ELC Principal Newsletter
February 2021 Newsletter
Early Learning Center Update
Hybrid 2.0 has started safely and happily; it is a joy to see your children in the building. I also want to commend families that have continued distance learning for your partnership in learning virtually. Our staff have re-sectioned and changed their schedules to ensure we are providing quality in person and distance learning instruction.
I want to take this time to thank our teachers and staff for their positivity, flexibility and their ability to always have our students as their priority. We are a dedicated and hardworking staff and our efforts are always to see our students make progress in pre-academics, social emotional learning, play, speech articulation and language, and motor skills.
Thank you for your partnership,
Ms. Michelle
COVID-19: Illness Related / Travel / and Health Screener Frequently Asked Questions for Parents/Guardians
Mask Wearing
ELC Valentine's Day Celebration
Valentine’s Day Celebration - February 11th
Valentine's Day cards are allowed -- if a student hands out valentine's day cards they have to arrive at ELC by Monday, February 8th to quarantine before we hand them out to classmates (similar to what we do with books)
Arts, crafts, music or games encouraged - as much as possible our celebrations will remain educational
*No food, treats, eating or visitors will be allowed*
Literacy Tips from Dr. Becky Gill, D220 Director of Elementary Education
Parents & Caregivers,
The Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP), creators of our reading and writing programs, have developed numerous videos for families and caregivers to bring more joy into literacy learning. They draw on numerous years of experience and research in providing ideas for supporting reading and writing at home. We will highlight a few videos each month in upcoming newsletters, and encourage parents and caregivers to listen or watch these short videos. To access all videos created by TCRWP and additional resources, please refer to this link.
PreKinder - 1st Grade: Help Your Child Think Before, During, and After Reading: Amanda offers parents ways to support a child’s reading comprehension by emphasizing the value of rereading, suggesting conversations that can help before, during, and after rereading. This includes an example of Amanda reading with a child.
Self Certification
In Person families ---
Each day, please ensure that you have filled out the COVID self certification survey or the school office will call you to respond before students are allowed in their classrooms. Please ensure you fill this out daily or students will miss valuable instructional time.
Parent instructions (English & Spanish)
Short video
https://youtu.be/R9s7xHgMe7M (English)
https://youtu.be/9VOtPQzI910 (Spanish)
1-page PDF
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vqLl2nMAF710GqhLY5cKtTRyWln5eHrI/view (English)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/145idesFCKSRdzexJanWsS5mp-XN-wSqI/view (Spanish)
Illinois State Board of Education Chat2Learn Program
ELC is excited to provide our parents with the opportunity to enroll in a free parent text program called Chat2Learn! Chat2Learn will provide you with research-based guidance for daily conversations with your child that will build literacy, math and social skills.
Chat2Learn text messages start on Sunday, 12/13 and go through the end of June 2021. We encourage you to sign up early so you can take advantage of the whole program!
To sign up, simply fill out this parent enrollment form. Parents can choose to “opt out” or unenroll in the program at any time by texting “stop” once you start to receive text messages. If you have questions about Chat2Learn, contact biplab@uchicago.edu.
Important Dates Coming Up
February 1st: Kindergarten Round up at each Elementary School through zoom
February 11th: Valentine's Day Class Celebrations
February 12th: No School; Institute Day
February 15th: No School; Institute Day
March 12th: No school for Preschool; Screening Day. Dual Language Kindergarten still in session
March 17th: Parent Teacher Conferences in evening
March 18th: Parent Teacher Conferences in evening
March 19th: No School for all students
March 22-26th: Spring Break
April 2nd: Good Friday; No School for all students
Michelle Acosta, ELC Principal
Email: macosta@barrington220.org
Website: https://www.barrington220.org/elc
Location: 40 East Dundee Road, Barrington, IL, USA
Phone: 224-770-4300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ELC220/
Twitter: @MsAcosta220