Woodbury Weekly Update for Families

Welcome to our weekly update! We are thrilled to keep you informed about the happenings at our school, celebrations & achievements and upcoming events, ensuring you're an active part of your students educational journey. In each update, you'll find some quick highlights of the past week and a preview of what's to come. Our hope is to foster a strong sense of community and collaboration between the school and our cherished families. Most weeks will be brief, but at times there is important information or updates that help support us in your involvement in our little school. Thank you for taking the time to read it!

Dear Woodbury Families,

Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope your holiday season was filled with joy, relaxation, and quality time with family and friends. As we begin this new year, we are excited to continue the journey of growth and learning with our students.

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who generously provided thoughtful gifts and treats to our staff throughout December. Your kindness and support truly brightened our days and made the holiday season extra special. We are so grateful for the wonderful community we have here at Woodbury.

This month, we are focusing on one of our core values: collaboration. Collaboration is a powerful tool for learning and growth, and we believe it’s important to nurture this value in our students.

For elementary-aged students, collaboration might look like:

• Working together in groups to complete a project or solve a problem
• Sharing ideas and listening to others’ perspectives
• Helping classmates with tasks or challenges to support one another
• Communicating respectfully to express thoughts and feelings while considering others’ ideas
• Celebrating group successes as they learn that teamwork can lead to wonderful outcomes

By fostering collaboration, we create an environment where students feel valued and empowered, and they understand that working together strengthens not only their academic success but also their relationships with others.

Thank you for your continued partnership. We look forward to an amazing year ahead and the wonderful things we will accomplish together!

Best,

Mrs. Kern

JANUARY:

1/7: School resumes, Return Hot Cocoa Reading Challenge

1/10: Trimester 2 Progress Reports Sent Home

1/13: Erin's Law Presentations

1/13-1/24: Fastbridge Benchmarking Testing for K-3 Students

1/16: PPA Meeting 4:00 p.m.

1/17: Fox Valley Therapy Dogs

1/20: No School, MLK Day

1/21: School Board Meeting 7:00 p.m.

1/27: Core Value Recognition (Respect & Collaboration)

Dress for the weather: As we head into colder weather, we want to remind you to dress your student appropriately for the conditions. In addition to any before-school time, students also have a 30-minute recess after lunch, and they will be outside unless the "feels like" temperature is below 10 degrees. Please ensure that your child is wearing warm clothing, including jackets, hats, gloves, and scarves, to stay comfortable and safe during outdoor activities. Layers are always a great choice to help regulate their body temperature throughout the day. Thank you for your support in keeping our students warm and ready for both learning and play!

Personal Items: Please do not send personal items to school with your student. We are not responsible for lost or stolen items. Unfortunately, these items can often become a distraction to the learning environment.

Absences: Please be sure to call our office when your student will be absent. Student absences need to be called in by 8:15 am (815-786-6316) on the day of the absence for the safety of your student. There is a voicemail to leave a message, so you can call at any time to let us know if your student will not be present. If your child is not at school and we have not been contacted we will send out reminder messages. If contact cannot be made, please note that the absence will be considered UNEXCUSED.

Our school district continues to partner with Safe Passage to provide Sexual Abuse Prevention Education programming to our students. Safe Passage is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the right of all to nonviolent and abuse-free relationships through advocacy, intervention, and prevention in DeKalb County. Legislation in our state, called Erin’s Law, requires all public schools in Illinois to develop a comprehensive, age-appropriate sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention education program for students in Pre-K through 12th grade. It is estimated that one in four girls and one in five boys are sexually abused by the time they are 18. It is estimated that about 90% of the abusers are known to the child and include relatives, neighbors, babysitters, and family acquaintances. As a part of our plan, Safe Passage’s Prevention Education staff will present a Personal Body Safety Program in all elementary classrooms. This program will discuss sexual abuse prevention at an age-appropriate level for our K-5 students, as outlined below.

