Important Future Dates

Hi Families - 

I've had some questions about upcoming dates and important information coming your way.  

To the parents of 5th graders, middle school placement information will be mailed by the week June 11th.  

To the parents of kiddos returning to CM, classroom teacher information will be mailed on or around August 15th.  Meet the Teacher will be hosted on August 21st.  The first half day of school is the 22nd!

Stay tuned for more specific information on times throughout the summer!

Also, don't forget to scroll down for other information that has been recently posted.  

Thank You!

Some Cool Things Kids Did This Week!

On Wednesday night, the Country Meadows Singers (4th and 5th Graders) and the Rhythm Band (2nd, 3rd, and 4th Graders) performed for beaming parents and siblings!  They did an AMAZING job, have learned so much this year, and are unbelievably talented.  At the performance, some 4th and 5th graders dazzled the audience by performing the music to "Firework" by Katy Perry on iPads!  That was definitely a first for Country Meadows and really cool!  


Also on Wednesday, we hosted a Fire Drill!  The boys and girls of Country Meadows evacuated in less than a minute.  We know that they would be safe if there was a true emergency.  


The Fire Department brought "The Smoke House" to Country Meadows so the 4th grade students could practice evacuating a home in the event of a fire.  It is so important that families have escape plans and children know what to do in an emergency.  We would never want anyone to get hurt in a fire.  As we tell the kids, if we practice what to do if there's an emergency, we can automatically know how to respond when a situation arises. 


The Future Country Meadows Cubs paid us a visit on Thursday!  The first graders that will be starting next year toured the school, participated in art-music-PE-LRC, and saw a movie about the first day of school.  They were so lucky to bring home 2 CM pencils and a backpack tag to decorate their backpacks for the first day of school.  


Finally, everyone had an awesome time at the Family Picnic despite the rain.  I love that a little bit of weather does not stop the CM Community from having a great time! 


With ABC Countdown still shaking and many great experiences coming up next week (yearbook signing, field trips, field day, and more!), school is still the coolest place to be!  

Thank you for your patience with the weather!

It's true, we cannot control the weather.  However, I would like to thank you for making our inside family picnic amazing, thank the third graders for being troopers on the field trip, and thank the whole school for being so understanding about moving Field Day!  It's funny how the weather can go from high 90's to the low 50's...only in the Chicagoland area.  


Here's to a continued fun end of the school year!  

Last Chance for a Yearbook!

We have a few extra yearbooks for sale.  If you did not purchase one for your child and wish to have one, please send a check made out to the Country Meadows PTO for $21 to the main office by Monday, June 4th.  Please indicate your child's name and grade.  Label the envelope Allison Hertzberg/Yearbook Committee.  If you need additional information please contact jkalbhen@gmail.com.  

Half Day Today!

There will be more fun photos to come, this is just the first that I received.  Today, the entire school surprised Mrs. Frisch by wearing PIG NOSES to an end of the year celebration assembly!  Ask your child about all of these things that we did today:

1.  The 5th Band led us in singing the school song.

2.  Ms. Fishman and Mrs. Leonard, along with the entire CM Staff rapped for the whole school!

3.  Each club was announced and we celebrated the students that participated:

Post Office

PRO PATROL

1st and 2nd Spanish Club

3rd 4th and 5th Spanish Club

4th and 5th Grade After School Sports

3rd Grade After School Sports

PE announcements/winners

5th Grade Band 

4th and 5th Orchestra

4th and 5th Grade Chorus

3rd-5th Grade Young Composers

2nd-5th Grade Rhythm Band

1st-5th Grade Art Club

4. The Silich Boys gave a heartfelt speech on behalf of the students of Country Meadows to Mrs. Frisch.

5. The Chorus sang two songs to Mrs. Frisch, one of which was had very special words that were written for Mrs. Frisch.

6. The whole school participated in a video about the goals we accomplished this year! It was wonderful!

7. Then, we all went outside together to READ for R day!

It was a wonderful day and we hope your child shares all of the fun with you!

Friday, May 18th

Dear Country Meadows’ Families –

Mustache Day was hilarious!  Thank you for your continued participation and support as we count down the rest of the school year.  Take a look at this week’s Principal’s Message with information about a few important staffing changes for the upcoming school year.  Also, Celebrate Learning is Wednesday night, for all of the details click here to be linked to the Principal’s Message.

