Spirit Assembly Agenda

Ask your child about the assembly, here are some questions...

What is a silent cheer?  

Who is a bus captain?

What does the PRO/PAW Patrol do?

What are our Golden Goals?

What is our reading challenge?

Who dances to "Call Me Maybe?"

What does it sound like when the whole school sings together?

Upcoming Dates

We can't believe it is October already! Time to check your calendar...

Here are some important October dates:  

10/5 - No School - District Institute Day We will be working with neighboring districts as a Consortium at Stevenson High School.  

10/8 - No School - Columbus Day

10/12 - First Grade Field Trip, Fireman Tony Visits, Dessert Day, and Cookie Dough Sale Ends

10/15 - The PTO Book Fair Begins Your child's teacher will share the classroom specifc schedule.

10/16 - 2nd Grade Math Night at Kildeer Elementary School For Parents Only

10/17 - Ice Cream Social and Bookfair All families are encouraged to attend! 

10/19 - Special Lunch

10/24 or 10/25 - 3rd Grade Field Trip

10/26 - Picture Re-takes

10/31 - Halloween Parade and Class Parties!

Fire Safety!

Our Cubs continue to practice being safe!  We had a fire drill Tuesday afternoon and everyone left the building quickly, quietly, and safely.  We are so proud of our students for being so responsible.  As we tell them, we practice so we know what to do in a true emergency.  We encourage you to practice a fire safety plan at home as well so that no tragedy strike any of our families.  

On October 12th, Fireman Tony, of the Countryside Fire Department, will be here to speak with every classroom about fire safety.  

Prevention is the best medicine!  

D96 SEL Book Talk!

Don't miss the opportunity to join parents across District 96 in reading selected chapters from the book Building Resilience in Children & Teens: Giving Kids Roots & Wings by Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg. Our school has multiple copies of this book available in our school office for parents to check out, read (selected chapters only, please), & return. This "reading assignment" addresses multiple Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies–essential social and emotional skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will help your child succeed. Parents and educators who already have read it say it is well written and well worth your time. 

Then, in November, working in collaboration with the D96 Parent-to-Parent Network, Student Services Director Kimberly Dahlem and Asst. Student Services Director Kim Lechner will lead a discussion of selected chapters of the book (approx. 80 pp.), which discuss resilience & stress, competence & confidence, character, and more. That book talk will take place at Ivy Hall Elementary School in the "Mat Room" on Tues., Nov. 13, at 9:30 a.m.

Books are available for you to check out, read, and return now through Nov. 12. I hope you will sign out a copy from our school office and join this SEL book study as we work together to give our students "roots and wings."

Did you hear your child say, “CBM and MAZE?”

Students in grades one through five will be administered an assessment call a Curriculum Based Measure (CBM). CBMs measure reading rate and accurately a child can read short grade level passages. Students in grades two through five will also be given an assessment called the MAZE, which analyzes a child’s reading comprehension. Both of these assessments, in addition to the Measures of Academic Performance assessment (MAP) and classroom measures, will be used to tailor instruction for your child. Your child’s teacher will be happy to share these results with you during parent teacher conferences.

ISAT (from Spring 2012) and MAP (from Fall 2012) Results

Students' spring 2012 ISAT (Grades 4-5) and fall 2012 MAP results for ALL GRADES will be mailed home on Thursday, October 4th.  Please be on the lookout for these envelopes.

No School

This is just a reminder that there is NO SCHOOL next Wednesday, September 26^th!

Country Meadows Celebrates!

This week, the staff at Country Meadows would love to celebrate the students!  Not only are they learning a tremendous amount as evidenced by the first round of MAP assessments, but they also did a phenomenal job during our Hard Lockdown Drill (ask your student what this means).  

All 426 boys and girls were completely out of sight within seconds and made no noise.  Had there been an intruder in our school, all students would have been safe thanks to their quick thinking and our teacher leadership!  Our School Resource Officer, Janet Freeman, from the Buffalo Grove Police Department and I were amazingly impressed!  Way to go CM students!  

Also, I would like to add a huge thank you to CM teachers for caring so much about our students.  It truly shows through your thoughtful modeling.  

Sign-In Late Students

If your child is dropped off at school late and needs to enter through the front door, you need to also come into school to sign your child in just as if a child were returning from a doctor’s visit.  This tells us that you knew where your student was at that time.  Thank you for working with us to keep track of all students during the school day!

While we are on the subject, I’m going to be the reminder police again… 

Timeliness is extremely important to your child's education.  Please understand that being tardy significantly impacts our building routines for attendance, lunch-counts, etc.  Most importantly, being tardy impacts student learning.  A child coming in late must catch up to the happenings in the classroom, also causing a disruption for other students.  At Country Meadows, learning begins immediately at 8:25.  Please help create respectful habits for your children by establishing morning routines that assure a timely arrival.  Students should be in our building by 8:20 when the first bell rings to signal our time to unpack, get settled, and handle communication from home.  Our tardy bell rings at 8:25.  Thank you for your support.