In The Laidlaw Loop
Family Update- February 8, 2024
Today was truly a special one at Laidlaw: it was our 3rd annual All Abilities Fair. Our Leopards in grades 1st-5th celebrated students of all ability levels and had the opportunity to experience what it might feel like to be differently abled in some way. Students rotated through stations that simulated: learning differences, speech difficulties, hard of hearing simulations, varied learning styles, and visual impairments. Today's All Abilities Fair was a beautiful reminder that some of the most important lessons we teach our students in school have nothing to do with reading, writing, or math. A HUGE THANK YOU to our All Abilities Fair committee & today's parent volunteers for all of their work putting everything together.
I look forward to our Valentine's celebrations next week on Wednesday AND seeing our students in all of their Variety Show glory on Thursday night!
Happy Friday,
Renee
2024 SCOTY AWARD WINNER
I am thrilled to announce this year's SCOTY (School Citizen Of The Year) Award Winner:
Harper Campbell
Each year one student is chosen as the nominee from each D101 school to receive the SCOTY Award. This student embodies the model school citizen and showcases through their words and actions what it means to be an active and contributing member of their school community. We are so proud of 5th grader, Harper Campbell, for being our 2024 Laidlaw nominee. I think some of our staff's reflections about Harper sum her up the best:
"Harper is just a ball of sunshine--- she never stops perservering. She is kind to everyone she interacts with."
"Harper shows up with a positive attitude daily and strives to do better everyday."
"Harper exudes kindness, empathy and compassion."
Marla's Lunch: Feb 22: Jimmy Johns
We are excited to announce that on Thursday February 22nd we will be serving Marla's Lunch from Jimmy Johns. Please sign up by February 14th at noon for your student to receive Marla's lunch (optional!). As a friendly reminder click the link below to sign up.
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/
MAP scores, COGAT scores, and Snapshots
MAP Scores (2nd-5th graders), COGAT scores (3rd & 5th graders) and 1st grade snapshots went home today on Friday, February 9th.
Valentine's Day Reminders
This is a friendly reminder that if your child chooses to pass out Valentine's Cards on February 14th, they may not pass out anything edible along with the cards (candy, chocolate, etc). Non-edible trinkets (erasers, pencils, stickers, etc) are permitted, yet not required.
Attendance Matters
This week marks the 100th day of school, and is also the time when we are required by the state to formally review student attendance. Regular attendance at school is known to be a predictor of success for individual students and is an indicator that we look at closely throughout the year.
Excessive absences are classified as 10% of the school year or more. Missing school, especially many days across the year, can have a detrimental effect not only on individual students, adding stress and creating missed opportunities for instruction and social development, but also negatively impacts classmates when group members are missing or pace slows down to allow for a classmate to catch up on what was missed. Chronic absenteeism is also a factor that figures into the Illinois State Report Card and the summative designation for our schools. Most importantly, each day that students are present they gain the full benefit of being in school, both academically and socially, and the consistency of a class with regular attendance produces compounding gains.
Next week we will send home formal letters to families where a student’s absences are currently at or over the 10% mark, with the hopes that we can assist, where needed, to change this rate of absences. We encourage all parents to, whenever possible, please schedule appointments or travel during non-school hours.
Thank you for your partnership on this important aspect of your child’s education.
Laidlaw Loot All School Reward: Jan/Feb
Our current Laidlaw Loot incentive is a whole school reward. Students can earn BLUE loot starting now through Friday, February 16th. They can deposit their BLUE loots into the bins by the front office and vote on which all school reward they would most like to see win:
1. Build a fort and bring a flashlight day
2. Themed playlist at lunch and dress up day (ie: 80s playlist and wear your favorite 80s gear)
3. Crazy Hat & Hair Day (baseball caps allowed)
Draw & Paint Art Enrichment Class SPRING registration
Interested in art enrichment on Tuesdays after school for the Spring? Click HERE for details and to register.
Sticky Fingers Cooking Class- SPRING
Please click HERE if you are interested in signing up for the SPRING session of Sticky Fingers, which begins in March.
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
Wednesday, February 14th- Valentine's Day Celebrations (classrooms)
Thursday, February 15th: LL Variety Show (at McClure): 6:30PM
Monday, February 19th and Tuesday, February 20th: NO SCHOOL (President's Day & Teacher Inservice)
Laidlaw PTO Information
Save the Date! March 14th is Laidlaw’s St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser
If you are new to this annual tradition please consider having your child join in either as a Shavee or supporting a friend meet their fundraising goal. Click HERE for more info!
Minted Fundraiser
Laidlaw PTO has partnered with Minted to give you 20% off + free shipping, with 15% of proceeds going back to Laidlaw PTO.
Use code FUNDRAISELAIDLAW and place your order today!
Limited Time Laidlaw Spring Spirit Wear
Click HERE for more information and order by February 19th!
Spelling BEE - March 2nd
The Laidlaw Spelling Bee is back for another un-BEE-lievable year!! Students will have the chance to participate in their grade level spelling bee and test their skills in a fun, yet supportive environment. The bee is open to students in grades 1-5 and each grade will be in separate classrooms occurring simultaneously. Parents are welcome to quietly move from class to class if you have multiple spellers. A printed word list will go home with your student this week. Register HERE by Tuesday, Feb 27th! Volunteer HERE!
Upcoming PTO Events
Thursday, February 15 - Variety Show, 6:30 PM
Saturday, March 2 - Spelling Bee, 9-10 AM
Thursday, March 14 - St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser
Word From WSFEE
SAVE THE DATE - WSFEE's Casino Night is coming April 27th at the Marriott Burr Ridge! Want to be part of the fun? Consider donating a silent auction item such as an experiences, sporting events or memorabilia, music tickets, or gift cards. Please reach out via contactus@wsfee.org or finance@wsfee.org. Visit wsfee.org or follow WSFEE on Instagram (@wsfee_d101) to hear about events, sponsorship, and donation opportunities.
Western Springs Community Happenings
Please click here for a list of Western Springs community happenings including:
-Music Makers Spring Signup