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Turtle Times

Mary Kay McNeill Early Learning Family Newsletter

Turtle Times Mary Kay McNeill Early Learning Family Newsletter

Friday, February 10th, 2023

Message from Ms. Barkley, Coordinator of Early Learning

Dear ELC Families,


You may have received an attendance notice in the mail from our school. As a district, we have updated and modified our attendance letters. This task was recently completed, and therefore, we had not previously sent out attendance notices this year. Typically, you will receive an attendance notice after your child is absent for 5 days, and then again, after 9 days. We are required to send out attendance notices per Illinois School Code and wanted to make sure that we did so with the accurate information.


Your child's attendance at school is so important for their continued academic and social emotional success. We do understand that illnesses and emergencies come up. Please work with the office in the event that your child is ill or you encounter a family emergency. These letters serve as an additional communication piece on your child's school experience. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your partnership in having our students here at school to learn and grow each day.


On January 27th we hosted our 2nd parent education workshop. The workshop focused on early language and literacy development. Below, you will find additional resources to support your child's language and literacy development.


Our next parent educational day is May 8th from 1-3pm On this day we invite you and your child to join us and the Rockford Discovery Center Museum to participate in our Little Scientist Family Fun Day. There will be several stations available for you and your child to explore science concepts such as magnetism, measurement, architecture, and chemistry. Registration for this event will be open soon.


Sincerely,

Ms. Barkley

Language and Literacy Resources

5 Essentials Survey Links

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be conducted January 23, 2023 through March 31, 2023. Please click on the link below or scan the QR code to access the survey. To link the results to our school, please enter Mary Kay McNeill Early Learning Center for the school name.


Your participation in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey will help us understand the conditions at our school and guide improvement. We would like to thank you in advance for your participation and feedback.

Parent Education and Engagement Opportunities

Inclusive Education Series for Families

Role Model Students

Our role model students have been selected by their classroom teachers for demonstrating expected behaviors in the classroom and throughout the school, for making good decisions and for being kind and respectful to others.
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Kaylee

"Kaylee is a teacher's dream student! She is helpful, she works hard, she participates, and she is kind to her peers. Kaylee is always volunteering to help her classmates or help the teachers while she's at school. She has a very kind heart and is a wonderful role model to all!"


- Mrs. DeShasier

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Levi

"Levi did a great job using the block area appropriately. He built a structure with wood blocks and got a dinosaur to walk on the structure. He was very creative in his play."


- Mrs. Ginny

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Charlotte

"Charlotte eagerly greets her peers and addresses them by name. She is supportive of the younger peers in class. Charlotte demonstrates exhibits great artistic abilities and encourages others to join her in creating elaborate projects. She graciously gives notes and art projects to peers and adults with kind messages attached."


- Mrs. Weider

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Henry

"Henry has been working very hard on his self help skills and being able to do things independently. Hard work and practice is paying off. Great Job Henry!!!"


-Mrs. Hanrahan

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Moira

"Moira has been following our classroom rules and routines. She has been a very kind and patient friend. She is working hard in the classroom and is really getting ready for kindergarten!"


-Mrs. Dempski

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Arabella

"Arabella is a wonderful friend to many in our class. She invites a variety of other children to play and has lots of ideas of things we can do at play time. When we had a new student start, she made an extra effort to be a good friend and helper to this student and invited them to play and made them feel welcome and part of the group. "


-Mrs. Maybrun