Hubbard Woods Family Newsletter

Dear Hubbard Woods Families,

We’ve officially reached the 4th week of school, and it’s been amazing to see how much our students are growing already! As we settle into our routines, we’re excited to invite you to our Back to School Night on Thursday, September 26th at 6pm.

This will be a great opportunity to learn more about our school community, classroom, curriculum, and ways you can support your child throughout the year. We can’t wait to meet you and share what’s in store for this school year.

Thank you for your ongoing support, and we look forward to seeing you this week!

Best regards,

Ivory Ajavon

Principal

We invite you to engage on important District and school-related topics with Dr. Tess and Mrs. Ajavon. Please mark your calendar for the session at your home school(s) and kindly RSVP here:

Hubbard Woods School

Tuesday, October 8

6:30-7:30 p.m.

The SSIS Student SEL Survey will be administered in grades K-8 the week of October 7th as part of our District-wide goal to support SEL for all students. The survey is aligned with Illinois state Social-Emotional Learning standards and will provide data to help inform our efforts to support the well-being of all students. The survey focuses on five core SEL competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Students grades 3-8 will take the survey during their SEL/advisory time. Time will be dedicated during our October 7th staff meeting for teachers grades K-8 to complete the teacher portion of the SSIS survey. Additionally, all staff will be asked to complete the Teacher and Staff survey through Panorama which will focus on: wellbeing, belonging, school climate, and equity and inclusion.

The Winnetka Public Schools are committed to the second goal area of our strategic plan focused on creating a culture of positive well-being for students, staff, and community. This includes promoting wellness for our school community and collaborating Districtwide to foster connection and belonging.

We are committed to continuing recognition of monthly observances and celebrations this year; however, we have made some revisions and additions based on feedback from our school community. A link to the official 2024/2025 calendar can be found here. The calendar was created to collectively raise awareness of the important days of commemoration across several events and faith traditions practiced by staff and families in the District. However, it should be noted that this is not a comprehensive list of all religious days or faith traditions observed in the community. If you would like to recommend a change or addition to this calendar for consideration in the future, please let us know via this online form.

September 15 to October 15 is National LatinX Heritage Month. This is a time to celebrate the cultures, achievements and contributions of LatinX, Hispanic and Latino-identified people whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

In 2024/2025, we will further explore what it means to have a sense of belonging using the Vanderbilt University research-based Ten Dimensions of Belonging which offers 10 ways schools can foster belonging for all. Districtwide, we will focus on one dimension of belonging each month. September’s dimension is PRESENT. Staff are students are encouraged to reflect and take action regarding the following: Are all students, families, and staff involved in the same spaces and activities as their peers?

This is a friendly reminder that all medical forms required by the State of Illinois are overdue. You can find additional copies of the forms on the district website here.

Please see the information below:

State of Illinois Health Examination:

Kindergarten & Grade 6

Eye Examination:

Kindergarten

Dental Examination:

Kindergarten, Grade 2 & Grade 6

Please email all Hubbard Woods forms to ashleyjaskowski@winnetka36.org.

4th Grade Chorus begins October 10, 2024 at 8am. Please take a moment to signup your child up if they are interested in participating for the 2024-2025 school year.

The District offers regular sessions for families to learn more about a variety of topics. View the entire 2024/2025 schedule here.

Up Next:

What to Know About the Otus Parent Portal (Virtual only!)

October 9, 2024

9:30 A.M.

Location: Virtual

Zoom Link:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://winnetka36.zoom.us/j/89140902359?pwd=CkiZde9cij4R65VWd5jMpDaW5wkTlo.1

Meeting ID: 891 4090 2359

Passcode: 740131

Patrick Dawson (Director of Innovation, Teaching and Learning) and Dr. Zach Fodor from Otus will present on how parents can access their student’s assessment data (i.e. NWEA MAP, aimswebPlus, mClass DIBELS, IAR, etc) in one platform, Otus. Come and learn how you can use this powerful tool to review and stay up-to-date on your student’s performance.

Interested:

RSVP for this event here

If you missed it, view videos from past sessions:

Insights on K-8 Literacy Programming in The Winnetka Public Schools

These include:

• Kindergarten Stay & Play

• iPad Insurance

• Elementary and Skokie Milk Fees

• Central PTO Dues

• Bus Registration (Reopens Monday, September 16th)

ALL optional fees, programs or services are accessed via RevTrak https://winnetka.revtrak.net/.

Join us on September 26th for an opportunity to hear from your child’s teachers and the principal about the exciting plans for this year. We look forward to sharing how we’ll work together to make this a great year of learning!

The schedule is as follows below:

6:00 - 6:25 Parent presentation in Auditorium for Principal Message

6:30 - 7:00 Last Name A-L: K-2nd grade & Last Name M-Z: 3rd-4th grade

7:00 - 7:25 Last Name A-L: 3rd-4th grade & Last Name M-Z: K-2nd grade

7:30-7:45 Parent presentation in Auditorium for Principal Message (Repeat)

Last week’s Principal Newsletter featured some highlights about what the new literacy program is designed to do to support student learning and growth. With this change, the units at each grade level have new topics or themes.

The American Reading Company (ARC) begins with the Literacy Lab for grades K-6. This is a time when learning routines are established and teachers are able to get an initial understanding of current student performance in the areas of reading and writing. Following this first unit, each grade level has three units based on a theme.

Kindergarten- Zoology, Ecology, Entomology
1st- Wild & Endangered Animals, Family Stories, Plants
2nd- Bugs, Animal Stories, Join My Community
3rd- Weather & Climate, Traditional Tales, Marine Life
4th- Animal Adaptations, TBD (Mystery or American Historical Fiction), Sports and Society

• Tuesday, September 24th- School Board Meeting (7:15 pm)

• Thursday, September 26th - Back to School Night (6:00-7:30 pm)

• Thursday, October 3rd - Rosh Hashanah (No School)

• Friday, October 4th - Spirit Day (Wear Hubbard Woods Apparel & Parent/ Staff Party (6:00-10:00 pm)