. Thank you for your continued cooperation as we begin to see a decline in our positive cases!


Repeat *Spring Parent/Educator Conferences*

Spring Parent/Educator Conferences are around the corner!  The conferences will take place on Monday, March 14th from 5 PM to 8:30 PM and Tuesday, March 15th from 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM.  

Spring conferences will be in a collaborative format with students leading the conferences. Collaborative conferences are focused on reflection and growth. Students must be present at the conferences. These conferences will be 15 minutes in length. 

We will continue using Meet the Teacher as an electronic sign-up for conferences. A signup link will be shared by the district with parents via email on Thursday, February 24th at 6:00 PM. The default option for conferences will be virtual, but parents and guardians will be able to schedule an in-person conference if they wish. Along with the classroom teacher, specials teachers and any related service providers that work with your child will also be available.


Repeat *Technology Support*

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. Thank you!!


Repeat *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


Repeat *I AM ME...WE ARE KILDEER family celebration-Mark your calendars*

Artwork by Jessica Taylor. Please enjoy this slideshow of our other participants! 

NEW DATE for the family celebration at Kildeer:

Thursday, March 3rd, 2022 6:00-7:30

An RSVP will follow soon! 


Repeat *Zoom Resource & Tech Trouble*

This information will be repeated weekly for families to access as needed. It is relevant for children who are approved for remote learning due to Covid-related quarantine or in the event of a remote severe weather day for all children.

ZOOM Resource - Remote Learning & Possible Emergency Weather Day

Please review this  Zoom Tutorial Video Link with your child to prepare for remote learning. This is for students who have been approved for remote learning or in the event of an emergency weather day for all children.

Tech Trouble

If you are experiencing technical trouble on the iPad, here are a few tips that can help resolve the error you are receiving.

The first step is to completely remove Zoom through the iPad settings.  Deleting Zoom from the Home Screen is NOT thorough enough to resolve this issue.

  • Go to Settings
  • Scroll down to General
  • Go to the right column and Select iPad Storage
  • Scroll down to Zoom
  • Delete the Zoom App
  • Open the Self Service App and reinstall Zoom

If the issue persists after this we would recommend following the next few steps.

Reset Network Settings:

  • Go to Settings
  • General
  • Go to the right column and scroll down to Reset
  • Reset network settings:  The device will restart and you will have to reconnect to your home wi-fi afterward

Next:

  • Go to settings
  • Scroll down to Safari
  • Scroll down to Clear History and Website Data

If you're still seeing that error after all of these steps then you may need to troubleshoot your network next. Unplugging your modem and router from power for 60 seconds and plugging it back in can sometimes be enough.

Please email [email protected] for further tech issues or additional support. Please also let us know at the school by calling our office, so we can inform your child's teacher. Call our office at any time with any questions. We completely understand any difficulties you are having and appreciate your patience as we troubleshoot your issue.

As a reminder, remote learning via Zoom will begin on the second full day of absence and is only available for students who meet one of the following requirements.

  • Student is asymptomatic (no symptoms) after receiving a positive Covid test result
  • Student is unvaccinated, asymptomatic, and under mandatory quarantine after being identified as a close contact to a confirmed positive Covid case.
  • Student is unvaccinated, has traveled internationally and is under mandatory quarantine upon returning home.

Repeat *Cold & Snowy Weather and Recess* 

Please remember to send your child to school daily with proper outerwear.  Weather permitting students go outside for recess every day.  In winter the temperature, wind chill, and weather conditions will be monitored throughout the morning.  The weather website and playground will be checked to determine if conditions are appropriate for outdoor recess.  When the temperature or wind chill is below zero degrees, students will be kept inside for recess.  We weigh options when the temperature or wind chill 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.  


NEW *FEBRUARY Vernon Area Public Library Book Talks*

For more book talk recommendations, please visit our Book Talks Help Guide at https://guides.vapld.info/booktalks. For graphic novel suggestions, please visit our J Graphic Novel Help Guide at https://guides.vapld.info/graphic novels or our Junior High Graphic Novel Help Guide at https://guides.vapld.info/jh graphic novels. 


Repeat *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. 


*Tech Hub*

KCSD96 Family Technology Hub! The District 96 Family Technology Hub is designed to guide families through technology tools. 

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


*** Student Council News***

Dear Kildeer Cougars and families

Thank you for participating in crazy hair day! I saw a boy wearing a flower pot hat on his head and a girl with a bunch of pipe cleaners in her hair. That was a really crazy hair day!

Thanks for participating in this spectacular day!

Alex from Student Council


***  PTO News ***

  • Night Out - Shopping Event (February) - We are planning a night where a portion of the proceeds of all purchases made that night will go to the Kildeer PTO. We thank you for all your support
  • Valentines Day Parties  (February 14th) - Our volunteers will soon be planning our last party of the year for our students. We can't wait!
  • 5th Grade Variety Show (TBA) - This will be postponed until later in the spring! More information coming soon.

Check out the blog


Our team of staff members came together this week to pick back up with our plans for I AM ME...WE ARE KILDEER on Thursday, March 3rd. In the next couple of weeks, I will put an RSVP back in the blog to get an approximate number of attendees.

This year we are not asking families to prepare anything ahead of time. There will not be food to taste or stage performances to view. Rather, we are just asking that you come and take the time to learn from and about each other. Your family will have the opportunity to participate in 5 different rotations, matching the 5 themes of our book, "The World Needs More Purple People."

 

Want a sneak peek?

  • You ask really great questions: gameshow trivia about our very own Kildeer Cougars!
  • You laugh a lot: let's enjoy each other while interviewing and learning more about our families
  • You use your voice: join us in the learning center to read books as a family and share what you learned about something new
  • You are a hard worker: have your family work hard together to create a little keepsake to remember the night!
  • You are totally you: participate in a scavenger hunt around the building while looking at lockers and learning about our Kildeer Cougars!

Our committee has worked REALLY hard to make this a meaningful night and we cannot wait to share it together!

Have a wonderful weekend ahead!

Fondly,

Mrs. Vail Kieser

Principal