This is it. The 2019-20 school year comes to a close. I commend everyone for doing the best that they could and I look forward to returning in August. Many people have asked me what is going to happen when we return and plans are being made for many scenarios. My hope is that we open the same way we always do. Whatever is needed, that is what will happen. I want our students in the building, but I also want to keep them safe. Honestly, isn’t that what we all want? Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this blog and hopefully, you felt informed.
Material Pick Up - Exchange Date
I will be at Woodlawn this Monday, June 1st from 10a.m. until 1p.m. If you received the wrong bag or are missing gym clothes, gym shoes or anything that may be in the lost and found, please stop by and search. Be warned, the gym uniforms stink on ice. I will have a box of gloves because you will want to shower after you catch a whiff of these nasty things. I will also have a bin in front of the school for items to be dropped off and placed in.
8th Grade items on the iPad
Not long after the school year ends, 8th Grade student accounts will be disabled. In order to make sure you have everything you want, follow the directions on the link. This will allow you to download all of your docs to a zip folder on your home computer or transfer them to a different Google account. Directions can be found here: https://takeout.google.com/ DO THIS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!
Register for the 2020–21 School Year
If you haven't already registered your new or returning District 96 student for the 2020–21 school year, please do so right away. Having an accurate enrollment count is important for anticipating staffing needs appropriately. Please tell new neighbors and friends to contact the public info coordinator [email protected] with registration questions and for info on options to delay/waive registration fees.
Yearbooks/ Track & Field Items
Unfortunately, our yearbooks will not be ready until the middle of June. We will work on a plan to get the yearbooks to our students over the summer. As soon as all of the Track & Field items are received, Mr. Berry and I will come in on a Saturday morning to hand them out. We are still waiting on a number of items.
A MESSAGE FROM THE PTO
On behalf of the Woodlawn PTO Executive Board, we would like to thank all of our awesome volunteers for all of your help this past school year. Whether it was planning and chairing a party or event, volunteering at Special Lunch, Dessert Day or one of our many other fundraisers or parties, or making a donation, WE THANK YOU!
All of our events, fundraisers and parties are volunteer dependent - without you things would either not happen or not run as smoothly as they do! You are truly appreciated by the students, faculty and staff of Woodlawn!
If you are the parent of an 8th grader and will be leaving us, thank you for all of the years you have volunteered. Woodlawn is truly blessed to have parent volunteers like you. We wish you and your 8th grader all the best in high school! If you are the parent of returning students, we look forward to seeing you around school next year. Thank you for all the volunteering that you have done this year. Please look for next year’s Volunteer Registration form on membership toolkit beginning August 1st.
8th Grade Parents – we still have a few Class of 2020 yard signs available. If you are interested, please contact Laura LaCroix.
School Supply Kits for the 2020-2021 school year are currently on sale and can be ordered through July 10th. Don’t delay – order yours now! See the PTO Blog for ordering details.
Refunds for Canceled Events – don’t forget to make your selection by June 1st. See the PTO Blog for more details and link to selection form.
Student Report Card Access Today
Your student’s report card will be available for you to access online today AFTER 3 PM. If you need assistance, please CLICK HERE for instructions to view your student’s report card, to switch between your children’s report cards, and more.
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Acceso a las Boletas de Calificaciones de los Estudiantes Hoy después de las 3 PM
La boleta de calificaciones de su estudiante estará disponible en línea hoy DESPUÉS DE LAS 3 PM. Si necesita ayuda, por favor VER LAS INSTRUCCIONES PARA VER LA BOLETA DE CALIFICACIONES DE SU ESTUDIANTE, intercambiar entre boletas de calificaciones de sus hijos, y más.
Grading and Reporting in D96: Trimester 3 Report Cards
(This was a repeat message that was originally sent out via email on Friday, May 22nd from the District)
District 96 Families:
During these unprecedented times in education where traditional direct instruction has been altered due to the coronavirus outbreak, our focus is first and foremost on student learning and ensuring our students’ well being. This has required a temporary modification to grading practices and policies to address the innate challenges of remote learning, alleviate the academic pressure on students, and maintain our commitment to deliver instruction so that each child is academically prepared for next school year.
While teachers have continued to provide standards-based scores to students as a way of providing feedback, they are not using these scores in a way that would impact a student’s overall standards-based score. Teacher feedback has been communicated through online meetings or web-based applications, giving students valuable insight into their understanding of concepts, guidance on how to improve, and motivation to learn and grow.
Research supports the impact of nongraded feedback to focus students on learning rather than performance (Butler & Mordecai, 1986), and when the psychological and intellectual "load" on students and their families is so significant, it is important that schools lean on the side of support and learning rather than competition and high-stakes performance.
Trimester 3 Report Cards
Due to the reasons described above as well as the reality that there are factors outside of the control of the school system with learning being shifted off site, we are moving to the following reporting plan for Trimester 3 report cards:
Final Trimester 3 report cards will include typical standards-based scores for Trimester 1 and 2 standards in each content area. For Trimester 3, standards that have previously been assessed on the Trimester 1 and/or Trimester 2 report card will be assigned the score REINFORCED (R). Standards that have not been previously assessed on the Trimester 1 or 2 report card, meaning that they were only assessed in Trimester 3, will be assigned as INTRODUCED (INT).
Teachers will work with students when school resumes to ensure that standards intended to be learned during Trimester 3 are solidly in place for every student by embedding those skills into instruction in the fall. Stevenson High School has been in communication with our middle school teachers and are planning to do the same.
