Woodbury Weekly Update for Families
January 12, 2024
Welcome to our weekly update! We are thrilled to keep you informed about the happenings at our school, celebrations & achievements and upcoming events, ensuring you're an active part of your students educational journey. In each update, you'll find highlights of the past week and a preview of what's to come, fostering a strong sense of community and collaboration between the school and our cherished families. Most weeks will be brief, but at times there is important information or updates that help support us in your involvement in our little school. Thank you for taking the time to read it!
A Peek at Our Week...
Happy New Year! A bit of a snowy week for us all! It was great to see all of our students back on Wednesday and we hope you are home safe and warm on this snowy Friday. While it is best to stay home in these conditions, I hope that your family is able to navigate the day safely if you do have to commute.
Given today's cancellation, progress reports will now be coming home on Tuesday when we return from school. Progress reports are only being sent home to parents/guardians of students who may still be in the “beginning” stage of learning in one or more areas of an assessed grade level standard.
WINTER WEATHER: Please be sure to send your students properly dressed for the inclement weather. As a reminder, we will have outdoor recess before school and during lunch as long as the "real feel" is 15 degrees or above. While at recess, only students with winter boots, snow pants and gloves can play in the snow. Snow pants, winter boots and gloves help keep our students warm and dry when they return to their classrooms and engage in learning. You are welcome to leave a pair of boots here at school, if necessary. If you are in need winter clothing, don't hesitate to contact our main office at 815-786-6316.
Safe Arrival: Please do not let you student out in the middle of the road at morning drop off. This is unsafe. Please use the drop off lane as it is intended, pulling all the way up to the furthest spot, and having your child exit the vehicle. Please do not leave your car to walk to the playground. Thank you for your help!
Next week...
1/15: Martin Luther King Day NO SCHOOL
1/16: Winter Fastbridge Benchmarking Begins, Progress reports go home
1/18: Erin's Law Presentations, Woodbury PPA Meeting, Kindergarten attends Opera House
1/19: All school Field Trip to YMCA
Our core value for the month of January is COLLABORATION: Working with others to produce or create something. Teamwork makes the dream work!
Kindergarten Kindness
The kindergarten classes at Woodbury School along with Mrs. Mathis’ daughter Taylor, raised $2,810.80 for the Salvation Army Christmas Angel program. What a wonderful way to teach about giving to others and kindness.
Erin's Law
Dear Elementary Parents and Guardians,
Our school district is continuing to partner with Safe Passage to provide Sexual Abuse Prevention Education programming to our students. Safe Passage is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the right of all to nonviolent and abuse-free relationships through advocacy, intervention and prevention in DeKalb County.
Legislation in our state, called Erin’s Law, requires all public schools in Illinois to develop a comprehensive, age-appropriate sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention education program for students in Pre-K through 12th grade. It is estimated that one in four girls and one in five boys are sexually abused by the time they are 18. It is estimated that about 90% of the abusers are known to the child and include relatives, neighbors, babysitters, and family acquaintances. As a part of our plan Safe Passage’s Prevention Education staff will be presenting a Personal Body Safety Program in all elementary classrooms. This program will discuss sexual abuse prevention at an age appropriate level for our K-5 students as outlined below. Here is a preview of what you can expect a lesson to look like.
K-5 Lessons:
Kindergarten: Miles is the Boss of His Body by Abbie Schiller and Samantha Counter
Story time and discussion of a child’s ability to set boundaries and ask someone to stop if they touch them without permission or touch them in a way they don’t like. Discussion of how to ask for help if someone is touching them in a way that hurts or touching private parts of their body.
1st Grade: Fred the Fox Shouts No by Tatiana Y Kisil Matthews
Interactive story time and discussion of a child’s ability to say no. Introduce the idea that child abuse is not just about “stranger danger” but that children deserve to be safe in every setting. Discussion of how to ask for help if someone is touching them in a way that hurts or touching private parts of their body.
2nd Grade: My Body! What I Say Goes by Jayneen Sanders
Interactive story time and discussion of rules for body safety and how to say no and talk to a safe grown-up if a child is feeling unsafe or hurt. Discussion of how to say no, how to recognize feeling unsafe, and how to help a friend.
3rd Grade: Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept by Jayneen Sanders
Story time and discussion of grooming techniques including threatening or shaming a child into silence. Discussion of moving beyond “stranger danger” in thinking about safety and how to get help, even if you feel scared.