K-3 Lessons:

• Kindergarten: My Body’s Mine! By Kayla Marnach

Storytime discussion about a child’s bodily autonomy in a rhyme for ease of remembrance. Discussion of safe vs unsafe touches and secrets. Discussion of safe adults to go to for help.

• 1st Grade: My Body! What I Say Goes! Second Edition by Jayneen Sanders

Interactive story time and discussion of rules for body safety and how to say no and talk to a safe grown-up if a child feels unsafe or hurt. Discussion of how to say no, how to recognize feeling unsafe, and how to help a friend. Updated to the second edition of the book that updated language and added more inclusive illustrations.

• 2nd grade: Teach your Dragon Body Safety: A Story about Personal Boundaries and Appropriate vs Inappropriate Touches by Steve Herman

Storytime discussion about a child’s bodily autonomy in a rhyme for ease of remembrance with a dragon friend to make it a fun discussion.

Discussion of safe vs unsafe touches and secrets. The book outlines boundaries and how to tell people no when the child is uncomfortable. Discussion of safe adults to go to for help. Part of the popular “Teach your Dragon” book series.

• 3rd Grade: Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept by Jayneen Sanders

Storytime and discussion of grooming techniques, including threatening or shaming a child into silence. Discussion of moving beyond “stranger danger” in thinking about safety and how to get help, even if you feel scared.

Our school district is committed to the safety and well-being of our students. Please visit the Illinois State Board of Education website for further information regarding Erin's Law. If you have any questions or want to opt your student(s) out of the Safe Passage presentations, please contact Woodbury’s main office at 815-786-6316.

Over fall break, our playground fence was replaced and we are so pleased and grateful for this much needed update! Over the break, progress was made to our learning space. The current learning center area was divided and 2 more learning spaces are being created as well as a learning space created in an area that was once a bathroom and storage area. This will help support adding 4th graders to our building for the 2025-2026 school year. Here are some pictures of our progress. An extra shout out to Mr. Kurtz, our custodian, who has been a significant help in these projects!

We Need Substitute Teachers and Substitute Paraprofessionals! Do you want to make your own schedule? Do you have at least 60 credit hours or an Associate's Degree?

You can be a Substitute Teacher and would be making a significant impact on our school with your support!

As a Substitute Teacher, you would make $120 daily or $140 after a total of 10 days in the district.

Here is the link to the DeKalb ROE for a Substitute Teacher packet.

You can easily become a substitute Paraprofessional as well with just a High School diploma and earn $14 an hour. Here is the link for the DeKalb Paraprofessional licensure.

Attention Preschool Families! This series is designed to empower families with practical strategies to support young children's development and set them on a path for lifelong learning. Join us to connect with other parents, gain insights into early childhood milestones, and explore ways to create a nurturing learning environment at home.

Our Parent Pathways sessions are designed to provide a supportive and interactive hour for families. Each session begins with 25-minutes led by our parent educator, where parents can learn valuable insights and strategies, while preschool students are supervised and engaged in play in classrooms. Following the parent session, families will enjoy a 25-minute activity to practice new ideas together.

These are the dates of our Parent Pathways events from 5:30 - 6:30 pm.

December 17th

January 21st

February 18th

March 18th

April 15th

May 20th

We kindly ask that non-preschool children have pre-arranged supervision at home, though infants may stay with parents if necessary. Please note that no diapering services will be available during play supervision.

Each month we will send a Google Form to inform you of the upcoming event's topic and ask for your RSVP.

December17th's Topic: Establishing Routines at Home

Activity: Making Playdough

The importance of routines and ideas on how to easily implement them at home.

The following core values are embedded in our Woodbury Way recognition and are goals for our students and staff. These are great skills to discuss with your students as we will be emphasizing them throughout each month.

September: OVERVIEW

October: Growth Mindset (Connection to Second Step-first unit, Start the year off right)

November: Responsibility

December: Respect

January: Collaboration

February: Empathy (Valentine’s Day, Black History Month)

March: Integrity (IAR Testing)

April: Citizenship (Earth Day)

May: Celebrate (Acknowledge accomplishments/achievements)