Arctic Blast
January 24th, 2023
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A Message From Our Principals
Dear families,
We have been celebrating so much here at Glacier Ridge.
- At the January D47 School Board meeting, we celebrated the growth of our 1st grade readers.
- During lunch recess, we celebrated readers who participated in our reading incentive with hot cocoa from our fabulous PTA.
- During our staff meeting, we celebrated our staff with milestone years of service in the district.
We hope you are also celebrating student success at home! New to our newsletter is the "Glacier Ridge PTA" section. Please scroll down to see how you can join our families in supporting our school.
-Dr. Gruper and Mrs. Reinhardt
MTSS
Our winter data review is underway! We have been celebrating the success of our students. Below is a timeline for reviewing our academic data and creating plans for differentiating and supporting the needs of our learners.
- Our progress monitoring reviews of data are taking place in our grade level team meetings through the week of January 23rd.
- Our planning for differentiating and supporting our students after the winter data reviews will take place the week of January 30th.
- Our groupings for differentiated learning beyond the classroom will start the week of February 6th.
PBIS - Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports
All classrooms will be working on specific expectations throughout the school each week at Glacier Ridge. Students will all spend time going over the expectations and engaging in discussions within the classroom to talk about what it looks like to be respectful, responsible and safe in all areas of the school. Here is the upcoming schedule of lessons:
- Week of:
- January 23 - Classroom
- January 30 - Cafeteria
- February 6 - Playground
- February 13 - Arrival / Dismissal
- February 20 - Hallway
- February 27 - Restroom
- March 6 - Bus
- March 13 - Field Trip / Assembly
Ask your child what it looks like to be respectful, responsible and safe within the classroom and help reiterate expectations for our Polar Bears! Click here to see the Classroom Behavior Matrix.
Polar Bear Players - Beauty and the Beast
If you need an extra copy of the January schedule click here . Please look over the schedule with your child so they know what rehearsals they need to be at. The February schedule will be coming out next week. Please continue to check our Beauty and the Beast Seesaw for updates and schedules. For any Polar Bear Players questions email Miss Wyman ewyman@d47.org
2023 5Essentials Survey
Starting today (January 24, 2023) parents, students (4th-12th grades) and educators across Illinois will have an opportunity to participate in the statewide Illinois 5Essentials Survey. On behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be administered online by UChicago Impact. The survey gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains. This survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of your child’s school. The 5Essentials survey window will be open from January 24, 2023 to March 31, 2023.
Parent Survey
The 5Essentials parent survey is intended to help school districts understand the conditions at each school and guide improvement. Parent identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will not be connected to their student(s). If at least 20 percent of families complete the survey, a parent supplement report will be generated for the district. To take the survey, visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/ and select the appropriate survey to begin. Families can submit one survey for each child.
Student Survey
District 47 4th-8th graders will take the survey at school. Student participants will be required to log in using their state student ID and birth date in order to complete the survey. Students’ identities will be completely confidential. Teachers or administrators do not see individual responses to survey questions and will only receive aggregated information, such as the total percentage of students who agree homework assignments help them learn the course material. If you do not want your child to take the survey, please fill out the opt-out form and have your child to return this sheet to their homeroom teacher by Friday, January 27, 2023. Thank you for your cooperation.
For more information about the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, or to view previous years’ Reports, please visit https://www.5-essentials.org/illinois. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact 5Essentials Client Services at 1-866-440-1874 or impact-surveys@uchicago.edu.
2023-2024 District Calendar
The 2023-2024 district calendar is now available and on our website in English and Spanish: https://www.d47.org/Page/1557.
Glacier Ridge Reads with Jasmine Warga
Glacier Ridge is having an author visit for families tonight, Jan. 24! Jasmine Warga is an author of two middle grade chapter books, Other Words For Home and A Rover's Story. Both will be at the Glacier Ridge Reads, please join us in the GR library!
- 6-6:45pm: author presentation
- 6:45-7:15pm: book check out, raffle, and robots
UPCOMING EVENTS
Watch for more information to come on these upcoming events:
- January 23rd - Penny War Challenge Begins (see below)
- January 24th- Glacier Ridge Reads 6:00-7:30
- January 25th - PTA Butter Braid Fundraiser Ends
- February 1st - Kindergarten Registration Open Online
- February 2nd - 100th Day of School
- February 3rd - Spirit Day (Jersey Day or rep your favorite team)
- February 3rd - Butter Braid Pick-up (Details to come)
Penny War Challenge
Student Council will be sponsoring a penny war change drive called "Creating Change" to support A to Z Literacy. This will run from 1/23-2/24. Grade-level winners will earn an extra recess! All the proceeds will be donated to A to Z Literacy, a non- profit literacy organization that supports students in IL and Zambia, Africa. Click this link to find out more about A to Z Literacy. Thank you in advance for your support!
