Bobcat Bulletin

Hello Bobcat Families,

Thank you to all who came out to our PTA meeting last week; it was great to see new faces around the table! We hope you enjoy VIP lunch with your child on a day of your choosing. We are grateful for the partnership of our PTA and all they do for Brookdale! Our next PTA meeting is January 28th--we hope you will join us!

At the PTA meeting, I was proud to share celebrations from our past year, including the second-highest growth in reading and math amongst D204 elementary schools, strong to very strong in all areas of our 5 Essential Survey where 100% of our 4th/5th graders and staff completed and 34% of our community, and most recently reported, incredible growth in our Illinois Report Card, which includes results on our state standardized testing. We celebrated with our Dream Team during our Building Inservice Day. Thank you to everyone who played a part in our intentional school improvement planning and executing diligent plans to ensure we were reaching all students. The hard work continues as we work to raise the bar on academic growth each year. Below are our School Improvement Goals for this year:

1. By the end of the 24-25 school year, less than 10% of the student population will be considered Tier 3 for attendance (missing 10% or more of the school year).

2. By the end of the 24-25 school year, the percentage of students meeting annual typical growth in mathematics as measured by iReady will increase by 2 percentage points.

3. By the end of the 24-25 school year, the percentage of students meeting annual typical growth in reading as measured by iReady will increase by 2 percentage points.

Be sure to see the PTA section of our newsletter below as Ron Wilke, School Safety, Security, and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator joined us and provided follow-ups to questions that were asked during our time together Tuesday. We appreciate his time, communication, continuous support, and follow-up.

We hope to see you at parent-teacher conferences on Thursday or Monday! Reminder, the PTC sign-up on ParentVUE closes on the 19th at 6:00pm and be sure to take advantage of the child care from 4:00-8:00 provided by the Metea Valley Dance Team!

Full of Bobcat Pride,

Mrs. Keeley Schmid

Brookdale's Principal

Our 3rd-5th grade students were great audience members in honoring our Veterans on Veterans Day: Mr. McGrath, U.S. Army, and Mr. Wegner, Marine. Thank you for your service and for joining us and allowing our students to learn from you!

Thank you as well to our Brookdale Chorus and Cub Scouts who helped make our assembly memorable!

Midpoint Data Review is part of our MTSS process and is a check-in halfway through our intervention cycle to see how students are doing in the current supports allocated during our fall benchmarking. We had 18 students move interventions.

As part of our Peace of Mind Grant, D204 partnered with the Fox Valley Park District to teach students games to engage in during recess! You will have to ask your child about it; they could be fun family games to play at home, too! The Park District commended the Bobcats for their attention and respect during their time in the Bobcat Den. The students had a lot of fun, and we were able to have our Lunchroom Supervisors and staff join us to learn how to facilitate these games as well.

Come support Brookdale 4th and 5th Grade Chorus as they perform at Brookdale on Wednesday, December 11th at 6:00pm. The concert will take place in the Brookdale Gym. Those planning to attend are asked to enter door #2. All parents, families, friends, students, and staff are welcome. It is a wonderful opportunity to see our young singers shine, and your support means the world to them! We hope to see you there!

For Chorus Students Only:

Chorus students should arrive at 5:30pm for warmups in the MPR, and should wear their chorus shirt, dark bottoms, and comfortable shoes.

Report cards will be available in ParentVUE on 11/1 @4:00pm.

Parent Teacher Conferences on 11/21 (4:30-8:00) and 11/25 (8:00-3:00 & 4:30-8:00).

We will once again use ParentVUE to sign up for fall parent-teacher conferences.

• Opens: 11/13/2024 at 6:00 am

• Closes: 11/19/2024 at 6:00 pm

• Please note:

• You will be able to see your appointment in ParentVUE

• You can make changes to your appointment during the window only

We love this opportunity to connect with you, our partners in education, and never want childcare to be a barrier for not getting this opportunity to meet. Please see an opportunity below provided by Metea Valley's Dance Team! Thank you, Mustangs! The dance sitters will be in the gym on 11/21 and the MPR on 11/25.

District 204 offers a variety of academic programs to meet the needs of our students starting in 3rd grade. Although assessment occurs throughout the school year for all students, some programs require the gathering of additional information to determine appropriate placement.

Our identification process for Project Arrow and Accelerated Math programs includes the use of multiple measures when considering the whole child for academic programming. We consider standardized and normed assessment data including, but not limited to, the following: Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), iReady, classroom assessments, and student learning characteristics.

Your child's Parent Teacher Conference is an excellent time to have a discussion with your child's teacher if you are interested in having he/she complete additional testing this winter in consideration for placement.

Any questions regarding our Academically Talented programming and testing can be directed to our Student Services Coordinator, Lindsey Stepper, lindsey_stepper@ispd.org.

