Willow Grove Principal's Message ~ March 14, 2025

Dear Families,

What a fantastic time we had at Pizza Bingo Night! A huge thank you to our incredible PTO for organizing such a fun and memorable event. It was wonderful to see so many families come together, enjoying the night and celebrating our amazing students. We know how much effort goes into planning and running this event, and we truly appreciate our PTO and volunteers for making it all happen. Thank you to everyone who participated—your generosity helps support Willow Grove, creating meaningful experiences for our students now and in the future!

For families who won Bingo silent auction experiences like Teacher Helper, Principal Helper, Buddy Meet & Greet, and more—we’ll be reaching out after Spring Break with details. These special experiences are scheduled as a school, so most take place on the same day. Stay tuned for more information!

We’re also looking forward to conferences next week! This is such a valuable time to connect and celebrate your child’s growth. Our teachers have been working hard to prepare for these meetings and are excited to share your child's progress with you.

We're so close! Just one final push, and we’ll reach our 20% goal on the Parent 5 Essentials Survey. The link is included below—we truly appreciate your support! If we don’t hit 20%, we won’t have access to the data, and your feedback is essential in helping us grow and improve. Thank you!

Best,
Jenny Smith, Principal

Upcoming Dates & Helpful Resources

MARCH

• March 17-20 - Willow Grove Spirit Week! (details below)

• Thursday, March 20 - EARLY RELEASE DAY - Spring Family/Educator Conferences 

  • Kindergarten (including Structured Kindergarten): 8:40 AM - 2:05 PM. 

  • Blended Early Childhood/ECSE AM: 8:40 AM - 10:10 AM. 

  • Blended Early Childhood PM: 12:35 PM - 2:05 PM. 

  • Early Childhood Structured Learning Classroom: 8:40 AM - 2:05 PM.

• Friday, March 21 - NO SCHOOL - Spring Family/Educator Conferences 

• Monday, March 24-28 - NO SCHOOL - Spring Break 

• Monday, March 31 - School resumes

APRIL

• Tuesday, April 1 - NO SCHOOL - Institute/Election Day

• Thursday, April 17 - HALF-DAY - School Improvement Day

  • Kindergarten (including Structured Kindergarten) and Early Childhood Structured: 8:40 AM - 11:45 AM. 

  • Pre-K Blended Early Childhood/ECSE: Blended/ECSE AM and PM alternate attendance days on district half-days (or balance with severe weather day needs). Even if your child attends PM, if it is a district half-day, they will attend during our AM hours. PM attends on Friday, February 14th (no AM students). Hours are 8:40 AM - 11:10 AM. Parent drop-off begins at 8:25 AM. 

• Friday, April 18 - NO SCHOOL - District Holiday

• Tuesday, April 22 - EARLY RELEASE DAY

  • Kindergarten (including Structured Kindergarten): 8:40 AM - 2:05 PM. 

  • Blended Early Childhood/ECSE AM: 8:40 AM - 10:10 AM. 

  • Blended Early Childhood PM: 12:35 PM - 2:05 PM. 

  • Early Childhood Structured Learning Classroom: 8:40 AM - 2:05 PM.

2024-25 School Year Calendar & Hours

Virtual Backpack

PTO Blog

NEW *Bears that Care Club Session 3 Enrolling NOW!*

Willow Grove is excited to announce the third and final session of our Bears That Care Club! This club will meet once a week and will center around our monthly Bears That Care themes. Students will participate in engaging, hands-on activities that will foster skills in areas such as friendship, working together, and peer leadership as they learn to be Willow Grove Bears that show kindness, respect, and responsibility.

Bears That Care Club will be led by Mrs. Felleson, a kindergarten teacher at Willow Grove, and will meet weekly on Wednesdays from 3:05–4:00 PM, running from April 9 through May 21.

Spots are limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to children who have not yet participated in the previous two sessions. While those who have already attended are welcome to sign up, please note that the content will remain the same. Parents will receive an email confirming their child's enrollment or notifying them if all spots have been filled.

Please complete THIS FORM by April 2nd if your child is interested in being part of our Willow Grove Bears That Care Club! 

NEW *5Essentials for Parents*

It's a race against the clock and Kildeer is our first school to hit our GOAL of 20%! Each school must have 20% of its parent population take the short 5Essentials Survey by March 28th-- in order to receive their results. These results are crucial as all KCSD96 schools use this data for planning for the coming school years. Parents and guardians, please take 5 minutes of your time to complete this survey. Parent identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.

