Tiger Prints

Last week, we had the privilege of hosting our Veterans Day assembly, and I’m thrilled to share that it was a tremendous success. Seeing our school community come together to honor those who have served was inspiring. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event so meaningful and to our veterans and their families for allowing us to celebrate and recognize their service.

As we approach the end of our first trimester, it’s a great time to reflect on students' progress so far this year. One way to support continued growth is by reinforcing the importance of time at home for homework and review. Homework helps reinforce concepts learned in class and teaches responsibility and time management. Setting aside a consistent, quiet space for students to work at home can make a big difference in their success and confidence.

If you have not had a chance to see our boys basketball and cheer teams, it is well worth your time to come out and support. They are working hard in practice and succeeding on the court.

Thank you for your continued support during this busy month. Let’s keep building on our momentum as we approach Thanksgiving break and the opportunities for rest and connection it brings.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Student Leadership Team enjoyed celebrating the many veterans and active duty service members in our community at our annual Veterans Day assembly this past Monday. Thank you to Fred Dale, a veteran of the Army, who spoke to our students, as well as Lance Corporal Daniel Melsa, who helped pass out Marine Corps Honor Coins to the members of our SLT. We are grateful for their service and sacrifices.

Having school be a comfortable, if not exciting, place to be is our hope for each and every student. Our values include building positive connections with staff, students, and families, showing growth within an inclusive community. Across grade levels students are taught skills for empathy, making and maintaining friendships, and how to be a learner (which includes the skill for assertiveness/self-advocacy). They learn how to identify and regulate their own strong emotions, and how to solve problems in a structured manner. Periodically, students are asked to think of a trusted adult at home and at school with whom they may talk to about bigger feelings or when they want support with solving a problem. When we note that students do not identify more than one trusted adult to talk with at school, are not listing friendships, or do not seem to have extracurricular activities that would build non-academic connection, we include them for a check-in as a means to identify where positive connections may begin to be made. As students transition into middle school, all 6th graders have a check-in to get their perception on how school is going for them. We lean on parents for support as well, with eyes on how your child is adjusting to school on a daily basis. We hope that you are comfortable reaching out to a trusted staff member here with any hopes or concerns you may have for your student. For additional information on this topic please contact Jessica Peters our school's psychologist at jpeter@winfield34.org or Shona Dave' our school's Social Worker at sdave@winfield34.org.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, November 20 from 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. For information call Nuvia at 630-909-4901

Board of Education Meeting will be held on Thursday, November 21- 7:00 P.M. in the Central School Cafeteria

Fall Break will be held from Monday, November 25 through Friday, November 29th

Thanks to all the volunteers who showed up for this year's Book Fair! We couldn't do it without you.

Missed an item at the Scholastic Book Fair? Want to keep shopping for books and toys? Go online for the Scholastic Book Fair at https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/winfieldprimaryschool1 Winfield School District gets 25% of your purchases made through November 24 so we can keep buying great items for classroom libraries and the school library. Thank you for your support!

Click the Virtual Backpack Link to see the archive.

Project Hope needs you!

Get ready for the giving season and help us spread joy and warmth in our community! There are many ways you can get involved:

1. Donate blood in the Central School Cafeteria on Tuesday, December 3 from 3:45-6:30pm - schedule your appointment here!

2. Donate gently used coats during our coat drive on December 3 from 3:15-6:30pm - we will give coats out to our families that request them and the extras will go to local non-profit People’s Resource Center.

3. Donate to our Holiday Gift Giving Program by donating gift cards or cash or buying gifts for a child! Please email us at wef@winfield34.org if you are interested in getting involved!

4. Volunteer to help us on December 3 by going to our Signup Genius page here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4BAAA922A1F85-53163804-giving

Does your child need a coat or anything for winter?

Feel free to contact us at wef@winfield34.org or reach out to Mrs. Dave at sdave@winfield34.org with what you need including what type of clothing (coat, snow pants, boots, etc.), what size and what color your child would like and we will work with our community to get those items donated!

Trivia Night: January 11, 2025, 6:00 p.m.

Save the date for our upcoming Trivia Night! We hope you can join us for this adults-only, fun-filled evening of friendly competition, laughs, and great company! We’ll be hosting the event in a larger venue than last year--American Legion, Carol Stream (570 S Gary Ave). We will share more info soon!

As part of the event, we are seeking donations of raffle prizes and silent auction items to help raise funds for the Winfield Education Foundation. WEF aims to raise and grant funds for programs that enhance and enrich District 34 students’ educational opportunities. If you or someone in your family owns or works for a business that could contribute a raffle prize or silent auction item, we would be grateful for the support! Reach out to Kelly at winfieldpto@winfield34.org if you are interested in getting involved!

Box Tops For Education: Thanks to everyone that has been scanning receipts and earning money for our school! This month, if you haven’t done so already, connect your Walmart Account and earn 50 bonus box tops ($5)! Connect before 11/30 to earn the bonus. No purchase necessary! See app for details.

Crayola ColorCycle Program-Discontinued!

We are no longer collecting old markers at the school to be recycled, as the Crayola ColorCycle program has been discontinued. We’re currently exploring new ways for our school community to get involved in special recycling projects. We’ll share those opportunities as they become available!

Next PTO/WEF Meeting: Wednesday, December 4th at 7 p.m.

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

Kindergarten has ROCKED our first 50 days of school! This school year is ROLLING by! We had fun celebrating with all things 50!

This week, third graders presented their community improvement proposals in social studies. In math, the students reviewed multiplication and division with arrays by creating an Array City. This week in 3/4 Brach the theme was "creating a purpose" for reading. Students were taught to create a purpose for reading (looking for character traits, finding figurative language, comparing two characters, etc.) before reading the next chapter in their novels. As they read their chapters, they would take notes on post-its and place them on the pages they found information. Every student noticed that they were able to remember what they read and they even were able to make more connections while reading than when they just read the chapter without a focus. In fifth grade, students explored decimal patterns when multiplying by powers of ten. In science, they analyzed and created food webs for different ecosystems.

Today marks the end of the first trimester! In Language Arts we have been studying Edgar Allan Poe in 8th grade. In 7th grade, Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, and in 6th Grade we are reading Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish, by Pablo Cartaya. All of our units are expected to wrap near Friday next week. Next up? Our annual Argument Unit. Get ready students! We’re going to debate!

The following students are Leaders of the Month (LOTM) for November. Congratulations!

Otto (PreK), Erik (PreK), Oakley(Pre-K), Mickey(Kdg), Rienna(1st), Elena(1st), Sarah(2nd), Ella(3rd), Emily(3rd), Mason(4th), Stan(4th), Ben(5th), & Anna(5th)

Attention, all prospective Drama Club Participants! Audition prep materials for the Acting and Stage Crew teams will be available this coming Monday, November 18th! Audition sign ups will be open on Friday, December 6th, and Auditions will be on Saturday, December 14th. Be ready! Get a jump on your preparations before the Fall Break! See Mrs. Conrad, Mrs. Lawson, or Mr. Wdowiarz for more details!