Craft Fair:

Sunday, November 24th 9am-3pm

1801 N Eola Rd. Aurora, IL 60502 Fundraiser for the Metea Valley Dance Team. FREE ENTRY! Come get a head start on your holiday shopping and support local small businesses and their handmade apparel!

Parents Night Out Fundraiser:

Friday, December 13th 5-9pm

Drop off your kids and finish up your holiday shopping or a night out on the town! Evening of fun for your kids will include dancing, craft, snacks, games and a movie!

$30 for one child. $50 for 2 children. $80 for 3 children.

Sign up: https://omella.com/yyl18

Mini Mustangs Dance Clinic and Performance:

Clinic: Wednesday, December 18th 6-8pm

Performance: Friday December 20th 5:30pm Sophomore Basketball Game

Join the fun and your child can perform with the dance team at a high school basketball game!

Cost: $40. Includes T-shirt, Hair Bow and Parent Admission to the game.

Sign Up: https://omella.com/mdxfl

We love to have volunteers at Brookdale! Please see the updated volunteer application process. All volunteers must be approved through this process for the 24-25 school year. You will receive a confirmation email from the district once approved.

Thank you to everyone who came out to our PTA meeting last week. It is always wonderful to have various voices and perspectives a part of our team!

Thank you to Ron Wilke, School Safety, Security, and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, for joining us as our Guest Speaker. He shared updates from the passed referendum. As part of our time together, there were a couple of questions he needed to follow up on:

1) Can the timing on construction be moved up?

According to Matt Shipley, this construction schedule will be worked on in the coming months. It is known that this will be summer work, with the initial 11 schools being completed this coming summer, and the rest of the work is slated for 2026. *Brookdale is a building receiving an addition along with the secure vestibule, so our work is currently slated for Summer 2026. The 11 schools being completed this summer, pending board approval, are only receiving the secure vestibule.

2) Will there be continual updates on the progress?

Yes, as this information will be released through BOE meetings. The Safer, Stronger 204 website will also be turned into a progress reporting website as well. *The next BOE meeting is Monday, November 18th.

Pre-order the Texas Roadhouse rolls and butter to be picked up on the Dine to Donate event! You will be the hit of Thanksgiving bringing rolls as a side! 50% of bread sales goes directly back to our Brookdale PTA! These are frozen so reheat and enjoy!

Calling all enthusiastic and caring male role models (dads, grandfathers, uncles, etc)!

Ignite a positive impact in your child’s educational journey through our remarkable Men of Brookdale (MOB) program. Join in on the playground and in the lunchroom and help play games, open containers and have fun with your child and peers.

Please sign up at the link below and timing is flexible. There are two sessions each day and please note NEW lunch times: 11:00am-12:25pm (Grades 5/3/1) and 12:15pm-1:50pm (Grades 2/4/K). Volunteers can sign up for one or both sessions Men of Brookdale - Sign up.

Please make sure to fill out the updated volunteer application process before your first day. See details in the MOB sign up link. The dates are available a couple Friday’s each month – it’s fun, simple and rewarding! If you have any questions, email Ben Kalnicky at bkalnicky@uwalumni.com.

Brookdale PTA makes it easy to submit photos to the school yearbook. Simply email your favorite pictures from the Color Run (or from any other school event) to brookdaleyearbook@gmail.com. Please only send one picture of each memory to help us avoid duplicates.

Monday, November 18th

• Brainfuse @ 8:00am
• Robotics @ 8:00am
• IPSD School Board Meeting @7:00pm

Tuesday, November 19th

• Brainfuse @8:00am
• Chorus @8:15am
• 5th Grade PA Math Testing @9:20am
• Learn Not to Burn 3rd Grade @12:00pm
• PTC Sign Up Closes in ParentVUE @6:00pm

Wednesday, November 20th

• BizBuzz Business Bootcamp @3:35-5:00pm

Thursday, November 21st

• Parent Teacher Conferences @4:30-8:00pm (Sign Up in ParentVUE)

Friday, November 22nd

• Safety Patrol Meeting @8:00am
• 5th Grade Hill Instrument Demonstration Day @2:00pm

Monday, November 25th

• Parent Teacher Conferences 8:00-3:00pm; 4:30-8:00pm (Sign Up in ParentVUE)

• Family Dinner Restaurant Night-Texas Roadhouse (Pre-Order Bread Pick-Up!)

  
  

11/25-11/29: No School-Thanksgiving Break

12/2: IPSD Board Meeting

12/6: Spirit Day!/Men of Brookdale/Holidays Around the World (World Cultural Fair) @6:00pm

12/11: Brookdale Winter Chorus Concert

12/13: Busy Bobcat Store/Sports Night In Open Gym

12/16 IPSD Board Meeting

12/20: Men of Brookdale/PTA Winter Parties

12/23-1/3: No School-Winter Break

Sync the District Calendar to your personal calendar. Directions here: https://www.ipsd.org/Page/2#calendar1/20241015/month