The PTO is still need of volunteers for Family Picnic, Thurs, May 31st, 6-8 pm. Please sign up to help!  Click here for the weekly PTO newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask!

My best -

Katie Schneider


Click below for the details about: 

Celebrate Learning!

Important Staffing Update for Next Year!

Hello Families -


I would like to take a few moments of your time to share important information about staffing for the upcoming school year. 


We are thrilled to be sharing Kathy Angel's expertise with Ivy Hall Elementary School.  This year, Mrs. Angel has been an amazing addition to the Country Meadows staff and has worked wonderfully with Nancy Wielondek in the Learning Center.  Mrs. Angel has instructed each child in the school all year and also facilitated their learning in the iLab.  She is a passionate literacy instructor, values technology, and is a gifted "differentiationist" never neglecting to meet the needs of each child.  Next year, she will work with the staff and students at Ivy Hall as the Extended Learning Specialist.  We will miss her very much but know she has many gifts to share with Ivy Hall as well.  


Filling Mrs. Angel's role, Louise Schmidt will be moving from her role as first grade teacher to become the ICT Literacy Director.  Mrs. Schmidt is a compassionate person, natural coach, and relates well to all children encouraging them to learn.  We are thrilled that she will get to work with each child at Country Meadows.  During the times that she is not delivering direct instruction, she will be supporting teacher teams and individual teachers in a coaching role as another layer of instructional support to continue to implement the very best practices to enhance student learning.  Both Mrs. Schmidt and the entire staff at Country Meadows are thrilled to work with Mrs. Schmidt in this new capacity.  


Finally, Lauren Backe, current fifth grade teacher, will become our Literacy Coach.  Mrs. Backe will work with grade level teams and individual staff members supporting literacy practices.  She is a remarkable reading teacher and has shown tremendous student success over the years.  Further, she is a talented writing instructor and will provide great support to classroom teachers as we work to implement the Common Core Learning Standards in the area of writing.  Mrs. Backe is a fabulous collaborator and incredibly knowledgeable in the area of literacy.  She and the staff at Country Meadows have already been planning behind the scenes for support during the upcoming school year!


Thank you for your continued support of the entire staff.  We think of your children as our own and truly want to stop at nothing to provide them the very best educational experiences.  We are thrilled that we have the opportunity to impact all learners with the incredible talents of these professionals.  


Have a wonderful weekend -


Katie Schneider
Principal

Country Meadows Art Show!

Hi Families -

Please join us for the first Country Meadows Art Show.  Conveniently hosted the same night as Celebrate Learning, we cannot wait for you to cruise our hallways and enjoy the beautiful creations of all our students from this school year!

Artwork will proudly be displayed from 7-8pm on May 23rd!

Thank you in advance for coming!

Mark your calendars!

- 5/16 - Orchestra Concert Gr. 4-8 7pm
- 5/17 - Band Concert Gr. 5-8 7pm
- 5/18 - Online Registration Due for 2012/2013 school year
- 5/18 - Special Lunch - Culvers
- 5/23 - 5th Gr. Day at WL during the school day
- 5/23 - Woodlawn Orchestra Tour for 3rd, 4th and 5th Graders during the school day
- 5/23 - Families are invited to Celebrate Learning at 6:30pm for the 2nd and 3rd grade concert 

then, please visit you child's classroom from 7pm to 8pm.

- 5/25 - Last day for Book Check-out
- 5/25 - Half Day of School/Teacher Inservice
- 5/28 - NO SCHOOL/Memorial Day
- 5/30 - 4th Gr Fireman Tony Smoke Trailer
- 5/31 - Kindergartners visit CM in the morning!!!
- 5/31 - Family Picnic 6-8pm
- 5/31 - 3rd Grade Field Trip on a trolley
- 6/1 -  Field Day with Hotdog lunch from the PTO
- 6/1 - All library books need to be returned
- 6/4 -  Field Day Rain Date
- 6/5 - 4th Gr. Donley’s Wild West Field Trip
- 6/5 - 2nd grade field trip to the Brookfield Zoo
- 6/7 - LAST DAY - 1 hr.  

Did you know...

...there is a wonderful picnic area that is on an old farm foundation in between the school driveway and Gilmer Road?  If you did not know, definitely check it out!  

Thank you to the Cub Scout Pack 964 Den 10 for giving a number of hours to cleaning up this area so everyone can enjoy the space!  

