Principal's Message ~ January 7, 2022

Dear Families,

Welcome back from break and wishing you all a happy and healthy 2022! Please see below for a reminder of how upload your child’s vaccination card once they have been fully vaccinated.

Kindly,

Jenny Smith, Principal


NEW *Half Day Reminder*

On Friday, January 14 - Half-Day - School Improvement

Only Blended AM attend (8:30–11 a.m.). ALL KDG & Structured dismiss at 11:45 a.m. Teachers will be engaged in professional development during the afternoon.


NEW *Cold & Snowy Weather and Recess*

Please remember to send your child to school daily with proper outerwear.  Weather permitting students go outside for recess every day.  In winter the temperature, wind chill, and weather conditions will be monitored throughout the morning.  The weather website and playground will be checked to determine if conditions are appropriate for outdoor recess. We weigh options when the temperature or wind chill is between zero to ten degrees, to determine if we have indoor or outdoor recess. We do try to allow the children to go outside whenever possible, so please help them to come prepared with gloves, scarf, hat, snow pants, and snow boots.  In order to play in the snow, students must have snow pants and snow boots.  


NEW *MAP Test Results*

NWEA MAP Test results will be shared with parents via email on Monday, January 10th at 3 pm.


NEW *Vaccination Cards for 5-11 yr olds*

You can provide vaccination verification after your child has received his/her full vaccination.  Click HERE to complete the upload.


NEW *PTO UPDATES*

Next Wednesday, January 12th, will be a PTO Dinner Night at Weiner Take All. This is a great way to support Willow Grove with 20% of the proceeds being donated to our school. Delivery, curbside or pick up is available!

Please head over to the PTO blog for information on Bernie’s Book Drive, which will begin on the 19th and Dessert Day registration for families who have not previously signed up.

Please note that some of the previously scheduled PTO events will be postponed or modified over the next couple of months for the safety of our students and staff. Thank you for your understanding!

CLICK HERE FOR OUR PTO BLOG FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE AND OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS!


NEW *Zoom Resource & Tech Trouble*

This information will be repeated weekly for families to access as needed. It is relevant for children who are approved for remote learning due to Covid-related quarantine or in the event of a remote severe weather day for all children.

ZOOM Resource - Remote Learning & Possible Emergency Weather Day

Please review this  Zoom Tutorial Video Link with your child to prepare for remote learning. This is for students who have been approved for remote learning or in the event of an emergency weather day for all children.

Tech Trouble

If you are experiencing technical trouble on the iPad, here are a few tips that can help resolve the error you are receiving. 

The first step is to completely remove Zoom through the iPad settings.  Deleting Zoom from the Home Screen is NOT thorough enough to resolve this issue.

  • Go to Settings
  • Scroll down to General
  • Go to the right column and Select iPad Storage
  • Scroll down to Zoom
  • Delete the Zoom App
  • Open the Self Service App and reinstall Zoom

If the issue persists after this we would recommend following the next few steps.

Reset Network Settings:

  • Go to Settings
  • General
  • Go to the right column and scroll down to Reset
  • Reset network settings:  The device will restart and you will have to reconnect to your home wi-fi afterward.

Next:

  • Go to settings
  • Scroll down to Safari
  • Scroll down to Clear History and Website Data

If you're still seeing that error after all of these steps then you may need to troubleshoot your network next. Unplugging your modem and router from power for 60 seconds and plugging it back in can sometimes be enough.

Please email [email protected] for further tech issues or additional support. Please also let us know at the school by calling our office, so we can inform your child's teacher. Call our office at any time with any questions. We completely understand any difficulties you are having and appreciate your patience as we troubleshoot your issue.

As a reminder, remote learning via Zoom will begin on the second full day of absence and is only available for students who meet one of the following requirements.

  • Student is asymptomatic (no symptoms) after receiving a positive Covid test result
  • Student is unvaccinated, asymptomatic, and under mandatory quarantine after being identified as a close contact to a confirmed positive Covid case.
  • Student is unvaccinated, has traveled internationally and is under mandatory quarantine upon returning home.

REPEAT *PRE-REGISTER FOR 2022–2023 KINDERGARTEN (and Get a Free Willow Grove Student T-Shirt if you register in January!)*

Pre-registration for 2022–2023 kindergarten is in-person OR online. Incoming kindergarten students must be 5 years old by September 1, 2022, to register for the 2022-23 kindergarten school year.

In-Person Pre-Registration Option:

When: Thursday, January 13, 2022, 5–7 PM drop-in (Parents may also pre-register online during the month of January for the free T-Shirt)

Where: Willow Grove Early Learning Center, 777 Checker Drive, Buffalo Grove, IL

Parents of incoming kindergartners will need to prove residency with required documents and District forms and to complete a brief online pre-registration form. Incoming kindergartners do not need to be present for the pre-registration event.

Required documents:

• CURRENT monthly mortgage or lease statement or property tax bill AND

• CURRENT utility bill AND

• Student’s birth certificate, passport, or visa (photocopy not accepted) AND 

• Parent or Guardian photo ID (Passport or Driver’s license)

RESIDENCY FORM 

HOME LANGUAGE SURVEY

ENROLLMENT FORM 

Online Pre-Registration Option:

You do not have to attend in person to pre-register. Details coming soon. Please continue to watch for updates in the Principal's Message and on our District 96 website.

Click here to learn more about Kindergarten in District 96

Questions? Please contact our D96 public info coordinator at [email protected] or 847.459.4260, ext. 8022.


REPEATING *O’Hare PCR Results*

If you do not receive your child’s PCR results over the weekend, we apologize for the inconvenience.

Please feel free to contact O’Hare Labs by sending an email to [email protected].  This email is monitored frequently each day and is the preferred method of contact.  Please be sure to include your child’s First Name, Last Name, DOB, and test date in the email.

If preferred, you can also call the Call Center at (800) 604-0197 Monday-Saturday between the hours of 10am-5pm.


REPEATING *Symptoms, Close contacts, Quarantine & International Travel Guidelines*

If you have any questions about symptoms, close contacts or quarantining please visit the IDPH Decision Tree posted on the District 96 COVID-19 webpage

Additionally, as winter break approaches, please note the guidelines for unvaccinated individuals and international travel posted on the District 96 COVID-19 webpage


REPEATING *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.