Wescott Word

Monday, September 2

District Holiday - NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, September 4

PTO general meeting 6pm

Thursday, September 5

Picture day

Wednesday, September 25

Dist. 30 Conversations with the Community - 12 p.m. or 6 p.m.

Across District 30, we are building our students' and staff members' capacity for emotional intelligence by using RULER, an evidence-based approach to social-emotional learning. As outlined in the previous edition of this newsletter, this year we want to share what we've learned to support our families at home. Check out this spot in your newsletter for monthly RULER themes and tips for applying these ideas at home.

• Explore the family resource page.

• Ask your child about RULER: How does RULER help you at school?

The RULER Acronym

• Recognizing emotions in oneself and others through facial expressions, body language, voice, behavior

• Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions in oneself and others

• Labeling emotions with accurate words from a nuanced vocabulary

• Expressing emotions differently depending on context, situational expectations, and culture

• Regulating emotions with effective strategies and supporting others in their regulation of emotions

We are excited to announce that author/illustrator Rob Harrell will visit Wescott 4th and 5th graders on Tuesday, September 24 at 12:45 pm. Our students LOVED the previously Caudill-nominated book "Wink" and Harrell will be here to discuss his next novel, "Popcorn." The visit is brought to us courtesy of The Book Stall. Access the online book order form here! Contact Mrs. Janavicius with questions.

STEM Challenges for kindergarten and 1st grade are a fun way for children to explore how the world works. It helps them learn while having fun and encourages young minds to think outside the box. Children use basic supplies such as wood craft sticks, pipe cleaners, blocks, LEGOs and Play-Doh to build and create while learning problem solving skills and getting hands-on experience with physics, engineering and more.

Wescott is offering an after school Art Club for 2nd and 3rd grade students. We will be drawing, painting and creating mixed media works of art. The club will be held on either Mondays or Wednesdays from 3:20 to 4:20 p.m.

• The Monday club will begin Monday, September 9 and continue for eight weeks through Monday, November 4. There will be no club on Monday, October 14.
• The Wednesday club will begin Wednesday, September 11 and continue for eight weeks straight through Wednesday, October 30.

Membership is limited due to space and equipment.

Wescott is offering an after school Knitting Club for 4th and 5th grade students. Students will learn how to make a hat on a round knitting loom. The club will have two separate groups; one meeting on Mondays and the second meeting on Wednesdays. The clubs will run from 3:20-4:20 p.m.

• The Monday group will begin on September 9th and run for eight sessions through November 11, with no sessions on October 14 or Nov 4.
• The Wednesday group will begin on September 11 and run for eight sessions through November 13, with no sessions on October 16 or 30.

Membership is limited to 8-10 students per group. Please click on the link below for specifics and to sign up for Knitting Club. The online sign up will close when the club is full. Parents will then be notified as to their enrollment status.

Speech screenings will be conducted on the following schedule:

• Kindergarten speech screenings - August

• 1st grade speech screenings - November

• 2nd grade speech screenings - November

The primary purpose of the speech screening is to identify speech sound errors. Additional screenings for concerns with receptive language, expressive language, pragmatic language, voice, or fluency will be available at parent and/or teacher request.

Parents will be notified if their child does not pass the screening (based on District 30 criteria) or if developmentally appropriate errors are noted. If the screening results indicate additional assessment and/or speech therapy support, you will be contacted by one of the Speech-Language Pathologists.

District 30’s preschool screenings are also held at Willowbrook School. These screenings, designed to identify preschool-age children who may benefit from special education support prior to kindergarten, are conducted throughout the school year. If you would like to schedule a screening for your preschool child, please contact Tiffani Cuneo at 847-498-8964.

Due to a change to the State of Illinois School Code, Wescott School Health Office will only be able to distribute over-the-counter (OTC) medications (such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen) to students with a completed Medication Authorization Form (for OTC). The new requirements include a physician’s signature along with a parent/guardian's signature.

Please return the completed form to the school’s health office if you would like your child will be able to receive over-the-counter medications at school. Thank you!

Northbrook/Glenview School District 30 will have three school board seats to be filled at the Consolidated Election on April 1, 2025. Candidates who are elected will fill four-year terms expiring in April 2029.

Candidates for the office of the school board can now circulate nominating petitions for signatures. The period for filing nominating petitions concludes November 18, with November 12 being the first day permitted to file a petition.

A candidate for the school board is required to file the nominating petitions, Statement of Candidacy, and receipt for filing their Statement of Economic Interests with the applicable county election clerk and not with the school board secretary or the administrative offices of the school district. The county clerk may have petition forms available, or blank petitions may be downloaded from the State Board of Elections website, elections.il.gov.

Candidates who are interested in seeking endorsement from the District 30 School Board Caucus should contact Caucus Chair Marci Goldgar at marci257@aol.com by Friday, October 18. The School Board Caucus is a committee of District 30 residents that includes families both with and without children enrolled in Willowbrook, Wescott and Maple schools. The Caucus' role is to source, screen and endorse potential school board candidates. To be considered by the Caucus, candidates will need to complete a detailed application as well as an interview.

