Washburne Families,
Today marks the first day of our second trimester and, as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, we truly have much to be thankful for. We are thankful for our amazing students who continue to learn and excel in the midst of a pandemic. Their resilience is truly a blessing. We are thankful for our supportive families who have partnered with us more than ever in this challenging year. We are thankful for our teachers. Their passion, creativity and dedication has been on full display as we have navigated an unprecedented learning environment. I know I can speak for Mr. Horwitz when I say thank you to the entire Washburne community.
We wish you all a healthy and happy Thanksgiving with your families!
Take care and be well,
Dr. Andrew Fenton Ben Horwitz Principal Assistant Principal
Refinements to Washburne's Hybrid Model for Trimester 2
As we have shared in our past newsletters, we have met with staff, students and parents over the past few weeks with the goal of identifying possible refinements to our hybrid schedule to ensure our students are learning the critical content, skills and prerequisites to be prepared for 8th grade and high school. We collected additional Washburne parent survey data to help inform our refinements. Please Click HERE for a summary of the data collected. We noted that less than half of our parents were confident students were learning the necessary curriculum - a key area we want to address.
This process has provided us with a clear picture of where we are at the moment. As a school, we dedicated time at our November 13 Institute day to evaluate feedback and determine key refinements. In summary, we were encouraged by our discussions and feel strongly that our students are learning and ready.
Washburne staff is confident that students will meet expectations and be prepared academically and social-emotionally for New Trier. Teachers are watchful of the mental health of our students (27% currently report being overwhelmed), and they will continue to orchestrate a delicate balance of challenging students academically, addressing SEL needs, providing support, nurturing growth, encouraging curiosity, and inspiring a love of learning. Our students will always get our best. We are confident they will be ready to take on the challenges that lie ahead.
In next week's memo, I will share updates from each of our core academic curriculum departments. I also wanted to highlight our plans for Trimester 2:
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Maintain revised advisory office hours to provide time within the in-person portion of the day for targeted assistance.
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Continue with Washburne's virtual after school Student Help Center. Teachers will invite specific students who need additional support.
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Listing target engagement minutes for the independent, remote portion of the hybrid day. Teachers will continue to emphasize to students and parents to utilize these minutes as a guide and encourage communication if assigned work is too much or not enough.
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Update streaming procedures to allow increased access to instruction for short-term absences and provide greater clarity to the community on this process (see more on this below).
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Utilize Swivl technology to help with the remote experience for our fully remote students. This new technology can help with small numbers of fully remote students; however, its benefits do not justify a large expansion of streaming students.
Student Streaming Changes for Trimester 2
Based on feedback from trimester 1, we have updated our procedures for students to stream into their core, academic classes for short-term absences that are due to COVID related reasons. These procedures will apply when a student is awaiting COVID test results, a family member is awaiting test results, or when a student is healthy enough to participate in school but is unable to come to the building due to COVID restrictions.
Please feel free to reach out to Mr. Horwitz with any questions.
Washburne Parent Webinars
Last week, Mr. Horwitz and I hosted a webinar for our 7th and 8th grade families. Thanks to those of you who joined us and submitted questions for the webinars. Recordings of the webinars are linked below:
November Hybrid Calendar
Please see this link to view Washburne's hybrid calendar for November.
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COVID Screening Survey-
Open Through 9 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23
At the special Board meeting on November 19, 2020, the Board discussed the use of a COVID-19 screening as one of many potential methods to maintain a safe environment for our school community. We ask that you take this brief, general interest survey. The results will help provide direction in planning and use of resources.
The survey is open through Monday, November 23 at 9:00 p.m. Please encourage others to participate. We will share and review the results at the November 24, 2020, School Board meeting.
Travel & Quarantine Reminder
The CCDPH recommends avoiding all non-essential travel and quarantining for 14 days upon returning to suburban Cook County. This is a significant shift that illuminates the current status of high COVID-19 community transmission. With the new guidance, essentially all Illinois counties and states outside of Illinois Suburban Cook are recommended for quarantine. The District realizes the challenges associated with monitoring in-state travel. Therefore, the District recently updated travel quarantine to include any travel outside of Illinois for more than 24 hours.
