Westbrook School
April 3, 2020
From the Principal...
Dear Westbrook Families,
This has been hard. We can’t tell you how much we miss seeing our students’ smiling faces on a daily basis. We wish we were able to be with them each and every day. We know that this has been difficult on your students and your families, as well. We can’t thank you enough for your partnership during this difficult time. We are thinking about our students and families. We wish you all well. We are here to support you in any way that we can.
Here are a few resources that may be helpful to you and your family during this difficult time. Please take care of yourselves and your families. Take breaks. Laugh, play, and explore together!
Conscious Discipline - Covid 19-Five Helpful Responses for Families
ColorMe - A free coloring app to offer students a brain break and help reduce stress
Breathe, Think, Do - An app to help practice deep breathing and problem-solving skills
Go Noodle - To encourage students to take a brain break and get moving!
School is closed, now what? - An article exploring Author Jennifer Miller’s (Confident Parents, Confident Kids) ideas for dealing with stress while at home with your children
Mindfulness Activities - To engage in activities that will enhance mindfulness for the whole family.
Our teachers are committed to creating thoughtful, authentic, and relevant learning activities for your child. Please do not hesitate to contact any person on your child’s team if you have questions or need support in any way. We are here for you, and we truly are better together! Thanks to all who have shared pictures or videos of your children laughing, playing, tinkering, learning, and growing. It means the world to us.
Here is a short video that I put together for the first week of remote learning. It will surely put a smile on your face.
*Families, please remember to continue to take attendance by noon each day of remote learning. Thank you!
Read Alouds
For many of our staff members, one of our favorite things to do is to read to students. It brings us joy to see students look in wonder at what antics the characters get into. The Westbrook team has added read alouds to a YouTube playlist. We will continue to add to this playlist. We hope you like listening to our stories! Please click here to access the playlist.
Social Stories
Social stories are a tool that we often use with our young learners. They are short descriptions of a particular situation, event, or activity, which include specific information about what to expect in that situation and why. To help students understand why we can’t be at school at this time and to reinforce that their teachers and the other students miss them, I would suggest using this tool by Conscious Discipline. You can create a free account and download this resource for your child by clicking here. I have also added a video of me reading the social story on our YouTube playlist if you would like to listen to it there!
Spirit Days
It has been so wonderful to see the community come together to support each other. We would love to continue to build those connections and to show our school spirit by having district-wide spirit days throughout April! Please see the attached handout with a schedule of events! If you’re willing, we would love to see spirit day pictures posted to social media. Please tag our school, westbrook_d57, and use #d57spirit days.
Thanks to all who participated in our Disability Awareness Week! #ind57weallfittogether
Our first spirit day is Chalk the Walk, scheduled for Tuesday April 7th. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate!
Instagram & Twitter
Are you following us? We have been so proud of our students for all the work that they have put in at home during this time. If you need a smile, I highly suggest you take a look at our social media to students proudly showing off their hard work! Our username is: westbrook_d57.
We are so grateful for the strong partnership that we have with our families. Without you, none of this would be possible. Have a lovely weekend!
Kind regards,
Kristin Vonder Haar
Westbrook School for Young Learners
Email: wb-office@d57.org
Website: https://www.d57.org/westbrookschoolforyounglearners_home.aspx
Location: 103 Busse Road, Mount Prospect, IL, USA
Phone: (847) 394-7340
Twitter: @westbrook_d57