Tiger Prints

As we finish the third week of the school year, I am proud to see how well our students and staff have settled into their routines. The positive energy throughout the building is evident, and it’s clear that solid connections are forming between students, teachers, and families.

This week, our staff modeled a fun “Rock, Paper, Scissors” contest during passing periods and lunch, which students enthusiastically embraced. Everyone enjoyed the experience, and we’re excited to bring more of these activities when we know students are thriving in their routines while still having fun. However, some of our students still need guidance and support in understanding boundaries and appropriate behavior, and we are working closely with them to ensure they feel safe, respected, and confident in navigating their school environment. These moments of growth are essential to our focus on connection and community.

Connection is more than just a goal; it’s something we witness in action daily. Teachers are leveraging the relationships they’ve built to engage students and foster both academic and personal growth. Families, too, have played an essential and valued role by staying involved and supporting their children. We’re very excited about the plans from the PTO and WEF Foundation, and their contributions are integral to our community, so stay tuned for more updates!

Regular school hours are from 8:20 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Students should not arrive on school grounds before 8:10 a.m. Staff supervision of students is not available prior to 8:10 a.m.

Students who arrive after 8:20 a.m. will be marked tardy as arriving late to school is disruptive to the educational process. We ask that parents stress the importance of students being prompt for the start of each school day.

This Spring there will be three seats for the Winfield 34 Board of Education up for election. Our school board guides our strategic focus for the district and helps ensure that our school district works towards helping our students learn and grow. For individuals interested in running for the school board, here is the 2025 Candidate’s Guide for Elections in Illinois. The Election Day will be Tuesday, April 1st, 2025. Board of Education member information is on page 52 of the candidate guide. Here is a link to the petitions and to the statement of candidacy. Paper packets are also available from Amy Watson in the Winfield Primary Office. Candidates need at least 50 signatures on their petitions. The signature gathering window is officially open. Petitions can be filed between November 12th and 18th at the Du Page County Clerks office.

Sunday, September 8th at 1:00 p.m.

Tuesday, September 10 PK-5th Grade 6:00-7:30 P.M.

Thursday, September 12 Middle School 6:00-7:30 P.M.

Friday, September 13

Dismissal at 11:45 a.m.

PTO Half Day Social

Thursday, September 26

Information will be sent home on Monday, September 16

Click the Virtual Backpack Link to see the archive.

Spirit Wear Sale On Now!

Show your Tiger pride on Fridays (or any day!) with our spirit wear! Many of our shirts are now offered in a variety of colors. See the flier for more details and check out the online store here! Contact Mary Ann Trevino with any questions. The online store is only open for a limited time! Get your orders in by 9/18! Orders will be delivered to your child’s classroom about three weeks after the order is processed.

Curriculum Night Snacks

Thank you to everyone that has donated snacks and appetizers for the teachers. There are a few items left, sign up here to donate!

Room Parent Volunteers Needed!

Calling all parents of Preschool-5th graders - we are looking for room parents for the 2024-25 school year! Thank you to all that have volunteered so far. We still have several openings! The main role of the room parent is to make sure the three class parties (Halloween, Holiday and Spring) are coordinated. The PTO will send a signup for volunteers for each party. You don’t need to attend or plan each party yourself, you just need to make sure there are parent volunteers set to take care of each party. Sign up here! Feel free to email us with any questions! An informational meeting will be held in the Central School Commons on 9/18 at 7 p.m.

Continuous Fundraiser - Box Tops

Earn money for our PTO by scanning grocery receipts for Box Tops - this year’s goal is to earn $300 (or more) and we earned $277 last year! If you need to get started with a Box Tops account, please see the instructions on this welcome letter. Box Tops for Education is trying to make it easier than ever for schools to earn FREE money. If you shop at Walmart, you can connect your Box Tops account with your Walmart account to automatically earn every time you shop. Box Tops is also introducing monthly bonuses for their frequent supporters. You just need to accept the new monthly challenge and continue to scan every receipt and watch your progress for the month add up. Make sure to opt into the monthly challenge at the start of each month so that every receipt you scan counts toward the challenge. Plus there are additional bonus offers each month in the app. Keep an eye on the Winfield 34 Parents Group on Facebook for these bonuses to be announced each month. Be sure to help grandparents and neighbors get set up to scan to support our school too.

Student Directory and Drama Playbill Ad Fundraiser

We are looking for more local businesses to get involved with this exciting fundraiser! Do you or someone you know own or work for a business that would be interested in advertising in our directory and/or playbill? If so, please consider supporting the Winfield Education Foundation through the purchase of a business card size ad in the student directory or spring drama production playbill!

Cost: $35 for directory; $25 for playbill; $50 for both (quite the bargain if you ask us!).

Reserve your directory space by Sept 27th and play bill space by Feb 7th! Email wef@winfield34.org for details.

Thanks for your support!

Kelly Kurzer, PTO President
Mary Campbell, PTO Vice President
winfieldpto@winfield34.org

Lesley Gena, WEF President

Gina Christensen, WEF Vice President

wef@winfield34.org

Student Leadership Team had their first meeting of the year on Wednesday. We talked about the year ahead, and the students came up with some great ideas for serving and representing our school this year. Our first SLT-sponsored event will be next month's Walk to School Day. Stay tuned for details.

3rd graders are off to a great start in science and social studies! Students have been discussing the rights and responsibilities of citizens and practicing the scientific method. 4th grade began their first novel study of the year: The Lemonade War! 4th graders also practiced their short story writing by using descriptive language to help their reader create a mental image of their scene in their mind. 5th grade started off their ELA unit by brainstorming what they knew about resources humans use and learning the purpose of asking questions at different points in their reading. They also worked hard in math as they were introduced to solving equations with exponents!

Primary and Intermediate Digital Citizenship classes are off to a great start! Students are currently participating in the "Using the iPad Camera" lesson. We discussed how we can use the iPad camera in a positive way and how to be respectful to ourselves and others. Here are some photos of our photo scavenger hunt. We tried our best to take focused pictures and not include people in the background.

We are asking for parents to stay in their cars and staff will assist your child in/out of the car. If possible, it would be easier if the car seats were on the passenger side of the car. Please practice with your child to buckle themselves in their seat. We are trying to speed up the flow of arrival/departure.

First days of school are always challenging and everyone wants to be there for their child. The Winfield Station Apartments is very concerned about families using their parking lot. They have confronted families about parking and have stated that they will have vehicles towed that do not have a Winfield Station parking sticker. Please remember, Winfield 34 is a community school. As such, there is never enough parking. Parents who plan to attend a meeting or park at school in order personally drop off or pickup their child are encouraged to park in the visitor parking on Beecher next to the playground, the Winfield Primary parking lot, the Winfield Central parking lot, or at Lions Park. We ask that you not choose the apartments' parking lot to park/drop off/pick up before and after school. We would like to maintain a good relationship with our neighbors.