Happy Spring Break!
School closed for Spring Break Monday, 3/26 - Monday, 4/2. Students return on Tuesday, 4/3.
Kindergarten Parents, Save the Date: Friday, May 11th ~ You are Invited!
Kindergartners have a wonderful opportunity to perform for you in May! Further details in last week's Principal's Message.
Bingo Fun!
Thank you to our PTO and all the families who made it out last night to our Pizza Bingo event! It was such a success and fun for all! Thank you!
Traffic Concerns
We are seeing unsafe driving patterns during our drop-off/pick-up times.
Please, DO NOT:
- Park over the pedestrian walkway on Checker or in front of the fire hydrant
- Park in our circle drive (this is marked for buses and emergency vehicles only)
- Make a hazardous U-Turn on Checker that impedes traffic
- Hold your cellphone
The above behaviors are unsafe and are all offenses that police will enforce. Our number one concern at all times is safety, and we require everyone's cooperation and patience. Thank you.
On a related note, please be mindful of your children when they are in your care during drop-off and pickup. Keep them by your side. Holding their hands until in your car is recommended. Young children should be within arm's reach while around buses and cars. We know it's a common time to connect, as you see other parents, however, allowing children to play around many moving vehicles is unsafe.
Thank you so much!
2018-19 FIRST-GRADE PARENT CLASS PLACEMENT INPUT
Can you believe it is already time to begin thinking about class placement for next school year? Please read the information below on how class lists are created and how to provide input. This is for first-grade only. If you have an incoming kindergarten student a survey will be emailed to you on May 1st if you have fully completed the registration process.
Creating balanced class lists that meet the needs of all students is a tremendously difficult job that takes many hours of thoughtful dialogue between classroom teachers, specials area teachers, specialists, and the principal. We at Willow Grove take this process very seriously. The following describes the process for creating balanced class lists.
- Classroom teachers consider the social and academic needs of each student.
- Specialist Team members (social worker, speech teacher, special education teacher, etc.), the Specials Team (Music, P.E.), and the principal provide input as well during this process.
- Parent input is considered.
- We consider placing your child with other students they are familiar with. We cannot accommodate friendship requests.
- Class lists are finalized in August as summer changes must be considered such as move ins/outs, section size changes if any, etc.
We strongly believe that this detailed and collaborative process creates learning environments that benefit all students. It is a delicate balancing act which takes much consideration and thought by professionals who know and care about your children.
Because of the input and thought by teachers, specialists, and administrators, we cannot make changes once this process occurs, as moving one child can disrupt the balance of a class, impacting all students.
I welcome any insight you wish to share about your child’s strengths, needs, and learning style. I will take into consideration pertinent information received on or before FRIDAY, APRIL 27th. While we welcome your input, specific teacher or friend requests will not be honored. Should you provide a specific teacher or friend request, this will be omitted from information being considered.
To provide your input, please make sure your thoughts are provided through this First Grade Placement Input 2018-2019 Survey. As you can imagine, we receive a lot of parent input, and verbal information and multiple emails are impossible to carefully track. Any parents that submit letters/emails will be redirected to the survey. This keeps our information organized so that no input is missed! This information remains confidential between parents and me. Thank you!
District 96 Values Work
Over the course of the current school year, administrators, staff, students and the Board of Education have all participated in activities around renewing our commitment to the District 96 Values statements and how they manifest themselves in our schools every day.
Our staff at Willow Grove participated in an activity where we reviewed the district values and worked together to define ways we see them in action every day. Click here to see what we are so proud of in our work!
All Willow Grove students also learned about the word, "values" and we connected our district values to the Willow Grove Pledge, "Bears that Care show kindness, responsibility, and respect. We are good friends!" Children participated in an activity where we talked about how this looks and feels in school. We created a school display where we proudly display this work. Please enjoy this adorable video to see the activity and our fabulous display that children are so proud of! We are so proud of them!