Dear Families,
We have made it to winter break! The winter break brings a time for reflection and a time for new beginnings. A wise person once told me to first say thank you and then say please. I would like to take this opportunity to thank students, staff, and parents for contributing to the Willow Grove community that we are all so proud to be part of. Thank you to all of the families, students, and staff who have made tremendous efforts to carry on and do the best that we can for our kids, even though we all deeply wish to be in-person teaching and learning together. When we start back to school in January, after a much-needed break, we will do so with our batteries recharged and with the prospect of new circumstances, hopefully on the horizon. Celebrations are so important. The Willow Grove community celebrates our partnerships with you all! So now I say please … as you celebrate, please do so safely and please have a joyous and relaxing winter break.
Fondly,
Jenny Smith, Principal
Upcoming Calendar
December
SCHOOL CLOSED: Winter Break Dec. 21–Jan. 1 DEC. 2020
January
4 – School resumes
8 – Material Pick-up for blended and kindergarten student families. Structured teachers will let families of students in our structured program know if they have materials to pick-up. Details below.
NEW *Willow Grove Family Mitten Tree*
We'd love to celebrate winter and our wonderful Willow Grove community by creating a Family Mitten Tree! Print THIS PAGE (also in our Virtual Backpack) or draw your own mitten and have your child draw/color their mitten in a way that represents your family! Children can draw family members, holiday traditions, places you've lived/been, special objects to your family, favorite family foods or traditions, activities your family enjoys together, family values or messages (i.e., love, respect), etc. This is an opportunity to talk about these special things with your child and share them with our community on the Willow Grove Family Mitten Tree! Have your child cut out his/her family mitten, bring it to Willow Grove and place it on one of the trees on the left of the walkway leading to the main entrance (pictured below) starting when we are back from break, January 4th, and going through January 10th. As of January 4th there will be clothes pins by the trees to attach your family mitten to the tree. While you are there, look at the other family mittens and celebrate the beauty of all the families that make up Willow Grove!
I shared about the Family Mitten Tree in our WILLOW GROVE WEEKLY video and one child already got a jump start!! What fun to share this wonderful example with you!
Where to hang your mittens:
A beautiful example:
NEW *Material Pick-Up - Friday, January 8, 2021*
District 96 has set a date for the first materials pick up for trimester 2. Students in blended and kindergarten will need these materials for classes whether under a remote or hybrid model. Students in the structured program will be told individually if they have materials to pick-up or not. As a Chicagoland family, you know that the winter weather can be unpredictable. The week that we return to school (January 4-8), you will receive another message with more details regarding the structure and exact location of the materials pickup at Willow Grove. The reason for this is that we will be watching the weather forecasts to determine the best format to allow for a pick-up based on the weather that day. The purpose of this message is to provide you the opportunity to mark January 8, 2021, on your calendar, so that you have advanced notice and can hopefully make arrangements to collect these important learning materials. The hours will be 11:15 AM-5:00 PM. We know that there have been several pick-up opportunities this year and appreciate your continued understanding and support while we work to continue educating students in the best way that we can.
NEW *Superintendent’s Message*
The following information was shared via email on December 16, 2020, however, I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight the information shared by Superintendent Julie Schmidt at last Tuesday’s board of education meeting. LINKED HERE is a video presentation and other information, including a review of additional mitigation measures that lower the risk of transmission in our schools. There will be future updates on January 6 and January 12. If conditions allow there will be an announcement for the reinitiation of the hybrid/in-person model. Please read Superintendent Schmidt’s message and view the video to learn more.
NEW *Preregister for 2021–22 Kindergarten Beginning Jan. 11*
Preregister incoming 2021–22 kindergartners beginning January 11 and no later than January 31 to receive a free T-shirt for your incoming student. SEE MORE INFO
NEW *Together, WE are Willow Grove! Virtual Cultural Fair Reminder and Inspiration--WE NEED YOU!*
As a reminder, mark your calendars for the evening of February 18th for our virtual cultural fair family event.
Here are some of the ideas staff will be sharing, in an effort to give some inspiration:
- Mrs. Smith will be sharing a family recipe and video of her making Pfeffernusse cookies, which is a traditional Christmas cookie that is German-based, but also is found in Scandinavian countries and Denmark! Mrs. Smith is German, Norwegian, and Swedish, so it's no wonder this cookie is special in her family!
-Mrs. Smith and her kids will read a story that was a family favorite when her kids were the same age as Willow Grove students.
-Mrs. Smith will share ways stories of her family are gathered and passed onto continued generations. She'll even share a funny story or two!
-Miss Longman will read the Channukah story, Meet the Latkes!
-Mrs. Scoville will read the story of The Christmas Pickle and show her pickle ornament for a German tradition she does every year.
-Mrs. Scoville will share about an old ravioli recipe that her Great Grandmother, from Italy, made.
