11/1/24
If you can believe it, today is the first day of November! We are in the final two months of 2024! Each year, I am amazed at how quickly the time goes from mid-October until Winter Break is over. The weather gave us a little reminder yesterday and today of what we are in for in the coming months, but our Woodlawn students are working hard and we are rolling along. Check out the blog this week.
Upcoming Dates:
11/5- No School
Illinois School Report Card
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released the annual Illinois Report Card on Oct. 30 at www.illinoisreportcard.com. The Report Card shows the incredible achievements of our schools when it comes to a wide range of educational goals.
Our academic successes reflect a strong tradition of excellence at Kildeer Countryside School District 96. This includes maintaining a strong focus on standards-based instruction and core instruction, continuous improvement targeting content and standards, language acquisition, and more. These areas align to our Board Approved Goals for the 24-25 school year, as outlined here.
One component of the Illinois School Report Card is the annual summative designation – a descriptor of how well our school is meeting the needs of all students. This designation is federally required and is based on 14 indicators of academic and school quality/student success. We are pleased to share that Woodlawn Middle School received a Commendable designation. That classification measures areas including academic growth and proficiency, chronic absenteeism, and a school climate survey.
At Woodlawn, we hold high expectations for all students and believe every student can meet our expectations. This designation gives us the opportunity to reflect on our goals to further enhance instruction and support for our entire student community. We welcome this opportunity to dive into our data and to talk about continued investments we can make to support every student in reaching their fullest potential.
The Illinois School Report card is just one of many pieces of data that we as a District analyze and use to drive school improvement efforts. Soon, you will receive information to participate in the online 5-Essential parent survey. We encourage all of our families to spend a couple minutes to take this important and insightful survey.
This is a great time to remind parents to encourage their child(ren) to take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) if they are able to do so. We want to receive the most accurate snapshot of our school, by making sure our test score data reflects as many students as possible.
Thank you for your continued partnership to ensure every child a Woodlawn is thriving. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Principal Greg Grana directly at [email protected]. You can also find this information on our website at any time, at https://www.kcsd96.org/curriculum/school-report-cards.
Middle School Health Letter
Please click HERE to access the 24-25 Health Education letter.
Virtual Backpacks
District Virtual Backpack: https://www.kcsd96.org/about/virtual-backpack
Woodlawn Virtual Backpack: Link
Click here for the Woodlawn Daily Announcements
The Woodlawn PTO Blog is now live: https://www.kcsd96.org/w/pto/blog/1634065/woodlawn-pto-blog-november-2024
New Club - The Bond
Wolves are sociable animals that form packs with emotional bonds. Pack members help each other survive and thrive. Wolves care for each other as individuals, creating lifelong friendships. A new club, "The Bond," will have an informational meeting on Thursday, November 7, 2024, from 2:30-3:15. Any student interested in forming a meaningful bond with a student needing a mentor or connection is encouraged to attend. If you have any questions, please reach out to Kristina Harvat or Jacque Jessongne.
Daylight Savings Time
This Sunday, November 3rd, daylight savings time ends and we turn back the clock one hour. With our new phones and technology, this seems to be easier. I promise that are going to more than a few of you who are going to find one clock in your house that does not get the attention it deserves and a month from now, you will say to yourself, “Mr. Grana was right!” Enjoy your extra hour this weekend!
Halloween
We had a wonderful Halloween here at Woodlawn. The PTO-sponsored “Fall Festival” was a big success on Wednesday night and students dressing up at school on Thursday was a riot. Kudos to our PTO who handed out 398 bracelets to students who were going to attend the event. The vast majority showed up for a haunted house, game trucks, a DJ, a card reader, and snacks. The students were great and it was an incredible event.
Finally, This part of the blog is my way of connecting with the community. I use it for silly stories and my “unique” take on life. Today, I want to talk celebration, and the vision of Woodlawn combined with the election. As you know, this is my retirement year. I have been absolutely blessed in my career and from the first day I walked into Woodlawn as a teacher, I was honored to be a part of this community. For the last 19 years, I have been the principal here and have worked with the best professionals, students, and community members. Now baseball has had an incredible impact on my life, so when I think of my time at Woodlawn, I envision the speech where the immortal words of Lou Gehrig were spoken, “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Thankfully, unlike Lou, I have my health. Yesterday, I had one of the highlights of my career. Many of our staff members dressed up as “Greg through the ages”. Represented were high school, college, grandfather, fleece coat, future, baseball player, injury, golfer, and many combinations of those Greg’s. It was a hoot. The staff members nailed their impressions of me and I have to celebrate the adage, “imitation is the greatest form of flattery.” The people who work with your children are not only great educators, they are creative, funny, and kind.
When I think about the Woodlawn vision, I am always examining the way we approach each other. Whether it is inclusive conversations, fostering respect for all, anticipating issues, and addressing our issues head-on, we have had success for a long time by valuing each other and working together for success. Seems like a simple recipe, but it is a challenge to work with the 11-14-year-old brain (and sometimes the 30-50-year-old brain) to ensure we are all on the same page. We are a public school and we function at an incredibly high level, as seen in the Illinois School Report Card above. Here are some consistencies that I see in our community:
- We have different life experiences.
- We speak over 40 different languages in our homes.
- We come from a wide variety of ethnicities.
- We are financially diverse.
- We all want our students to have the best education possible.
- We believe in Woodlawn.
I would like to say this, as a school when we do the Pledge of Allegiance in our classrooms, each and every morning, it means something to me. I stand at attention, look at our flag, and mean the words I say that I learned as a 5-year-old in 1970. The pledge means even more to me today knowing that former Woodlawn students and family members served in the military, protecting my rights and freedoms.
Lately, recent elections have challenged the unity of our country. Regardless of who we choose to be our next president, I am going to hold our Woodlawn community to the same expectations and vision that I mentioned earlier.
I believe in the Woodlawn community, especially our students. This staff will keep the main thing (student learning), the main thing. Student learning and fostering respect for one another will continue to be our focus.
Have a great weekend!