Dear Kildeer Families,
I need to give a huge shout-out to our "Principals for a Day". My buddies joined Mr. Higgins and me on a very special day of visiting classrooms, engaging in a safety inspection, and making the morning announcements happen. They even donned official principal badges! We had a ton of fun and I think I see some leadership in their future!
It's amazing how quickly this week flew by. I can see the excitement growing as summer draws near. Next week brings our final 2 1/2 days of the school year. We have the 5th-grade transition on Tuesday, the return of the variety show on Wednesday, and our last day of school on Thursday!
Kildeer Cougars.....get excited for a fun last day assembly!
Typically this would be the last blog of the school year. However, I'm not quite ready to say goodbye yet. I will be posting a special edition next week with some thank yous and my thoughts about what Kildeer has meant to me.
NEW *Calendar Reminder*
This is a friendly reminder that Monday, May 30th, there is no school in observance of memorial day. On Thursday, June 2, 2022, students will attend the last day of the 2021-22 school year. All students will be dismissed at 11:45 a.m.
NEW *D96 Girls on the Run 5K*
The D96 Girls on the Run 5k was so much fun this past Saturday! It was a great way to end such a successful season as a D96 community, and fun was had by all! Click Here to view some of the photos of the event!
NEW *Refund of 8th Grade Lunch Account Balances*
Positive lunch account balances for graduating 8th graders of $5 or more will automatically be refunded at the conclusion of the school year. Parents wishing to transfer remaining balances to siblings still in D96 on the K12PaymentCenter.com should do so by Friday, June 3rd. Refund checks will be mailed by District Business Office staff on Wednesday, June 15, to the home address on record.
NEW *Summer Enrichment*
Take a look at our Summer Enrichment Page for students. Families can access summer activities and Summer Reading information using this site.
Families will find sections arranged by:
* EC/K-2 Grade Level Activities
* 3-5 Grade Level Activities
* 6-7 Grade Level Activities
Additionally, families are reminded of the Curriculum Resources website, which provides a treasure trove of fun, educationally-rich activities and resources for children and parents.
Enjoy your summer break!
Repeat *Attention 5th Graders*
Incoming 6th, 7th, and 8th graders will be completing a summer reading assignment. The 5th grade, 6th grade, and 7th grade LA teachers will also be sharing this in class, and the assignment will be posted on the district website.
D96 Middle School Summer Reading Assignment
Repeat *5th Grade Orchestra Registration*
Just a reminder to register for 5th Grade Orchestra. Even If your student is not sure, complete the Registration Form by May 31st.
Repeat * WELCOME AMANDA O'KERNS AS THE NEW ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT*
Next week we welcome Ms. Amanda O'Kerns to our front office as the new administrative assistant.
She is THRILLED to join our Kildeer family and I'm pretty sure Mrs. Wright is ready to have some company! Thank you to our community for welcoming Mrs. O'Kerns with open arms! She can be reached through email at [email protected] OR through the school phone number.
Repeat *REGISTRATION & TECHNOLOGY*
Dear Parents / Guardians:
If you have not enrolled your student(s) for the 22-23 school year and are planning on doing so, we ask that you do so as soon as possible. Accurate and up-to-date registration numbers impact our staffing plan and our ability to prepare for the 22-23 school year.
Students in Kindergarten through Grade 7 will keep their iPads over the summer. If you have enrolled your student(s) for the 22-23 school year already, your student’s iPad will continue to work over the summer.
If you have not enrolled your student(s) for the 22-23 school year and your student is not in summer school or ESY, your student’s iPad(s) will be deactivated after the last day of school and will not function until registration has been completed.
Once you have registered your student for the 22-23 school year, please email [email protected] and include your student’s enrollment information. The district technology department will verify enrollment and re-activate your student’s iPad(s).
Repeat *Response from Ravinia Health Regarding Insurance Explanation of Benefits*
Due to a lack of funding, federal funds for COVID-19 testing and services have come to an end as previously communicated. This sudden change required Ravinia Health to accommodate its patients and clients through an exclusive approach.
