Dear Families,
There has been a noticeable shift this week, and that is a sense of normalcy. Over the past couple of weeks, we've successfully brought back our in-person learners and we've demonstrated that the routines and protocols in place are strong, and we have comfortable and safe learning environments. It has been a joy seeing teachers and students together. Here are some comments from staff.
- "It has been the best feeling in the world to have kids back and excited about school."
- "It's like seeing a totally different kid in-person."
- "I love walking through the lunchroom and having the kids shout out 'Hello!' to me."
- "I love seeing the kids outside my door waving at me."
- "Students are showing great leadership in helping each other with the safety protocols."
On the flip side, students have a lot to say about being back in-person as well.
- "I have never been so happy to be at school!"
- "I made a new friend."
- "We get to go to the library."
- "We get to eat lunch and talk with our friends."
- "I like seeing my teachers and principals in-person."
As always, we will continue to focus on quality instruction and making sure all our learners are supported.
There's a lot of snow on the ground and I'm sure we've all seen the forecast for frigid temperatures. Stay warm and safe out there Prairie families!
Kindly,
Christine Pfaff
NEW *Musical Performances*
Dear District 96 Families,
As we look forward to the remainder of the school year, we wish to update you on the status of this year’s school performances. After much discussion and weighing of options and possibilities, the district has decided that formal music performances for students will not take place this school year.
Factors that contributed to this decision included concert preparation, execution, and the continuing balance involving student screen time. Individually, the music teachers will continue to pursue in-class performance possibilities and will keep eyes set on performances to return in the following school year.
NEW *Dual Language Parent Night for 21–22 Kindergarten Parents*
District 96 Director of Language and Early Literacy Kathryn Sheridan will present a live virtual program for parents interested in the Spanish/English Dual Language program opportunity for their incoming 2021–22 kindergartners.
REGISTER HERE to receive the link to attend the live virtual informational program for parents of incoming kindergartners Wed., Mar. 3, at 6:30 PM.
See the District website to LEARN MORE about the District's optional Spanish/English Dual Language program.
NEW *Obtaining Free Meals*
Preorder free meals for in-person students by 6 PM on Thursday for the week ahead. Order at onlineordering.linq.com only for your student's in-person days.
Pick up meal supplies for 5 days for remote students on Wednesdays from 11 AM– 2 PM at Twin Groves or Woodlawn. No preordering needed.
Please direct questions to the public info coordinator [email protected].
NEW *Exploration Class News*
Since November, Prairie students have been learning to create animation videos using toys, clay, legos, and/or paper. Because the students worked so hard, I have compiled a highlight video for your enjoyment. I received over 350 animation videos and wish I could show them all, however here are 30+ of them from grades 1-5. Many were quite long so I had to add just a clip from their entire movie. If you don’t see your son/daughter’s video here, please ask him/her to show it to you. Enjoy!
REPEATING *News From the Library*
I am pleased to announce the purchase of over 1,500 e-books for our students to check out directly from home onto their iPads. Most of the classrooms have been introduced to a new app, called Sora by Overdrive. Children are allowed to check out one book at a time. They can also place one book on hold at a time.
Many of our books have a limited number of checkouts before they disappear forever. Because of this, we strongly encourage children to read a sample of the book before borrowing it. This way they can decide whether the book is a good fit and it will help our books last longer. In addition, we are asking students to return books as soon as possible so others may check them out.
Finally, If you have a public library card, students can add their public library and have thousands of more books to choose from. All you need is a library card. See this video for instructions on how to add a public library to the Sora app.
REPEAT *Yearbook News... We Need Your Pictures*
Valentine's Day is just around the corner! We'd love to see pictures of your kids making Valentine's Crafts or in Valentine's Day colors! Maybe even that rare picture of siblings hugging with big smiles! Keep your cameras handy and send us pictures to be featured in the yearbook at [email protected]. In the email please include your child's first and last name and teacher.
REPEAT *ERIN’S LAW*
An Illinois law known as Erin’s Law requires schools to implement an age-appropriate sexual assault and abuse awareness/prevention curriculum for Kindergarten through Grade 12.
Kildeer Countryside CCSD 96 researched and observed best practices and programs for delivering this instruction, selecting Victor Pacini to present Be Seen & Heard ©.
The focus of this developmentally appropriate and interactive program is to teach children skills to keep them safe from danger or abuse. Concepts discussed will include distinguishing safe from unsafe touches, safety rules at home and school, saying NO, safe/unsafe secrets, and telling a trusted adult, as well as reinforcing that an adult’s touching him or her is not the child’s fault. For more information about this presentation please go to www.victorpacini.com/peace-of-mind-2.
The presentation to Prairie students will be during the school day on February 23rd.
If you prefer that your child does not attend this prevention education session, please submit your written request - or your questions - to me at [email protected].
REPEAT *Important Reminders for Parents of In-Person Learners*
Parents who have children coming in must do their daily self-certification. It significantly slows down our arrival procedures when students don't have this.
Likewise, parents whose students do not bring their saliva samples will be called to come to the school and bring their student’s sample collection vial, barcode label, and plastic baggie and assist their student in collecting the sample.
Please remember that completing the daily self-certification and providing the weekly saliva sample is a commitment you made for your child to attend in-person. If there are repeat incidences for the daily self-certification and/or saliva collection, the student may need to go back to remote learning. Please set alarm reminders for yourself. I do not want anyone to have to move back to remote learning for this reason.
The schedule for saliva sample collection for EC–Grade 2 is as follows:
Monday
Ivy Hall Grades 1-2 (Last names A-L)
Prairie Grades 1-2 (Last names A-L)
Tuesday
Country Meadows Grades 1-2 (Last names A-L)
Kildeer Grades 1-2 (Last names A-L)
Willow Grove PM Students
Wednesday
Willow Grove AM Students
Thursday
Country Meadows Grades 1-2 (Last names M-Z)
Ivy Hall Grades 1-2 (Last names M-Z)
Prairie Grades 1-2 (Last names M-Z)
Kildeer Grades 1-2 (Last names M-Z)
See MORE INFO regarding saliva samples and collecting them.
To access the required Daily Self-Certification Form, you need to log into TeacherEase each day your student will attend in person to submit self-certification.
This VIDEO gives instructions, including how to access the daily self-certification form using your cell phone (iOS or Android).
If you will be using your home computer to send daily self-certification, we suggest that you bookmark the TeacherEase website.
REPEAT *In-Person Learning Protocols*
Parents whose hybrid in-person students will be learning in person, please be sure to review the Revised IN-PERSON LEARNING PROTOCOLS for information about health and safety protocols and expectations for families and their students who will be learning in-person in our schools.