Important Information to note:
- “Understanding Your Child’s Report Card” has been rescheduled for Wednesday, November 9th due to a holiday. This is a change from October 20th. This will be held at Prairie School (1530 Brandywyn Lane, Buffalo Grove at 6:30pm).
- We had a fire drill this week! The students did a great job. Ask your child about it.
- Picture Re-takes will be October 28th.
- Student reports from the Measure of Academic Progress as well as ISAT (for our 4th and 5th graders) came home on October 6th.
- We know that children enjoy celebrating their birthdays and sharing a treat with their friends. However, when a treat is provided that is not on the safe snack list, some children are left out of the celebration. Teachers and staff are also put in an uncomfortable position of having to tell children that their treat cannot be shared with their classmates. Snacks and treats need to be from the safe snack list, which includes many fun choices. Also, please know that baked goods including Dunkin Donuts are not considered safe.
- The PTO announced that there has been a change in the date for the Variety Show. The Variety Show will be April 10th. This is a change from the November date. For other PTO news, click here.
- Speaking of the Ice Cream Social, for the safety and enjoyment of all, please note that all children need to be with an adult at all times as there is no supervision provided for students. We want everyone to have a great time and enjoy the event. Thank you for your understanding!
Halloween is coming!
On October 31st, each classroom will have a Halloween Celebration as well as participate in a Halloween Parade. Students are so excited to celebrate. I love hearing about the costumes they have planned. We are planning for beautiful weather and genuinely hope that everyone has a safe and healthy Halloween that weekend.
As you being planning to create at home or costume shop for the perfect ensemble, here are the costume expectations so we can make sure that we have a wonderful pre-celebration that afternoon at Country Meadows! Times and routines for the parade and parties will follow in later newsletters. Thank you for your support in making this an outstanding celebration.
Costumes-
Students should bring costumes for the parade to school but costumes are not to be worn to school. The costume should be “kid friendly” so that each child may change into the costume independently after lunch. It’s recommended that students put costumes on over their clothes so they are changed quickly in their classrooms and do not need to fully change.
ANY HAIR COLOR OR MAKEUP MUST BE APPLIED BEFORE COMING TO SCHOOL…and we’d hope that if you do add color to hair or faces, it’s simple and does not distract anyone from learning for the day. Do not allow your child to bring make-up or hair color to school.
Costumes should be “kid friendly” in their content, too. NO MASKS, WEAPONS (real or fake!), BLOOD, SUPER SCARINESS, OR GENERAL ICKINESS should be a part of a costume. Also, we assume all costumes will follow our school dress code so NO BARE TUMMIES, please. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Revised Report Card and Student/Parent Feedback
I'd like to familiarize parents with new grading marks that you may see coming home on student work, which correspond to our new report card format. The purpose of the new reporting format is to clearly communicate student achievement of grade level specific learning targets and student work habits. Standards give students performance targets to aim for and offer teachers a basis for providing feedback that will help students achieve these standards. There are four categories by which student proficiency is reported:
• Extends (E): A small number of students will receive an E, indicating they are consistently extending (applying more depth) to grade level key concepts, processes, and skills.
• Meets (M): Students receiving an M are currently meeting grade level targets. This is the expectation for the majority of our students.
• Below (B): Students receiving a B are beginning to, and occasionally do, meet the standard. They produce below grade-level work that contains many errors and may need additional support at times to be successful.
• Warning (W): A W indicates that the student is not meeting the standard and has made little progress towards meeting the standard. The student regularly needs additional support and practice to show progress towards grade level expectations.
A change in plans, please join us on November 9th at 6:30 pm in the Ivy Hall gym for a District level parent information night on Understanding Your Child's New Report Card. This was previously scheduled for October 20th but has been changed due to a holiday.