In order to maintain public safety, Ravinia Health took extensive measures by collaborating with multiple healthcare entities to make sure COVID-19 testing can continue at no cost to the patients or organizations. Insurance companies are federally mandated to cover the costs of COVID-19 testing for all their policyholders and Ravinia Health is willing to cover the costs for all non-insured patients. Allowing every participant to continue testing at no cost.
We at Ravinia Health thank you for your cooperation and understand the confusion insured patients, parents, or staff members may have when they look at the explanation of benefits (or EOB) provided by their insurance company. We want to ensure there is no confusion and want to use this opportunity to remove any concerns you or any participant may have.
Insured patients that utilize our services may receive an EOB with outstanding balances, however, these notices can be disregarded. Below is an explanation of what you may see on an EOB to help you better understand the program and why no action is needed.
The 2 entities that can be found for these claims are Mobvilvax LLC and/or Alcoa Validations Inc. These entities are used for billing and insurance purposes by Ravinia Health.
Insured patients are covered at no out-of-pocket cost, copay, or deductible. The insured patients will not be charged for any testing service provided by Ravinia Health, as the insurance companies are mandated to cover the costs in full. However, in certain situations, insurance companies will partially cover the costs and expect us (Ravinia Health) to seek the remaining balance from the patients. In these situations, Ravinia Health will not pursue any of its patients for any sort of payment.
Again, the charges on a patient’s EOB by Alcoa Validations or Mobvilvax LLC are due to Ravinia Health’s testing services but should be covered by the insurance company. If not, they may be invoiced to the patient showing an outstanding balance. We want to assure you that Ravinia Health will not expect the patient to make any sort of payment and will also not be put to collections. The patients can disregard these notices.
Repeat *Ticks*
As we enter into warmer weather and springtime, there has been a rise in tick sightings. Please take the time to review this information from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The link provides you with reminders on how to prevent ticks, check for ticks, and remove ticks should you find one.
Suggestions listed on how to prevent ticks specifically from IDPH include:
- Wear light-colored clothing (long sleeve shirts and long pants) so you can easily see ticks
- Use bug repellent that contains 20% or more DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 on exposed skin
- Walk in the center of trails
- Treat clothing with products containing permethrin (Do not apply permethrin to skin)
Repeat *Golden Paws at Kildeer*
Week 1 Winner: 1st Grade
Week 2 Winner: 5th Grade
Week 3 Winner: 2nd Grade!
Week 4 Winner: 4th Grade!
Week 5 Winner: 3rd Grade!
Next up......earning 1500 golden paws as a school to meet our goal for a special treat!
Golden paws are awarded to a class when they are showing Respect, Responsibility, or Kindness. Additionally, each grade level will incorporate activities and lessons over the next few weeks that focus on these key concepts. Mr. Higgins and I look forward to seeing who had the most paws for an extra recess with us! This challenge will go through the end of May and we can't wait to see where we go next!
We encourage you to ask your child what their class has done to earn Golden Paws. You can work towards showing Respect, Responsibility, and Kindness at home as well, challenge your child to come up with one way they could show each of these values at home next week!
Here are some ideas:
Kindness: Pick up litter around your neighborhood, leave a kind note for a neighbor, give a family member a compliment, or call a relative to tell them you love them
Responsibility: work on learning how to do a new chore around the house, help pack their own lunch, try to do homework without parent reminders
Respect: Be extra careful to use please and thank you, respect yourself by trying a new healthy food or outdoor activity, respect your things by keeping your room clean or making sure to put away toys you take out.
Repeat *Curriculum Home Connections*
New Resource Page Designed, with Parents in Mind
In response to some parents' questions about how to best support their children with academic work at home, the district’s Instructional Coaches designed a one-stop resource that equips these families in doing just that.
The resource is a new District web page ~ the “Home to School Connections'' ~ designed for parents and filled with invaluable links to internal and external Technology and Curriculum Resources. Under the Technology Resources heading, for instance, parents will find the usual District resources used for assistance with iPads, frequently used apps, TeacherEase, SeeSaw and Schoology.
