December is here and we are already ⅓ of the way done with our school days in the month! I am proud of the work the students and staff are doing daily as I see the positive relationships between all of our building participants. We had some teacher visitors here from one of the far south suburbs and they were blown away by how we function as a school and district.
Early Release
Remember that this Tuesday is early release. All Woodlawn students will be on the bus at 1:30p.m. Unless you pick your child up...at that point they will be in your car. You get the picture.
Winter MAP
Winter MAP testing is happening this Monday, December 9th and Wednesday, December 11th. Testing will begin promptly at 7:45a.m. All grades will take the Reading test on Monday and the Math test on Wednesday. Make ups will be later in the week.
Spirit Week Is Coming!
Make sure your Woodlawn student is part of the crew and they participate in our Spirit Week celebration. Spirit Week will be December 16-20. Good times will be had by all.
Monday 12/16 Party like it is New Year’s Eve! Dress to impress.
Tuesday 12/17 Bright Lights. Wear festive and bright colors.
Wednesday 12/18 Winter Wonderland. Dress in blue & white.
Thursday 12/19 Ugly sweater day.
Friday 12/20 A long winter’s nap. Wear your PJ’s!
- Student Council is also hosting a Toy Drive for CASA, an organization that works with foster children. Students can bring a NEW, UNWRAPPED TOY or GIFT CARD (any age or gender) until Thursday, December 19th. There will be a box in the office.
Click here for the PTO Monthly Blog
2020–2021 Calendar Change Notification
District 96 has made revisions to the published Quick List calendar for the upcoming 2020–2021 school year.
The revisions made accommodate the alignment of the District 96 Spring Break 2021 with the recently published Stevenson students’ Spring Break 2021.
Please see the Revised 2020–2021 Quick List School Year Calendar.
Questions? Please contact the public information coordinator.
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SPANISH:
Notificación del Cambio en el Calendario 2020–2021
El Distrito 96 ha hecho cambios al calendario que se publicó en Quick List del próximo año escolar 2020–2021.
Los cambios realizados se acomodan a las Vacaciones de Primavera 2021 del Distrito 96 con la reciente publicación de las Vacaciones de Primavera 2021 de los estudiantes de Stevenson.
Por favor ver El Calendario Escolar Revisado de Quick List de 2020-2021.
¿Alguna pregunta? Por favor contactar a la coordinadora de información pública.
The Patriot Consortium Mathematics Placement Process
Over the last few years Stevenson High School and the feeder middle schools have created a scope and sequence and aligned the curriculum to the Common Core Standards for Mathematics. Their work defines four strands of mathematical proficiency to highlight attributes of a proficient mathematical thinker. Their criteria will serve to create a portrait of each student for use in recommending a Stevenson placement that matches a student's content knowledge as well as level of mathematics proficiency at this time. READ MORE regarding the Patriot Consortium Mathematics Placement Process
Click here for the Woodlawn Daily Announcements
Finally, I try to be a logical thinker in life. As a middle school principal, there are many situations which arise that would make you shake your head in disbelief. For the most part, I listen to those around me, analyze the situation and make the logical decision for what is best. Now that I think about it, I am a lot like Commander Spock from Star Trek. Having never been a Star Trek guy, I really like the new Star Trek movies. From a leadership position, of course I would want to be Captain James T. Kirk. He is simply cool. My 22 year old daughter repeatedly comments that any movie where Chris Pine has a role, is a must see movie. Chris Pine did get to hang out with Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), so that is amazing in and of itself. Back to my point... I try to stay even keeled and not get emotional. Then this happened...
I heard on the radio that there is a shortage of potatoes. Because of harsh weather, potato crops have been damaged. Specifically, the big potatoes. What does this mean? It means that we may not be able to get french fries!
What?!?
Why is there not immediate action being taken? My first call would be to Ireland and make them aware that Houston and the entire United States HAS A PROBLEM! We are talking FRENCH FRIES here people! Why am I the only person freaking out about this? Are there committees being formed to discuss this? Do we need a fact finding mission to determine the extent of the damage and long term projections of the U.S. potato famine of 2019?
I had a discussion with Frank, a 6th grader who shares my concerns and here are a list of the implications from a french fry shortage:
Will there be french fry hoarding? I am thinking about going to the frozen food section of my grocery store and buying out the entire Ore Ida supply of regular, crinkle cut, curly and waffle fries.
Will there be a surplus of Ketchup? Life is all about balance. One side goes down the other side goes up. Hopefully there will be less ketchup packets in the world. The effort needed to open a packet compared to the amount of ketchup that comes out is not proportional.
Are sweet potatoes going to be forced upon me? I know that I should like sweet potato fries, but I want my regular, no good for me french fries.
Will hot dog places be asking if I want fruit with my dog? I cannot even get started on how wrong that is.
Will it be like Black Friday? Everyone just waiting in line for hours just to get one bag of our french fries? Will if be like finding a lucky penny on the ground, but in this case, a restaurant that has our hot, salty treasure?
We NEED to make a stand here people! McDonald’s, do something about this!
If anyone has the phone number to Ireland, let us know.
I get the feeling that you are heading to 5 Guys for the bag of amazingness right after you read this.
P.s. Side note. Yours truly worked in a hot dog stand for about a year. I know how to make a wicked, fresh cut, salty bag-o-fries. The lunch rush was the worst.
Have a great weekend!