The Simon School Days Newsletter
September 12, 2016
Dear Parents and Families of Simon Elementary:
Even though the official start of autumn is not until September 22, it is starting to feel like fall. I have always enjoyed the fall season; it is a great time to share time with your family, friends, visit the apple orchards, and my personal favorite - football.
At Simon, we are here to make a difference in the life of your child. Parents are a huge part of this. If you have a question about your child’s academic performance or behavior, please contact your child’s teacher first before you contact the principal. Clear lines of communication between teacher and parents are very important to meet the needs of your child. Thank you.
Reminder about Remind
1. Text the message @g242k to the number 81010. If you’re having trouble with 81010, try texting @g242k to (815) 401-9303.
2. Click here for additional directions
By joining your the group on Remind, you’re choosing to receive class messages via push notifications, SMS, or email. Don’t worry, your phone number will not be shared with the teacher or anyone else in the group.
Thank You for all that attended our Back to School Night
A special thank you to Mrs. Angela Schoeneweiss and all other parents for getting all the preparations for our 9th annual Back to School Cook Out & Open House on Thursday, September 8.
Also, thank you to all the teachers and staff volunteers that assisted that evening.
Birthday Treats
For grades PreK-5, students may bring treats to school to celebrate their birthday. Please note, treats should be commercially prepared and not "homemade" with the list of ingredients displayed so the teacher can monitor if there is a risk of an allergic reaction. Parents should not feel obligated to bring a treat; it is completely optional. In order to create the least amount of confusion, please send something that is easy to eat. Gum is not an appropriate treat. If you choose to send a treat, please contact the teacher beforehand in order to determine an appropriate time for the treat to be distributed and to avoid multiple treats on the same day. We may also ask our school nurse to review the ingredients of a birthday treat if there is a child in the classroom with a severe food allergy.
STAR 360 Student Assessements
What are STAR assessments?
Renaissance Learning™ pioneered computer-adaptive testing in the classroom in 1996 with the introduction of STAR Reading™, and has been improving upon it ever since. As a result we offer a line of testing products that all function the same, are all built with the same high level of measurement accuracy, and all share the same design principles.
STAR Early Literacy Enterprise™ is the leading computer-based diagnostic assessment of early literacy skills developed for Pre-K–3 students. These tests take 15-20 minutes. STAR Early Literacy Enterprise tracks development in three domains and ten sub-domains:
Word Facility and Skills
- Alphabetic Principle
- Concept of Word
- Visual Discrimination
- Phonemic Awareness
- Phonics
- Structural Analysis
- Vocabulary
Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning
- Paragraph-Level
- Sentence-Level Comprehension
Numbers and Operations
- Early Numeracy
These assessments will start K-2 the week of September 12. Parents will receive their child's information with their first report card in November.
What is Response to Intervention?
The Winnebago School District believes in providing the highest quality of education for our students. This letter is to provide you with information about our three tiered
instructional approach, referred to as Response to Intervention (RTI) which is part of a federal educational law.
For RTI, all students will participate in the core curriculum, with three levels (tiers) of
interventions for students who demonstrate at risk skills in general academics or behavior. Each tier provides additional support beyond the core curriculum. All students will be benchmarked three times a year to measure their progress to determine if they are performing at grade level. Behavioral expectations will also be monitored on a regular basis throughout the year.
● Tier I – Teachers will use different strategies within the core curriculum to
address all student educational needs.
● Tier II – Based on universal screening data, students who are unsuccessful in
Tier I will be provided supplemental research based interventions matched to
their needs. The RTI team and teachers will track the student’s progress, and
parents will receive ongoing progress data.
● Tier III – Students who continue to struggle in Tier II will receive more intensive
interventions at this level. Parents will receive ongoing progress data. After Tier III implementation, students who continue to display limited progress may then be
considered for further evaluation and services.
Through this process a parent can request a special education evaluation at any time.
The RTI program is a problem solving approach to managing student learning. The approach works to benefit all students by providing a systematic, data driven
process to identify struggling students and provide targeted interventions to address their needs.
If you have any questions about this process, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
2016-17 Yearbooks on Sale NOW!
Winnebago Middle School Garage Sale
Most items will be priced at 50 cents and you can fill a bag for $2 after 10 a.m. Proceeds benefit various 8th grade team activities.
Volunteers are needed to help sort and set up on Friday, Oct. 7, starting at 3:15. Also needed are helpers on Saturday, Oct. 8, to work at the sale and help clean up. If you could spare an hour or two on either of these days, contact Brenda Sojka at sojkab@winnebagoschools.org or call the school office at 815-335-2364 to volunteer.
September Calendar Events
We will start adding a full month Simon calendar to the website starting in September. If you do have any specific questions about events or functions, please call the school office at 815.335.2318.
Fall Picture Day
Dorothy Simon Fall Picture day will be Tuesday, September 13 starting at 8:20 a.m.
The link below will provide your parents and students access to your school's online order page. You will be able to order online at www.inter-state.com/order - use the order code 08892CA
Tuesday, Sep 13, 2016, 08:00 AM
Dorothy Simon Elementary School, South Benton Street, Winnebago, IL, United States
School Vision and Dental Forms Due
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/research/pdfs/eye_examinations.pdf
Kindergarten and 2nd Grade students - dental exam and form due May 15
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/research/pdfs/dental_information.pdf
For more information, contact Nurse Trish or Nurse Beth
Saturday, Oct 15, 2016, 12:00 AM
Dorothy Simon Elementary School, South Benton Street, Winnebago, IL, United States
Fall Preschool Screening
Winnebago CUSD #323 will conduct preschool screenings for the 2016-17 school year on Wednesday, October 5. These children may be eligible to attend the Winnebago School District Preschool for the 2016-17 school year. Appointment times are limited.
The preschool screening is to determine eligibility for our preschool program and for you to have a better understanding of your child's strengths and areas for improvement. We encourage everyone with preschool aged children (ages 3-5) to participate in screening regardless of your interest in the preschool program.
The screening will assess your child’s developmental skills in the following areas: academic concepts, gross and fine motor skills, speech and language, social, behavior, self-help skills, and vision and hearing.
Screening appointments take approximately one hour. Children have to be 3 years old at the time of the screening appointment.
The screenings will be held at Dorothy Simon Elementary 309 S. Benton St. Winnebago, IL 61088. Please call 815.335-2456 to make an appointment.