Please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ and select the appropriate survey to begin. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact UChicago Impact Survey Support at 1-866-440-1874 or [email protected].

Here are the parent response rates for schools in Kildeer Countryside CCSD 96:
Country Meadows Elem School: 5%
Ivy Hall Elem School: 4%
Kildeer Countryside Elem School: 22%
Prairie Elem School-Buffalo Grove: 5%
Twin Groves Middle School: 1%
Willow Grove Early Learning Center: 19%
Woodlawn Middle School: 3%

NEW *PTO UPDATES*

Information about:

• 2025-26 Kindergarten Parents - Join our Facebook Group!
• Dineout Days - Panera - March 26
• End-of-Year Picnic - May 22
• Yearbook Orders Close on March 31
• 2025-26 Willow Grove PTO Board Support Needed

Read the PTO Blog HERE!

REPEAT *School Spirit Week - March 17-20*

REPEAT *Kindergarten Save the Date - Music Performance on Friday, May 9*

We are looking ahead at our calendars to prepare for the kindergarten music performance. This event celebrates our kindergarten students as they near the end of their school year. We ask that you save the date of Friday, May 9th. The kindergarten music performance is during the school day and the show is about 30 minutes in length. The following are the times for each classroom's performance: 

9:15-9:45 - Chappas, Zanardo, Crescenti, Dyer, Felleson
10:15-10:45 - Preskill, Shannon, Casas-Maya, Derry, Rabin
1:15-1:45- Anderson, Hibbs, Santucci, Melamed, Wisneski

REPEAT *APRIL 17 - District Half-Day*

KCSD96 community, please note that there has been a 24-25 school calendar that has been circulating that erroneously left off a Half Day in April. Please know, there will be a Half Day for students on April 17th. This half-day was included in the 24-25 calendar that was approved and adopted by the Board of Education prior to the start of the school year.

Half-Day Schedule for April 17th: 

• Pre-K Blended Early Childhood/ECSE: Blended/ECSE AM and PM alternate attendance days on district half-days. Even if your child attends PM, if it is a district half-day, they will attend AM hours. PM attends on Thursday, April 17th (no AM students). Hours are 8:40 AM - 11:10 AM. Parent drop-off begins at 8:25 AM.
• Kindergarten (including Structured Kindergarten) and Early Childhood Structured: 8:40 AM - 11:45 AM. 
• Elementary Schools (Grades 1-5): 8:20 am - 11:45 am. 
• Middle Schools (Grades 6-8): 7:45 am - 11:10 am

If you like to download the calendars and keep them in your home, we kindly ask that you download the link below and print it. It is important that families plan for the upcoming Half-Day accordingly. Thank you!

UPDATED 2024-25 DISTRICT CALENDAR

REPEAT: *Family Educator Conferences Sign-Ups Begin March 6th*

Family/Educator Conferences are right around the corner! Once again, we are using Meet the Teacher as our scheduling platform for conferences on Thursday, March 20th (5:00-8:30) and Friday, March 21st (10:00-1:30). Sign ups will open at 3pm March 6th.

All conferences are virtual via Meet the Teacher’s platform unless you contact the staff members and notify them.

• Elementary school families: When you open the Meet the Teacher platform, you will see your child's classroom teacher in the list of available conference sign-ups as well as some specials teachers, special education teachers, and related service providers if your child sees them during a school day.
• Middle school families: When you open the Meet the Teacher platform, you will see one of your child's core teachers in the list of available conference sign-ups as well as exploratory teachers, special education teachers, and related service providers if your child sees them during a school day.

Please sign-up for a conference with any staff member listed who you would like to see. Meet the Teacher Conference Sign-Up will close at 4:00 pm on Monday, March 17th. After that, you must contact the building administrative assistant at the school.

Click on the link below to sign in to Meet the Teacher or copy and paste it into a browser: https://kildeerdistrict96.meettheteacher.com

For those who may be trying to sign-up for a conference using a mobile device, please know that you may encounter issues navigating the platform. For best results, it is recommended that you try to access the link on a laptop or computer.

Families with multiple students in KCSD96 may experience issues when trying to switch between sign-ups. To mitigate any problems, please try using a different browser or logging out between sign-ups.

REPEAT *March 4th Student Registration Opens*

Student registration for the 2025-26 school year opens on March 4th. Parents and guardians of new Kindergarten students (who have submitted all required documents) and returning KCSD96 students will be emailed a link to register their child for the 2025-26 school year.

