Wescott Word

November 1- December 16

'Coat Off Your Back' drive

Wednesday, December 18

🥬 PTO Special Lunch (Potbelly) 🥬

Friday, December 20

Winter sing

Wescott Winter parties

⛄ December 23 - January 3 ⛄

No school - Winter break

Monday, January 6

School resumes

Summer in District 30 means learning, laughter, and loads of fun! Our program has been a longstanding tradition, offering unique and exciting courses for students in pre-K through 8th grade. Whether your child is exploring new interests or diving into creative activities, there’s something for everyone in our vibrant community. District 30 is a wonderful place to grow and connect, and our summer school program is the perfect way to make the most of the season. We hope you will consider joining in the fun!

• 2025 Summer School Dates: Wednesday, June 11 to Friday, July 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. (No school June 19 & July 4.)
• Registration opens: February 5 at 10 a.m.
• Details coming soon: More information about registration and course offerings will be coming soon to district30.org/summer-school.
• Questions? Email summerschool@district30.org.

Sincerely,

Ms. Anna Davis, Summer School Principal

Mrs. Sarah Arends, Summer School Assistant Principal

To have your student participate in this year's Winter Sing, please follow the steps below and submit a permission slip for each one of your Wescott Wolves. Permission slips are due by Wednesday, December 18.

• Login to your Parent Portal account: ps.district30.org/public
• Click on Forms in the left menu
• Click on District Winter Sing Permission Slip, under the Permission Slips section

A charter is a working document that is never set in stone. This month as part of our RULER School-Home Connection, we are revisiting our charters to evaluate and revise our ever-changing needs.

We will also be looking at our charters through a lens of empathy to ensure students feel a sense of belonging in our classrooms and brainstorm ways for how we can help everyone in our community feel safe, regardless of differences.

• We can reflect on our charter through an empathetic lens by asking questions:

• Does our charter include trying to understand others’ feelings and perspectives?

• Does our charter include being kind to one another with words and actions so all people feel good and a sense of belonging?

• Ways that we can show empathy towards one another through our actions and words.

Learn how to discuss your child's charter revisions at school and home and how to use empathy in your household

Adventure Campus has some openings available for AM/PM care during the second semester. Please see the flyer for more information or visit nbparks.co/adventurecampus.

Want to see what your students are creating in the Maker Space, during Hour of Code, or learn about their favorite reads? Mrs. Janivicius and the LMC team now have an Instagram account @WescottLMC. Be sure to follow them in addition to our usual District 30 social media channels listed at the bottom of this newsletter to see more great news from our school!

The Maple World Language Teachers are excited to be visiting the 5th grade classrooms on the following dates:

• Wescott on Tuesday, January 14 from 10:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
• Willowbrook on Thursday, January 16 from 10:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

Mini-lessons and presentations will be given about the French and Mandarin classes offered at Maple. Promo videos of Spanish, French and Mandarin will be presented and program questions will also be answered during this time.

The World Language Choice Form will be pushed out to parents electronically via email on Friday, January 17 for both elementary schools. The deadline for the language selection is Friday, January 24.

Our Lost & Found bins are starting to overflow and we hope you can help us reunite some of the items with their rightful owners. The bins are located in the front vestibule. All of the unclaimed articles of clothing will be donated on Friday, December 20.

We use the chart below to help guide our decisions to be inside or outside for recess. To find out more about weather related decisions, please click the image below.

Popsicle Party Challenge: This challenge returns with a friendly contest between the three schools of Northbrook/Glenview School District 30 – Wescott, Willowbrook and Maple – to see which school has the most students register for the race. The winning school will win a popsicle party for all students in May! Will Wescott unseat Willowbrook this year? Game on!

Starting November 1, Wescott school will participate in the Rotary Club of Northbrook's annual "Coat Off Your Back" drive.

New and like-new coats for infants, children, teens and adults of all genders can be donated in bins placed at Maple and Wescott schools. Hats, gloves, scarves in new condition are also accepted. Donations will benefit area organizations that include: Connections for the Homeless; PADS Lake County, Inc.; WINGS Program, Inc.; North Shore Helpers; The Veterans Closet; RefugeeOne; World Relief Chicagoland; HIAS; ECC; Stock the Shelves; Deerfield Free Store.

