Message from the Principal
Week of November 15, 2021
Message from the Principal
Dear Virginia Lake Families,
We look forward to welcoming parents and guardians in for Parent-Teacher conferences next week. We would like to remind you that it is important that families come on time, as each conference is scheduled for only 20 minutes. Our teachers have a lot of important information to share with you! We also ask that all visitors wear masks and social distance while in our building. Teachers will send out links for virtual parent-teacher conferences.
Students in Grades 4-6 will be participating in Spelling Bees in their classrooms in the next couple of weeks. Study guides for the spelling bees will be sent home by classroom teachers. Each classroom will have one winner. The classroom winners will compete in our school spelling bee on Thursday, December 9th.
Last week, we experienced our first snowfall of the season. A friendly reminder to send coats, hats, and gloves with your child to school. We will go outside every day for 30 minutes, unless it is raining. It is important to us that all of the students are warm. If your child needs a coat, please let one of our social workers know, and we are happy to help.
My newsletter will resume after Thanksgiving break.
The staff at Virginia Lake and I would like to wish your family a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Let’s make it a great week!
With Kindest Regards,
Patti Van Winkle, Principal
Virginia Lake Highlights
Veteran's Day
Group Work
Student Artists
Cold Weather Recess
Students generally go outside for recess every day, so they should dress appropriately for the weather. Exceptions are made only when a child brings a doctor's note excusing him/her from outdoor recess.
Staff members provide playground supervision. If students are not following behavior expectations, a staff member will address the behavior with the student(s). Based on the behavior, the child may speak to an administrator.
Cold weather: Indoor recess is determined based on the following guidelines:
- If the temperature outside, together with the wind chill, is below 0°F, all students will remain inside for the entire lunch hour.
- If the temperature outside, together with the wind chill, is between 0°-10°F, the preferred procedure is a rotation of 20 minutes for lunch, a 20-minute outdoor recess, and a 20-minute indoor recess. However, at the principal's discretion, students may be kept inside for the entire lunch hour.
- If the temperature outside, together with the wind chill, is above 10°F, students will have regular outdoor recess.
Infinite Campus Updates
Please make sure you have all of your contact information updated in Infinite Campus (email address, phone number, and cell phone number) for absence calls, school, District, and Board newsletters, emergency notifications, etc.
To check your contact information, you can login in Infinite Campus to review and update.
Concurrent Learning
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will continue to offer concurrent learning to our in-person students if/when they have been directed to quarantine if they are deemed a close contact to a positive individual or to go into isolation due to testing positive for COVID-19. We will ONLY allow students who have medical documentation or have been directed by the school nurse and approved by the building principal to quarantine or isolate. Students that have been directed to quarantine and approved to participate in concurrent learning for a specified period of time will be given a device and a link to the Google Meet to participate in learning. Students on vacation, out of the country, or home ill with any other illness will NOT be allowed to participate in concurrent learning. They will be marked absent per BOE policy 7:070 ATTENDANCE AND TRUANCY.
Important Dates
Monday, November 15th- Parent Collaboration Committee- 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 16th- Dine and Share- Culver's of Palatine- 5:00-8:00 p.m.
Friday, November 19th- Jim Basketball Jones Virtual Assembly
No School- Monday November 22nd - November 26th
Monday, November 22nd- Parent Teacher Conferences- 11 a.m.- 7p.m.
Tuesday, November 23rd- Parent Teacher Conferences- 7 a.m.- 11 a.m.
Virginia Lake Elementary School
Email: vanwinkp@ccsd15.net
Website: https://www.ccsd15.net/VL
Location: 925 N Glenn Dr, Palatine, IL, USA
Phone: 847-963-7105