Back to School 2020-21

It is with great excitement to introduce myself as Butterfield School's Interim Principal for the 2020-21 school year. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead a school with such persevering students, extremely dedicated staff, and a supportive school community. I have been dedicated to the field of education for 25 years, and this is the start of my 16th year in Lombard SD 44. I was a third grade teacher, a reading specialist/literacy coach, and have had a variety of administrative duties that focused on new teacher mentor programs, instructional program development and curriculum development for students K-8, to name a few. In addition, I collaborate with the state on securing additional state and federal funding for the district.

Currently, I am completing my Doctorate in Educational Leadership this Fall. I have focused my research on D44's Dual Language Program. I also hold a Bachelors in Elementary Education, a Masters in Reading, and an Administration Certification. On a personal note, I live in the south suburbs with my husband and four daughters.

Kate has been a 5th grade teacher at Park View School, here in D44 for 16 years. She will be working alongside the Principal throughout this school year to support the needs of all teachers and students. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education, a Masters in Reading, and a Masters in Administration. Kate is a product of D44 and attended Park View School and Glenn Westlake. She is excited to be a part of the Butterfield community this year and we are lucky to have her support and knowledge in D44.

Our theme for the year is "Learning Takes You Places." Like Dr. Suess said, "Oh the places you'll go! You've got brains in your head, feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose. Kid, you'll move mountains!" We are excited to begin our adventures with your children this year. More to come......

During remote learning, the school hours will be as follows:

Kindergarten AM- 8:30am-11:00am

Kindergarten PM- 12:00pm-2:30pm

Grades 1-5: 8:30-1:30- Your child's teacher will be reaching out for a more specific schedule.

If you were unable to pick up a device for your child last week, please call the school and make an appointment to pick up your child's device for remote learning. For further support with technology, please click on the link below.

D44 Family Technology Resource Guide

Wednesday 8/19-

• Teacher/ Class Assignments will be accessible by logging into Skyward.
• Instructions will be provided on how to sign up for a "Parent- Student- Teacher Connection Conference". These informal sessions will take place on Mon. 8/24- Wed. 8/26.

Friday 8/21-

Our former BF students will have an opportunity to virtually connect with last year's teacher. This will be an informal opportunity for students to bring some closure and well-wishes to one another as we start the 2020-21 year remotely (A document with all the teachers' meeting links will be emailed out to you in advance).

Monday 8/24- Friday 8/28- Return to Learn Week for Families Begins!

• Homeroom teachers will email families with instructions and activities for the week on Monday morning at 8:00 a.m.
• Parent- Student- Teacher Connection conferences will take place Monday- Wednesday. The purpose of these sessions are to get to know one another, answer any specific questions you may have, explain the tools and processes for remote learning, and to communicate any family specific needs to promote success for your child.
• Grade level specific Art, Music, and PE lessons will be available to join virtually.

Monday, 8/31

• Full remote learning begins with formal attendance, assignments, and grade

We understand that families have different levels of comfort with the ways in which their child’s images are shared. If you would prefer that your child’s image NOT BE USED in any form, including in our school yearbook, on SeeSaw, Google Sites, etc.,please sign and return the first page of this form to your school secretary. If you would prefer images of your children NOT BE USED JUST ON SOCIAL MEDIA (Twitter, Facebook and YouTube), then sign and return the second page of this form to your school secretary. You do not need to do anything with either form if you are ok with images of your child being shared.

When communicating primary information with you, meaning it directly impacts the educational experience or growth of your child, we will do so using e-mail. We also will utilize e-mail when needing to engage in dialogue with our families. The idea is that if you are not able to engage with us in any other way (i.e. on social media or over apps), you will still receive necessary information about your child. Examples include:

• Addressing behavioral or academic performance issues

• Sharing information about an incident that occurred in the classroom

• District-level decisions that will have an impact on our school environments

• All emergency/crisis-related communications

When communicating with you about secondary information, meaning information that we know our families appreciate receiving but is not as much of a high priority, we will do using the following tools: Seesaw, Google Classroom or Google Sites. Please know that your child’s teacher will communicate with you directly which one of these platforms they will be using, as it can vary by grade level. You can also find a “how to” guide and tutorials for all of these tools on our remote learning website. Examples of when we would use these tools include:

• Providing snapshots into our classrooms

• Reminders about upcoming events or assignments

• Sharing a portfolio of your child’s work in class

If you are also interested in following us or engaging with us on social media, every school in the district as a Facebook and Twitter page set-up. We also have a Facebook and Twitter established for the district level, as well as YouTube Channel. We encourage you to follow our school and district accounts, as none of our teachers/staff will be utilizing social media to share content. Instead, they will be leveraging the tools listed in the previous section. Parents should also be aware that this school year, we have opened up YouTube access so our teachers can share videos with our students related to their teaching and instruction. It is important that just with any other social media channel, you carefully monitor your child’s use of YouTube, as filtering restrictions will not be in place in order for our teachers to share videos that are educational in nature.

Now more than ever, it is critical that we establish strong and consistent communication channels with our families. Here is everything our families need to know in terms of how we as a district and your child’s teacher will be communicating with you throughout this year. Our goal is to ensure our families understand what tools we are using and the exact purpose of those tools.

Interim Principal

Director of Grants and Literacy

Email: aspychalski@sd44.org
Website: www.sd44.org
Location: 2S500 Gray Avenue, Lombard, IL, USA
Phone: 630-827-4000
Twitter: @BF_Elementary