Thank you for helping those in need in our community!

Wescott fully embraces our motto that we are a part of one big family and we are proud of every person who is a part of it. Help us show school pride and support our District 30 Strategic Plan values of inclusivity & belonging and community collaboration by sharing your culture!

With over 30 world languages spoken in our students' homes, we seek your help in translating our motto – "One big family" – into your native language for display on our blank entryway wall.

Throughout the school year, you will find updates on the project here in the Wescott Word, featuring images of students with their language submissions, as well as a list of languages already added to the wall and remaining languages needed.

We imagine this to be a lasting, visual celebration of our amazing Wescott community and can't wait for you to be a part of it!

How you can contribute:

• Please, submit your translation of our motto – "One big family" by clicking the button below. We ask that you follow the same format: first word is uppercase, followed by lowercase words (unless your language has a different set of grammatical rules for this statement).
  
• The translations will be added to the wall once they are processed by the printer. We aim for adding them once a month, unless no additional translations have been submitted. if you have questions regarding your submission, please contact pcoletta@district30.org.

Did you know that many employers sponsor matching gift programs and will match any charitable contributions, especially around the holidays? Consider requesting your employer match your donation to the Wescott PTO! All you need to share is the Wescott PTO Registration ID 26-1537402 with your employer. Please contact Ping Hu (sarahyu215@gmail.com) if you have any questions or need assistance.

The PTO is looking for parents who would like to be a part of the nominating committee! The volunteers will help organize the nominations for our four open PTO board positions: two fundraising VPs, one co-president, and one co-treasurer.

Interested or have questions? Please reach out to nominating committee co-chairs Jen Haley (jmhayley@gmail.com) or Halley Winer (halley.winer@gmail.com).

The PTO will be hosting its second meeting of the school year on January 15 at 6:00 pm in the Wescott school library. We will hear special presentations from Dr. Brown, Ms. Keller and Dr. Tammaru. We will review highlights from the Fall fundraisers and activities and give an overview of the Spring calendar. Free childcare will be provided!

We’re looking for creative and fun party ideas that will make this event unforgettable for the kids! This year, as in the past, we are asking parents to host parties as part of our fundraising effort. A more detailed email including a sign up sheet for your party ideas will come your way the first week of January. If you have any questions, please reach out to Connie Park (connie.j.park@gmail.com) or Patty Metropoulos (pmetropoulos@hotmail.com.)

Volunteering to serve lunch at school is a unique opportunity to get a peek into the school day and meet other parents.

Two volunteers will be needed per day to help with setting up lunch line, serving lunch to students, and doing some minimal cleaning up. Time slots are approximately from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Please sign up ONLY for yourself.

Here is a guide to answer any questions you might have about volunteering

Questions? Please contact: wescottpto@district30.org

Get ready to embark on a global journey right here in District 30! The District 30 PTOs are thrilled to invite you to our Multicultural Night on January 31 from 5:30 -7:30 p.m. at Maple School!

Here is how you can celebrate with us!

Festivities begin at 5:30 with a fashion show parade. We encourage any child to participate in the parade that begins at 5:30 p.m. by dressing in their choice of ethnic attire. To participate, students meet in the athletic room, left of the gymnasium at 5:15 p.m.

For any questions or assistance, feel free to contact the committee chair at amandadae@gmail.com. Let's come together, celebrate diversity, and make Multicultural Night an unforgettable experience for our District 30 family!

Want to share your family’s culture through a student performance? Sign up your student to perform at Multicultural Night and share cultural traditions through: traditional and modern dance performances, musical presentations (vocal or instrumental), cultural demonstrations and more! Register your performance today! Space is limited, so early registration is encouraged.

Hosting a table provides a platform to share the wonders of your culture. Set up your space with engaging activities, and treat attendees to delicious ethnic snacks that represent the essence of your heritage. Consider creating eye-catching posters or trifold displays filled with fun facts about your country. Sign up before winter break to secure your exclusive table location. Sign up now by clicking below.

