Food Service Information

Woodridge School District 68 families who are interested in learning more about their children's school menus and nutritional information will now have a quick and easy way to access the information by simply logging on to www.schoolmenu.com.

All of the 2012-2013 school year meals, along with nutritional information for each of the items served will be available online for parents to view. In addition, the site will also provide the latest information on nutrition, health, and fitness from a distinguished team of experts.

Families can view a child's meal quickly and easily. Use the Quick Link on the district home page, or use the menu link on Willow Creek's page. You will be directed right to your child's daily school menu. Parents can see the nutritional content of each menu item served simply by moving the cursor over it. Families will also find easy access to debit/pay plans, free and reduced applications, and other important information.

For the 2012-2013 school year, Woodridge School District 68 school meals will meet and in some cases even exceed the new federal nutrition standards for school meals. By meeting these recently mandated standards the district is ensuring that its meals are healthy, well-balanced, and provide students all the nutrition they need to succeed at school. And now, the meal and nutritional information families want will be easy to access.

Initial Parent Conference Scheduling Form

Our initial conference scheduling form went home with students today. Parents need to mark whether or not they have a preference for the day in which they attend conferences and then return the bottom half of the form to school as soon as possible. All conference forms should be returned by this Friday.

Our teachers will then be meeting together to schedule exact conference times for each family. We will make every effort to schedule conferences on the days/times that families indicated they prefer. We also work hard to schedule siblings' conference times consecutively as well. Once conference times are determined, classroom teachers will send home notifications with the scheduled day and time for each student.

This year, parent teacher conferences are being held on Monday, November 19th from 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. and Tuesday, November 20th from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Principal's Update 10-26-2012

WOW, What a Week!!! Willow Creek School was an exciting place to be this week! We started the week with our Red Ribbon kick off and continued to make pledges to refrain from using drugs all the way until Friday. Students received a sticker each day that went along with our daily themes. A special thanks to Mrs. Cannis who planned our festivities for the week! Check out my posts from earlier in the week to see pictures of the students dressed up for the theme of each day.

On Tuesday, our first grade students had a special visitor. They had been doing research on spiders and Mr. Dave DiNaso, a first grade parent and reptile and spider expert, visited the classroom to show them real life examples of spiders as he taught them about different types. He also taught them about the important role spiders play in the ecosystem and why we as humans should appreciate them, rather than be afraid of them or try to kill them. The students enthusiastically watched and listened to the presentation, and some of them even held our touched the spiders.

Our September students of the month celebrated their accomplishment on Thursday by having pizza with the principal! These students were chosen either by their teacher or their classmates for this honor. Individuals who are nominated for Student of the Month have demonstrated an ability to follow the school rules, be caring citizens, and show academic responsibility.

September 2012 Students of the Month

Grimes AM: Kayden Seidelman          Grimes PM: Nathan Bunzell
Boots: Jake Imirsek                             Cannis: Sydney Hnaituk
Wiese: Yvonne Boleaga
Armstrong: Mariah Terrell                   Mack: Abby Bleau
Driessens: Alyssa Deschamp       Leonard: Luis Rodriguez       MacNeil: Sarah Garcia
Chapman: Aaron Venouziou                Durkin: Taylor Horozy
Mehok: Asia Castillo                             Wilkinson: Tyler Bleau
Franson: Cyndi Brennan                      Keogh: Joe Harzheim



We also held our student council officer elections on Thursday afternoon. There were twenty eight students who ran for positions. All of the students who ran did an excellent job and have been invited to be a part of our student council leadership group. It took much courage for these individuals to get in front of such a large audience and each of them were impressive and demonstrated they have leadership  skills they can offer to our school! Our third through sixth grade students all voted for officers at the end of the candidate speeches and this year's officers are as follows:

Co-Presidents: Kaitlyn Ford and Scottlyn Williams
Vice-President: Clark Kelly
Treasurer: Cyndi Brennan
Secretary: Amber Moca

Each third through sixth grade classroom also voted for a student council class representative for their classroom. Class representatives will not only be responsible for their homeroom, but they will be assigned a primary classroom to buddy up with and share information regarding student council activities with the those students throughout the year. Student council meetings are held in the mornings before school periodically throughout the school year. Students who are involved in student council will receive notifications of the meetings before they occur.



Our school had a successful fire drill in conjunction with the Woodridge/Lisle Fire Department on Friday. In addition our relocation drill was also a success. Our students came prepared for the walk and did an excellent job following directions in order learn the expectations we had for them in this type of situation.

Our school community also enjoyed the Halloween Dance we had on Friday. Check out my post from Saturday for pictures from the dance!

Check out my blog later this week for updated information about our food service and the November menu online!

Upcoming Dates to Remember:  
Tuesday, October 30th: 3rd Grade Field Trip
Wednesday, October 31st: No School for Students, School Improvement Planning for Staff
Friday, November 2nd: Market Day Pick-Up, 2:55-3:55 p.m., rm. 102
Monday, November 5th: Accelerated Reader (AR) Assembly
Tuesday, November 6th: No School, Election Day
Wednesday, November 7th: Band Oktubafest
Friday, November 9th: Picture Retakes

Check out the picture below for the students whose names were chosen in this week's "Positive Paws" raffle!

