The Walden Weekly

Dear Walden Families,

Welcome back, Walden Wildcats! I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break last week! Whether you traveled or stayed local, hopefully it was a fun, relaxing, and enjoyable week.

We hope you are able to tune into the Zoom Webinar taking place this evening at 7pm with Dr. Doug Bolton. The information and link are below. I highly recommend this learning opportunity for parents. I have heard Dr. Bolton speak in the past and he is wonderful!

As a reminder, there is no school tomorrow, for Good Friday. Enjoy the nice long weekend and we'll see you back on Monday!

-Stephanie Strenger

Walden Philanthropy Fair

Save the date for our Philanthropy Club Fair on May 23rd after school from 3:30-4:30! Students will be selling treats, crafts, and all sorts of fun things to help raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. More information on how students can apply to sell goods at the fair will be coming soon. We're so excited to help support a great cause!

- The Philanthropy Club

Upcoming Erin's Law Presentations in DPS109

Erin’s Law (House Bill 6193) was signed by Governor Pat Quinn on January 24, 2013. This law requires schools to implement an age-appropriate sexual assault and abuse awareness and prevention curriculum for grades Pre-K through 12. District 109 partners with Childhood Victories, Inc., an organization founded by Victor Pacini who is a motivational speaker and a survivor of sexual abuse. Speakers from Childhood Victories, Inc. provide programming for our students that teaches them basic skills to keep them safe from dangerous or abusive situations. The program, Be Seen and Heard 2.0, is developmentally appropriate, interactive, aligned with learning standards, and will cover the following topics:

Distinguishing safe from unsafe touches
Safety rules at home and school
Saying “NO”
Secrets
It’s not the child’s fault if someone touches them
Telling a trusted adult

The staff from Childhood Victories, Inc. will be presenting to our elementary students on the following dates:

Wilmot: Wednesday, April 26th
South Park: Wednesday, April 26th
Walden: Wednesday, April 19th
Kipling: Wednesday, April 19th

Parents can view Victor Pacini’s parent video to preview the concepts of the Be Seen and Heard 2.0 program.

Requests to Opt-Out: If you prefer that your child opt-out of this prevention education session, please email your child’s principal by Friday, April 14. Please also feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions or concerns.

Walden Showcase Night - May 4 (2nd Posting)

As shared previously, we will be hosting a Showcase Night on May 4th from 5:00-7:00. Please save the date for this fun event!

Families are invited to attend an event to showcase our learning! Classroom will be open and teachers will be present for a great event. All Specials teachers will be in the lunchroom sharing some fun activities with families as well. The purpose of this event is to open our school doors and share some of the wonderful things that students have been learning and experiencing with our parents. It will be an open house format, so you do not need to attend for the entire time, unless you'd like to! We look forward to seeing you there!

Illinois Assessment of Readiness (3rd-5th Grades Only)

Students across the district in grades 3 through 8 will be participating in the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) in English/Language Arts & Mathematics between April 3rd and April 24th.

This state assessment helps us understand how students are growing academically year to year, while also providing an achievement comparison to grade-level peers across the state. By measuring both mastery of the Illinois Learning Standards and the College and Career Ready benchmarks of the PSAT and SAT, the IAR is also designed to help prepare students for success in high school and beyond. The overall performance of each school, by grade, also impacts our designation, which is reported on the Illinois School Report Card.

Walden students will be taking the IAR assessment from April 12-14.

If you have questions about the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, please let me know. As always, we encourage our students to do their best and appreciate your continued partnership.