In The Laidlaw Loop
Family Update- March 8, 2024
Congratulations to our Spelling Bee winners from last Saturday's Laidlaw Spelling Bee! And, huge kudos to everyone who participated.
Fifth Grade:
First: Noah Kendall
Second: Annabelle Davis
Third: Landon Schierle
Fourth Grade:
First: Dawson Sanchez
Second: Knox Becker
Third: Teddy Tazic
Third Grade:
First: Audrey Palmer
Second: Karen Kienzle
Third: Miles Anderson
Second Grade:
First: Colin Fuelleman
Second: Nora Gibbon
Third: Hudson Biondo
First Grade:
First: William Pileggi
Second: Theo Stott
Third: Tucker Wisniewski
Additionally, I hope to see MANY of you at Tuesday night's Laidlaw Art Fair at 6:30PM in our gym! There are over 400 pieces of student art work that will be displayed as well as fun, interactive art stations. This is a NOT TO MISS EVENT. It was truly one of my favorite family events last year and the creativity our students produce is amazing.
Happy Friday!
Renee
Peeks From The Week
Our Littlest Kinder Leopards were hard at work learning how to put their first digital coding skills to use using Bee Bots! I was so impressed how well they did with such a high level skill at a young age!
Our Gym got TWO new amazing enhancements thanks to our PTO: two, new CIRCULAR tables for lunch and a new pull up bar! BOTH have been received by the students with much enthusiasm.
Arrival in the Morning
With the warm temps approaching we kindly ask that students do not arrive earlier than 8:25AM. Recently, students have been coming out to the black top or lining up in front of school as early as 8:05AM. We DO NOT have adult supervision outside until 8:25AM. Thank you for your attention and consideration to this.
Bringing student items to school
Recently, we have had a very high surge in the amount of items being dropped off to our front office staff throughout the school day to give to students who "left it at home." If your student left a necessary item at home that they need to learn (ie: eyeglasses or their school lunch), we completely support a mid-day drop off. If your student asks you to drop off items that are truly not necessary for their learning for that day (ie: a water bottle---we will happily provide your student a cup to use for the day), we kindly ask that parents refrain from bringing so many items during the day to our front office to give out. It causes a lot of unnecessary classroom interruptions and additional hallway traffic that is not necessary. THANK YOU for your help in allowing us to provide an environment conducive to distraction- free learning.
Laidlaw Art Fair: I Wonder
We are short on Art Fair volunteers for next Tuesday. Could you each put out a PTO/Laidlaw Loop plug for volunteers with the link to the sign-up genius? Thank you!
Laidlaw's Art Fair is just around the corner, and we need parent volunteers to pull it off! Please consider grabbing a friend and helping with a craft table. It is a lot of fun to make art with kids! We'll have everything prepped for you!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4AAAAB28ABFE3-laidlaw2#/
....Announcing “I Wonder…” 2024 Laidlaw Art Fair, Tuesday March 12 @ 6:30pm-7:45pm. The art fair includes student art exhibit and up-cycled toy-making craft stations (exhibition is not mandatory). Family and friends welcome! We are looking for volunteers for art supplies, art mounting and station volunteers at the event. Please reach out to jillmvanh@gmail.com or kelleyquinnclark@gmail.com for more details.
Artwork submissions can be dropped off artwork to Kelley Clark @ 4073 Garden Ave. by March 1. Bin on porch. Please fill out your registration form linked here. This helps us identify who belongs to what.
WSFEE Awards Sensory Grant to Laidlaw
Laidlaw's staff and students are BEYOND GRATEFUL to WSFEE for awarding an incredibly generous sensory space grant to our school. Curious about what a sensory room, hallway is and how it is impactful to student learning? Check out this student-led video here (by some of Laidlaw's very own awesome 5th graders) to learn more about the grant and the items that we purchased with it.
5 Essentials Survey
Dear Laidlaw Families,
Teachers, parents, and students across Illinois have an opportunity to participate in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey: Organizing Schools for Improvement. This survey was designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of your child’s school. As a parent, this opportunity will allow you to share your thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness in a survey about Laidlaw.
The Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be administered online by UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago, on behalf of the Illinois School Board of Education. This survey identifies five indicators that can lead to important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains. The five indicators that effect school success are:
* Effective Leaders *Collaborative Teachers
* Involved Families *Supportive Environments
* Ambitious Instruction
Research has shown that schools strong on these indicators, the “5Essentials” are 10 times more likely to improve student learning.
Your participation in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey will help us understand the conditions at Laidlaw and guide improvement. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.
The Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be conducted now through March 29 . To access the survey, please visit: http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/
Right At School Opportunities
If you would like more information about the Right At School before and after care program, please see the included flyer or visit their website at https://rightatschool.com/.
2023-24 School Calendar
Please find the 2023-24 calendar HERE
Upcoming Dates
3/12: LL Art Fair (6:30PM)
3/14: St. Baldrick's Fundraiser Event for Students (2:30PM)
3/15: ISA testing begins for 5th grade
3/23-4/1: Spring Break Vacation (no school). School resumes on Tuesday, April 2
4/4: IAR testing begins (3rd-5th grade)
4/18: Spring Open House/Celebration of Learning- 6:30PM
Laidlaw PTO Information
“I Wonder…” 2024 Laidlaw Art Fair, Tuesday March 12 @ 6:30pm-7:45pm.
Volunteer HERE!
March 14th is Laidlaw’s St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser
Help us reach our school goal of $15,000 - we are almost there! Click HERE for more info!
Laidlaw Plant and Flower Sale is Here!
Click the link below or use the QR code to order your spring flowers online now via PayPal or Venmo!
https://form.jotform.com/240355479255159
Orders are due by March 22nd.
Pick up date is Tuesday, May 7th at the Laidlaw Park Pavilion (after 10 AM), just in time for Mother’s Day! Home delivery is also available this year.
Any questions? Want to Volunteer on May 7th? Please contact LLFlowerSale@gmail.com
All proceeds benefit Laidlaw Elementary via the PTO.
Laidlaw Run Club: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
We are looking to start the Laidlaw Run Club this spring - but we cannot do so without the support of parents! Run Club will be Wednesdays from 3:30-4:45 pm each week at Sereda Park from 4/10-5/22 and our focus will be to introduce running and fitness to kids and prepare them for the Western Springs Tower Trot (kid's 1K race or 5K race). We are looking to secure parent volunteers to determine the number of kids we can support. Ideally, we would get 1-2 volunteers per grade which would allow us to offer spots to 10-15 kids per grade. If you volunteer to coach we would expect you to attend each practice and be responsible for a small group of kids as they do their workout and rotate through stations. As a volunteer you secure your spot for your children in the club before the sign up genius is released school-wide. Please consider volunteering to make this Club a success! Volunteer HERE!
Save the Date! Off the Street Club (OTSC) Circle of Friendship Party
April 27th from 12:30-3:30 PM at The Corral at LT South. Participant and volunteer sign-up coming soon!
Upcoming PTO Events
Tuesday, March 12 - Art Fair, 6:30-7:45 PM
Thursday, March 14 - St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser
Word From WSFEE
In less than 36 hours we completely “Sold Out” to our Casino Night event!
If you missed your chance to get tickets please join our waitlist here or go to wsfee.org events page.
A huge “Thank You” to everyone that bought tickets!!!
Stay tuned for more WSFEE updates! Coming soon.
Western Springs Community Happenings
Please click here for a current list of Western Springs community happenings and offerings!