Halloween Monster Bash

Last night was our first ever Willow Creek Halloween Dance and our students, staff, and parents had a blast! Thank you to our PTO for sponsoring this event for our families! This event would not have been possible without the help of so my parents who planned, helped with set-up and decorations, worked the concessions, and assisted with the clean-up! Thank you to everyone who volunteered and made this night such a success! A big thank you to Willow Creek parent, Mr. Deschamp, who was the D.J. for the night! He kept the party going and played music that the students wanted to dance to all evening long! Our students did an excellent job of remembering the Willow Creek Way while still having fun with their friends and families! Check out the pictures below from this Monster Bash!!

WC Students "Team Up" Against Drugs

On Friday, our students sported their favorite team jerseys or t-shirts in order to show they were "Teaming Up" against drugs!

Willow Creek Students "Sock It" to Drugs

Red Ribbon Week continued today with students wearing crazy or mixed matched socks in order to show they are "socking it" to drugs!

Red Ribbon Week Continues with WC Students Voting for the Future!!

Willow Creek students showed they were "Voting for Their Future" by wearing red, white, and blue today!

"Paws"itively Drug Free

Students wore school spirit wear or our school colors of blue and white today in order to demonstrate their plans to be "Paws"itively Drug Free!

Red Ribbon Week Kicks Off

Red Ribbon Week is an ideal way for people and communities to unite and take a visible stand against drugs. People across the nation this week will show their personal commitment to a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol of the Red Ribbon. The Red Ribbon Campaign was started when drug traffickers in Mexico City murdered Kiki Camarena, a DEA agent, in 1985. This began the continuing tradition and displaying Red Ribbons as a symbol of intolerance towards the use of drugs. The mission of the Red Ribbon Campaign is to present a unified and visible commitment toward the creation of a DRUG-FREE AMERICA.

Willow Creek students kicked off Red Ribbon Week today by wearing red!!

Principal's Update 10-19-2012

This week was a great week for much work to be accomplished in our classrooms! With that said, we have another busy week coming up, as this coming week is Red Ribbon Week and we will be having our second fire drill of the year. Along with the fire drill, we will also complete our relocation drill. When we have a relocation drill, we practice walking to the nearby church in order to ensure that our students know exactly what to expect if we need to exit Willow Creek and are not able go back into the building. In the event that this was to occur, we would contact parents and provide them with instructions as to how to proceed in picking up their children at the church. Parents can assist us in making our relocation drill a success by making sure that their children come to school prepared to participate in the drill on Friday. It will be important for the students to wear gym shoes or comfortable walking shoes and students will need to be dressed appropriately for the weather. We will allow students to put on jackets prior to the drill since this drill will be announced to the students.

Click on the links for the October Building Readers newsletter for parents in English and Spanish. This month's newsletter includes some interesting suggestions for working with students on reading and writing including planning together and taking a literary adventure to an art museum. I know that the Art Institute of Chicago offers free admission for Illinois residents every first and second Wednesday of each month through December, but this may be a great activity to do over Winter Break if they also offer this deal in 2013, as our students have the first Wednesday in January off this year. I believe the suggested activity could also be applied to other museums in Chicago which also offer free admission on specific dates throughout the year. This year, November 6th is one of the free admission dates to the Shedd Aquarium and our students are off of school due to elections, so this would be a great activity to complete with students in the next few weeks leading up to the elections and a free activity on the students' day off! November 20th is also a free admission day to the Shedd and our students are off of school due to parent teacher conferences, so this could also be an ideal day for a trip to a museum after parents attend conferences the day before or that morning!! Most of the museums offer many days in mid January, so the day we have off for MLK's Birthday may be another great option for a trip. In addition, the newsletter makes a suggestion for encouraging students to combine reading and math by having students read books about math. This is an excellent suggestion, as this would support the work our teachers are doing with students in the classroom since our new common core standards also require students to apply their reading skills across content areas, especially math!

Upcoming Dates to Remember: 
Red Ribbon Week is Monday, October 22nd - Friday, October 26th
Monday: "Red Ribbon Kick-Off"- Wear Red
Tuesday: "Paws"itively Drug Free - Wear School Spirit
Wednesday: "I'm Voting for My Future"- Wear Red, White, and Blue
Thursday: "Sock it to Drugs"- Wear Crazy or Mismatched Socks
                    September Student of the Month Pizza with the Principal
                    Student Council Officer Presentations and Elections- 1:10 p.m.
Friday: "Team Up Against Drugs" - Wear Sports Apparel
               Fire and Relocation Drills

Check out the picture below of students whose names were chosen for "Positive Paws" this week!

Supper Club Reminder

                                         Supper Club Reminder

                                         October 18^th

           
                            3:00PM-7:00PM

                                McDonald’s

                    2401 63^rd St., Woodridge

             20% of all sales will go to the PTO!

                                                                          Hope to see you there!

  Attached is a copy of the form that needs to be turned in when you place your order!

