Dear Winnetka Families,
We are excited to celebrate the close of a successful (and first) full week of school! Thank you for your continued support and adherence to new guidelines/protocols. We wholly recognize how different the school year feels to many, yet we are also appreciative to have our hybrid and remote learning formats progressing nicely. Naturally, there will be some elements of these plans that will need adjusting throughout the year.
To that end, we wanted to draw your attention to some measures taking place within our building to support our students' health and safety. Throughout the year, students may feel an onset of symptoms after they have been certified by their families and entered the building. We understand that this is an unavoidable occurrence in a school environment. When a child develops any symptoms that are typically associated with COVID-19 (runny nose, fever, stomach ache, etc.), we will implement a number of safety measures.
First, the child experiencing the symptoms, as well as any siblings enrolled in a D36 school, will need to go home. These children may return to school once they have received clearance from their doctor. Second, we will temporarily shift the location of the symptomatic child's classroom until that space can receive a deep cleaning and/or the symptomatic child's doctor confirms a negative COVID test. For the latter, we anticipate shifts like this happening throughout the year. Students will typically be able to re enter their original classroom space within a day or two.
We understand that the procedures described above can and will be an inconvenience to some families. We are, however, obligated to follow the protocols put in place by the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois State Board of Education in order to welcome students into our buildings. Please do not hesitate to call our offices with any questions.
Take care,
Betty Weir Louis Kotvis
Principal Assistant Principal
Skokie Announcements
Classes Starting This Week
This week, Skokie students will begin seeing both of their academic team teachers while at school. They will spend one hour with their Math/Science teacher and one hour with their Language Arts/Social Studies teacher for the core academic block portion of their in person school day. There will be academic, remote work students will complete during the portion of their remote day that will be accessed through Schoology.
Synchronous instruction with our Related Arts (Specials/Exploratory) teachers will begin during the remote portion of students' school day, as well. Students will begin using Schoology to access their art, music, drama, band, orchestra, and KW classes. Please remember that both teachers and students are new to this platform, and we are all learning how to navigate it successfully. Expect that there will be challenges this week as we all learn from our experiences and grow a little each day to ensure a better experience for all.
Schoology
Students, parents, and teachers have been experiencing difficulties with Schoology. Our district has reached out to them to troubleshoot, and each day we are working together as a team to get to the root of issues that pop up. We know this is frustrating for all parties. This is an area in which we are all working on practicing our self-management skills, like taking a breath, walking away if need be, and returning when we have had a chance to get re-centered. We will get there! Let's remember we are all on the same team.
Dogs
In order to be respectful of allergies and individual comfort levels, please make sure your dog is on a leash and does not come onto school grounds. Please also keep your dogs on a leash if you're walking through Elm Park, as many of our classes are using that space throughout the day as well.
Student Arrival
We've had many students arriving very early for their classes, and while we love that they're excited to come to school and learn with their friends, we do not have any staff supervision outside until 8:20 AM and 12:20 PM. Please ask your child(ren) to wait to come to school until we have staff outside to supervise.
Bikes
Once students arrive on campus, our rule is that students should be walking their bikes. As we've had many students riding their bikes on campus, we're asking you to please remind your child(ren) of this.
Social Distancing and Masks
Please remember to wear your mask at all times while on campus and to maintain 6 feet of social distance when dropping off your child or picking them up. This helps us keep everyone safe and models for the children the need to keep their masks on over their nose and mouth and maintain proper social distancing. Thank you for your help with this.
Take a look at
this flyer that has information about an opportunity for our 6th graders to participate in cross country at Washburne.