Complete registration by April 15 to receive a $20 Early-Bird discount. Families with returning students who register after April 15 will pay the standard registration fee. 

Registering early helps us to plan for the upcoming school year.

Registration fees paid by April 15 for the 2025-26 school year are:

• Early Childhood Blended Tuition: $2,870 (or $335.07 monthly)
• Kindergarten: $90
• Grades 1-4: $110
• Grade 5: $120
• Grades 6-8: $135

Families new to District 96 can find more registration information here: https://www.kcsd96.org/about/registration

If you have any registration questions, please contact [email protected].

REPEAT *Kindergarten Registration*

Spread the word– Kildeer Countryside School District 96 is excited to welcome kindergarteners for the 2025–2026 school year! To ensure all students have the opportunity to build a strong and consistent educational foundation, children who are five years old on or before September 1st of a given school year will be enrolled in Kindergarten. Children who are six years old on or before September 1st of a given school year will be enrolled in first grade. In addition to the information below, we have more details on our website.

Registration Timeline:

• STARTING NOW: Begin the registration process by emailing all required documents to Cristina Castro, Administrative Assistant at Willow Grove Early Learning Center, at [email protected]. If you have a student currently enrolled in Pre-K at Willow Grove, you do not need to resubmit these documents.
• March 4, 2025: The district will send online registration links to families with approved documents.
• March 18, 2025: Dual Language Program Virtual Parent Night from 6-6:30pm. This is for parents of incoming Kindergarten students who are interested in learning more about the program. Meeting link to be provided.
• April 15, 2025: Early Bird Discount Ends for Registration. Dual Language Lottery due date.
• April 29, 2025: Virtual Dual Language Lottery at 5pm. Meeting link to be provided.
• April 30, 2025: Complete registration by this date to attend the Kindergarten Kick-Off event at Willow Grove Early Learning Center. Registered families get the sign-up right away once they are fully registered.
• May 14, 2025: Kindergarten Kickoff will be held at Willow Grove. This event is sign-up only for families who are fully registered by April 30. Students will receive a free t-shirt!

Required Documents:

• Child's birth certificate, passport, or visa
• Parent/guardian driver's license or passport
• Recent (within 30 days) mortgage statement, signed lease, or property tax bill
• Recent (within 30 days) utility bill
• Completed Enrollment Form, Residency Form, and Home Language Survey (available in multiple languages)

Please review the Health Requirements and submit the necessary health forms by the specified due dates.

For questions, contact Cristina Castro at [email protected] or call (847) 541-3660.

REPEAT *Incoming Kindergarten Dual Language Parent Night Opportunity

Interested in having your child obtain a bilingual education? The KCSD96 Spanish/English Dual Language Program is a unique and enriching opportunity in our region-- providing an opportunity for students to develop a deep academic proficiency in two languages. In the Dual Language Program, 50 percent of the academic curriculum is delivered in Spanish, and 50 percent of the academic curriculum is delivered in English.

If families are interested in the Spanish/English Dual Language Program Lottery, they must indicate so during the virtual registration process starting in March. The deadline is April 15th. The lottery will be hosted virtually on May 5th. For more information, please visit: https://www.kcsd96.org/curriculum/dual-language-lottery

KCSD96 will be hosting a Virtual Parent Night from 6 to 6:30 p.m. on March 18, 2025, for parents of incoming Kindergarten students who are interested in learning more about the Dual Language Program. To RSVP and receive the virtual meeting link, please complete this form.

REPEAT *Safety First at Drop-Off and Pick-Up*

We want to remind everyone of the importance of following our parking and pick-up/drop-off procedures to ensure safety for all:

• Cones at Willow Grove Parking Lot Entrances and Checker & Essington: These are in place to prevent parking that obstructs visibility and creates dangerous conditions. Please respect these cones and avoid parking in these areas.
• Crossing Safely: When parking on Checker, always use the crosswalk at our circle drive exit or walk behind the buses near the entrance. Please do not cross through bus traffic. In addition, a parent/guardian must escort children to the entrance—never let them walk alone.
• No U-Turns: U-turns in front of the school during high traffic times are unsafe and illegal. Police monitor this and may issue tickets.
• No Double Parking: Please find a safe parking spot. Double parking, which we have seen on Checker nearest our school entrance, blocks the roadway and is not safe. 
• Safe Traffic Signaling: Always use your blinker when pulling into or out of a spot.

Thank you for your kindness, patience, and commitment to safety. Together, we can ensure a smooth and secure drop-off and pick-up process.