Fox Ridge Family Newsletter

Please do not reply to this email or any sent from our mass communication system. These are noreply products. A few families have attempted to email me using this email or replying to this email, but fortunately they also included their teachers so it was received and we noticed the noreply email which was intended for the principal. The correct email is michelle.woodring@d303.org.

Monday, February 17th - NO School-President's Day Holiday

Tuesday, February 18th - NO School for Students

Thursday, February 20 at 6:30 p.m. - PTO's Parent Night Out at Whiskey Bend

Friday, February 21st - End of 2nd Trimester for Elementary Students

Wednesday, February 27th - Elementary Early Release 2:35PM dismissal

Thursday, February 27th - Half Day of School for Students 12pm Dismissal

Friday, February 28th - NO School for Students

Please check your child's HAC (Home Access Center) account for emergency contacts. All students should have at least one emergency contact that is not a parent. In case of emergencies or illness an emergency contact is someone who can pick your child up from school within one hour of being called. Please email Nia.York@d303.org or Colleen.Monahan@d303.org to add an emergency contact for your child or children.

If for ANY reason you need to get out of your car while picking up your child from school (ie-strapping child into car seat, child needs assistance), PLEASE PARK and walk to pick up your child. There is NO exiting of vehicles in the Pick Up/ Drop Off Lane. This is too dangerous and delays the Pick Up/Drop Off lane from moving! In addition, as you are waiting on Tyler to enter the parking lot at arrival or dismissal time, it is suggested that you put your hazards on so that other moving traffic is aware that you are stopped.

At Fox Ridge, each student will achieve grade level standards in literacy, math and social emotional and behavioral skills.

Last Friday was our inaugural Foxes Take the Stage. I heard nothing but positives about how well our foxes did. Groups participated, had fun, cheered one another on, and even helped clean up the theater after we were finished. Thank you for representing us so well, I am so proud of everyone of you.

This week we celebrated spirit week and today many classes participated in fun activities related to Valentines Day. Celebrating kindness and friendship across our days. Thank you to Colleen and Nia for organizing all of our parents badges so they were ready and waiting. Thank you to all the parents who came in and planned the great crafts, games, activities to make this day special.

Next week is Random Acts of Kindness week in St. Charles. Students are empowered to participate in random acts of kindness. This can be as simple as greeting one another, holding a door open for a friend, or as elaborate as doing a special act of kindness like making a craft or card. Spreading kindness brightens everyone's day especially the one delivering the kind act. Below are some other suggestions.

Ways to participate

• Compliment others: Share kind words with strangers, friends, or coworkers

• Volunteer: Donate to a local charity or food bank, or volunteer at a senior center

• Donate anonymously: Donate blood or anonymously to a charity

• Create a kindness jar: Fill a jar with ideas for kind deeds and challenge others to complete one each day

• Organize a community event: Organize a cleanup or host a listening circle

• Support local businesses: Buy gifts or services from small businesses

• Send a thoughtful message: Send an encouraging email to a colleague or a kind note to someone's car

• Offer to help: Offer to help someone without being asked

The goal of Random Acts of Kindness Week is to spread kindness and to be a positive influence in others' lives

Above we have linked a video created from our first primary literacy night. This took place in November, many of our primary teachers participated along with specialists. Highlighted in the video, are ways families can support literacy at home.

As you may have seen, we are kicking off two reading programs: Ozzie Reading and One Book One School (OBOS).

Ozzie Reading is a reading incentive program in partnership with the Kane County Cougars baseball team. We are starting a new tradition in which our entire Fox Ridge community will work together to meet the required reading minutes. Parents will verify these minutes through a Google Form sent via our weekly bulletins.

This program is unique because our school will attend a Cougars game as a whole-school field trip during the school day. This special experience is funded by our school building budget and serves as a wonderful way to celebrate our readers in the spring. Unlike other schools that may have done similar programs, families will not attend with us during the school trip. However, students will receive an additional ticket to attend a future game with their families.

We are committed to ensuring that all students in our school read or are read to for the required minutes. We will keep track using the google forms and provide make up opportunities to ensure all students are able to earn the free ticket through their reading. We know the importance of daily reading, and nothing supports student growth as readers more than consistent reading practice.