-Mrs. Santucci will read one of her favorite stories about an Italian immigrant who comes to America with a special item from Italy. Then she will show you how to make ravioli using a special item her grandma brought to America from Italy, too!
There are so many ideas for how you can share about your family to have your child participate in this event and learn about one another. For more information and inspiration, see the "Repeating" information below.
PTO News
Always check the PTO Blog for updates. We hope you enjoy this holiday season and time with your family!
REPEATING *Together, WE are Willow Grove! Virtual Cultural Fair Coming in February!*
On the evening of February 18th, we’ll be hosting a virtual family event, showcasing the many families and cultures represented in our school community. We hope to encourage our students to learn about other cultures, to celebrate what makes us all unique and to recognize cultural traits that we share. We cannot do this without your support and are looking for parents who would like to share information from your family, around the country, and even the globe with our students and families. With our format being virtual this year, we are looking for families to submit videos, photos, or pdf activities that families will get to experience together.
Examples include:
Performances (dance, singing, music)
Recipes - could be video or written recipe or photos
Reading a children's picture book that your family enjoys (could be in a language other than English)
Activities - pdf coloring page, game board or instructions, art activity instructions, origami, etc.
Videos or photos of your family celebrating a holiday or special traditions
Collage of photos
Our evening will include a full school zoom gathering to kick-off the evening, followed by a choose-your-own-adventure path exploring family submissions to celebrate our school community. We will work with families prior to the event to provide instructions for uploading videos or submitting pdf activities. We'll then close the evening as a group.
With many holidays falling around this time of year, we wanted to bring this exciting opportunity to your attention, as it may be something to plan for or capture over break or in the upcoming months.
Families can share about traditions and anything that is special to your family. We are all unique and can learn from one another. We are so excited about this event! We hope that you’ll consider sharing with our school community. We would all love to get to know you more and learn from you! More on this exciting event to come.
In January, watch the Principal's Message for more information on how to take part in this community celebration. Mark your calendars for the evening of February 18th. This will be fun for the whole family!
REPEATING *Photo Features*
I love capturing photos of kids learning in my Principal's Message each week. As currently, students are learning in your homes, I'd love it if you wouldn't mind sharing a photo with me to use in my Principal Message. If you are comfortable sharing, please email me a photo of your child engaged in remote learning at [email protected]. Thank you to those of you who have been sending them so far! They are so fun to receive and share.
REPEATING *INFO REGARDING PREORDERING FREE MEALS*
Preorder Free Meals for Pick-Up During Winter Break
Free meals may be preordered for pick-up during Winter Break.
NOTE: Preorders must be in by 10 AM on THURSDAY for pick-up in the week ahead.
Preorder by 10 AM on THURSDAY, Dec. 24, to pick up meals (meal packs for 5 days) on Mon., Dec. 28.
Preordering Free Meals in 2021
IMPORTANT: The last day to preorder free meals for the week ahead is changing. You’ll need to preorder by 10 AM on Thursdays, rather than Fridays.
To preorder meals for the first week after Winter Break (Jan. 4–8)
Preorder by 10 AM on THURSDAY, Dec. 31, to pick up meals on Mon., Jan. 4 (meal packs for 3 days) and Thurs., Jan. 7 (meal packs for 2 days).
The first step is for families to create an account online and add each child receiving meals to the account. Please see this webpage for details and brief instructional videos of the account set-up and pre-ordering process.
Please direct questions to the public information coordinator [email protected]
REPEATING *Monthly Asynchronous Wednesdays*
Once per month, beginning in December, students will participate in asynchronous activities for a portion of their school day. The dates for each of these asynchronous Wednesdays are identified below. You will notice that each date is identified as either AM or PM. If for example, AM is indicated, this means that students in our AM classrooms will participate in the asynchronous activities during the morning or AM portion of the school day, and PM students will have their typical classroom teacher-led school day. Specific times are indicated below with each identified date. Teachers will communicate with students to be sure that they understand the expectations for each of these days.
These monthly asynchronous days were created to give students the opportunity to participate in topics that will enhance our current curricular content, and so that teachers have time to collaborate and plan with each other to determine the best way to approach future instruction.
Asynchronous Wednesdays will take place on the following dates.
January 13: AM Asynchronous
February 24: PM Asynchronous
March 17: AM Asynchronous
April 21: PM Asynchronous
REPEATING *Tech Hub*
The District 96 Family Technology Hub is designed to guide families through technology tools related to Enhanced Remote Learning. On this site you can find links to the recordings and the corresponding Slides decks for the parent/family informational sessions from last week. You can also find tutorials on how to use ZOOM, Schoology, Seesaw, Clever, Notability, and other iPad essential tools for student learning. Additionally there is a link to email the technology support desk. Please save or bookmark this site. It will be updated with tools, resources, and tutorials through remote learning to better support your family.
Please email [email protected] with any tech-related support needed.