The following descriptors indicate what families will see on the Trimester 3 report card for grades EC-8:
Reinforced (R): (Used for standards that were reported on Trimester 1 and/or 2 report cards)
The standard has been reinforced through remote learning instruction. This standard will be embedded into instruction when school resumes in the fall.
Introduced (INT): (Used for standards that have not been reported on in Trimester 1 and/or 2)
The standard has been introduced and learning is in progress. This standard will be embedded into instruction when school resumes in the fall.
No Grade (NG): (Used for learner characteristics)
No grade has been assigned due to the inability to effectively assess learner characteristics during remote learning.
Learner Characteristics scores will be reported with a score of No Grade (NG).
If you have any questions, or would like more information, please reach out to Jeanne Spiller, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, at [email protected].
District Student Survey for Current 6th and 7th Graders
The current 6th and 7th graders received a survey in their Flex Course in Schoology. Please have students look for the survey. The students have until June 12th to take the survey.
Summer Learning Requirements and Options
Plans for Summer 2020 days ahead look different than most of us anticipated, but they do include keeping the learning going for KCSD96 kids in fun and interesting ways.
Reading during the summer is critically important for students’ continued growth and helps counteract “summer slide”–when some of the achievement gains made during the previous school year slip away.
In addition to summer reading, District 96 faculty have been at work developing Summer Enrichment Activities for 11 weeks of summer!
Find weekly required reading as well as optional activities to choose from related to math connections, science, social studies, writing, music, art, PE, or STEM HERE. (Note: For optional activities they choose, students should be able to work independently. There is nothing to submit.)
All students entering kindergarten–Grade 5 also have grade-level-specific book ideas to inspire them to discover the pleasure of reading. Links to these lists are found at the foot of the Summer Enrichment Activities webpage.
In addition to optional Summer Enrichment Activities, all students entering grades 6–8 have a Read Outside Yourself Summer Reading Challenge, including a specific assignment.
Which Grade Level?
Grade-level groups at the top of the Summer Enrichment Activities homepage (that is, Grades EC/K–2, Grades 3–5, Grades 6–7) refer to the 2019–20 school year, as this enrichment includes support of some 2019–20 learning targets. Choose the grade level of your student in the just-completed 2019–20 school year. For example, a student who will be in Grade 8 in the 2020–21 school year should select the Grades 6–7 category and complete 7th-grade work.
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Requisitos y Opciones de Lectura para el Verano
Los planes para los días de Verano 2020 se ven diferentes de lo que la mayoría de nosotros esperábamos, pero sí incluye la importancia de seguir el aprendizaje para los niños de KCSD96 de forma divertida e interesante.
La lectura durante el verano es de vital importancia para el crecimiento continuo de los estudiantes y ayuda a contrarrestar el “desliz de verano”–cuando se pierden algunos de los logros alcanzados durante el ciclo escolar anterior.
¡Además de la lectura de verano, el personal del Distrito 96 ha trabajado en el desarrollo de Actividades de Enriquecimiento de Verano por 11 semanas de verano!
Encuentre la lectura semanal requerida así como actividades opcionales que puede elegir relacionadas a las conexiones de matemáticas, ciencias, estudios sociales, escritura, música, arte, Educación Física, o STEM AQUÍ. (Tome en cuenta: Para las actividades opcionales que ellos eligen, los estudiantes deben ser capaces de trabajar de forma independiente. No hay nada que entregar.)
Todos los estudiantes que entran a kindergarten–Grado 5 también tienen ideas de libros específicos para cada grado para inspirarlos a descubrir el placer por la lectura. Los enlaces a estas listas se encuentran al pie de la página web de las Actividades de Enriquecimiento de Verano.
Además de las Actividades de Enriquecimiento de Verano opcionales, todos los estudiantes entrando a los grados 6–8 tienen un Desafío de Lectura de Verano, incluyendo un trabajo específico.
¿Cuál Nivel de Grado?
Los grupos de los niveles de grado en la parte superior de la página inicial de las Actividades de Enriquecimiento de Verano (es decir, Grados EC/K–2, Grados 3–5, Grados 6–7) se refiere al ciclo escolar 2019–20, ya que este enriquecimiento incluye apoyo a algunas metas de aprendizaje del ciclo 2019–20. Elija el nivel de grado de su estudiante del ciclo escolar 2019–20 ya completado. Por ejemplo, un estudiante que va a entrar al Grado 8 en el ciclo escolar 2020–21 debe seleccionar la categoría de los Grados 6–7 y completar el trabajo de 7° grado.
Summer Reading
All students (including the incoming 6th graders) are expected to complete the following summer reading assignment, which will be due when students return to school in the fall. Please encourage your student to set reading goals this summer to avoid the summer slide!
Incoming 6th graders, current 6th graders, current 7th graders:
Current 8th graders: Stevenson Summer Reading
Finally, I want to say thank you and goodbye to the families who have gone through Woodlawn (and District 96) through the years. Getting to work with your children and building positive relationships with families is an absolute highlight of my job. There have been families who span as long as 15 years or more, sending their students through Woodlawn over an extended period of time. Thank you for your support and commitment to what we believe in as a school. My hope is that all of your children were able to experience a positive, cohesive middle school learning and growth producing social atmosphere. Even if you sent one student through Woodlawn, please know that I have appreciated getting to know you and your child. I love when parents who have been out of Woodlawn for a few years send me an email, updating me on the success of their child at Stevenson or where they plan on attending college. I wish you the best and thank you again for supporting Woodlawn. Greg.