One of the PTO Board's goals for the 2024-2025 school year is to make sure our teachers and staff know just how appreciated they are by the Wescott community. So starting this fall, we're excited to announce a new program at Wescott... "Staff Gold Stars."

"Staff Gold Stars" puts the ball in your court by giving YOU the opportunity to share how any Wescott teacher or staff member has had a positive impact on your child or family.

Simply fill out the form below. Once monthly, the PTO Board will hang up the "Staff Gold Stars" in the Teacher's Lounge for all to see!

Click below to submit your "Staff Gold Star"!

Northbrook/Glenview School District 30 continues its partnership with Quest Food Management Services to provide quality food services to your student. We are happy to offer a preorder system via myMealOrder! Click the button below to order lunch for your student.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Ashley Jenkins, Food Service Director for Quest at ajenkins@questfms.com.

Wescott has a “no food or drink” birthday celebration practice. We want our students to know other ways to celebrate birthdays besides treats.

If you want your child to bring something in for their birthday, we encourage you to donate a book to our library through the PTO Birthday Book Club. You can also send school supplies such as pencils, erasers, stickers, bookmarks, etc.

Please do not send paper birthday invitations to school. The use of electronic invitations through our PTO directory is suggested.

Please call the front office to let us know of any changes in pick up practices for your student. As a reminder the tot lot is not a part of Wescott grounds and is not supervised during arrival and dismissal times.

In our Wescott and District 30 community, we value open communication and community collaboration. We have best success when partnering with parents on student concerns.

We are noticing a concerning trend of inappropriate language use among our students. Much of this language appears to be influenced by content on social media platforms, particularly TikTok. We know that our community, parents and faculty, believe that maintaining a respectful and positive school environment is crucial for all children's well-being and academic success.

While we understand the popularity of these platforms among young people, it's important to guide our children in using appropriate language, regardless of what they may encounter online. We kindly ask for your support in reinforcing appropriate language use at home. Please:

1. Discuss with your child the importance of using respectful words and the potential impact of inappropriate language on others.

2. Monitor your child's social media use, particularly on platforms like TikTok.

3. Encourage critical thinking about the content they consume online and how it might influence their behavior.

Our staff will continue to address this issue at school. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter and continued partnership with Wescott.

Want to know what's going on around the community? District 30 uses a "Virtual Backpack" to share community information while saving paper, costs, and lightening the loads our students bring home. Please click the button below to view upcoming Community Events.

David Gichner Magic Show fundraiser at GBN

Any time a student feels unsafe, any adult in their school can help!

But sometimes, students or parents wish to reach out for help in a different way or after school hours. Safe2Help Illinois offers students a safe way to share information 24/7 that might help prevent any threat to school safety, including bullying, self-harm or other serious concerns.

The goal of this program is to get students to “seek help before harm;" it is not intended to suspend, expel, or punish. Safe2Help Illinois also offers a Mental Health Toolkit that provides resources for parents and educators reinforce the components of this program.

Safe2Help Illinois offers around-the-clock help via:

• Hotline: 844-4-SAFEIL
• Text line: 72332
• Email HELP@Safe2HelpIL.com
• Plus a website full of resources for young people seeking help for themselves or a friend. Its Ways To Get Help page is a directory of specialized hotlines, and other sections of its website provide practical steps for dealing with depression or helping a distraught friend. The checklist called "20 Questions To Ask Yourself If You Feel Like Giving Up" can help older children overcome a bout of anxiety or depression.

Wescott School is part of Northbrook/Glenview District 30, which exists to create an inclusive community that inspires learning, fosters resiliency, and cares deeply for every child. We honor childhood and foster intellectual, physical and social-emotional growth. District 30 serves more than 1,200 students in pre-K through 8th grade across Willowbrook, Wescott and Maple Schools.

We prohibit harassment and discrimination of all forms within our district and follows all policies and procedures to ensure a safe environment for all.

Main office: 847-272-4660

Health/Attendance Office: 847-400-8760

Location: 1820 Western Avenue, Northbrook, IL 60062, USA

Website: district30.org/wescott
Facebook: facebook.com/ngsd30
Twitter: @district30