The Skokie Home Scoop
February 20, 2023
Dear Families:
We hope you enjoyed the long weekend, complete with sunshine and warmer weather. Our Winnetka Portrait of a Graduate consists of seven important qualities. One of the qualities is ‘Effective Communicator.’ Tomorrow, we will have students from Skokie and Washburne presenting at the board meeting, sharing more about their experiences with project based learning. Through our students’ experiences in Project Based Learning, as well as in many of the examples below, our students continue to develop their skills as communicators of ideas and of content. Please join us in celebrating this work and asking your students about their experiences.
Exploring Skokie
TCD: In Technology Communication Design students are creating presentations using digital tools to demonstrate their unique abilities and characteristics. In their presentation students will include a logo, a graphic design visual, and an audio component that will represent their uniqueness. Students will use a variety of digital media of their choice to create their presentation.
Health and Wellness Day
If you or someone you know is interested in being a presenter, please use this link for more details and to get in touch with our KW team.
Dungeons and Dragons: Exploratory ‘One Time’ Club
Skokie and Washburne students interested in learning more about Dungeons and Dragons and diving into a one-time campaign are welcome to attend our one time D&D club on Thursday, February 23, at Washburne from 3:45-4:30. Skokie students will meet in the Skokie front lobby and walk over to Washburne at 3:40 with Mrs. Warner. Washburne students will meet in Lab 2, attached to the CWRC. Any D&D level of experience is welcome!
WPSF Phone-A-Thon Fundraiser Is Coming Soon!
On March 12th, Winnetka Public Schools Foundation (WPSF) Board members will be reaching out to D36 parents and community members by phone, text and email in order to secure donations for the coming year. Every donation can make a difference in our schools and for our community! Donate online by March 11th to “Beat the Call!” With your support, WPSF can continue to provide our teachers with the resources they need to bring creativity to the curriculum while enhancing the learning experience for all Winnetka D36 students.
What is the Winnetka Public Schools Foundation (WPSF)?
WPSF is a non-profit volunteer organization which raises funds from District families and the community. Those funds are used to provide grants to D36 educators which enable them to go above and beyond what is possible with tax dollars alone. This year, WPSF provided over $111,000 in grants to Crow Island, Greeley, Hubbard Woods, Skokie and Washburne.
What People Are Saying About WPSF
“The Foundation continues to be a vital partnership that supports [our] work, allowing us to consider resources that we may not otherwise have immediate access to, while also continuing to promote the creative and innovative instructional design that our district has historically celebrated. We are immensely grateful to the Foundation for its commitment to our schools, students and staff, and excited about the possibilities in the year ahead.”
Dr. Kelly Tess, Superintendent Winnetka School District 36
WPSF Funded Skokie School Grant Highlight: A More Modern Music Room
The music curriculum at Skokie focuses on learning to present, perform and share. This year, music teacher, Betsy Balkin, requested funding from WPSF for the purchase of modern instruments and technology to create an in-school music studio.
Expanding access to instruments like the electric drum set, electric guitars and bass guitars as well as studio microphones has allowed more students the hands-on experience to integrate technology, learning and creativity in the studio through increased opportunities to perform and produce.
“It has been such fun reimagining the new music room space. The equipment provided through the WPSF has helped transform the space into a multipurpose music room where learning, practicing, and performing can all take place on our new classroom stage.”
Betsy Balkin, General Music Teacher/Choir Director, Skokie School
Dance Marathon
Dance Marathon 2023 is coming up on Friday, March 3rd
ALL 5th – 8th Graders Are Invited & Encouraged to Participate
Immediately After School 3:30PM – 5:30PM in the Washburne Gym.
Click Here for Students to Sign Up
What an AMAZING response we have had so far to Dance Marathon 2023. Our Skokie/Washburne community is playing an important role in the advancement of care and treatment at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. As of today, our community has raised OVER $31,000, with all proceeds being donated to support the nearly 223,000 patients that Lurie Children’s Hospital treats annually. Way to Go Already, Skokie/Washburne LIONS!
All 5th through 8th Graders are invited and encouraged to continue participating through their classroom donations (happening now) and to join us and register for this inspiring, social afternoon (on March 3rd). Not only is this a wonderful social event for 5th through 8th graders to participate in together, it’s also helping build awareness among our student body about health issues that affect children during an afternoon of games, prizes, a DJ, food and fun with your friends right after school.
