Willow Parent Bulletin #24

Today marks the end of the 2nd trimester. Report cards come out next Friday. It's crazy to think there are only 56 more days left to this school year. While that may not sound like much time, there's a ton of learning still to come. This is a great time to look at your child's See Saw account and see if his/her activities are complete, and done with care and effort.

If your child has a math or reading intervention scheduled during the day, it's imperative that he/she attend these sessions. This is when your wildcat may be receiving small group support for reading, math, speech, OT, or enrichment.

We know with warmer weather (and that whole cooped up inside pandemic thing) that wanting to get outside or taking a day off from school can be tempting... and boy do we understand the need for a break sometimes. Attendance is taken with the regular teacher as well as during interventions and reported to the office. Students with excessive absences will receive letters in the mail. There's 15 days until Spring Break and we need you to hang in there.

I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight some of our wildcats who have been putting effort into the Happy Numbers app. The following students, during the week beginning February 22nd, either met their teacher recommended practice minutes or the number of tasks assigned by their teacher.

Thanks for working hard, wildcats!

Harper Richey

Hannah Noe

Aiden Taylor

Madisen McGhee

Kylie Bibbs

Paris Williams

Daniel Galvan

Malik Otukoya

Mason Culbreath

Grace Garland

Kira Adams

Evelyn Crabtree

Adrian Mendez

Sofiat Otukoya

Larry Nelson

Zachary Humm

Please carve out 15 minutes of your busy day to complete the 5 Essentials Survey for Willow! This lets the state of Illinois (and us) know on what we need to improve and where we are doing well. Your input is important to us!

http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/

Join PreK teacher Ms. Schmidt for this week's birthdays and the Pledge of Allegiance!

https://www.loom.com/share/550e8d16f019419bb61865d1e8c6a0ae?sharedAppSource=personal_library

Ron’s Big Mission written by Rose Blue, is a fiction story based on a real-life incident in Ron McNair’s life. This viewpoint came from several interviews with people who were important to Ron. He grew up to be an astronaut who was a crew member of the Challenger Mission. This book is available for checkout through the Homewood Public Library.

In Illinois, Erin's Law requires that all public schools implement child-focused sexual abuse prevention education that: provides parents and guardians with information on the warning signs of child sexual abuse, plus any needed assistance, referrals or resources to support victims and their families.

We use the Child Protection Unit from Second Step so that it best aligns with the Social Emotional curriculum your child already learns each week. Their program is described as:

The Child Protection Unit student lessons encourage help seeking behavior and positive student norms by teaching students to recognize, refuse, and report unsafe or abusive situations. The Child Protection Unit includes an array of teaching modes and gives students multiple opportunities to practice skills.

Specifically, the lessons aim to help children protect themselves by teaching them skills in three areas:

1. Recognizing unsafe and sexually abusive situations and touches

2. Immediately reporting these situations to adults

3. Assertively refusing these situations whenever possible.

Each lesson also includes an activity children can do with a parent or caregiver at home to practice the skills. You can see an overview at: https://www.secondstep.org/child-protection

Bright & Quirky Child Summit - From March 8th to March 12th

This is a free 5-day online summit with tons of phenomenal speakers focused on helping bright kids THRIVE, even with learning, social, emotional, or behavioral challenges. My talk is going live on March 12th 🙂 Save your spot here.

The Raising Good Parents Podcast with Dr. Phil Boucher

www.copingskillsforkids.com

Mar. 17: St. Patrick's Day

Mar. 26: School Improvement Day - ALL STUDENTS REMOTE with 11:30 AM early dismissal

Mar. 29-April 6: Spring Break

Apr. 7: students return to learning

Apr. 23: School Improvement Day - ALL STUDENTS REMOTE with 11:30 AM early dismissal

May 7: School Improvement Day - ALL STUDENTS REMOTE with 11:30 AM early dismissal

May 28: School Improvement Day - ALL STUDENTS REMOTE with 11:30 AM early dismissal

May 31: NO School- Memorial Day

Email: melissa.lawson@hsd153.org
Website: www.hsd153.org
Location: 1804 Willow Road, Homewood, IL, USA
Phone: (708) 798-3720
Facebook: facebook.com/homewoodschooldistrict153