Words from Walsh May, 2018
Staying connected with Walsh School
Greetings from Principal Martin
A huge thank you to Miss Truse and Mrs. Antonick, who took the lead on celebrating Earth Day last month. They not only made it educational for our students, but FUN! The recycle project contest was amazing. So much hidden talent came out of our students, and we are very proud of them! Check out the pictures on our website to see some of the fabulous projects.
Our first graders continue to be busy… this month they will go to the zoo to celebrate all their hard work this year. They will also head over to Reed School for their Step-Up-Day, which allows them to see where they will attend 2nd grade next year, and Mr. Wallace will run a “field day” for our students. More information and dates will be sent home soon.
The last day of attendance for kindergarten and first grade is Friday, June 1st, with an early dismissal of 2:00 p.m. Lunches will be served, and report cards will be going home. The early childhood classes will end their year on Thursday, May 31st with regular school hours.
I am very proud of all our students and their teachers, as they continue to do amazing things while their curriculum continues to be updated and refreshed. They have done a great job and have accomplished so much this year. Our staff has been continuously working to not only meet our curriculum goals, but to look forward and search out the best possible teaching aids and methods to ensure that our students receive the very best in education. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.
This month, we stop to recognize our teachers and our staff during Teacher Appreciation Week. Last month, we recognized the very valuable and appreciated parent volunteers and school secretaries. Working together, we have the best support team our students could wish for! Thank you to everyone who helps our school, our staff, and our students move forward on their educational journey so successfully!
- Mrs. Teresa Martin
Important Dates in May
Dates to Remember
May
2 – Step-Up Day to Reed/1st Grade
3 - Reading Assembly for students during class
3 - Family Reading Night 5:30-6:45 pm
4 - Spirit Day - May the 4th be with you (Star Wars) or favorite color
7 – Teacher Appreciation Week
13 - Mother's Day
15 - Board of Education Mtg/Dist.
15 - Box Top Collection/Last Day
18 – Spirit Day – Hawaiian Day
18 – Last Day for Registration Fee Discount
25 – School Improvement Day 11:55 Dismissal/No E.C.
28 – NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day
29 – 1st Grade Field Trip/Zoo
30 - Field Day (Kgtn and 1st grade)
30 - Preschool Screening Begins (see article below)
31 - Last Day for Early Childhood Classes
June 1 - Last Day for Kgtn/1st Grade (2:00 Dismissal)
Registration is underway! If you haven’t done so already, please return the registration papers for your student. Payment is due before May 18th in order to receive the $10 discount. All new kindergarten students should register as soon as possible. Contact the office for details.
Drop off times: no earlier than 8:40 a.m.
Please be prompt for pick-up at 3:30 p.m.
Remember to call the office by 9:00 a.m. if your child will be absent.
Office hours are 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. ~ 815-838-7858 www.d92.org
Announcing ~ New Preschool at Walsh School for Residents of D92 ~ 2018/2019
See the flyer attached for more details.
REGISTRATION
Registration is now underway for students who will be attending school in District 92 for the 2018/19 school year.
Students who will be 5 years old on or before September 1, 2018 should register for kindergarten as soon as possible. Please stop by the Walsh school office during regular school hours. New 1st-8th grade students who are transferring into the district this year should also register as soon as possible. Call any of the school offices for more information.
Please bring with you:
A. Original county-issued birth certificate
B. Current real estate tax bill, copy of your lease, or if shared housing, fill out and notorize the 3rd Party Affidavit found in the registration packet.
C. Two forms of identification (i.e. driver’s license, utility bill, bank statement, etc.)
You will also be asked to pay a registration fee of $130.00. If you pay at the time of registration, or before May 18th, you can deduct $10 from the fee.
Registration for all current students was sent home in March. If you did not receive a packet, please call the school office. If you are moving out of the district, please send your packet back, indicating your intentions. Remember, you have all summer to return medical forms. Packets should have been returned by March 28th, so prompt return at this point is appreciated. Thank you.
Earth Day Projects
The students also attended a very informative assembly presented by Ms. O'Keefe from Will County Green. We hope our students spread the news, tips, and ideas to their families, causing a 'green wave' of participation within our community. Great job boys and girls! Below is a flyer regarding a book recycling event near you.
Thank you!
P.E. News by Mr. Wallace
Kindergarten News
We are coming down to the end of the school year, but our learning continues. We have caterpillars in our classroom and we are learning about metamorphosis. We will watch and learn as they change from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. We are working on adding detail to our writing and illustrations. The children have been making great progress with their writing skills. Please encourage your child to reread his/her writing to make sure it makes sense. Remind your child to make sure that his/her sentence(s) start with a capital letter and end with a period, question mark, or exclamation point. Be sure to leave spaces between words.
We will be testing the students on their reading comprehension skills one last time before the end of the year. The following skills will be tested: a retelling of the story (what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story), who were the characters, where did the story take place, what part did you like best, and what did you think of when reading this story?