Given the anticipated increase in potential quarantine related to travel, along with our increase in exposure-related student quarantines, the District's grade 1-6 remote classrooms no longer have capacity for temporary enrollment due to travel-based quarantine. If your child travels and needs to quarantine, he/she will access their typical remote Related Arts instruction and regular asynchronous work provided by the classroom teacher. Parents will be responsible for supporting student learning while away on travel and any related quarantine. Teachers have limited ability to assist students prior to and returning from vacations given the demands of the current context.
In anticipation of Thanksgiving, please take a moment to notify us of your current plans via this form. This form is non-binding but simply intending to collect information that will help the District evaluate plans.
Schoology Learning Management System
This school year District 36 adopted the Schoology Learning Management System for all grades. Schoology is utilized to post information on assignments and other relevant classroom communications. This learning management system is to be used daily within the hybrid or all remote schedules. Early this fall teachers shared login information and parent access codes with each family. Parents need to enter the access codes for each of their children. If you cannot locate your access code(s), please reach out to your child's teacher for your parent access code(s). Then sign up to Schoology with the code.
Additional Schoology Resources are available at these links:
Technology Support
The best way to get technology support is to email the help desk [email protected]. A representative from the Technology Department will be able to address the issue. If something is not working, it is always okay to take a break or step away. If you are experiencing difficulty logging into Schoology or need help navigating the system, please email the help desk and your ticket will be forwarded to Jenn Marshall.
Parent Education
Access last week's District sessions below:
News from The Alliance for Early Childhood
Please access the 2020-2021 Parent Program Flyer to view information on these upcoming events:
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Pandemic Parenting: Tools and Tips, December 3, 7-7:45pm Register Here
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Pandemic Parenting: Tools and Tips, February 18, 7-7:45pm Register Here
Additionally, families are invited to participate in Let's Play! 2020-2021 Ongoing Community Programs.
Family Action Network Events
Thanksgiving Service Opportunity with Local Non-Profit:
The Volunteer Center's Thanksgiving Share Your Bounty Continues!
COVID-19 is not stopping the Volunteer Center from again helping people in need at Good News Partners (GNP) this Thanksgiving. Any individual, family or group looking for a way to safely help are asked to fill either a cloth or double bagged paper bag or small box with all the items in the list below, then drop it off between 10am and noon on Thanksgiving morning to 1600 W. Jonquil, Chicago (Rogers Park area off of Howard). Due to COVID-19, however, there is no contact with the residents to protect both the donors and the residents of GNP housing. It will still remain a very beneficial experience for all participants as it sets the tone for a thankful day in a very challenging year. Reservations are not required, but masks are, of course! The staff are prepared to receive the generous donations. Thank you for your help!
The List of foods to fill your bag: Cereal, peanut butter, coffee, pasta, tomato sauce, canned fruit and veggies, soup, canned tuna and chicken, and cookies.
Questions: [email protected]
Exploring Winnetka History: An Opportunity for Winnetka Families
(District 36 Alum Alexander Orsic's Eagle Scout Project)
Winnetka is a small village with a rich history. Take a walk around town or hop on your bike and visit these ten interesting locations throughout Winnetka:
-Station Park
-Village Hall
-Village Green
-Hubbard Woods Park
-Schmidt-Burnham Log House
-Robert E. Burke Park
-Winnetka Community House
-411 Linden
-Bell woods
-Crow Island Woods
Wherever you see a sign with a QR code you can scan it with your phone to learn more about where you are. You will be taken to a video of a Troop 20 scout explaining the history of that location. Thank you to the Winnetka Historical Society for supporting this outdoor educational opportunity.
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Replies to this email will be sent directly to Andrew Fenton. Please note that unsubscribing from this email will unsubscribe from all Winnetka School emails.
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The Winnetka Public Schools community empowers every student to flourish in an innovative, experiential environment. We support and challenge all learners to actively engage in continual growth and achievement to make a meaningful difference in the world.
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Upcoming Dates
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Tuesday, November 24th
Board of Education Meeting @7:15pm
Wednesday, November 25th - Friday, November 27th
Thanksgiving Break
No School
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