Following the start of the 2024-25 school year, the district's online adaptive assessment, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), will be administered to all students in grades 1-8. The MAP testing window will open on August 26 and run through September 16. Students in grades 2-8 will take two assessments: reading and mathematics. Grade 1 will take mathematics only.

Please check with your child's teacher about their testing schedule so there are no conflicts if appointments need to be scheduled during this time.

These assessment results will continue to be used (1) by teachers to assist them in differentiating lessons in reading/language arts and mathematics; as well as (2) to measure student academic growth. Students' fall assessment reports will be made available to parents later in the school year.

All who live in District 30 boundaries are invited to meet Superintendent Dr. Tammaru and a member of our Board of Education to ask questions and share what is important to you in our schools.

You can pick from either the 12 p.m. or 6 p.m. session on Wednesday, September 25 at our District 30 Offices, 2374 Shermer Road, Northbrook. RSVP is optional so we can plan for space and send a reminder to participants close to the event date.

Please share with neighbors, as this event is for everyone in our boundaries – even if they do not have children in our schools. Click below to join us!

School hours: 8:40 a.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Half day dismissal time is 11:45 a.m.

Kindergarten through 5th-grade students should plan on arriving at school by 8:40 a.m. but no earlier than 8:30 a.m. because there is no supervision. The bell to line up will ring at 8:40 a.m.

All parents and guardians must report student absences, late arrivals or early departures through the Parent Portal. Please do not contact the Health Office, School Office, or classroom teacher via phone or email.

For a step-by-step guide on how to report an absence, click here. Please ensure to include as much detail as possible when entering the reason for the absence.

If no information is in the Parent Portal by 10 a.m. and a student is absent, the school will attempt to contact a parent or guardian.

If the absence is medically involved, please report the absence first in the Parent Portal. Following this, you are welcome to contact the school Health Office to communicate with the nurse about the condition.

Questions? Please contact the front desk.

For all students new to District 30, state regulations require a State of Illinois Health Examination Form completed within the last 12 months. This must be on file in the health office prior to the first day of school. If your child does not have a Health Examination Form on file with all current immunizations, your child could be excluded from school.

Kindergarten students are also required to have a completed State of Illinois Eye Examination Form by October 15. The exam must have been performed on or after August 21, 2023, one year from the start of school.

Dental examinations are required for all kindergarten and grade 2 students. Examinations must be completed within 18 months of the May 15, 2025 deadline. These forms can be obtained from the health office and are also available on our website. If you have questions, please call the front office at 847-498-1090.

If your student requires medication or a health care plan, please click here to download all of the necessary forms. If forms are not completed by the opening of school, we will abide by the health care plan from the previous year for those students with life-threatening food allergies or medical conditions.

All forms can be dropped off at the front desk, to School Nurse Kelly Montesano or emailed to kmontesano@district30.org.

First Student provides transportation for District 30 students. The types of services and fees approved by the Board of Education can be found on the District 30 Transportation Services web page.

All students in the Wescott attendance area, kindergarten through 5th-grade, who register for bus service are assigned to a route and are picked up at their designated corner or house. Each of the routes proceed to Wescott.

To register for bus service, contact the First Student Bus Company at 847-724-7200. The registration form can be downloaded here,

Many students are driven to and from school, thus causing some traffic congestion before and after school. Students may only be dropped off or picked up in front of the school building along the curb of the circular drive. If students are dropped off on a side street across from Wescott, they must cross with the crossing guard.

Other essential points regarding arrival and dismissal procedures:

• During the busy drop off/pick up times, all traffic must enter the circular drive from the north. No left turns, or traffic from the east is allowed into the circle drive during drop-off and pick-up times. Cars must wait in one line alongside Wescott Park to enter the circular drive.
• Cars may not be parked in the circle drive parking spaces parallel to the school right before, during or after drop-off or pick-up times: 8:00-9:00 a.m. and 3:00-3:40 p.m.
• Cars may not be parked in the circle drive parking spaces facing Western Avenue between 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
• No traffic is allowed in the south parking lot during drop-off and pickup times.
• All crosswalks must be open; cars should wait behind the intersection to enter the circle drive.
• The traffic flow to use to enter the line of cars waiting on Western Avenue is to take Fieldwood to Farnsworth to Western. PLEASE DO NOT CUT INTO THE TRAFFIC LINE FROM OTHER STREETS.
• Cars should not make U-turns in the middle of the street or turn around in residents’ driveways.

Students should arrive at school no earlier than 8:30 a.m. There is no playground supervision until that time. Students who walk to school should cross with the crossing guard at Techny and Western, Brentwood and Western, Dehne and Western, or Farnsworth and Western Avenues. There is to be no crossing in any other area on the east side of the school. Parents and students may use the striping on Fieldwood to access Wescott, but please know there is no crossing guard assigned to this area.

The first bell rings at 8:40 a.m. All students will enter the building supervised by staff at the following locations:

• Kindergarten and 1st graders: main entrance
• 2nd and 3rd graders: Door Q on the north side of the building adjacent to the playground
• 4th and 5th graders: Door M on the north side of the building near the North Courtyard.

