The Bear Bulletin ~ Staff Edition
April 1 - 5, 2024
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter!!
We hope you had a wonderful long weekend with your family and friends! We also hope you have all recovered from the amazing Super Hoops event Thursday evening!
As Mr. Nussbaum and I reflected on the event, it was truly a special day. From the Pep Rally, the Cheerleaders, the student excitement and the STAFF excitement - we are truly blessed to be a part of the Willow Brook family. We have the BEST staff and students around and we are truly so thankful for each of you!!!
A huge thank you to all of our staff who either played, organized, supported, worked and help to make this event a huge success! A special thank you to our amazing PTO for putting this together and of course to Mrs. Williams and Ms. Harris for their work with our Cheerleaders! We would also like to thank Mr. Corrigan and his custodial staff for their hard work and permitting us to use their facilities! We have a great partnership with RMS and are truly thankful!
A few items for the upcoming week:
- You are able to park in the upper lot on Monday!
- Please be certain to close all exterior doors when you enter the building.
- We will do our April Fire Drill this Friday at 2:00pm.
April's Oak Ridge School's Core Value of the month is Students First! Please be reminded of our Willow Brook Mission: Equity & Excellence for Every Student!
Have a great afternoon!
Mrs. Jenifer L. Laurendine, Principal, jllaurendine@ortn.edu
Mr. Jason Nussbaum, Assistant Principal, jnussbaum@ortn.edu
Mrs. Kim Miller, PLC Coach, kcmiller@ortn.edu
April Core Value
Our Amazing Custodial Team!
The Week Ahead...Important Information!
- Truancy Referral s Due
- 4th Grade PLC - 8:40 - 9:35am - WBES Conference Room
- 3rd Grade PLC - 10:40 - 11:25am - WBES Conference Room
- Kindergarten RTI2B - 11:15 - 11:45am - WBES Conference Room
- 1st Grade PLC - 12:10 - 12:55pm - WBES Conference Room
- Kindergarten PLC - 1:10 - 1:55pm - WBES Conference Room
- 2nd Grade PLC - 2:20 - 3:05pm - WBES Conference Room
Tuesday, April 2nd
- Principal's PLC Meeting - 8:30am - 2:00pm - SAB Boardroom
- Principal Kindergarten Registration Meeting - 2pm - SAB Boardroom
- 2nd Grade RTI2B - 9:45 - 10:25am - WBES Conference Room
- 3rd Grade RTI2B - 2-2:45pm - WBES Conference Room
Wednesday, April 3rd - Early Dismissal
- Exceptional Education PLC - Room 220 - 8:45 - 9:45am
- 3rd Grade Girls Lunch Bunch - 11:45am - 12:15pm - WBES Conference Room
- Staff PLC -
- School Building Testing Coordinator Meeting - 2:30 - 3:30pm - SAB Boardroom
Thursday, April 4th
- 4th Grade RTI2B - 12:00 - 12:45pm - WBES Conference Room
- 3rd Grade Student Focus Meeting - 2:00 - 3:00pm - WBES Conference Room
Friday, April 5th
- 1st Grade RTI2B - 10:30 - 11:10am - WBES Conference Room
- April Fire Drill - 2:00pm
- PLC Academy - 1:30 - 3:30pm - SAB Boardroom - Miller
End of Year Important Dates!
- April 8th - Early Dismissal for Eclipse
- April 9th – Parent TCAP Meeting – 5-6pm
- April 15th – 26th – TCAP Window
- April 29th – May 10th – AimswebPlus Benchmark Window
- May 2nd - Safety Patrol District Parent Meeting - WBES Gym - 5:30 - 7:00pm
- May 6 – 17 – Nature Challenge
- May 7th – Professional Evaluations Begin
- May 9th & 10th – WBES-RMS Transition Meetings – various times
- May 13th - Parent Kindergarten Workshop
- May 15th – Senior Walk (Tentative - confirming with ORHS)
- May 15th – District Elementary Track Meet – Ben Martin – TBD
- May 15th – 4th Grade Strings Concert – ORHS – 7pm
- May 16th – Last day of Strings program
- May 16th – Celebrate the Arts
- May 20th – Last day of Library Classes – library closed for inventory.
- May 22nd – 30th - 3rd Grade TCAP Retake Window
- May 22nd – Retirement Gathering – 3-4pm
- May 23rd & 24th – Cumulative Folder work – TA’s – Madden oversees this work.
- May 23rd – Last day of RTI, ELL, EE and SA’s
- May 23rd – Awards Ceremonies
- May 23rd – 4th Grade Graduation
- May 24th – Field Day
- May 28th – Kindergarten Teach Out Day
- May 28th – PBIS Activity Day
- May 29th – Grade Level Visits
- May 29th – June 1st – Safety Patrol DC Trip
- May 29th – Last day for students.
- May 30th – Last day for staff
This Week's Bus Duty Schedule
WBES Track Club Practice Resumes Monday!
If you have any questions about the WBES Track Club, please reach out to Mrs. Sauer, Ms. Satkowski and Mrs. Stewart!
Super Hoops FUN!
Leader of the PACK - Teacher of the Week!
We are so excited to celebrate our staff at Willow Brook! Please take time to submit the person you believe has earned the title of "Leader of the Pack" for the week using the link below (each week). Our admin team will review submissions and offer input as well to assist in picking the distinguished winner of the week.
