The Wonderful World of Woodbury
April 2018
Spring is Here!!??
Dear Woodbury Families,
Happy Spring! Kind of? It seems that Mother Nature is taking us on a roller-coaster of changing temperatures. It’s nice to see the grass getting a little greener and the skies a little bluer even though today we woke up to a dusting of snow in April! The background of this month's newsletter is my own wishful thinking!
As Spring moves in, all of us have a bit of extra energy. The excitement of summer vacation is upon us and even I have a bit of spring fever! Please take a few minutes to review our school common expectations of being safe, kind, and responsible school citizens. Your help and reinforcement supports us in making it to the end of the year while keeping our strength of character intact! With more daylight time students are able to benefit from more fresh air in their day and we encourage all of our students to GO APE, which stands for Go Outside And Play Everyday. As the temperatures are a bit all over the place, please be sure to check the weather and make sure your child is dressed appropriately. Has your child lost a coat or hat? Please have them visit the lost and found to look for any items that they may be missing.
Spring is also a another wonderful time in a school year to celebrate! We begin to truly reflect on our experiences and how much we have grown! As educators, we celebrate the gains our students have made and begin to start thinking about how we can serve them in the year to come. We encourage you to lead your child in reflection about their school year and support them in their own personal goals, not just for school and academics, but also consider other aspirations they may have. Maybe they would like to run a race or become a better ball player, set a goal to read 10 books during summer vacation, or maybe they aspire to be more adventurous or brave by trying something new!
It's hard to believe that we are in the homestretch! Third graders are wrapping up their State PARCC testing. We are so proud of how hard the students have worked to show us their best! A special thank you to Mrs. Ballas for her help and support in making sure our testing is running smoothly. This month bring us many other events as well. Baby chicks will make their debut in kindergarten classrooms, first graders will visit the Brookfield Zoo, second grade will see a performance at the Sandwich Opera House and will visit the Shedd Aquarium, and third grade will adventuring outdoors to Hoover. Last, don’t forget to join us on Wednesday, April 18th at Sandwich High School for Woodbury Goes Totally Radical, our spring concert, arranged by our music teacher, Mr. Anderson. Mr. Anderson and the students put a tremendous amount of work into their performance and they’d love to entertain you and your family.
This month I would also like to give a special shout out to all of our volunteers. There is no real adequate way to thank you for all that you do for our little school. Your time, care, dedication, and love for both children and education is appreciated and we are beyond grateful every day for all of you! We are blessed to have so many parents, grandparents, and even the support of many former teachers during the day and after school enriching the experience of our students and providing them with some extra practice and support. No matter how big or small your contribution, from chaperoning a field trip to helping on a regular basis, we appreciate you.
With Kindness,
Mrs. Kern
Student Placement for Next Year
Please know your child’s educational experience is of utmost importance to us and we take it very seriously. At times, we receive parent/guardian requests for student placement. Please know that students are placed in classes using a combination of well studied and thought out processes that allow us to balance their needs and the needs of our overall school programming. Classroom placement will be based on the following criteria:
1) Performance Assessments
2) Learning Style
3) Teacher(s) Input
4) Academic Performance
5) Male/Female Balance
6) Social Balance
7) Teacher Compatibility
8) Students Compatibility
9) Special Program Schedules
10) Physical Handicaps
11) Student Personality and Emotional needs
We appreciate your understanding of this matter.
Interested in Serving Our Woodbury PPA?
2018-2019 School Registration CHALLENGE
As an incentive, the first three classrooms with all students’ registration completed win a class pizza party!!
The first 50 parents who register their student for the 2018-2019 school year will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Amazon Gift Card!!
The portal is open for registration. Please take the time to view the document below and follow the links to register your student for school. If you have an incoming Kindergarten student please wait to register your older student(s) until after you have registered your Kindergartener, as this will make the process easier for everyone. If you have any questions, please call the office and we will be happy to try and help you!
Please Read Updated Procedures Regarding Safety
Thank you for your patience as we reconfigure some of the safety procedures in our building. We believe very strongly in being responsive and current in our practice and even more in keeping your children safe at school. Our staff continues to dialogue to make improvements and develop more tools in order to be even more responsive in the event of an emergency. Please know that we are still the same warm and fuzzy building on the inside and our actions are one additional way to let our families know that our care and concern for your children is a high priority.
Please enter the front door only and sign into the office. We ask that you do not enter from the playground doors or other side doors. This includes at arrival and dismissal. We also ask as we have in the past for you to not walk your child to class.
Please ring the bell at the front door. We will welcome you to our building and ask that you identify yourself and share the reason why you are there. Example: "I am Mrs. Smith and Johnny forgot his folder today."
Friendly Reminders...
To report an absence, parents or guardians are to call the office at 815-786-6316 before 8:30 a.m. on the day of the absence. An answering machine will take calls before 7:00 a.m. and after 3:30 p.m. If a phone call is not received, a reasonable attempt will be made to contact a parents or guardian. If contact cannot be made, the absence will be considered UNEXCUSED. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
Please be reminded that school is in session from 8:10 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. Students who arrive late to school are considered tardy and need to be signed in by you in the office. Please make sure your child(ren) arrive before the tardy bell rings.
Visiting: Please remember to stop by the office first to sign in. If your student is late arriving, you must come into the office to sign them in.
Change in transportation: If your child is going home a different way or being picked up by someone else, please send a note with your student to their teacher. In the event of an emergency or last minute change, please call the office with the information. Please do not text or e-mail the teacher.
Always Choose Kind
Email: jkern@sandwich430.org
Website: www.sandwich430.org
Location: 322 East 3rd Street, Sandwich, IL, United States
Phone: 815.786.6316
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Woodbury-Elementary-School-175306045839116/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Twitter: @Woodbury430