Willow Family Update

Happy Tuesday Willow Families,

It's hard to believe we are in October! We have a lot coming up this month, including field trips and parties. Below are a few reminders as we move forward into the year:

• Class parties will be held for Halloween. If you are planning to volunteer, please ok this with your child's classroom teacher. They will then add you to our list for volunteers for the day. If you are not on the list, you will not be allowed to come in on that day. If you agreed to volunteer and you cannot make it, please let the teacher know. You may not send a representative in your place if they are not on the list. If your child will not be celebrating, please communicate that so we can ensure alternative plans.
• The weather has officially started to change. Please update your children's clothing at school. We strongly encourage everyone to send a change of clothes to school.
• PTA has a meeting this evening that you can join in person at James Hart. Details are below.

As a reminder, our campus is pet-free except for Walter. Please do not tie your dogs (or other animals) to the fence or bring them on school grounds. Thank you for your support with this!

Take care,

Ms. Gordon

October

8 - PTA Meeting

11-15 - No School Fall Break

21 - Picture Day

31 - Early Dismissal (11:40 am)

Homewood PTA cordially invites you to our Fall General Meeting, Tuesday, October 8, 2024, from 7:00-8:00 PM in the James Hart Gym (enter door "S" on Aberdeen St.).

The meeting will be a great opportunity to meet the PTA Executive Board and other parents. This is also a great time to join PTA if you are interested in becoming a member.

During the Fall Meeting we will make introductions, go over the budget for the school year, discuss upcoming activities, and listen to any suggestions you may have to make this school year a memorable one for our kids.

We are working on childcare so if any of you have babysitters in your family that would like to offer their services, please send an email to president153@homewoodpta.org.

Thank you so much for your time, and we look forward to meeting you!

Homewood PTA

The Social Emotional Learning program that we use, Second Step, also has a Bullying Prevention Unit that will be presented to all classrooms beginning the first week of October. After each lesson there is a parent information page that will be sent home with your child. The Bullying Prevention Unit lessons encourage positive behaviors and skills by teaching students to recognize, report, and refuse bullying. Students learn how to apply these skills if they are being bullied and when they are bystanders to bullying. In learning to recognize bullying, students increase their awareness of the problem, learn to identify when they or others are being bullied, and increase empathy for bullied students. Giving students a clear message to report bullying sets a positive norm, and reinforces the message that bullying is not tolerated at Willow School.

Please see the attached document below regarding the Rainbow Program offered at Willow School.

Covid cases have been on the rise this season. Please note, we no longer inform classrooms if there is a case per Illinois state guidance. In the meantime, the Communicable Disease School Nurse Guidance issued by IDPH advises to treat Covid as other respiratory diseases and recommends schools take measures to reduce transmission such as staying up-to-date with vaccinations, improve ventilation (i.e., opening windows), wearing well fitted masks, enhancing hygiene practices, and testing.

When a Covid case is reported, our custodial staff does an enhanced cleaning of the classroom and classroom windows are open to enhance ventilation. Please use this link to review school guidance.

Just a reminder to limit the things you send your children to school with. It is a challenge to keep up with things and this can sometimes become a distraction.

Please keep in mind that you should never send any form of a toy gun to school. This will be treated with the utmost seriousness.

It's library card sign-up month. Head over to Homewood Public Library if you and your family don't have one.

Willow School art teacher, Andy Slivka, has created a sculpture for the school of its wildcat mascot out more than 8,000 marker caps.

Slivka said that over several years, he saved the caps from dried out markers. What began as just a few hundred caps ballooned into thousands of them.

“I knew I was going to use them for a larger recycled art project, but I wasn't sure of what to make at that time," said Slivka. “When the COVID lockdowns began, I brought the bins of marker caps home and began sorting them. That’s when the idea of a large-scale Wildcat sculpture came to me.”

Although Slivka had amassed hundreds of marker caps from the Willow students over the years, he soon discovered that he didn't have nearly enough caps to finish. The project would start and stop over several months, with caps being added and reorganized within the wood frame once he collected more of them.

