Westbrook School
May 1, 2020
From the Principal...
Dear Westbrook Families,
We are so appreciative of your support and partnership during this time. Our teachers will continue to work hard at fostering connections and building meaningful learning experiences for your child. We are also hard at work at developing plans for the end of the school year. We will be sharing more information, including information related to supply pick-up and drop-off, in the coming weeks.
Our school psychologist, Shannon Fratamico, has put together a Curated list of resources for students and families. Please take a look at the helpful resource!
*Families, please remember to continue to take attendance by noon each day of remote learning. Thank you!
Parent/Guardian Feedback Form
Among our many important responsibilities later this spring, the Westbrook staff and I will engage in our work to create the groups of children that will comprise next year's classes. The class placement process is one that takes a considerable amount of time and collaboration among teachers and will not be truly finalized until August. In creating classes, we strive to take into account the social, emotional, academic, and creative aspects of every child. Our goal is form balanced heterogeneous classes in which each child can succeed.
Your thoughts about your child's preferred learning style, peer relationships, previous school experiences, etc. are certainly valued. Consistent with past practice at Westbrook, however, please know that we are unable to honor requests for specific teachers. If you have additional information that you feel is important for us to consider when placing your child in a class for the 2020-21 school year, please share it with me using this online form no later than May 15.
If you are the parent of a first grader, please feel free to participate in this process, as I will share your feedback with the Fairview and Lions Park principals.
Support and Resources for Families in Need
One of the things I love most about the Westbrook community is how people care about one another. Many parents and staff have asked me how they can best help during this difficult time for many of our families. We now have a very practical way to help. If you are in a position to do so, please consider donating some money using this link that will be given to D57 families in need. If you find your family in need of support, please fill out this form to request assistance.
A Message from the PTO
Next week (May 4th-May 8th) is staff appreciation week! We want to show our teachers, instructional assistants, custodians, and support staff how much we care for them! We need your help! Please see the attachment to view our schedule for the week! Use the hashtag WestbrookLove! so all the staff can see!
Staff Appreciation
Karl Anderson, assistant principal, and I would also like to do something for our Westbrook team! We feel so lucky to have such a wonderful staff, and we want to do something extra special for them. We want to create a video to show how much they mean to us. WE NEED YOUR HELP! We are looking for volunteers who would be willing to answer one the questions below on camera and send us the short video:
What makes your child's teacher special?
Why is Westbrook special to your child or your family?
What is one thing that you appreciate about the teachers or staff at Westbrook?
What is one thing that you will remember about Westbrook?
It's super easy and will only take a few minutes! We want to keep this a secret from our teachers, so please don't tell anyone! If you are willing to help us, please email your video to kvonderhaar@d57.org. Include STAFF APPRECIATION in the subject of your email. Please submit videos by May 6th.
Golden Apple Nominations for Excellence in Teaching
Are there Pre-K–3rd grade teachers at your school who deserve recognition for superior service to your students, school, and community? With so much change in the world of education affecting school communities right now, say thanks to a teacher going above and beyond for students at your school with a Golden Apple Award nomination. Honor an outstanding Pre-K–3rd grade teacher by nominating them for the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching today: https://www.goldenapple.org/nominate-a-teacher
Read Alouds
We love reading picture books! Our Westbrook staff will continue to add to our growing list of read alouds on our YouTube playlist. Please click here to access the playlist.
Spirit Days
It’s hard to believe that it’s already May! We are excited to share more spirit days for the month of May. Please see the attachment for our May schedule! If you’re willing, we would love to see spirit day pictures posted to social media. Please tag our school, westbrook_d57, and use #d57spiritdays.
Mount Prospect Public Library
The Mount Prospect Public Library has a lot of resources and engaging online activities for your families to enjoy! One of these activities is a virtual pen-pal program. Students can ask questions (book recommendations, favorite school subject, favorite dessert, etc...), share a story they read or wrote, share a joke, a picture they drew, or anything! The email address set up for this is penpal@mppl.org. Students can even write an actual letter and then take a picture and send it to the librarians via the penpal email.
Assistance with Technology
If you have any technology needs, please fill out the short form below and someone will be in contact with you shortly to help! As mentioned in Dr. Aumiller's email, please let us know if your family would benefit from having another device for remote learning. District 57 can loan you a Chromebook. You may request to borrow a chromebook using the same form below.
MPSD57 Technology Support for Remote Learning (for staff, students, and families)
Help Desk: At-Home Tech Assistance Form
Tech assistance tickets received outside of remote learning hours will be responded to during the next remote learning day.
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. Please follow us! Our username is: westbrook_d57.
We are so grateful for the strong partnership that we have with our families. Have a great weekend!
We wish you and your family well,
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