Principal's Update 10-12-2012

Mayor Murphy visited the second graders at Willow Creek this past Wednesday. The students have been learning about communities and the various jobs and roles that individuals fulfill within in the community. As a result, our Mayor came to talk with students about his job in our community and he read them a fun story about a Mayor! Check out the pictures from Mayor Murphy's visit below! Mayor Murphy also participated in Unity Day by wearing an orange ribbon that our second graders provided for him!



Our entire school was a sea of orange on Wednesday, as many students proudly participated in Unity Day in order to show their support for anti-bullying. Classroom teachers planned various lessons or activities with their students to discuss bullying and how we can prevent it at Willow Creek. Some students created video pledges about bullying. Parents can use the following resources to continue conversations with their children about bullying. This site is appropriate to use with young kids- http://www.pacerkidsagainstbullying.org/. This site is appropriate to use with older kids and teens-http://www.pacerteensagainstbullying.org/#/home

Our fifth graders enjoyed two very busy days at the Outdoor Education field trip this Thursday and Friday at LOMC in Oregon, IL! The students participated in five different outdoor classes that included archery, wilderness skills, team building, learning about trees, and a nature hike. Students ate their meals in the dining hall where they were responsible for all of the set-up and clean-up for the meals. On Thursday evening, they also participated in a night hike and a camp fire complete with singing campfire songs and smores!! The students slept over night in two different cabins that were furnished with many bunks. Thank you to our families who helped raise funds last year to lower the cost of this trip for our students by selling candy bars. Also, a special THANK YOU to our seven parents who chaperoned the trip. This trip would not have been possible without their help!


Upcoming dates to remember:
Monday, October 15th: Fun Run Money Due
Thursday, October 18th: PTO Supper Club, McDonald's on 63rd St., 3-7 p.m.
Monday, October 22nd - Friday, October 26th: Red Ribbon Week
Tuesday, October 23rd: Robert Crown Parent Information Meeting, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Murphy School
Thursday, October 25th: Student Council Elections
Friday, October 26th: Halloween Dance, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
                                      End of First Quarter
                                      Deadline for Box Top Contest

Check out the students whose names were chosen for "Positive Paws" this week!

Unity Day- October 10th

Wednesday is Unity Day! Willow Creek students should wear orange in order to show support for anti-bullying!

Principal's Update 10-05-2012

This week, our staff and students commemorated Recycling Day. Each classroom teacher talked about Recycling Day with their students in a different way. For example, our 4th graders learned a chant and moves to go with it about reducing, reusing, and recycling. They talked about the importance of recycling and what they personally could do to recycle. Check out the pictures of them doing their chant!

Our school has been participating in a Box Tops contest this month. Students are turning in sheets of 25 Box Tops and the grade level with the most Box Tops turned in will earn an extra recess. Box Top sheets can be downloaded by clicking on the link for those families that need additional sheets.

In an effort to provide our teachers more productive time for professional development, this year Woodridge School District 68 changed its School Improvement Days from half-days to full-days.  With this scheduling change, the next SIP Day falls on Wednesday, October 31^st.  Since there is no school on Halloween, no parties will be scheduled.  This will allow parents and children to enjoy other Halloween activities in addition to trick-or-treating.  Village of Woodridge code allows for trick or treating until 7:00pm on Halloween.

An option for Halloween festivities is the Safe Zone Trick or Treat in the Seven Bridges development on Route 53 in Woodridge.  This event, hosted by the businesses of Seven Bridges and sponsored by the Woodridge Area Chamber of Commerce, provides a fun, safe atmosphere for children to trick-or-treat.  In addition to trick-or-treating, many other activities will be available including a bounce house, face painting, magician, popcorn, apple cider, and so much more.  The Woodridge Police Department and Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District will also be there.  Safe Zone Trick or Treat is FREE to all and will be held on Friday, October 26^th from 3:00-6:00pm.

The Willow Creek PTO is also hosting a Halloween Dance for Willow Creek students on Friday, October 26th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Click on the link to the flyer for details regarding the dance. All students must be accompanied by an adult and students who come in costume may not where masks or bring weapons of any sort.

There is a flyer at the bottom of the Principal's Page of the Willow Creek website for the fall and winter programs being offered through the Center of Gifted, which is a Northern Illinois University partner. I have also included a link to take interested parents directly to the flyer.

Woodridge School District 68 now has a social media presence:

Like us on Facebook (Woodridge School District 68)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Woodridge-School-District-68/145720565569454

(this URL will be shortened once we have enough “likes”)

Follow us on Twitter (@Woodridge68):

https://twitter.com/Woodridge68

Subscribe to our YouTube channel (Woodridge68):

http://www.youtube.com/user/Woodridge68?feature=guide

Please note the following upcoming dates: 
Monday, October 8th - NO SCHOOL, Columbus Day
Wednesday, October 10th - Unity Day, Students Wear Orange to Show Support for Anti-Bullying
Thursday, October 11th - 5th Grade Outdoor Education
Friday, October 12th - 5th Grade Outdoor Education
Thursday, October 18th - Supper Club. McDonald's on 63rd St., 3-7 p.m.

Below is a picture of our students whose names were pulled for the "Positive Paws" raffle this week!