After the design was finished, Slivka said it took lots of trial and error to figure out how to make the 4x4 foot flat sculpture vertical, without causing it to collapse.

Thank you for your patience with transportation. It appears that our bus schedules are a little off for the end of the day. We have requested the change at the district level to reflect; however, buses at Willow typically do not depart until 3 pm. Please keep this in mind as you review the time for your route stop. If the bus is more than 15 minutes late from Willow, we will notify you via telephone robo call.

There have been some changes in food services. In particular, please note that lactose free and soy milk are now available as a replacement to the standard carton of milk. However, there must be a note on file from a parent or guardian for it to be apart of your child's lunch or you will be charged $1 if your kiddo chooses this.

Walter is Willow's therapy dog. Many of the children know him from last year, but this year he will be fully integrated into Willow's school day. When you see him, he is very friendly and loves a good rub and treat, but please ask his handler, Ms. Spain, first! If you have not yet given consent or declined for your child to interact with Walter, please contact the main office beginning Monday at 8 am.

The school day for kindergarten, first and second grade students starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 2:50 p.m. Monday through Friday. Pre-kindergarten and students in the Early Childhood programs will session times are 8:15-10:45 am for the AM session and 11:45-2:15 pm for the PM session.

In the morning, playground supervision begins at 7:45 am. No student should arrive to school before this time as there is no staff supervision. Students should line up at 7:55 am and will enter the building with their teacher at 8:00 am. Students arriving after 8:00 am are tardy and must enter the building through the main office door with an adult. All students should be picked up at 2:50 pm at dismissal. There is no school supervision after school. If your child rides a bus and will need to go home a different way, please contact the main office no later than 2 pm.

If your child will be absent or starting the school day late, please contact the school office on the dedicated attendance line at 708-647-2200 before 8:00 am. You may also notify the office by sending an email to kimberly.tufts@hsd153.org.

Many children walk to school, some are dropped off by car, and some ride the bus. As a result, the streets around the school are filled with cars, buses, and children just before 8:00 a.m. It can get chaotic! If possible, please walk to school. Meeting up with friends and walking to school together is a great way to start the school day!

BUS:

District 153 has designated that all Willow students who live outside a 1.5 mile radius are eligible to ride the bus. You should have received an email informing you of the bus number your child is assigned to. Bus route information and the morning pick up times can be found here. Please arrive at least 5 minutes early to your child's bus stop's assigned time. Please be sure that a parent or caregiver is waiting at the bus stop after school. In addition, for the safety of your child, it is important that they only ride the bus to which they have been assigned.

CAR:

Parking around the school in the morning can be challenging. If you wish to park and walk your child to their line, please park on designated neighboring street. THE CUL-DE-SAC IS CLOSED FOR BUSES ONLY. You may drop your child off through the car line on Willow or Gladville. It is important that kids are ready to exit the car when the supervisor opens the door. DO NOT U-TURN AFTER DROP-OFF on any streets surrounding the school as this is a danger to all students traveling to and from Willow.

A crossing guard is typically stationed on Willow Road at the cross streets of Highland Ave, Page Ave, and Gladville Ave. There are additional crossing guards at Willow Rd and Dixie Highway and in back of the school on Gladville Ave. Please pay attention to the crossing guards. They understand the traffic patterns around the school and are looking out for the safety of all Willow students. Please follow their directions as they are trying to keep all children and families safe.

All students will have their lunch and recess between 10:45 am and 1 pm. In the event you need to drop off your child's lunch, please do so before lunchtime. We will not accept lunch sent by a vendor such as Uber Eats, GrubHub, etc. Students can bring a lunch from home or order a school lunch. The lunch menu can be found here. We strongly suggest lunches be NUT-FREE.

Here is the link to the federal application form for reduced or free lunch.

Breakfast is available every morning from 7:45 am to 8 am. Any student may join breakfast during that time. Cost varies based on whether you qualify for full, free, or reduced lunch. Students will enter through Door B, and a supervisor will assist them.

Website: https://willow.hsd153.org/

Location: 1804 Willow Road, Homewood, IL 60430
Phone: 708-798-3720