Please be patient as we continue refining this procedure as we move through the school year!

Students may ride their bicycles, scooters, and rollerblades to school. Bicycles should be walked on the sidewalks leading in or out of Wescott School and locked in the bike racks. At no time are students allowed to ride on the blacktop when children are present, or through the parking lot on the south side of the school. Children should wear bicycle helmets at all times when riding. Skateboards are not allowed on school grounds. They are not to be brought to school. Rollerblades may not be worn on the blacktop when other children are present.

The school doors are locked on the outside during the school day. The only unlocked door is the front door which leads into the vestibule. All visitors must identify themselves via the intercom system outside of the office and sign in and leave their driver's license in the office before they can enter the school or grounds. Visitors should not interrupt classes that are in session, including physical education classes that are held outside.

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!

• The meal will consist of an entree, side, fresh fruit, and vegetable, including milk or water.
• All orders must be placed at least three days in advance.

Visit mymealorder.com to open an account, learn more about our preorder system, and view the menu.

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

District 30 has an Intergovernmental Agreement with Northbrook Park District that allows before- and after-school care to students in K-5th grade at Wescott School. District 30 provides the facility while the park district provides the program and staff management with all revenues going to the park district.

This Adventure Campus Program offers the ability to participate in before- and/or after-school care on days when school is in session and on select teacher institute days, conference days, and holidays.

Contact the Northbrook Park District at 847-291-2995 or visit their webpage nbparks.org for more information.

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.

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.

Wescott School offers a variety of staff-sponsored clubs during the school year. These clubs are inspired by staff interest/passion and are free to students. However, space is limited. Clubs run for a period of 8 to 16 sessions. Look for registration information throughout the year in the Wescott Word.

Wescott School has several ways of communicating with parents about their child's learning and progress:

• At the beginning of the school year, parents are invited to participate in Curriculum Night which focuses on the sharing of curricular information.
  
• There are also conferences twice a year, in October and February.
• Report cards are sent home in December, March, and June.

It is equally important that parents communicate with the school. Anything that would affect the student's progress, emotionally or academically, should be discussed with the teacher. Teachers can be emailed or reached by phone between 8:00 a.m.-3:40 p.m. daily, but please keep in mind that when they are teaching, the phone in their room is turned off. Feel free to leave a message on staff members' voicemails. Open communication will benefit everyone.

We recognize that some students will carry communication devices to school, including smart watches. If a student brings a communication device to school, it should be silenced and remain in the student’s locker throughout the day. We reserve the right to confiscate student communication devices and hold them at the front desk if they are misused.

If you want to save $20, register now! It won’t take more than a few minutes and includes opportunities for you to join the PTO and participate in PTO-sponsored activities (i.e. Birthday Book Club, Ice Cream Days, and more!). Please register by August 30 to avoid a $20 late fee. Please note that in the 2024-25 school year, ALL Wescott students in a family who registers for the PTO will be able to opt-in for Ice Cream Days for no additional cost.

We understand some parents are anxiously waiting for access to Directory Spot to plan those playdates and send out birthday invites! We hear you and wanted to provide an update: we are working directly with District 30 to provide access soon (hopefully early September) for those who have completed the PTO registration. Be on the lookout for an email with login instructions.

The PTO will be hosting its first meeting of the school year on September 4 at 6:00 pm in the Wescott school library. Come learn more about the Wescott PTO and upcoming volunteer opportunities. Additionally, the PTO Board is looking to fill the Co-VP of Fundraising roles for the 2024-25 school year. If you are interested in taking on this vital position of or know someone who would be a good fit, please reach out to us at wescottpto@district30.org.

This year’s Wescott Parent Social event will be held at Pinstripes in Northbrook in their second-floor ballroom. Light apps will be served, and a cash bar will be available. Tickets will be $20 per person, and the deadline to register is Thursday, September 5. Sign up now!

Wescott is excited to announce the first-ever Fall Fest, a fundraiser to support our school, taking place on Sunday, September 29 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. It will be a fun-filled day of carnival games and attractions for families. Stay tuned for future WW newsletters for more details.

Make your child's birthday extra special with Wescott Happy Birthday Lawn Signs! Deadline to order is October 31!

We are excited to announce that this year's yearbook will be hardcover! Yearbooks are $22 per copy and $30 per copy with personalization. The deadline to order is October 31. Please note, at checkout, if you do not want personalization, you must deselect the personalization option, as this is automatically selected.

Special Lunch is a PTO-sponsored program to offer SPECIAL lunch to Wescott students once a month (the third Wednesday of the month) from local restaurants. In 2024-25, District 30 schools are partnering with Lunch Solutions to offer exciting lunches from local restaurants. You can order for the whole year or once a month. Hot lunch service is unavailable on PTO special lunch days. The deadline for orders/edits is Thursday 10AM of the week prior.

The deadline for the first (September) special lunch orders/edits is Thursday, September 12th at 10:00 am.

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.

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