Dear Families,
We enjoyed seeing so many of you at the PTO Pizza Bingo event last night! Thank you to the PTO for creating such a fun evening and to so many families for coming out. Thank you, also, for the generous support through the silent auction and raffles. I know we are looking forward to some fun experiences with kids, like my principal helper!
Next week is the NWEA MAP for all kindergarten students. This test is used to measure growth and to identify areas of support to better inform our teacher’s instruction now and in the future. Our partnership is beyond appreciated to best support your child in their learning journey!
Speaking of supporting students, it's time to celebrate our staff. Next week marks Staff Appreciation Week. I know that our PTO has some wonderful things in store to celebrate the commitment of our staff to our students. We appreciate your partnership and all that you do to make our staff and students feel special and valued.
As a reminder, the kindergarten music performance is next week on Friday! Many details are below if you've missed them.
Kindly,
Jenny Smith, Principal
NEW *Curriculum Home Connections*
New Resource Page Designed, with Parents in Mind
In response to some parents' questions about how to best support their children with academic work at home, the district’s Instructional Coaches designed a one-stop resource that equips these families in doing just that.
The resource is a new District web page ~ the “Home to School Connections'' ~ designed for parents and filled with invaluable links to internal and external Technology and Curriculum Resources. Under the Technology Resources heading, for instance, parents will find the usual District resources used for assistance with iPads, frequently used apps, TeacherEase, SeeSaw and Schoology.
The page also features Curriculum Resources, which presents a wealth of resources ~ sorted by grade/grade levels ~ for help with literacy, math, and the other subject areas, and links to the District’s pacing guides (which indicate what a child is expected to know at each grade level).
Families will find resources to practice high-frequency words, strengthen their mastery of math-word problems or help them write more descriptively. There is also information on supporting a multilingual student at home and 10 of the best questions to ask your student to elicit more than a ‘yes,’ ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ response about what they’re learning or experiencing at school.
The resource was debuted at Thursday night’s Thought Exchange Partnership (TEP) meeting. Check it out for yourself:
NEW *Last Call for Library Books*
Parents if you happen to see any school library books at home please return them to school as soon as possible. With school drawing to a close for the year we need to begin cataloging and checking the inventory for the school library.
NEW *FIELD DAY VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY*
On Thursday, May 26th, all Kindergarten and Early Childhood children will be participating in Field Day at Willow Grove! This is a rain or shine event filled with games, races and fun! There will be 9 different stations, such as Silly Races, Parachute, Treasure Hunt and more.
Mrs. O’Gara is looking for parent volunteers to run each station. If you are interested, sign-up HERE. Half the students will attend Field Day in the morning, and half in the afternoon. Please see the list below to see when your child’s class will be participating. Sign-up is due by Monday, May 9th. First come, first serve.
AM 9:15-11:30 AM: Filippo, Longman, Schmidt, Casas-Maya, Wittenberg, Dolan, AM Freer, AM Yandura, AM Wiehe, AM Sewell
PM 12:15-2:30 PM: Hibbs , Holzman, Rabin, Preskill, Derry, Santucci, Chappas, PM Freer, PM Yandura, PM Wiehe, PM Sewell
*Parents of Ms. Bently and Mrs. Johnson may reach out to the teacher to know which their child is attending if you are interested in volunteering.
Volunteers need to be here at 9:00 AM for AM Field Day and 12:00 PM for PM Field Day.
There are a limited number of volunteer spots to have a manageable group size and maintain an orderly and safe environment. We will have to ask volunteers who arrive with additional children/siblings or adults to leave, as only approved volunteers may attend. This is also not a spectator event and we cannot allow anyone other than approved volunteers on the Willow Grove campus. This is for the safety of students. Mrs. O'Gara will get back to you to confirm your attendance and provide further details.
Thank you so much for your interest! We'd love to have you!
NEW *PTO UPDATE*
Thank you to everyone who joined us last night for Pizza Bingo! A special thank you to all the volunteers that helped make this event a success. Please save the date for our next PTO family event, the End of Year Picnic, on May 19th. Pre-orders are highly encouraged and will be available on Membership Toolkit.
Staff Appreciation Week is next week, May 2nd-6th. Please help us show our gratitude to the people who have worked so diligently to create the best year possible for our children! Since our school is the Willow Grove Bears we will be having a bear/ camp theme! We are bear-y excited! Please HERE to see the food and items requested for donations. We appreciate your generosity.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR PTO BLOG FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE AND OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS!
REPEAT *Registration Reminder*
A big thank you to those of you who have already registered your student for the 22-23 school year. For those of you who haven’t yet, we need your help! We staff our buildings based on completed registration. We like to keep class sizes low so that students have the best possible experience and the only way we can do that is by having the most accurate information. If you have not registered yet, please take a few minutes to complete this important process. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact the school office and we would be happy to help at [email protected].
REPEAT *Spring NWEA MAP Testing*
All K-8 students will be taking the Spring NWEA MAP assessment on Monday, May 2nd, and Tuesday, May 3rd. Makeups will be scheduled on an as-needed basis.
REPEAT *Summer 2022 iPad Information*
All Buildings:
- Students in grades K-7 will keep their iPad and all peripherals over the summer unless they are not returning to D96 for the 22-23 school year.
- Any non-returning students will need to leave their iPad (inside of the case), charging cable, charging brick, and Logitech Crayon, with the building Tech Aide for collection.
- Families who exit out of D96 after the last day of school will need to return all of their technology to the District Office over the summer. Any device not returned will be placed in lost mode and will not function.
