Happy last Friday in February! For some reason, the short week seems longer. Maybe 5 days worth of stuff gets put into 4 days. We celebrated with our 7th graders this week. The PTO supplied pizza for everyone on Wednesday as we recognized that our 7th graders are now half way through middle school. The students appreciated the pizza and Woodlawn pencil case.
I hope everyone is enjoying 2/25/22. The palandromes will last through the end of the month.
If you can believe it, today was the last day of Trimester 2. Trimester 3 starts on Monday, February 28th.
March Calendar Reminders:
March 7th- No School
March 14th- Early Release 1:30 PM dismissal for students
March 14th- Family Educator Conferences 5:00-8:30p.m.
March 15th- No School
March 15th- Family Educator Conferences 10:00a.m.-1:30p.m.
March 18th- No School
March 21st-25th- Spring Break
March 28th- Classes Resume
SPRING COLLABORATIVE CONFERENCES
The collaborative conference dates are Monday, March 14th from 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM and Tuesday, March 15th from 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM.
We will be using Meet the Teacher as an electronic sign up for collaborative conferences. A School Messenger email will be sent to families on Thursday, February 24th at 6:00PM with a link to sign up for conferences.
Collaborative conferences will be held over zoom unless parents request an in-person conference using the instructions below. A document with all the staff zoom links will be sent out on Friday, March 11th.
REQUESTING AN IN-PERSON CONFERENCE
After selecting the teachers you wish to meet with and choosing a time for each conference, Meet the Teacher will prompt you to save the appointment and ask if you want to add a message for the teacher. If you want to have an in-person conference with the teachers, you must notify the teachers via this messaging feature (see picture below).
Woodlawn mathletes are going to State! On February 17, mathletes from 149 schools across Illinois competed in the annual Mathcounts Competition. Over 1,053 students participated at their home schools in a virtual competition. Woodlawn is one of 35 teams advancing to the State competition on March 5. Mathcounts participants included Abhinav Reddeppagari, Aditya Tiwari, Akshay Mukund, Andy He, Landon Hutchinson, Matthew Sirota, Pooja Sampelli and Rachel Varghese. Congrats to the official Woodlawn team that will be advancing to State: Lylian Zhu, Jingyi Wu, Alex Han and Kyler Chou. Good luck Wolves!
*NEW - Updates to mitigation measures coming March 2nd*
On Wednesday, March 2nd updated information related to mitigation measures will be shared with the community. As positivity rates and positive COVID-19 cases within our schools continue to decline, KCSD96 continues to be confident in the mitigation measures we have in place. However, if you have ongoing concerns about optional masking due to your student's extensive medical condition, please reach out to your building principal.
Stevenson Volunteer Request for 8th Grade Families
Eighth Grade Families,
We're looking for adults who are interested in joining the Stevenson Patriot Parent Association (PPA) Executive Board or serving as a co-chairperson of one of our many committees. Be involved in PPA with the Bake Sale, Staff Hospitality, Cookie/Treat Day, Class Reps, or the Assignment Notebook committees. Applications are being taken online now until March 30. Apply here: https://forms.gle/8gmqr3oY4C2xYVS9A. There will be an opportunity this summer to volunteer for individual events during the 2021-22 school year. Watch for that announcement by following the PPA on Facebook or Instagram: @shsppa If you have any questions, please contact Gayle Stein at [email protected].
NEW *Covid Metrics*
To stay up-to-date this school year on local metrics, please visit the COVID DASHBOARD for District 96. Our priority remains to keep our students safe and follow guidance from the CDC. If your student is identified as a "close contact", you will be notified individually through the contact tracing process.
Click here for the Woodlawn Daily Announcements
* NEW (5Essentials Survey for Parents!)
Parent 5Essentials Survey: Share Your Thoughts About Your Child’s School
Parents and Guardians: KCSD 96 wants to hear from you!
You’re invited to complete the Illinois 5Essentials Parent Survey. This survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of your child’s school and help school and District leaders better understand the parent/school relationship. This survey is administered on behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education.
