Woodlawn! Let’s gooooooo! Do me a favor, call your middle school student into the room and tell them, “I have just received the first Principal Blog of the school year from Mr. Grana!” Follow that up with, “School starts in 11 days!”. I am confident that they are going to be thrilled with this information. Woodlawn is almost ready to begin the 18-19 school year. The district has had a painting crew here most of the summer, giving our hallways and entire cafeteria a fresh coat of paint. The floors are waxed and carpets have been cleaned, waiting for the rush of energy to enter our building. Personally, I like it when the parents come back as well. They have this look on their face of joy and relief, much like a marathon runner who sees the finish line. Here are a few items that will get us ready for the start of the school year.
6th Grade Parents
Remember, we must have your physical and immunization forms before we mail out class assignments for the 2018-19 school year. Get them in a.s.a.p. If you haven’t already done so!! Our amazing Nurse Kaufmann will be in the building on Monday, August 6th if you would like to drop off the forms. Unfortunately, if you haven't turned in your physical, you will not be receiving your schedule.
Locker Set Up Day
Tuesday, August 14th from 4-7p.m. the PTO, Mrs. Kupsco, Mrs. Garlick (our new A.P.) and yours truly will be here to welcome our Woodlawn students back and let them set up lockers and walk their schedule. Parents, you can order your special lunch, dessert day and other items through membership toolkit. The Membership Toolkit portal allows you to access ALL forms for the Woodlawn PTO including volunteer sign-up, special lunch, dessert day, gym clothes, locker shelving, spirit wear and much more! Do it NOW! Make sure you get signed up in advance and save time at Locker Set Up Day! This is a great day to come back and visit with the entire Woodlawn community!
Visit the PTO BLOG!!
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Click on the PTO BLOG Link
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Under Quick Links - click on Membership Toolkit.
It cannot be any easier!
An Invitation to New Families to Our District 96 Community
Has your family recently moved to the United States or are you and your student(s) new to this area?
On Wednesday, Aug. 8 at 7 p.m., parents of registered students in Kindergarten–Grade 8 are invited to Twin Groves Middle School, 2600 N. Buffalo Grove Rd., Buffalo Grove, for a program to welcome you to our community and introduce you to our District 96 culture.
Learn about and understand our home-school connection, classroom dynamics, patterns of communication to expect from our teachers and administrators, and more. Ask questions and help us understand how we can best support you in acclimating to the culture of a new school district, neighborhood, and community.
While all interested parents are welcome, please note that the focus of this evening is not specifically curricular and general procedural information, which will be shared with all District 96 parents on their students’ designated grade-level Curriculum Nights. Rather, this is an informational opportunity for parents who–like their students–are experiencing our social customs and practices for teaching and learning for the first time.
Questions? Need an interpreter? Please contact Director of Language and Early Literacy, Katie Sheridan at [email protected]
Schedules
Will be live this coming Thursday, August 9th at 3p.m. You will receive an e-mail with all of the information on how to access the schedule for your child. All you will have to do is log in to School Insight, simple, simple. I am sure that your child will be desperate to see who there teachers are going be and where there friends have classes. As a FYI, our schedule is limited because of our numbers of students and class availability. I do not take special requests for scheduling. If you have not completed the registration process, you will not be receiving your student's schedule, locker information, or bus information.
Curriculum Nights
Come and meet all of the teachers your child will have this year. 6th grade will be Monday, August 27th while 7th & 8th grade will be on Tuesday, August 28th. Each night begins in the gym at 7p.m., followed by a walk of your child’s schedule.
Picture Day
Picture Day is August 22nd during our P.E. classes.
First Day of School - Early Release
Our first day of school is Wednesday, August 15th. School ends at 1:30p.m. Thursday is a full day of school.
Finally, Woodlawn is an amazing place for your child to learn. Over the years, we have earned two Blue Ribbon Awards (2009, 2016), an Apple Distinguished School Award (2015) and most recently the DuFour Award (2018) for having the highest functioning Professional Learning Community in the world! We have the academic, technology and teacher culture/procedure covered. This year, I want Woodlawn to really dig into the culture of students and their Social Emotional needs. Are we doing all we can for students AND are students doing all that they can for each other? I will keep you informed on how this is going throughout the year. Achieving the high levels of recognition, there is a price. The price is often people moving into new leadership roles both in and out of the district. We lost a number of staff members this year for a variety of reasons. Here is the good news... I am absolutely thrilled with the new people I have found to bring into our building. Their personalities, care for the middle school student and work ethic fit right in with what we believe in at Woodlawn. I am so proud that this staff will be working with your child. If future blogs, we will get into our work and how we meet the needs of our middle school children. I will also be introducing you in more detail to our new staff members. For now, here is a list of those who will be in new positions or have joined our “Wolf Pack”:
Instructional Aides:
Allison Robinson & Beth Doyle.
Teachers:
Tracy Cvitkovich - Special Education
Leah Kartsimas - 8th Grade Math/Social Studies
Nicole McRee - Science Coach
Andrew Nordstrom - Special Education
Lisa Repp - 7th Grade Science
Ryan Thut - 6th Grade Science
Sarah Warkenthien - 8th Grade Social Studies/Science
I am looking forward to seeing our entire Woodlawn community!