The page also features Curriculum Resources, which presents a wealth of resources ~ sorted by grade/grade levels ~ for help with literacy, math, and the other subject areas, and links to the District’s pacing guides (which indicate what a child is expected to know at each grade level).
Families will find resources to practice high-frequency words, strengthen their mastery of math-word problems or help them write more descriptively. There is also information on supporting a multilingual student at home and 10 of the best questions to ask your student to elicit more than a ‘yes,’ ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ response about what they’re learning or experiencing at school.
The resource was debuted at Thursday night’s Thought Exchange Partnership (TEP) meeting. Check it out for yourself:
Repeat *Summer 2022 iPad Information*
All Buildings:
- Students in grades K-7 will keep their iPad and all peripherals over the summer unless they are not returning to D96 for the 22-23 school year.
- Any non-returning students will need to leave their iPad (inside of the case), charging cable, charging brick, and Logitech Crayon, with the building Tech Aide for collection.
- Families who exit out of D96 after the last day of school will need to return all of their technology to the District Office over the summer. Any device not returned will be placed in lost mode and will not function.
- Over the summer, some apps and services will continue to work at the student’s 21-22 grade level. Apps and websites like Dreambox, Lexia, Typing Agent, (etc) will be available to use over the summer but are not guaranteed to work at all times. The technology department will only be supporting the use of these apps in ESY or Summer School.
- As we get closer to August, we will roll-up student data and new services. Apps will also become available to them relative to their 22-23 grade level.
Willow Grove Specific:
- EC iPads will be collected at the end of the year. We ask that devices and peripherals (charging cable, charging brick, and case) that are kept at home be returned to Willow Grove and made available for collection no later than Wednesday, May 25th. Note that EC students do NOT receive Logitech Crayons.
- Current Kindergarten students will keep their iPads over the summer. New grade-level content and services will be made available on their iPads sometime in August.
- Any non-returning students will need to leave their iPad (inside of the case), charging cable, charging brick, and Logitech Crayon, with the building Tech Aide for collection.
Middle School Specific:
- 8th Grade iPad collection will happen on Wednesday, May 25th. Students will be expected to turn in their iPad (inside of the case), charging cable, charging brick, and Logitech Crayon.
- Any non-returning students in grades 6 and 7 will need to leave their iPad (inside of the case), charging cable, charging brick, and Logitech Crayon, with the building Tech Aide for collection.
Repeat *End of the Year Dates of Interest*
There is a LOT that happens in the last 8 weeks of school. Here are a few things you may want to know about! This does not include everything, yet puts some important dates on your radar!
- May 31: 5th grade transition day- 5th graders will take a field trip to Woodlawn Middle School in the morning, followed by fun afternoon of activities planned by the PTO!
- June 1: 5th Grade Variety Show- we had to reschedule this a couple of times this year. More information coming about this Kildeer tradition put on by the PTO!
- June 2: Last Day of School HALF DAY
Repeat *MAY 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.
*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***
Click HERE to see the ABC Countdown for the remainder of the school year!
*** PTO News ***
Check out the blog!
Families, I kicked off this year by sharing my own personal story with my daughter stepping foot for the first time in her elementary school after the COVID year. Remember that video from curriculum night? Parent feedback is that "there wasn't a dry eye in the house."
My kid got stuck and wouldn't go in the doors. She got stuck until that incredible teacher swooped in, held her hand, and told her it would be a great day.
Well, we've come a long way since that day in August. Over the school year, I've seen my daughter grow more confident, learn a love of reading, and develop an adoration for school. I can't help but think about the incredible work our educators do for our children on a daily basis.
As we drove to school this morning to see her walk into school one last time as a 1st grader, I asked her how she was feeling?
Her response: "Mommy, I'm feeling shocked and scared. I also feel like a new world awaits me for next year. Isn't that how you feel mom? You know, about leaving Kildeer?"
That one really got me. What wise words from a 6-year-old.
This weekend, I hope that you take some time to enjoy each other and gear up for a great last week of school!
To my Noly bear, this mama is proud of YOU!
Fondly,
Mrs. Vail Kieser
Principal