Community Service Club
It is wonderful to see our Polar Bears continuing to work together for the betterment of the Glacier Ridge community and the community outside our doors. A big thank you to everyone who has participated. This month we spruced up two Little Free Libraries as well as added a third location for free books inside our school. The students did a great job choosing which books they wanted to use, how they wanted to categorize them, and making signs to bring more attention to them. They really promoted reading and a Community of Readers.
In February, A Community of Kindness will be the theme for our event. On Tuesday, February 7th from 3:30 - 5:00, our K-5 students will be painting rocks with messages of kindness to distribute in our community to remind everyone about the importance of being kind to others. We will also be doing a project that will share that message with our school community in a special way. If your child is interested in joining us, please fill out this Google Form to let us know they will be there.
New Visitor Protocol (effective January 11, 2023)
The safety of our students and staff remains a top priority for District 47. As a result of a safety audit done by an outside consultant in August, District 47 is implementing an additional safety measure related to visitor management effective immediately. All visitors and volunteers (including those who’ve had their ID scanned in Raptor) will be required to bring their drivers license or state ID when visiting a school building. In addition, individuals will be required to leave their ID with the main office in exchange for a visitor lanyard. When leaving the building, visitors must return to the main office to drop off their lanyard and pick up their ID. This added layer of security ensures that visitor lanyards are kept in the building and do not get circulated in the community and also ensures everyone in the building is accounted for in the case of an emergency. Should you have any questions or concerns about this additional security measure, please contact Gary Snep, Director of School Safety, at gsnep@d47.org. Thank you for helping to keep our schools safe!
2023-24 Online Kindergarten Registration
District 47 online kindergarten registration for the 2023-24 school year will begin February 6, 2023. At that time, families can register their incoming kindergartener by completing the steps on the District 47 website at www.d47.org/kindergarten. Early registration helps with adequate staffing, home school placement, and appropriate class size. See below for additional information.
A child must turn 5 years old on or before September 1, 2023 to be eligible for kindergarten. Information about early entrance to kindergarten is posted on the D47 website.
Families interested in District 47’s dual language program for their incoming kindergartener MUST attend an informational meeting in February 2023 if they do not already have a sibling enrolled in the program. Meetings will be held in-person and via Zoom on 2/2 at 9:15 a.m.; 2/7 at 5:30 p.m.; and 2/15 at 6 p.m. For more information, visit the D47 website at www.d47.org/duallanguage.
Current Wehde students eligible for kindergarten will follow a separate process for kindergarten registration and will receive an email the second week of January.
Fees and student physical/immunization forms are not due at the time of registration.
Borrowed Clothing
We are still missing quite a few brand new black sweatpants recently purchased by our school. If your student has borrowed clothing from the health office please wash the item and return it as soon as possible so that it may be available for another student to borrow. Thank you.
Morning Arrival
To assist with the traffic in the morning, it would be extremely helpful for car riders to be dropped off between 8:30 and 8:45.
Guidelines for Absences
Cold and Winter Weather Preparedness
During these very cold days please be sure your child comes to school dressed with warm clothing, hats, gloves, scarves, boots, etc. Although it might not be warm enough to go outside every day, whenever we can, we do get the children outside for some fresh air. The District policies on cold weather are as follows: 15 degrees or warmer – unlimited time outdoors; 0 – 15 degrees - 20 minutes outdoors; Below 0 - remain indoors
An extra pair of socks to keep in cubbies and lockers is also a great idea for those extra wet snowy days.
Families Communicating Immediate Needs
We want to remind families that teachers, staff, and principals prioritize teaching, learning and engaging with students during the school day. They are not expected to monitor their email while school is in session. Please allow 24 to 48 hours for an email response. If your concern is urgent, please contact the school’s main office. Thank you!
Visitors Entering the School
Upcoming Events: PTA Meeting
The Zoom link is available here.
Please join us!
Don't Forget
- The Butter Braid & Cookie Dough fundraiser is our favorite! Order forms were sent home last week and are due back along with payment on January 25th. Pick up is February 3rd. Click here for additional details.
- If you would like to donate for the Fun Fair Cake Walk you may sign up in a paper form attached here or online using a Google form linked here. Thank you!
Like Us, Follow Us, Join Us!
Want to stay in the know? Be sure to join us on:
- Facebook: Glacier Ridge Elementary Parents Group
For any questions please email us at glacierridgepta@gmail.com
Glacier Ridge Fun Fair
Mark your calendar for an afternoon of fun February 11th at the Glacier Ridge Fun Fair! Click the photo for more details including presale and volunteer links.