We are also learning about tools we can use to measure, such as rulers, thermometers, measuring cups, and scales. We are learning that we can measure length, weight, capacity, and temperature. Please have your child continue to practice simple addition and subtraction. The more they practice addition and subtraction, the more fluent they will become. This will benefit them in first grade. We will be testing all these skills for the end of the year report card.
First Grade News
Spring is finally here! It's about time that we can get out and enjoy the fresh air without our winter coats on! There are many exciting things happening in first grade. We will continue on the academic journey that we have already established through reading, writing, and math. We have learned so much and come so far in our reading skills in first grade, as well as with our writing and math skills. We have learned about fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in reading. We have learned how to write opinion, narrative and informational writing pieces. In math, we have built on our addition, subtraction, and problem-solving skills. We will continue to review all of the academic areas that we have learned in first grade in preparation for second grade. First graders will be looking forward to preparing for second grade at Reed School, as we visit our future school during Step-Up-Day at the beginning of May. We will be participating in an educational
field trip to Brookfield Zoo at the end of May. Look for the permission slip to come home in your child’s folder and make sure your child wears his/her class shirt. We are going to have an amazing time at the zoo! First grade has flown by, and your children have learned so much! As always, thank you for your continued support! We will certainly miss your children as they move on in their education.
Early Childhood News
The early childhood classes continue to enjoy spring by bringing our parachute and colored chalk outside on good weather days. We will work on a zoo unit, as we learn about the sound and formation of the letters W, X, Y, and Z. Our Read it Once Again selections will be, “Is Your Mama a Llama” and “The Letters are Gone.” We will be working hard during the month of May, and we thank all of our parents for a great school year. Happy Mother’s Day to our moms who are so full of love!
The Reading Corner by Mrs. Squires, Kindergarten Reading Specialist
Visit the library! Summer is a great time to pick up a new book or two and participate in summer reading programs and events.
Readingrockets.org offers free Reading Adventure Packs, pairing fiction and nonfiction books, to encourage hands-on fun and learning. Check it out! Just go to the website and type, “reading adventure packs” into the search box.
Use summer fun to build background knowledge! Interesting experiences give kids a broader framework for new information they might encounter in books. When kids have lots of experiences to draw on, they have a better chance of making a connection with what they read!
Keep a summer reading journal. At the end of the season, you can see how much and what you’ve read.
Before you head out on family vacations, research and read about the places you plan to travel to this summer.
Have a safe and fun summer! Keep reading!
News from the Media Center
Students have been learning about Earth Day here in the Media Center. We began by creating graphic organizers of words the students associated with Earth Day and recycling. Then the students created “Word Clouds” using the words from their graphic organizers. We used the site Word Art; the link is on the Media Center website for students to use again. During class, the students were given a list of Earth Day shapes to use for their word cloud. Many of the students enjoyed completing the activity. Some ways to use word clouds at home include using family members names, spelling words, or even story details.
Music News by Mrs. Rutkiewicz
First-grade students will learn to tell the story of the “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks,” by Russian composer, Modest Mussorgsky. We will have fun acting like the chicks trying to hatch out of their eggs. Ask your first grader to act it out for you later this month. The music can be found on my web page.
First grade is also starting a unit on telling a story through music and puppets. We will learn about several kinds of puppets and put on a musical puppet show. What fun! May brings spring celebrations, including dancing around the May Pole. Sometime during May, look for your child to bring home his/her first-grade music book. This is a nice reminder of all the fun things we did in first-grade music.
By the time you read this article, the kindergarten students will have performed in their spring musical, “In The Kinder Garden.” The kids did a great job learning their songs and dances! Way to go boys and girls! Giddyup! Just like the first-grade students, we will also work with puppets this month and learn a May Pole dance.
Keep on singing! Mrs. Rutkiewicz
Art News by Mrs. Deckinga
The first-grade students will be drawing and painting tropical birds, similar to those we recently saw at our Rainforest assembly. We'll use crayon, watercolor, and cut paper to create colorful rainforest collages.
Making Math Count by Mrs. Romeo
Summer is a time to refresh and relax! However, learning can be lost if too much of our time is spent in relaxation mode. Walsh is excited to announce a summer incentive program for DreamBox! As you are aware DreamBox is an online Intelligent Adaptive Learning program that helps all students achieve better, faster math proficiency.
Your child can Access DreamBox from any device with a high-speed internet connection through the Walsh media center. The greatest success is seen when students are on approximately 30- 60 minutes a week for 15 to 20 minutes sessions. In order to assist your child in meeting this goal, we are announcing a new incentive program to track weekly usage. Students will be given a calendar to track the amount time spent on DreamBox. Both parents and staff can monitor student usage through the parent and teacher accounts. This will let you know the amount of extended use, lessons completed, standards passed, and the percentage of growth. We would like you to assist your child in documenting the amount of extended use for a reward. A calendar will be sent home at the end of the year encouraging students to complete 600 minutes over the summer. Students can return these to their respective school for a prize. Calendars will be sent home later this month. Happy summer!