Skokie Home Scoop

November 4, 2024

Dear Families:

We hope you had a wonderful weekend with your family. Thank you to all of our educators and families who planned and supported a wonderful day last Thursday for Halloween!

Last week we welcomed Educating Outside the Lines as we ended the month of October with a focus on our dimension of belonging of Invited. Each month, we center on one dimension, and we find opportunities to learn more about and discuss monthly observances within the month. For October, this focus was on Invited with a connected opportunity to learn more about Disability Awareness Month. This learning and our work should all feel connected as we work together as a community to support our children at school and beyond. As students left KW on Thursday, our teachers reminded students to invite students in if they noticed anyone who would benefit from an invitation on Halloween. This month, we will focus on Welcomed.

Upcoming Dates
November 5th: Election Day (No school)
November 11th: Veterans Day - Thank you to our veterans for their service!
November 14th and 15th: Conference Days (No school)
November 25th-29th: Thanksgiving Break (No school)

The Student Library Advisory Board (SLAB) Club at The Skokie School is an exciting new initiative for fifth and sixth graders passionate about reading and creativity. This year, the club will focus on engaging activities catering to its members' interests and talents. Students can curate book collections, design eye-catching displays, create book trailers, and produce vibrant reading posters, to name a few. Additionally, they will participate in book reviews and brainstorming sessions and have a budget to spend on new resources to shape the future of the library's offerings. With guidance from dedicated staff like Mr. Burleson and Mrs. Roel, SLAB aims to foster a love for literature and a sense of community among young readers.

The club is free for all students and meets every Thursday morning from 7:30 am-8:15 am in the library, inviting all book enthusiasts to join in on the fun and creativity. These are just some of our ideas, but the real magic comes when the students sit down and dream up ways to use SLAB for good in our school and world! We plan to meet every Thursday except the following dates when school is out of session: (December 26, January 2, February 20, March 27)

Book E-Fair

You can begin placing your orders on November 1st, 2024. After the fair has ended, the books will be delivered for free to the school. We will then distribute them to the students and teachers in their classrooms.

To place your order, go to these two links:

Pre-K through 5th Grade Titles

6th Grade through 8th Grade Titles

Science Olympiad

Any 6th graders who are interested in Science Olympiad are welcome to join the team at Washburne. There will be an informational meeting just for students on November 12th from 3:30-4:30 pm at Washburne in Room W221N, just down the hall from the front office. Registration under Washburne Non-sports will open the following week.

If you have questions, please email Emily Berna at emilyberna@winnetka36.org

Kinetic Wellness Kinetic wellness enjoyed great fall weather as we finished our Team Handball unit! During this unit, all KW classes come together to create teams. The teams typically play modified handball games of 5 vs. 5, with a goalie, on the outdoor grass fields. Each team elected captains, assistant captain, scorekeepers and focused on growing their teamwork skills. Teams participated in multiple rounds of pool play, culminating in a double elimination tournament.

Upcoming curricular units include basketball, team-building, and (if weather permits) soccer.

A reminder that all KW clothing should be separate from clothing worn to/from school and during the school day. If you still need to purchase a KW uniform click on THIS LINK to get to the One Stop Trev Shop.

5th Grade After School Sports continues on Tuesdays through December 3rd, and 6th Grade After School Sports continues Wednesdays, through November 20th. Climbing Clubs, meeting Wednesdays or Thursdays in November and December are still open for registration. Only 6th graders are eligible for Climbing Club at this time. All activities run from 3:35-4:30pm.

Please use this link to sign up!

Sincerely,

Michelle Cooney and Larry Joynt

Principal and Assistant Principal

The Skokie School

The Dimension of Belonging featured in November is “welcomed” and monthly observances include Native American Heritage Month, Diwali, Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving. Learn more by reading the Belonging Means… Newsletter which features contributions from Hubbard Woods and the Department of Human Resources/Professional Development.

Remote Learning Practice Day

Practice Remote Learning Activity on November 7, 2024:

To ensure our students are prepared for any potential shift to remote learning due to multiple days of inclement weather, we have planned a proactive practice activity. This practice session is an important step in ensuring that our students remain connected and ready for learning should inclement weather occur.

• Date for Device Take-Home: On Thursday, November 7, all students will bring their school-issued iPads home.

• Objective: The goal is for each student to connect their device to their home Wi-Fi network and ensure they have access to the necessary tools and platforms.

• Return of Devices: Please ensure that the devices are returned to school with your child on Friday, November 8.

• Communication: Additional communication and reminders, as well as a form to record any issues your student experiences, will be sent closer to this practice event.

Winnetka Parents Institute

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

Up Next:

AI Literacy Lessons for Grades 5-8

November 13, 2024

9:30 A.M.

Location: Carleton Washburne School Cafeteria

UNESCO, in their 2021 report entitled AI and education: Guidance for policy-makers stated that:

“AI is said to be a key enabler of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0)…A recent global estimate suggests that 30% of work activities could be automated by 2030. Up to 375 million workers worldwide could be affected...Meanwhile, however, AI and other frontier technologies are increasing the range of high-skill jobs that require unique creative and analytical abilities and human interactions. In short, many workers’ jobs might disappear, and they will need to develop new skill sets – upskilling or reskilling – to enable them to enter the new occupations made possible by AI. Education ministries and training providers need to anticipate these changes, equipping today’s workers and preparing new generations with the necessary technical and social job skills, to smooth the transition to a world dominated by AI, while ensuring social sustainability.”

Artificial Intelligence is “out of the toothpaste tube” and is not going back in. In response, we’ll share with parents the steps we’re taking to increase the literacy of our students of Artificial Intelligence and how we’re preparing them to be responsible users of this tool.

Interested:

RSVP here

If you missed it, view videos from past sessions:

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

What to Know About the Otus Parent Portal