Late Arrival: Wednesday, March 12
Just a reminder that we have a Late Arrival on Wednesday, March 12. School begins at 10:00 that day. Students in AM Kindergarten attend from 10:00-NOON and PM Kindergarten attends from 1:30-3:30. The bus runs it's usual route, however, just 90 minutes later that day.
Forest Hills Open House: Thursday, March 20
On behalf of everyone at Forest Hills, we're already looking forward to Open House, which takes place on Thursday, March 20, from 6:00-7:00pm. This is an opportunity for families (both kids and grown-ups!) to check out all of the hard work and learning that students have been doing recently. We've hit the home stretch, as we're now in the final trimester this year and it's exciting to see the growth and progress students have made. It can also be a fun opportunity to take a peek at what's to come in future grades, or stop in to say hi to a friendly face from years' past! All are welcome!
HERE is the schedule for the evening. Please plan to enter through the main doors. We hope to see you there!
St. Baldrick's Fundraiser
Please see the attachment below for more information regarding Student Council's St. Baldrick's fundraiser!
Loved ones and guests are welcome to watch the participants have their heads shaved live in the gym. Please just plan to check-in in the office prior to heading to the gym. The event will also be livestreamed for those who can't attend in person.
Travel: Requests For Work
With Spring Break on the horizon, it seems like the right time to communicate expectations around requests for missed work, due to travel or planned absences. Teachers are happy to set aside missed work and can provide it to students upon their return. Lesson planning is a fluid process and is responsive to student needs, therefore, assignments may not be solidified well in advance. (Depending upon the grade level, students may access some assignments via Google Classroom while they're out.) Please hold on requests for work in advance, have students enjoy their break and plan on having them spend a little extra time on school upon their return.
March Student Ownership Attribute–Critical Thinker/Problem-Solver
This month, our Student Ownership Attribute is Critical Thinker/Problem-Solver. We want to encourage students to embrace challenges, think deeply about situations and empower them to solve problems they encounter. These could be experiences both inside and outside of the classroom and school setting.
Our D101 definition of Critical Thinker/Problem-Solver is: Able to focus on a problem, identify its root, generate reasonable alternatives, & determine a path towards the best possible solution.
Some of the components we discussed at the various grade levels were:
What do you do when you when your first idea/solution doesn’t work?
Iteration is an important part of life and learning
Having a growth mindset helps us embrace challenges and become great problem-solvers
Looking at a situation differently than others can be a really good thing!
We’ve discussed these talking points in connection with the following grade level texts:
Kindergarten: Can I Play Too?, by Mo Willems
1st Grade: Solutions for Cold Feet, by Carey Sookocheff
2nd Grade: Going Places, by Peter and Paul Reynolds
3rd Grade: The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires
4th Grade: What Do You Do With A Problem?, by Kobi Yamada
5th Grade: Mr. Ferris and His Wheel, by Kathryn Gibbs Davis
Although this is our collective focus for the month of March, we always look for ways to practice being great Critical Thinkers and Problem-Solvers in our lives.
5Essentials Survey Window Open
Beginning now, students in grades four through twelve, as well as all teachers across Illinois, will be taking the 5Essentials Survey. As required by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), this survey is designed and administered by UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of each school across our state.
The survey gathers data related to five indicators that are correlated with important student outcomes. These five indicators are Effective Leaders, Collaborative Teachers, Involved Families, Supportive Environments, and Ambitious Instruction.
This survey is designed to gather parental thoughts on the same important factors noted above and the impact they have had on school effectiveness at your child’s school.
The Parent Survey is currently available until March 28, and can be accessed by clicking HERE.
If at least 20 percent of parents at a school complete this survey, a parent supplemental report will be generated. Parent identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child. Currently, we're only at 2% of parent responses, so please do consider taking the time to complete the survey.
While this summary information is included on our School Report Card for general reporting purposes, I do very much value and appreciate your perceptions of Forest Hills and would greatly appreciate it if you all take a few minutes to complete this brief survey.
Upcoming Assessments
Please note there are two upcoming State assessments on the horizon.
Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR): Students in 3rd-8th grade take this assessment that assesses ELA and Math standards. This assessment is spread out of the course of five (5) days. Students will begin testing on Monday, March 17. Classroom teachers will share specific testing schedules once they've been finalized.
Illinois Science Assessment (ISA): Students in 5th & 8th grades take this assessment, beginning on Monday, April 14. This assessment is spread out in testing sessions across three days.
Here is what you can do to help support good testing experiences:
- Make sure your child gets a good night's sleep and eats a healthy breakfast each day.
- Schedule appointments outside of the testing windows. This promotes a positive testing environment and reduces the number of make-up tests, which keeps learning flowing!
UPDATE: New School Security Measure
We are now ready to roll out Verkada, a new guest check-in system. Not much is changing with our practice and expectations, but we just wanted to make you aware, as we will still require drivers licenses or some form of government ID to be turned in to enter the school and wear a lanyard to indicate you are a visitor in the building.
The good news is that once you register in the system the first time, you will be issued a QR code that can be saved on your phone. That code can be scanned on all future visits, which will make check-in a little more efficient.
Please make sure to bring your license with you the next time you're at Forest Hills.
Notes of Appreciation
Did you know that practicing gratitude can not only positively impact the recipient of your kind words, but also help YOU feel better and live longer?!?! It's true!
In that spirit, I encourage you to take the time to click HERE to share a short message of gratitude to a Forest Hills staff member (or members, if you're feeling really ambitious!). I have the great fortune of seeing how hard everyone works behind the scenes and the care and concern that everyone here shows for our kids everyday. Hopefully, your kiddos feel that love and support and you do too!
I'll also always have a link to the form in my email signature for ease of access and the opportunity to send a kind note whenever the mood strikes. Thanks in advance for taking the time to brighten someone's day!
IMPORTANT: Updated D101 Elementary Handbook
This summer, the administrative team spent considerable time updating the Elementary School Handbook. Please do spend some time reviewing some of the important information regarding attendance, academics, behavior/discipline, technology, etc. The handbook can be found via the link above or as a PDF below.
D101 Calendars: 24-25 & 25-26 School Years
2024-25 calendar HERE (subscribable Google Calendars) attached below.
2025-26 calendar HERE
Rachel Corrough
Email: rcorrough@d101.org
Website: www.d101.org
Location: 5020 Central Avenue, Western Springs, IL, USA
Phone: (708)485-5184
Twitter: @corrough