The survey gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains. These five indicators that affect and predict school success include:
Effective Leaders
Collaborative Teachers
Involved Families
Supportive Environments
Ambitious Instruction
To take the survey, please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ and select the “Parent” survey to begin. Please know that your identity and responses will be kept confidential and will not be connected with your child. You may submit a survey for each child you have in the district.
The survey closes on March 11.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact 5Essentials Client Services at 1-866-440-1874 or [email protected] or Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Jeanne Spiller at [email protected].
Join us for 'Raising Kids Who Thrive'
Join journalist and parent educator Katherine Reynolds Lewis at 7 p.m. March 2 for ~ "Raising Kids Who Thrive: Responsibilities, Healthy Habits and Emotional Well-Being" ~ an interactive talk about how parents can raise children to thrive, be responsible, learn how to take care of their mental and physical health and manage anxiety and stress.
The author of “The Good News About Bad Behavior: Why Kids Are Less Disciplined Than Ever — And What to Do About It,” Katherine will share problem-solving strategies for kids’ difficult behavior or disengagement. This talk covers how to tune in to children's emotions, develop helpful family routines and language for tough conversations, and deal with stress and your own sense of feeling overwhelmed.
Pre-register at: https://kcsd96.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkd-uoqTwtH9Frqo4U0boPDVi1-AMLihpl
For more information, contact Lubna Andrabi, the District's Community Parent Liaison, at [email protected].
Illinois Science Assessment (ISA): Students in grades 5 and 8 participate in the Illinois Science Assessment. The ISA is aligned to the Illinois Science Learning Standards and is designed to reflect classroom experiences. The ISA consists of three sections that will be administered over three days (March 9-11) during the regular school day.
Parent Letter from ISBE (English)
Parent Letter from ISBA (Spanish)
Please visit the PTO Monthly Blog
Finally, I have learned how to be a fly on the wall. Currently, I can stand in the hallway and the middle school conversations around me will just happen. I learn the middle school jargon, what is hot and what is new. When my children were in high school, I would pack the urban assault vehicle and just listen. My youngest daughter and her friends would just spill the tea about school, friends, and everything else. My oldest son played high school basketball and our basement became the team hangout/sleepover place. We had a number of twin mattresses, couches and a good old fashioned floor to sleep on. I enjoyed making breakfast for the crew and once again, listening to the talk. I will say this, the boys basketball team talked way less than the girls soccer team. I am telling you, there was not an instant of silence at that soccer breakfast table.
I will say that watching the kids look at their phones for hours made me crazy. The lack of conversation and interaction, blew me away. I felt like I had to do something, subtly, to restore conversation amongst these teenagers. One of my favorite things is the 3 ½ x 5 index card. The index card has multiple uses and can be easily stored. So, just for fun, I would create topic starters and leave a pile of these cards on the coffee table where kids had no choice but to read them out loud. I think that they surprised themselves with the conversations that they had. It was really cool to see. If you have the index cards, you might want to try some of these questions:
Who inspires you? Who do you aspire to be like?
Shark diving, bungee jumping, or skydiving?
What was your favorite pet’s name?
What's your favorite Disney movie?
What is the weirdest scar you have and how did you get it?
Where did you and your best friend meet?
Which of your accomplishments are you most proud of?
What's the weirdest rabbit hole you've stumbled down?
Tell me about the best vacation you've ever taken.
What's your favorite physical attribute about yourself?
Friday night—would you rather stay in or go out?
Do you believe in ghosts?
What piece of art (book, music, movie, etc.) most influenced the person you are today?
Which would be harder for you to give up: internet or athletics?
What's the single best piece of advice you ever received?
Who's your best friend, and what do you love about him or her?
What's the greatest risk you've ever taken?
If you had 24 hours to do whatever you wanted in the city, what would you do?
What do you like about where you work?
What hobby have you always wanted to develop?
Have fun with this and give it a shot!