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Greetings Skokie Community,
Yesterday, our districtwide SEL Committee had our second collaboration of the year with CASEL, a leading organization focused on social emotional learning (SEL). Teachers, administrators, and parents representing all five schools and the district office were in attendance. We participated in a variety of activities reflecting upon our own celebrations and challenges in the five SEL competencies: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. It was an enriching day consisting of opportunities to connect with various stakeholder groups, gain perspective, and participate in a variety of activities that we can bring back to our staff and students.
One topic we discussed was how we as adults serve as models for our students when it comes to the SEL competencies. We reflected on James Baldwin's quote, "Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they've never failed to imitate them." As educators and as parents, we shoulder a large responsibility in modeling what it means to be a compassionate, responsible community member. The children are watching us, waiting to see how we will handle moments of celebration, moments of conflict, moments of anxiety, and more.
None of us are perfect, and of course we will have missteps when we know we could have modeled more appropriate behavior for our children. The key is to engage the children in reflection after these moments and make our thinking about what we could have done differently visible. We can help the children to see that everyone makes mistakes, and we grow and learn from them when we reflect.
Next time you wish you handled something differently when your son or daughter is present, I encourage you to take the opportunity to be reflective with your child. It might result in a wonderful learning moment for both of you.
Warm regards,
Betty Weir
A special thanks to Mrs. Balkin for preparing the students, organizing the event, and leading a wonderful Chorus concert this week! Thank you to all the students for preparing and
performing so beautifully, and to all the parents for supporting them and cheering for them at the performance!
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @skokie36
Volunteer Center
The Volunteer Center is getting ready for another productive Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service for all ages and abilities - this January 20, 2020 at The Community House in Winnetka from 1-4pm. We will again have approximately ten different hands-on projects volunteers can rotate throughout the afternoon.
In preparation for this Day of Service, we are asking students and their families in advance of MLK Day - starting now and through January 16 to bring in to Skokie School gently used t-shirts that we will have volunteers cut into strips that we will use to make braided dog pull toys for Orphans of the Storm. Prior to this year, we used fleece scraps from our no-sew blankets and purchased new fleece to make the toys. We decided to repurpose used T-shirts this year. Each MLK Day we make about 300 dog toys, so this is a far more cost effective and environmentally friendly method to please the orphaned animals. Each T-shirt can make about two dog pull toys.
So, please bring in your old (clean) T-shirts to the Skokie School lobby these last days before Winter Break and every day after we're back in school in January before January 16th.
Thank you and put 1-20-20 on your calendar for a day of service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Barb Tubekis,
The Volunteer Center
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Assistant Principal Corner
This week, we continued our third Social Emotional Learning (SEL) theme of the year about
Building Healthy Relationships. Classes talked about bullying this week.
Bullying: unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.
Some members of the Lions of Leadership will be delivering our winter weather clothing donations to
Connections for the Homeless on Tuesday.
Thank you all for donating!
The Lions of Leadership have started presenting about our leadership group and sharing applications with the 5th Graders, who will have an opportunity to join after winter break!
They have also written a couple SEL discussion prompts that will be sent home from your child's advisor. We will be sending these out every couple of weeks to review the topics we've covered this year during our SEL time, and we'd really appreciate it if you could talk through those topics with your child. They've learned so much and they're really putting that knowledge to good use.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Larry Joynt
Assistant Principal
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District News
Online Pre-Registration Open for Kindergarten & New Students for the 2020-2021 School Year
The new student registration process is completed in three steps:
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Complete new student pre-registration forms online beginning December 6, 2019.
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Provide proof of residency.
Click here
to view the list of documents that will meet these requirements. For your convenience residency documents may be uploaded during online registration or brought to the District Office.
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Visit the District Office to provide a certified copy of your child(ren)'s birth certificate and a parent photo ID and complete the paper portion of registration.
Children will not be considered enrolled until both the online and paper portion of registration has been completed and residency documentation is verified. If you have any questions, please contact the District Office at 847-446-9400.
Winter MAP Testing
We are approaching our second testing window for the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test, which will take place between
January 13 - 24, 2020
. Your child's school or teacher will inform you of his or her specific testing dates.
Similar to the fall, all students in Grades 3 - 8 will take one Reading Test and one Math test. MAP is a computer-adaptive test, which means every student receives a unique set of test questions based on responses to previous questions. This provides a personalized assessment experience by adapting to each student's learning level. The purpose of the second testing session is to provide teachers with midyear progress data that will help inform their instruction as they move forward into the school year. Student Reports are sent home at the end of the school year with fall to spring growth measures. Additional information on the MAP assessment may be found on our district website at www.winnetka36.org/itl/assessments.
Recommendation Form Protocol
Throughout the school year, our teachers and administrators may be asked to complete a recommendation form for families considering private schools or summer programs. As each institution's forms vary in the nature of information requested, we have moved to a common form that our Winnetka teachers and administrators will complete for submission to any authorized outside educational institution. Upon request for a feedback form, Winnetka staff will respond within ten business days. In the interest of maintaining appropriate confidentiality and consistency, our District employees will only complete this form, which may be attached to a student's application to any outside educational institution. You may find the form by
clicking here
.
Family Action Network
Family Action Network (FAN) is a 501(c)(3) organization that curates a high-quality speaker series each academic year. All FAN programs are free and open to the public. To view a calendar of upcoming events, visit the FAN website: https://www.familyactionnetwork.net/.
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Dates to Note
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