- Over the summer, some apps and services will continue to work at the student’s 21-22 grade level. Apps and websites like Dreambox, Lexia, Typing Agent, (etc) will be available to use over the summer but are not guaranteed to work at all times. The technology department will only be supporting the use of these apps in ESY or Summer School.
- As we get closer to August, we will roll-up student data and new services. Apps will also become available to them relative to their 22-23 grade level.
Willow Grove Specific:
- EC iPads will be collected at the end of the year. We ask that devices and peripherals (charging cable, charging brick, and case) that are kept at home be returned to Willow Grove and made available for collection no later than Wednesday, May 25th. Note that EC students do NOT receive Logitech Crayons.
- Current Kindergarten students will keep their iPads over the summer. New grade-level content and services will be made available on their iPads sometime in August.
- Any non-returning students will need to leave their iPad (inside of the case), charging cable, charging brick, and Logitech Crayon, with the building Tech Aide for collection.
Middle School Specific:
- 8th Grade iPad collection will happen on Wednesday, May 25th. Students will be expected to turn in their iPad (inside of the case), charging cable, charging brick, and Logitech Crayon.
- Any non-returning students in grades 6 and 7 will need to leave their iPad (inside of the case), charging cable, charging brick, and Logitech Crayon, with the building Tech Aide for collection.
REPEAT *Kindergarten Music Performance May 6 - Additional Details*
Parents, you are welcome to attend as we celebrate our kindergarten year on Friday, May 6. Two attendees or fewer per child may attend. The doors will open ten minutes prior to each performance. Parents will enter the gymnasium doors located in the South parking lot. There are two doors that will open at the same time. Parents may line up at either marked door. Parents exit out the same doors, promptly at the end of the show. It is important to note that we are unable to arrange student pick up or early dismissal immediately following the performance as we cannot manage this safely. Kindergarten students stay until our regular dismissal times where dismissal is managed safely for all students. If you have questions about this for a specific need, please call our office. We are looking forward to this memorable event!
At Willow Grove and throughout District 96, the safety of students is always our number one priority. As such, please expect to see a police officer on-site while we have many visitors enjoying the performance. We regularly partner with our school resource officer for the security of our students.
Two attendees or fewer per child may attend. We prefer no siblings to minimize our audience size, however, if you need to bring a child to be able to attend, we understand. Children should never be pulled out of school to attend. Please remember we will share a video for other family members to view at your discretion.
Date: Friday, May 6
Showtimes:
Musical Performance 1 (9:30-10:00): Hibbs, Preskill, Rabin, Derry, Holzman
Musical Performance 2 (10:30-11:00): Schmidt, Longman, Filippo, Casas-Maya
Musical Performance 3 (1:15-1:45 PM): Wittenberg, Chappas, Santucci, Dolan
If you are unable to attend, know that we do record the events and send them to parents, as well.
Student Attire: The theme for the show is SPRING! Please dress your child in spring-colored clothing for the event. An outfit (shirt with shorts or pants or a dress) with any spring colors (i.e. light blue, yellow, pink, white, pastels, etc.) is perfect.
REPEAT *Current Kindergarten Families - First Grade Volunteer Opportunities*
As kindergarten families look ahead to first grade, consider getting involved in your child’s elementary school PTO. Board positions are open in many schools and there are always volunteer opportunities. Following are the PTO links to learn further information and contact emails if you’d like to reach out and see how you can get involved.
Country Meadows PTO Information - [email protected]
Ivy Hall PTO Information - [email protected]
Kildeer PTO Information - [email protected]
Prairie PTO Information - [email protected]
REPEAT *Kindergarten Families Only: FIRST-GRADE Parent Input for Class Placement (2022-2023)*
We are collecting first-grade parent input for placement at this time through Friday, April 29, 2022. Entering kindergarten families for the 2022/23 school year will be able to provide input through a link being emailed to families. Families must be fully registered to receive the link. This information is only for First-Grade families for the 2022/23 school year.
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, administrators, and specialists. At Willow Grove, we take this process very seriously. The process for class list creation is as follows:
- Teachers reflect on the social and academic needs of each of their current students while recording pertinent information to assist in the decision-making process.
- Grade level teachers, the principal, specials area teachers, and specialists meet together to form class lists that are balanced in terms of academic, social, and emotional needs as well as considering student relationships. This is no easy task and often takes several collaborative discussions. Our dedicated team of educators considers each child’s personality, academic needs, friendship patterns, etc. as they make a recommendation for each individual child. A draft of class lists is created while considering parent input.
- Class lists are then revised in August and changes are made to include students who move in or out of the district over the summer.
Willow Grove staff creates the class lists for incoming 1st graders to all District 96 elementary schools.
We strongly believe that this detailed and collaborative process creates learning environments that benefit all students. It is a delicate balancing act that takes much consideration and thought by professionals who know and care about your children. Our goal is to create balanced class lists that promote the success of each child. Please know that your child is placed in a classroom for very specific reasons. The process benefits all students. Because of the input and thought given by teachers, specialists, parents, and the principal, we are very reluctant to make changes once this process occurs, as removing or moving one child can disrupt the balance of an entire 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 29th. Please remember, while we welcome your input, specific teacher requests and friendship requests will not be considered due to the complexity of this process.
I cannot express enough how important it is that your thoughts are provided through this 2022-23 First Grade Parent Class Placement Input Survey. As you can imagine, we receive a lot of parent input, and verbal information and multiple emails are impossible to track. The information you provide in the survey will remain confidential.
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.