4th Grade: Not in Room 204 by Shannon Riggs
Story time and discussion of finding safe adults at school and reaching out for help. Introduces the idea that abuse is not always “stranger danger” and even if abuse is happening at home, there are safe adults who care and can help. Discussion of how to help a friend who is experiencing abuse.
5th Grade: Trusting My Gut: Listening to my Body Alarms
Short video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3nhM9UlJjc) and discussion of warning signs of grooming or abuse. Discussion on how to recognize red flags of abusive adults or older kids, how to reach out for help, and how to support a friend who is being hurt.
Our school district is committed to the safety and well being of our students. For further information regarding Erin's Law, please visit the link above or the following summary through ISBE. If you have any questions or concerns about your child participating in this presentation, please contact the administrator at your child’s school.
Handbook Committee
Sandwich Community School District #430 will soon begin the process of reviewing the
handbooks for each of the school buildings. This is an annual series of meetings to review the
policies and procedures in the handbooks to ensure that all users of the handbook have a clear
understanding of the contents. Please consider this great opportunity to become involved with the
district. The dates and the times of the meetings will be given out at a later date. All of the
meetings would be conducted at Sandwich High School and last approximately 60-90 minutes. If
you would like to serve on this committee, please contact your building principal.
Sincerely,
Michael S. Herzog
SHS Assistant Principal
Arbor Launches New Interactive Lunch/Breakfast Menu
Arbor has launched a new interactive menu platform for lunch and breakfast menus; My school menus powered by Health E Pro
Here is the link to access CUSD 430 menus: https://myschoolmenus.com/organizations/2157
Step by Step training video for families: https://vimeo.com/395170590
This will be linked in our weekly newsletter and on our website moving forward (same as our other menus were) as the format does not allow us to print them in a user friendly way. A great suggestion is to bookmark the link on your phone or computer.
Coming Up...Dates to Remember (the rest of the year list!)
*subject to change
JANUARY:
1/12: School Closure due to Inclement Weather
1/15: Martin Luther King Day NO SCHOOL
1/16: Winter Benchmarking Begins, Progress Reports
1/18: Erin's Law Presentations, Woodbury PPA Meeting, Kindergarten Opera House
1/19: Field Trip to YMCA
1/26: Fox Valley Therapy Dogs Visit
FEBRUARY:
2/1: Black History Month
2/6: Woodbury Family Reading Night
2/13: Land of Smiles Dental Presentations
2/14: Valentine's Day Parties
2/15: First Grade Opera House
2/16: 11:10 Early Dismissal, School Improvement
2/19: No School, President’s Day
2/23: End of Trimester II, Therapy Dog Visit
2/26: K-2 Bowling
2/28: Third Grade Bowling
MARCH:
3/1: National Reading Month
3/4: National School Social Worker Week
3/5: Kindergarten Hoover, Tornado Drill
3/6: Spring Pictures
3/8: 11:10 Dismissal, School Improvement
3/10: Kindergarten DuPage Children's Museum
3/22: Therapy Dog Visit
3/25-3/31: Spring Break
APRIL:
4/2: World Autism Day
4/3: Paraprofessional Appreciation Day
4/4: National School Librarian Day
4/8: Woodbury Spring Concert
4/11: 2nd Grade Opera House
4/19: 11:10 Dismissal SIP Day, National Volunteer Appreciation Week
4/22: Spring Benchmarking Begins
4/24: Secretaries Day
4/26: Therapy Dogs
MAY:
5/1: Bicycle Safety Month
5/3: School Lunch Hero Day
5/6: Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week
5/8: School Nurse Day
5/9: Yellow Day
5/10: Kindergarten Mother's Day Tea
5/23: Track & Field Day
5/24: LAST DAY, Kindergarten Graduation, 1:10 Dismissal
SEL Corner with Mrs. Garland
Happy Winter Woodbury! I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break with their families and friends! It is so nice to be back and see all our kiddos and their smiling faces. They are all so eager to share their favorite parts of break.
In our Second Step curriculum, we are deep into the emotion management units. Students are learning how to identify emotions within themselves and in others. We are discussing different coping strategies to use to manage big emotions.
Resource of the month:
BPI Parent Academy. This is a free program designed by a team of professionals and parents specifically to support parents of children on the autism spectrum. They have different online modules you can complete at your own pace. Module one focuses on behavior basics and module two looks at teaching replacement behaviors. This is such a great resource for anyone (with or without a diagnosis of Autism) who may be struggling with consistent reinforcement or troubling behaviors at home.