Award recipients will receive the perk of our "Leader of the Pack" designated parking spot for one week, a jumpstart to their weekend, and of course a shout-out and well-deserved praise!
TN Ready Mandatory Training & Documents
It's that time of year when all staff must complete the training for TN Ready/TCAP Test Administrator Training (TA)!
The courses will cover important topics such as test security, accommodations, testing procedures, and the "do's and dont's" of testing! Once completed, you will receive a certificate of completion after all material has been viewed and all quiz questions are answered correctly.
The link for registration information is included below. Please read and follow the directions. If you have previously registered for or completed online training modules, make sure you choose the spring 2024 version of the course you are taking.
Additionally, you will need to place the following items in Mr. Dan's mailbox no later than our staff training, which is Wednesday, April 10th:
- TCAP Test Administrator Training Completion Certificate
- TA Testing Code of Ethics & Security Procedures Document (included below)
- Final Test Administration & Security Agreement Document (included below)
WBES Cheerleaders! ❤️
Mrs. Miller's Collaborative Corner
This Wednesday, PLC PD will begin at 2:15pm in the gym. We will continue the work around learning targets, success criteria and student ownership by taking a very close look at questioning in the classroom. Pre-planning questions to leverage student thinking is a skill teachers continue to perfect throughout their careers.
Questions are a way of engaging with students to keep their attention and to reinforce their participation. Questions can review, restate, emphasize, and/or summarize what is important. Questions stimulate discussion and creative and critical thinking, as well as determine how students are thinking. This will be a dedicated time to leverage the collective genius of the team, dig deep, and plan questioning in an upcoming lesson that will lift level of student engagement and understanding.
2024 Spring TCAP/TN Ready Testing
TN Ready Testing...Right Around the Corner!
TCAP/TN Ready Testing for 2nd, 3rd & 4th Grade is right around the corner! We have included the schedule below and encourage you to make appointments around these days/times. It is crucial for your students to be present, well rested and ready for these assessments!
We are so proud of our school for receiving a Letter Grade of A for the 22.23 school year. We want to ensure we continue on this road and TCAP/TN Ready testing is an important factor. If a school does not hit/meet the 95% participation rate, then the school will receive an automatic letter grade of an F.
If you have any questions about testing, the percentage of your child's grade, or make up testing, please reach out to us!
2024 TCAP/TN Ready Schedule
February District Staff Attendance
Dogwood Arts Show - Kynzlee Case
21st Century Grant Parent Survey - Please Click on QR Code Below!
Dear Families:
The state grant office has sent out a survey to parents of students in the 21st CCLC before and after school programs. In case you missed the email, I am including the link and code below. Please take the time to take the survey below. The Parent/Guardian Survey can be accessed on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. It consists of nineteen (19) questions and will only take a few minutes to complete.
Parents and guardians may choose to complete the survey in English, Spanish, Arabic, or Kurdish. The survey link will remain open until May 31st. The survey link will remain open until May 31st.
The link to the survey is: https://tiny.utk.edu/2024FamilySurvey or you can click on the QR Code pictured in this text.
Families will need to type in a program code when they open the survey.
- Code - Willow Brook Elementary -223
Our grantors would love to know how you feel about our afterschool programming. Let them know how we are doing!
In your service,
Tina Marascia
865.425.3206
C & C STEM Corner - Please Click Document for More Information!
Mrs. Meidl's Book Nook
Curation Corner
Counseling Corner - Character Trait of the Month- COURAGE
PTO News
Super Hoops — What a night!!! ❤️🐾
Thank you to all of our wonderful families and staff that showed up to support our school — we had a packed house!! We hope you guys had as much fun as we did!Yearbooks on Sale Now!!
Order forms were sent home with your child last week! If you would like to order — please turn in form with exact cash payment into your child’s teacher by Friday, April 12th!**ATTENTION 4TH GRADERS**
It's time to show off your artistic skills!This week we are collecting artwork for our annual "Yearbook Cover Contest." The theme is "What is a Willow Brook Bear?"
Students who would like to participate will need to submit artwork to PTO Box by this Friday!
How it works: Students will vote next Monday on their favorite within their class. The top 4 will then be voted on by the whole school next Wednesday morning. Winner's artwork will be placed on the first page of this year's yearbook, as well as receive a FREE yearbook!
4th Grade Opportunities!
This Week's Breakfast Menu!
This Week's Lunch Menu!
Interested in Drones? Stop by AMSE for a Great Event!
We want to invite you to an amazing opportunity in an exciting three-part series with our partners at the AMSE Foundation is next week! Come hear the amazing ways that Jefferson Middle School students are building, flying and mastering state-of-the-art drones, and how that is preparing them to become the future workforce in this exciting industry.
This unique opportunity positions our students alongside experts in STEM and next week, JMS students will present alongside Javier Diez from the Rutgers School of Engineering, whose team created the first remote controlled drone that is able to both fly and move underwater. Join us on Wednesday, April 3, at 3 p.m. at AMSE. This event is free, but registration is encouraged. Please see flyer below for more details!
CMOR Resource Fair
ORS Community Flyers - What's Happening?
Now Hiring!
Forward Together - WBES Goals!
Communication is a KEY to Success!
2023.2024 ORS District Calendar
Join Us on Social Media!
Willow Brook Elementary
Email: jllaurendine@ortn.edu
Website: https://www.ortn.edu/willowbrook/
Location: 298 Robertsville Road, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Phone: 865-425-3202
Twitter: @WBESbears