We would specifically love to thank the following Scouts for their time and dedication:

Bryson Bello

Josh Bernstein

Braden Burns

Jack Chiasson

Riley Hermes

Tyler Julian

Alex Liu

Seth Morrow

Ben Mun

Bryan Park

Mario Petrella

Drew Schneider

Michael Silverman

Aeddon Woods

Bennett Woods

Please Register! It helps us make plans for next school year!

Have you registered your student for the 2012-2013 school year? Students–even those currently enrolled and returning–must be registered annually. In just one week it will cost families $20 more per student to register, so don't delay!If you missed the registration email(s) that include(s) the electronic link you will need to register your student(s), please call the public information coordinator at 847.459.4260, ext. 7722, as soon as possible.

Celebrate Learning!

Mark you calendar for May 23rd from 7-8 to visit our Open House to celebrate all of the incredible learning from this year!  


The 2nd and 3rd graders will be performing that night at 6:30pm as well.  You are invited to attend!  

Is Registration still on the to-do list?

Student registration for the 2012-2013 school year is happening online now. Note that returning students–as well as those new to District 96–must be registered for the upcoming school year. In April, the District sent emails including registration links and instructions. If you missed the email(s), please call the public information coordinator at 847.459.4260, ext. 7722, as soon as possible. Don't delay–families who register by midnight on Friday, May 18, will save $20 per student.

Supporting Your Readers!

The Building Readers newsletter has practical suggestions for families supporting elementary readers. See the MAY 2012 BUILDING READERS newsletter.

THANK YOU TO THE PTO!!!!

This is the biggest thank you in the world to the PTO on behalf of the staff at Country Meadows!  


Thank you, thank you for making us feel like kings and queens during staff appreciation week. All of your treats (and there have been so many) are amazing.  We could not feel more honored, appreciative, and thrilled. 


Mostly, we really want to express how lucky we are to work with you and your families.  Truly, this appreciation week is not necessary (but we do love it!).  Our gift is working with your kiddos and you each day.  You make "work" never feel like work.  We cannot help but love your kids and families.  


Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for putting so much time, energy, effort, thought and care into this week.  Every last detail is sincerely appreciated and will not ever be forgotten!  


Thank you!

PLC Visit

Hello Families -


Today, we had a wonderful time hosting 30 visitors from the state of Wisconsin!  The group of educators learned from the entire staff at Country Meadows about our practices as a Professional Learning Community.  Each team devoted part of their collaborative team time to sharing practices with these educators.  Topics included:  targets based on the Common Core, Team Read, interventions, extensions, assessment, the new report card, how teams work together to meet the needs of students through mix-ups, our school-wide focus on social emotional learning, and so much more!  They were amazed and impressed by the intense collaboration, focus on learning, and use of student assessment data to differentiate to meet the needs of each child!  


It is always such a celebration for our staff to be able to reflect on practices with outside eyes.  We are reminded that this school and district is truly unique.  We are so lucky to work with such a great community and phenomenal (I think the best!) team of educators!  


If your child comes home talking about visitors at school, they were here to learn from the amazing model this team sets!  


Here are some of the comments the visitors left: 
-Kuddos to all of you for implementing a great program with professionalism and LOVE for the kiddos.  Keep it up!
-We would love to get to where you are!
-Your students are so respectful and courteous.  
-I wish my own kids could go to school here!
-All of the grade levels are so willing to share and explain things to us!  
-There is a strong and consistent message across all grade levels - AMAZING!  
-Thank you for being so welcoming and allowing us to learn and ask questions!  
-Thank you to the 4th grade for teaching us how develop a CFA (common formative assessment).
-Thank you to the "Specials" teachers for sharing with us during their lunch.
-You all seem to do a wonderful job of identifying where "tweaks" are needed in your practices. Great job continuously looking at your practice!
-Great job presenting and answering the TOUGH questions. 
-I think you all do a fantastic job with your students.  We can only aspire to be where you are!
-Wow!  I love ALL of the student work displayed in the hallways!  Very inviting!
-Love the Team Read in 1st Grade!
-Your whole school atmosphere is so inviting!
-I was very glad to see the PLC in action and how much you talked about students and grouping kids.
-Every staff member is knowledgeable about the story as a school!  
-Your enthusiasm for what you are doing is impressive!  
-Wow!  My head is spinning with all the great things we saw!
-You "extended" my expectations!
-The staff is very professional.
-I can tell that you all eat, breathe, and sleep education!