Coping Strategy of the Month:
Hot Cocoa Breaths
Attendance
Attendance Policy
Since switching over to our new system, TeacherEase, we've been updating attendance codes, etc. needed for the state and we will soon begin sending out attendance letters again. Below you will find an abbreviated attendance policy to make things a little easier to understand, so if you receive a letter, it will hopefully make more sense. If you do have any questions, we will be happy to address them.
*Students are excused for 7 days per year regardless of why they miss. (This will not count if a student is marked truant from the previous year.) You will receive a letter at 5 excused and 7 excused, just as an update or reminder of your student’s attendance.
*Anything after 7 days needs a doctor note to be excused.
*Any time a doctor note is supplied, it is counted as an excused absence.
*After 3 unexcused absences, a letter will be sent home reminding the parents/guardians about the amount of unexcused absences.
*After 5 unexcused absences, school is required to notify truancy and truancy will usually set up a meeting to discuss needs and/or further actions.
*Parents/guardians must call the office to let school know their student will be absent that day.
Policy Found in Our Handbook
"Students shall be permitted no more than seven (7) excused absences, including vacations, per school year based upon parental/legal guardian confirmation for the reasons of the absence. After the student has been excused seven times in one school year, additional excused absences for illnesses may only be verified through a written medical statement from a physician.
After seven (7) excused absences, the school office will notify the parents/legal guardians by mail. Other excused absences will be limited to death in the family, a family emergency requiring the absence of the student (this must be approved by the administrator at the building level), religious reasons that prohibit attendance for a given time and/or other reasons determined by the administration. The parent/legal guardian must verify the reasons for such absences. If a student is sent home due to illness documented by school personnel or if a student’s absence is verified by a doctor’s excuse before the student has reached the limit of seven days (or classes) of excused absences, that absence will not count towards the seven days permitted by this section. If the student was sent home from school with fever, vomiting, diarrhea or at the nurse/administrator discretion, they will not be penalized with an unexcused absence and will not count toward the seven parent/guardian excused absences. The following day may also be included in instances of fever, vomiting, or diarrhea. All doctor notes must be turned in to the office in a timely manner or the administration has the discretion not to accept the doctor’s note. For extended absences, the administration may ask for updated documentation of the absence.
When a student reaches three (3) unexcused absences, a letter will be sent to the parent/legal guardian warning of future consequences related to attendance. At five (5) unexcused absences, the student will be referred to the DeKalb County Truant Office for intervention.
When counting unexcused absences, the district will count back 180 school days (i.e. unexcused attendance days from the previous year will be counted towards the student’s current school year attendance records). When requested, the student will be required to provide a doctor’s note. Notes and letters will be placed in the student’s temporary file."
Update from the Nurse
Dental Reminder
Completed Dental Exam forms are required for current Kindergarten and second grade students by May 15th. If you are unable to obtain the required dental exam, please complete the Dental Exam Waiver.
District Reminders
Negative Lunch Card Balances
Lunch balances can add up quickly. Please check your student's account balance onTeacherEase to make sure your student has a positive balance. If you need assistance logging into TeacherEase, or adding funds to your student's account, please call our main office at 815-786-6316 for assistance.
Registration Fees
If you have not yet fulfilled payment for registration fees you have/will receive a note home from school with your remaining balance. If you have any questions regarding these fees, please reach out to our main office at 815-786-6316.
Free/Reduced Application Information
Are you struggling to pay for fees, lunches, field trips, and/or extra fees? Please be aware that there are opportunities to get help with school fees, field trips, lunches, and other fees.
We currently utilize the free and reduced waiver program through the USDA. If you qualify, this waiver may cover lunches, registration fees, sports fees, field trips, etc. If you would like to know more about this program, what the qualifications are, or how to apply, please call Mrs. Kruswicki at 815-786-2187.
Please remember, this program must be renewed every year. Since we utilize the guidelines of the USDA program, we must use their forms.
For those who would like to apply for free/reduced lunch, please do so using the following link: Online Application. Families who qualify for free/reduced lunch will have their registration fees waived or reduced (if process is complete prior to fees being assessed)
Woodbury PPA Updates
Looking for ways you can help out and support our Woodbury PPA? Please click the link to check out our sign up genius on upcoming events and items we could use some extra hands on. Our next meeting is Thursday, November 30th. Thank you!
Woodbury Staff Shoutout
Would you like to leave a shoutout for one of our Woodbury Staff? Please use this form to help celebrate and recognize our staff. Your words of praise, recognition, and support lift us up. Thank you for helping us support all those who contribute to our awesome learning community! We love hearing from you!