During our second semester, all classroom teachers are identifying MVP's related to iReady. Last week was our first week, below are the students that were recognized by their classroom teacher's. They all had the photos taken and are highlighted in our front hall frames. We will do this moving forward to encourage iReady engagement and completion. We know that completing 45 minutes in both areas reading and math supports students in achieving their typical growth and stretch growth.

This is what teachers were asked to do-Please review your students data from the past week, identify a student that is most improved in reading and another that is most improved in math (this can be someone who is putting in more effort, time, passing more lessons, anything to recognize and acknowledge their work.)

Here are the students from this week - 2/11-2/14 Congratulations!

KBr Charlie Ficek/Gavin Kersey

KB Gianfranco/Chase

KG Jordan Ashmont/Madeline Theis

1B Josh M./Alex Z.

1G Greta Mennecke/Everett Austin

1M Jack Weber/Charlie Gaconis

2B Henry/Gabriel

2H James/Zoey

2M Leo/Ruby

3D Savanna/Molly

3G Che/Sophia

3M Olivia Schaffer/Jaxson Romero

4Ad Alana Johnson/Tinley Ortega

4An Mason Romejko/Will Kersten

4S Mara Wolters/Maddy Chapeck

5M Jane Schuiling/Ben Rath

5T Lina/Lotus

5U Alex Teafoe/Julia Vogel

On Thursday, February 27th, all elementary students in D303 will have a half-day of school due to our Spring parent-teacher conferences. These conferences serve a different purpose than our Fall goal-setting conferences. Spring conferences provide teachers the opportunity to connect with families of students to discuss progress towards goals and areas for growth. The February 27 conferences have a much shorter time frame of 1:00 to 3:25. This means that teachers will only be able to meet with a few families that afternoon. Your child’s teacher will be sending a letter home next week with either a request to meet or a message stating that a conference is not necessary at this time.

Due to the 12:00 dismissal, students will not have lunch at school that day. All classrooms will take a snack break at some point in the morning.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out, michelle.woodring@d303.org.

We started strong in February with our racket sports unit. Students have been working on hand-eye coordination and striking with a short implement. Last week 3-5 played Badminton and K-2 played Floorball. This week 2-5 focused on Pickleball, while K-1 had fun using balloons to practice striking.

CHANGE OF CLOTHES:

Please remember to send a weather appropriate change of clothes to school with your student.

Also, we need donations of gently used GIRLS Pants, shirts and underwear.

ILLNESS:

If your student is diagnosed with an illness or infection, please notify the health office. We are tracking our students' health closely to watch for any trends in the classrooms. This includes, but not limited to, respiratory illnesses, COVID, Flu, Pink Eye, and Strep. We appreciate any information you give us regarding your student in the event they are ill.

Please remind your student to cover their coughs and sneezes and wash their hands often.

The CDC recommends that people with strep throat stay home from work, school, or daycare until they meet the following criteria:

• They are no longer feverish
• They have been taking antibiotics for at least 12–24 hours

People with strep throat should also:

• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve
• Wash hands frequently
• Wash cups, utensils, and other items that have been touched by an infected person

CDC 2024

Christina Marello, Building RN, 331-228-2404, christina.marello@d303.org.

foxridgepto.com

PTOFoxRidge@gmail.com

Private Facebook Group

As part of our school wide behavior incentives, individual students earn Golden Paws from teachers for meeting our behavior expectations of being respectful, responsible and safe. The Paws are entered into a raffle drawing that takes place on Fridays during lunch time. Students are recognized by their peers and are able to select a small prize. If you have items you would like to donate (stickers, croc charms, pokemon cards, etc), please send them in to Mrs. Patty Griffith, our Student Support Interventionist.

The locked glass display case in our front lobby is a great opportunity for students to show off things they like to collect. Some examples of collections that could be displayed in the case: cards, figurines, stickers, stuffed animals, rocks/shells, or books. We will curate any collections submitted by students to ensure they are school appropriate. Collections will be displayed for 2 weeks. Interested? Fill out our Display Case Form for a chance to have your collections featured.

District 303 is proud to partner with the Glenbard Parent Series (GPS) to offer our families broader access to information sessions and resources that support their child’s development.

For decades, GPS has been offering free programs that aim to empower and strengthen families, individuals and communities. As a partner organization, District 303 will support promoting upcoming programs and their importance to our local community.

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