Dear Families,
We had our final Kindergarten Dessert Day today! I was in lunches today and one student exclaimed, "Today is the perfect hot day for a cool treat!" with a big red popsicle in hand and an accompanying red mustache. I LOVE THIS AGE! Thank you to the PTO and all parents who supported this throughout the year.
Our Blastoff to Summer Countdown starts next week on Thursday, May 19th. Make sure you see it below so your child can participate in our theme days. We also have Field Day coming soon. Thank you to those who have volunteered. There are some notes about how to make sure your child is prepared for Field Day below, as well.
Enjoy this gorgeous weekend ahead!
Kindly,
Jenny Smith, Principal
NEW *Calendar Reminder*
Tuesday, May 17th is an early dismissal for students.
Blended AM dismisses at 10:00 AM
Kindergarten, Blended PM, and Structured dismiss at 2:00 PM
New *Blast off to Summer Countdown*
NEW *REGISTRATION & TECHNOLOGY*
If you have not enrolled your student(s) for the 22-23 school year and are planning on doing so, we ask that you do so as soon as possible. Accurate and up-to-date registration numbers impact our staffing plan and our ability to prepare for the 22-23 school year.
Students in Kindergarten through Grade 7 will keep their iPads over the summer. If you have enrolled your student(s) for the 22-23 school year already, your student’s iPad will continue to work over the summer.
If you have not enrolled your student(s) for the 22-23 school year and your student is not in summer school or ESY, your student’s iPad(s) will be deactivated after the last day of school and will not function until registration has been completed.
Once you have registered your student for the 22-23 school year, please email [email protected] and include your student’s enrollment information. The district technology department will verify enrollment and re-activate your student’s iPad(s).
NEW *Response from Ravinia Health Regarding Insurance Explanation of Benefits*
Due to a lack of funding, federal funds for COVID-19 testing and services have come to an end as previously communicated. This sudden change required Ravinia Health to accommodate its patients and clients through an exclusive approach.
In order to maintain public safety, Ravinia Health took extensive measures by collaborating with multiple healthcare entities to make sure COVID-19 testing can continue at no cost to the patients or organizations. Insurance companies are federally mandated to cover the costs of COVID-19 testing for all their policyholders and Ravinia Health is willing to cover the costs for all non-insured patients. Allowing every participant to continue testing at no cost.
We at Ravinia Health thank you for your cooperation and understand the confusion insured patients, parents, or staff members may have when they look at the explanation of benefits (or EOB) provided by their insurance company. We want to ensure there is no confusion and want to use this opportunity to remove any concerns you or any participant may have.
Insured patients that utilize our services may receive an EOB with outstanding balances, however, these notices can be disregarded. Below is an explanation of what you may see on an EOB to help you better understand the program and why no action is needed.
The 2 entities that can be found for these claims are Mobvilvax LLC and/or Alcoa Validations Inc. These entities are used for billing and insurance purposes by Ravinia Health.
Insured patients are covered at no out-of-pocket cost, copay, or deductible. The insured patients will not be charged for any testing service provided by Ravinia Health, as the insurance companies are mandated to cover the costs in full. However, in certain situations, insurance companies will partially cover the costs and expect us (Ravinia Health) to seek the remaining balance from the patients. In these situations, Ravinia Health will not pursue any of its patients for any sort of payment.
Again, the charges on a patient’s EOB by Alcoa Validations or Mobvilvax LLC are due to Ravinia Health’s testing services but should be covered by the insurance company. If not, they may be invoiced to the patient showing an outstanding balance. We want to assure you that Ravinia Health will not expect the patient to make any sort of payment and will also not be put to collections. The patients can disregard these notices.
NEW *Ticks*
As we enter into warmer weather and springtime, there has been a rise in tick sightings. Please take the time to review this information from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The link provides you with reminders on how to prevent ticks, check for ticks, and remove ticks should you find one.
Suggestions listed on how to prevent ticks specifically from IDPH include:
- Wear light-colored clothing (long sleeve shirts and long pants) so you can easily see ticks
- Use bug repellent that contains 20% or more DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 on exposed skin
- Walk in the center of trails
- Treat clothing with products containing permethrin (Do not apply permethrin to skin)
NEW *MAP Reports*
NWEA MAP Test results will be shared with parents via email on Tuesday, May 17th at 3:00pm.
NEW *Field Day - Thursday, May 26th*
We have Field Day on May 26th. Children spend a portion of their day outside. It is advised that you apply sunscreen in the morning. Children can also bring sunscreen, but we cannot apply it. Please practice having your child apply their own sunscreen. It is also advised that you dress your child knowing they'll be in the sun if you are concerned about too much sun, such as wearing a long sleeve, lightweight, light-colored shirt. Children can also wear hats and sunglasses. If the weather looks chilly, please also dress your children appropriately (layers are a great idea). Please have kids wear sneakers/gym shoes as they’ll be running a lot. No sandals, crocs, etc. No water bottles are necessary. We provide water for the kids to grab outside.
Thank you to our parent volunteers. Volunteers may not bring additional children or adults. This is also not a day for parent observers unless you are a volunteer, notified by Mrs. O'Gara. Any adult viewing the activities who are not an approved volunteer will be asked to leave, as this is a distraction to both students and staff.
NEW *Kindergarten Music Performances*
Here are the recordings for the kindergarten music performances that were last week. We had a very wide performance area to cover, so we apologize for the small-scale view. My best advice is to play the performance and have your kindergarten student perform live on your family room floor as you watch!
Sing into Spring 9:30: Fox, Giraffe, Panda, Rabbit and Turtle Classes
Sing into Spring 10:30: Dolphin, Elephant, Koala and Tiger Classes
Sing into Spring 1:15: Lion, Owl, Penguin, and Raccoon Classes
NEW *PTO UPDATES*
Save the date for Willow Grove’s End of Year Picnic on May 19th! The event will run from 6-7:30 p.m. Head over to Membership Toolkit to preorder meals from Culver’s and check out volunteer and donation opportunities. Kona Ice will be available for purchase the night of the picnic! They will donate 25% of their proceeds back to Willow Grove. There will be a DJ and other fun activities to celebrate the end of a great school year!
This week we had our last Dinner Night Out at Panera and our last Dessert Day. Thank you to all the families who have participated in these and any of our previous fundraisers! Your generosity and support make our PTO events possible and help us support the Willow Grove Staff!
CLICK HERE FOR OUR PTO BLOG FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE AND OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS!
REPEAT *PROOF OF RESIDENCY REMINDER - CURRENT KINDERGARTEN FAMILIES*
In KCSD 96, each year, parents of current Kindergartners and 5th graders are required to reprove their district residency.
To re-prove residency, parents are asked to provide three items to the Administrative Assistants at their child’s current school:
- Current monthly mortgage OR lease statement OR property tax bill OR Warranty Deed AND
- Current utility bill (e.g., water OR electric OR waste collection) AND
- This Proof of Residency Form (completed and signed)
Learn more information for other questions. Questions? Call or email Mel Lundeen, our Willow Grove Administrative Assistant.
REPEAT *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:
REPEAT *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.
REPEAT *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. 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!
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 *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 *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]
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.