The end of the year is quickly approaching. Students and staff alike begin to feel a new series of emotions. Let us keep pushing forward as we drive excellence with our students. We see the things that they still need, let us prioritize high standards, and deep learning with our students. Let us not lean heavy into relaxation & fun time due to our own fatigue. This is a year they will never get back. When I think about the end of the school year, I think about sports & boxing specifically. The final 10 seconds of a round are the hardest and most brutal at times. It is when both fighters are giving it all they they have & leaving nothing to question what they came to do.

Let us end this school year the same way. Collectively fighting as a team, going hard, leaving nothing to question, nothing to regret.

You all have been pushing forward all year. Your hard work & dedication has led to so much success with our students . We see you & we appreciate each & every one of you. Keep pushing, keep building relationships, keep encouraging & expecting nothing less than their best. Remember we often rise or fall to the level of expectations that are set for us. Hold the expectations high for your kids & for your team.

You all are doing the work, let us finish it strong.

Tuesday, April 25th

• EISMA
• Auditorium
• K,3,4: 9:25-10:05
• 1,2,5: 10:10 - 10:45

Friday, May 19th

• Haven Orchestra Concert
• Gym
• Attendance: All Students
• 1:40-2:05 pm

• Weekly Email or Message to families sharing: Your curricular focus is for the week, and guiding questions they can ask their children, & resources to support learning at home.
• Monthly team or individual Newsletter (must be a shared decision by the team): First one should go out this week. With indepth grade level info for all curricular areas/ standards/ skills.

The Panorama Student Support Survey will be administered from April 24th- May 5th. The survey is for grades 3-8. This is a change from previous years where the survey was only administered for grades 5-8. These surveys are anonymous and data is viewed at a school or grade-level, not at the individual school level.

Letters will be sent home to 3rd-5th grade families this week regarding more details.

Lesson Plans: Due SUNDAY

CLASSROOM TEACHERS: LESSONS WILL SHIFT TO MATH-WIN TIME

- Begin the conversation with your PLC teams:

- What priority standards have your students mastered

- What priority standards have your students struggled with

- What priority standards have your team not fully addressed.

What key information would you like to share with your colleagues so that they can keep the ball moving with your students as efficiently as possible.

PLCs & Our SWP Goals:

Check in with your PLC, how is your PLC intentionally working towards our PLC goals.

SLOs should be coming to a close.

Has your team reviewed your PLC goals lately? Update your team's PLC goals & data on your PLC agendas.

C & I Update

Here's a link to Info on Benchmark Assessments SY23.

Important Updates

• The Director of LIteracy brought a English Literacy and Language Arts recommendation to the School Board Finance Committee for adopting the following instructional materials:

• K-2: Heggerty, Fundations, Geodes, and Wit and Wisdom

• 3-5: Wit and Wisdom

The School Board supported the recommendation as well as the Literacy standing committee and the Curriculum Advisory Committee. The recommendation will be reviewed and acted on by the School Board this coming Monday. Pending approval, we will move forward with purchasing and developing a professional learning plan to to support adoption beginning in the 2023-24 school year in English Literacy and Language Arts classrooms.

As a TWI School we are working on a merge option that will be shared later this week.

Things to Know:

• Tenured Educators SLOs are due on May 1st.
• Informals are due by May 1st.

• Mr. Johnson & I will do all informals during the month of April. Feedback will come in TalentEd. We will schedule a meeting with everyone based on their informal as a check in for this year.
• Please see the SLO & Informal Slide deck that we shared at the clinics we offered in March.
• You need to begin cataloging your Domain 4 Artifacts. This will be added to TalentEd this year to support your formal evaluation next year.

We will begin scheduling evaluation meetings with all classified team members over the next few weeks. Your primary evaluator will schedule a meeting time with you.

This applies to all other staff who are not certified educators.

K: 3

1st: 3

2nd: 4

3rd: 3

4th: 4

5th: 3

Week of May 8th: Reassignment notices/ conversations

Week of May 15th: Willard 23/24 Organizational Chart

• Upcoming: Section Updates (May)
• Assignments for next year (May)
• Upcoming Curricular Decisions - ELA: End of April
• Student class assignments
• Grade level articulation meetings (during staff meeting time)
• Scheduling Committee- Volunteers needed

Please begin planning the date for your grade level EOY picnics. A link will be shared out for all teams to place their selected date. Teams are responsible for getting city permits for the city park usage.

Please Join us to learn more about a day in the life at Willard Elementary School.

If you have family members or friends who are looking at Willard next year, please share this link with them.

Who:Kindergarten & New Families

When: April, 25, 2023

Time: 6-7 pm

Open House

Last week’s tragic shooting at Clark Street Beach is a devastating reminder of the continued impact of gun violence within our community. We recognize this has been a difficult time for us all. We are offering a healing space for staff next Monday, April 24th to process emotions, support one another, and promote healing.

Discussion will include how to talk to children about gun violence, how to maintain an antiracist focus while processing these events, and how we can work in partnership to promote safety and belonging for all students. This will be open to all District 65 staff.

RSVP here (walk-ins are welcome).

When: Monday, April 24th from 4-5:30pm

Where: Chute Middle School Library

We are excited to announce our very first annual AAPI Event will be coming to Willard.
Save the Date!

When: May 12th

Time: 6-8 pm

Where: Willard

More detaIls to come

MAP Testing

• May 1st - 19th

Please enter your grades EOY picnic date & location on this linked document.

Please note that teams are responsible for getting the park permit with the city.

This is much like a fieldtrip, so please inform the kitchen of your picnic day as well.

It's time to take the next steps in our journey towards racial and educational equity in District 65! We are so grateful for the participation and deep levels of engagement from our staff as part of our first-ever Equity in Action Symposium in January. While the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, we kept hearing, "what's next"?

We are excited to invite interested staff members to take this next step by registering for one (or more) of our upcoming Micro Equity in Action Sessions! Led by your D65 colleagues, these sessions are designed to explore a range of topics in order to build capacity and create more equitable environments for our students.

All staff members who participate will be compensated $35/hr.

Our Very Own Mr. Jason Betts will be presenting: Monday, April 24th from 4:00 - 5:30pm here at Willard (Room 204)

After a several year hiatus, the Willard Rummage Sale is BACK!

This is a fundraiser with all proceeds benefiting Willard PTA/D65 PEP One Fund!

MANY volunteers are needed to help this fundraiser be successful: Please sign-up HERE to volunteer!

Donations accepted at Door 5 (Kindergarten door):

• Thursday April 27th 5:00-8:00pm
• Friday April 28th 9:30am-11:30am & 5:00-8:00pm

This year we are committed to our BIG 5 & we ask that you will join us.

In everything that we do we are committed to:

1. Courtesy
2. Respect
3. Dignity
4. Professionalism
5. Humanity

Please partner with us as we live out the BIG 5 in our daily walk, talk, & communal interactions.