Woodlawn Principal's Blog 2/21/25

Posted February 21, 2025

2/21/25

The most difficult time of the school year is happening right now. Throughout the building, challenges are arising as we finish our trimester 2 work and head into trimester 3. Academic expectations are high, we haven’t been outside in forever, and students are too comfortable with each other. We will continue to move forward and work our way through this time of year. I promise to keep us together as we head toward Spring Break. Check out the blog this week for several new items.

Upcoming Dates:

2/28- No School - Institute Day

3/3- No School

3/20- Early Release- Students dismissed at 1:30 PM and Conferences from 5:00 PM- 8:30 PM

3/21- No School- Conferences from 10:00 AM- 1:30 PM

3/24-3/28- No School- Spring Break

A Message from Our Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), Ms. Nemas (Knee-mas)

Positive Reinforcement or Bribery? Positive reinforcement is a powerful way for parents to encourage good behavior and build confidence in their middle school child. At home, parents can implement it by acknowledging their child's efforts with praise, or special privileges when they exhibit positive behaviors, like completing homework on time or showing responsibility around the house. It’s important to be specific with the praise (e.g., “I’m proud of how you stayed focused on your homework tonight!”) so the child understands what behavior is being reinforced. This creates a supportive environment that fosters motivation, responsibility, and a growth mindset. Positive reinforcement is NOT bribery. When we bribe a child, we try to get them to stop engaging in a behavior we don't want to see. Positive reinforcement, on the other hand, follows behaviors that we want to see.

For more information on positive reinforcement visit this website: https://floridachildrensinstitute.com/7-positive-reinforcement-tips-for-parents/

Good Luck at the Conference meet to our Wrestlers

Congratulations to the following Woodlawn Wrestlers who finished on the podium at the Patriot Conference Wrestling tournament last Saturday...

75lb Lenda Hsieh, 3rd place

90lb, PJ Hartung, 3rd place

95lb, Matthew Owens, 2nd place

135lb, Will Norvell, 3rd place

145lb, Tristan Reynolds, 3rd place

155lb, Sal Venegas, 2nd place

167lb, Zach Sawyer, 3rd place

The regular season is all wrapped up now.

Time to start the road to IESA State at this Saturday's Regionals!!

OPEN NOW: *5Essentials Survey for Parents/Guardians*

Now through March 28th, KCSD96 invites you to share your thoughts on the inner workings of your child’s school. On behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be administered online by UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago.

As a parent, this opportunity will allow you to share your thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness in a survey about your child’s school. Your participation will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide our improvement. Parent identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.

Please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ and select the appropriate survey to begin. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact UChicago Impact Survey Support at 1-866-440-1874 or [email protected].

COMING SOON: *5Essentials Student Survey*

Beginning the week of March 10th, KCSD96 students in 4th-8th grade will be administered the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. This 25-minute survey is based on over 20 years of research at the University of Chicago and asks students about their experiences in school with the purpose of providing school leaders with critical student input to help develop school improvement plans. Students’ identities will be completely confidential, and teachers and administrators will never see individual responses to survey questions and will only receive aggregated information.

Please be aware that under the Protection of Pupil Rights Act. 20 U.S.C. Section 1232(c) (1) (A), you have the right to review a copy of the questions asked of your student(s). Survey questions can be found on the UChicago Impact Support Center (https://impactsurveyshelp.force.com/s/article/illinois-5essentials-survey-questions).

If you do not want your child’s input to be considered for school improvement purposes, please contact your child's principal by March 7th.

NEW: *Family Educator Conferences*

Family/Educator Conferences are right around the corner! Once again, we are using Meet the Teacher as our scheduling platform for conferences on Thursday, March 20th (5:00-8:30) and Friday, March 21st (10:00-1:30).

Sign-ups open on Thursday, March 6th at 3 PM.

All conferences are virtual via Meet the Teacher’s platform unless you contact the staff members and notify them.

Elementary school families: When you open the Meet the Teacher platform, you will see your child's classroom teacher in the list of available conference sign-ups as well as some specials teachers, special education teachers, and related service providers if your child sees them during a school day.
Middle school families: When you open the Meet the Teacher platform, you will see one of your child's core teachers in the list of available conference sign-ups as well as exploratory teachers, special education teachers, and related service providers if your child sees them during a school day.

Please sign up for a conference with any staff member listed who you would like to see. Meet the Teacher Conference Sign-Up will close at 4:00 pm on Monday, March 17th. After that, you must contact the building administrative assistant at the school.

Click on the link below to sign in to Meet the Teacher or copy and paste it into a browser: https://kildeerdistrict96.meettheteacher.com

For those who may be trying to sign up for a conference using a mobile device, please know that you may encounter issues navigating the platform. For best results, it is recommended that you try to access the link on a laptop or computer.

Families with multiple students in KCSD96 may experience issues when trying to switch between sign-ups. To mitigate any problems, please try using a different browser or logging out between sign-ups.

NEW- *March 4th Student Registration Opens*

Student registration for the 2025-26 school year opens on March 4th. Parents and guardians of new Kindergarten students (who have submitted all required documents) and returning KCSD96 students will be emailed a link to register their child for the 2025-26 school year.

Complete registration by April 15 to receive a $20 Early-Bird discount. Families with returning students who register after April 15 will pay the standard registration fee.

Registering early helps us to plan for the upcoming school year.

Registration fees paid by April 15 for the 2025-26 school year are:

Early Childhood Blended Tuition: $2,870 (or $335.07 monthly)

Kindergarten: $90

Grades 1-4: $110

Grade 5: $120

Grades 6-8: $135

Families new to District 96 can find more registration information here: https://www.kcsd96.org/about/registration

If you have any registration questions, please contact [email protected].

Report Cards

As we approach the end of the reporting period, Kildeer Countryside School District 96 is excited to remind families that Trimester 2 report cards will be issued on February 28th. This marks a significant moment to reflect on student progress and achievements. We encourage parents to review these reports with their children and celebrate their efforts and growth.

To view, parents will need to log into School Insight/TeacherEase. Returning families should have School Insight/TeacherEase log-in information. For new families or anyone who does not have an account established, you will soon be receiving an email from the district. If you have any questions, please reach out to your school's front office. If you forgot your password, please ensure you are selecting "Forgot Password" on the School Insight/TeacherEase log-in page. Thank you for your continued support in fostering a positive learning environment!