Parent Volunteers Are Needed
We are looking for families and parents to help ensure a successful Dance Marathon. Click link to sign up to help in one of two ways:
Volunteer your time to chaperone at Dance Marathon on March 3rd, if all spaces are full and you want to volunteer email here!
Donate a raffle prize for the kids to win. Raffle prizes need to be dropped off by March 1st to the Boulos home at 986 Grove St. There will be a bin on the side porch to put the raffle items in.
Thank you for all your help in making this a successful event!
Questions? Email here!
Acceleration Policy Information
This Accelerated Placement Act requires Illinois public school districts to adopt and implement policies on acceleration that provide opportunities for single subject and grade level acceleration. To learn more about District 36’s acceleration policy implementation, click here to view an infographic and click here to visit our updated webpage. Note that the acceleration request form will be open March 6-31. If you have questions about the policy, please contact the Director of Innovation, Teaching and Learning, Dr. Becky Mathison, at beckymathison@winnetka36.org.
Working in Winnetka 36:
Winnetka 36 is always looking for great candidates when there are openings and we appreciate referrals encouraging them to apply. Here’s a link to our current openings: https://www.applitrack.com/winnetka36/onlineapp/default.aspx
We also get questions about the necessary steps on how to become a substitute teacher and thought we would share how to do that on the bottom of the document: https://www.isbe.net/Documents/how-become-sub-teacher.pdf
Winnetka Voices Podcast Episodes
Winnetka Voices is a podcast hosted by The Winnetka Public Schools, featuring candid conversations on issues relevant to education and shared resources to support our students and families.
NEW! Episode #4:
Recruiting & Retaining Incredible Educators
In this episode Dr. Kelly Tess discusses the national teacher shortage with The Skokie School Principal, Michelle Cooney; Jeff Knapp, Assistant Superintendent of Professional Learning and Human Resources; and Daniel Walsh, Interim Dean of the School of Education and Associate Professor at North Park University. The guests reflect on the landscape when they initially began their careers in education, the need to enhance recruitment and retention practices, and what makes this a unique era in terms of hiring the next generation of teachers. The guests reflect on how these factors may specifically impact our practices in Winnetka. According to Principal Cooney, "In order to do hard and important work, we need to be in a community where we support one another." Listen to the full episode to learn more about this timely topic.
Listen here:
Winnetka Parents Institute
UP NEXT:
March 2023
From Washburne to New Trier: (Paul Waechtler, Principal)
A D36 Parent's Guide to the New Trier Transition
March 7, 2023 (confirmed)
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
Carleton Washburne School, 515 Hibbard Rd.
Paul Waechtler, Principal at the New Trier High School Freshman
Campus, and Lori Worth, 8th Grade Transition Faculty, will discuss the New Trier freshman placement process and the efforts made to ensure a smooth transition to high school. A Q & A will provide an opportunity for parents to learn more about how to best support their child(ren) as they prepare for their New Trier experience.
Interested: RSVP here.
Learning the Mood Meter- District Implementation of RULER
(District 36 SEL Coaches)
March 14, 2023
Location: Washburne RC
Time: 10:00-11:00 AM
Interested: RSVP here
D36 K-8 Math Programming: An Overview
(Dr. Becky Mathison, Director of ITL and District Math Teachers)
March 21, 2023
Location: Washburne RC
Time: 10:00-11:00 AM
During this session Dr. Becky Mathison, Director of Innovation, Teaching and Learning, alongside a team of math educators from the District will provide an overview of D36 math programming K-8 including an upper grade course map, explain how the approach aligns to progressive education and the portrait of a graduate, and ways to support your student at home. This session will feature a panel of D36 math educators.
Interested: RSVP here
Adventures in Learning Summer 2023
The Winnetka Public Schools will offer its Adventures in Learning summer program from June 14th to July 19, 2023. There will be no classes on June 19th or July 4th. Our General Program is designed for students entering 2nd grade through 8th grade and will be held at Washburne School. Our Primary Program provides activities for children Pre-K (4 years old by June 1st, 2023) and K-1st grade (5 years old by September 1st, 2022) and will be held at Crow Island. Classes will be as varied as wilderness skills, archery, tennis, science, cooking, and many types of crafts...along with the annual favorite, Animal Care. Registration will go live in March.
Sincerely,
Michelle Cooney and Larry Joynt
Principal and Assistant Principal
The Skokie School