Principal's Update 01-18-2013 and 01-25-2013

The month of January has been flying by quickly! On Wednesday, January 16th our Playground Committee had its first meeting. We had three staff representatives, four student representatives, and four parent representatives. During our meeting, the committee determined what the priorities are for our school in terms of the actual playground equipment that will be installed this coming summer. The Woodridge Park District representatives will be using the information they gathered from our committee to obtain design proposals from various manufacturing companies. Our committee will be meeting again in February to look at the proposals, and the committee will narrow down the options for the Willow Creek student body to then vote to determine the final design.

On Friday, January 18th we celebrated our Students of the Month from the month of December 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. December students of the month were as follows: 

Kindergarten: AM- Lindsy Vela     PM- Gianna Larocco
1st Grade: Boots- Bailey Mongello     Cannis- Ne'Zira Russell
2nd Grade: Armstrong- Ricky Rudolph     Mack- Jeremy Sauseda
1/2 Wiese: Daisy Zaldivar Zuniga
3rd Grade: Driessens- Josh Llaneta     Leonard- Gracie Lapacek     MacNeil- Christian Sauseda
4th Grade: Chapman- Eli Poloski     Durkin- Jacob Poeschel
5th Grade: Mehok- Clark Kelly     Wilkinson- Justin Esposito
6th Grade: Franson- Amanda Smith     Keogh- Anna Kombrink

Last week was a busy week for our students! Our school Spelling Bee was held on Tuesday afternoon in order to determine the students from Willow Creek who will be moving on to the District Spelling Bee on February 6th at Edgewood School. All of our WC Spelling Bee participants did an excellent job! Our finalists who are moving on for the District #68 Spelling Bee are Samantha Vallo, Syed Farhan, and alternate Megan Murphy! We wish them the best of luck at the District Bee!



We also had our 1st and 2nd Grade Music Performance "Flakes" this past week. Our first and second graders performed for the student body on Thursday afternoon and for their families on Thursday evening! Our students looked and sounded fantastic! They certainly had a lot of fun and worked extremely hard to prepare for the show. A special "Thank You" goes out to Mrs. Hector who put the show together and prepared the students for such an excellent performance! Not only did our students sing, they also played instruments, had speaking parts, and showed off their dance moves!!




Final conference slips went home with students this past week containing exact conference times for each student. Please be sure to complete the conference form to confirm your conference time with your child's teacher and return it to school by Friday, February 1st.

Our students began winter benchmark testing last week and will continue into this week. Each student in grades 1-6 will take the STAR Math and STAR Reading computer assessments during this assessment window. All students will also be assessed for reading fluency this coming week on Tuesday or Wednesday. The data collected will be reviewed by our Willow Creek staff members in order to make instructional decisions for each individual child, and the information will also be sent home to parents with the report card. Please don't hesitate to ask questions regarding the information that is shared in the report card when you come to meet with your child's teacher on February 7th or 8th for conferences. I have also included a link to a STAR Parent Resource for more information about STAR. 

The Willow Creek PTO is offering a spring spirit wear order. Order forms were sent home with students and are due by February 15th. Orders may be turned in to school or orders can be placed online at http://www.boomerts.com/yourstore/willowcreek.html. If you have questions, you may contact Jessica Venouziou at jvenouziou@hotmail.com. 

This Thursday, PTO will be sponsoring a Supper Club at Nonnie's Pizza Restaurant.  Be sure to turn in the attached coupon and Willow Creek School will receive 20% of all purchases. Eat in, pick-up, or delivery orders will all be included as long as the coupon is presented. 

I have included a link to the January Band Beats Newsletter from Mr. Payne. This newsletter is for our band families or any other interested parents who want to read about what is happening with band!! 

Check out the January issue of Building Readers in either English or Spanish. There is a section about the similarities between Reading and Math. Our new Common Core Standards require teachers to integrate content areas including reading and math in order to prepare students for the future.  

Upcoming Dates to Remember:
Wednesday, January 30th: Band Solo and Ensemble Festival, 5-8 p.m., JJH
Monday, February 4th: School Board Meeting, JJH, 7:30 p.m. 
Tuesday, February 5th: WC PTO Meeting, 1 p.m., Art Room
Wednesday, February 6th: District Spelling Bee
                                              Report Cards Go Home
Thursday, February 7th: 1/2 Day for students, 8:20-11:40 a.m. 
                                           Parent Teacher Conferences, 3-8 p.m. 
Friday, February 8th: Parent Teacher Conferences, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. 
Tuesday, February 12th: Band Winterfest, JJH, 5:30 p.m. dinner and 7 p.m. concert
Monday, February 18th: NO SCHOOL, President's Day
Thursday, February 21st: Cultural Arts Assembly, Jabali African Acrobats, 1:45 p.m. 
Tuesday, February 26th: Election Day
Thursday, February 28th: Willow Creek Roller Skating Party 

Check out the picture below of our students whose names were chosen in the Positive Paws raffle on 01-18-2013!

Check out the picture below of the our students whose names were chosen in the Positive Paws raffle on 01-25-2012!

Principal's Update 01-11-2013

We had a great first full week back in 2013!! Our students and staff were back down to work.

On Tuesday, our students participated in a PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention System) Skill Blitz Review. During this review, our students once again rotated around stations throughout the school to review the expectation for demonstrating the Willow Creek Way of being respectful, responsible, and safe in each place. This time, one student acted out the proper behaviors and other students pointed out the things the students did that showed each of the components of the Willow Creek Way. While discussing these aspects, the students ideas were recorded on chart paper and the students ideas will compiled and posted in each space throughout the school for students and staff to refer back to for the rest of the year. Students also shared ideas for are all school celebration that we will be having as a result of the students meeting 50% of their goal to fill the Positive Paw container all of the way before the end of the school year!

At our PTO meeting on Tuesday evening I shared with the parents that Willow Creek School will be getting a new playground this summer. The playground is property of the Woodridge Park District and they are in charge of the replacement project, however, they are forming a committee to include the Willow Creek School Community to have some input and help make decisions regarding what equipment will be purchased and installed. The first committee meeting will be held this Wednesday after school. The committee will be made up of 3-4 Willow Creek staff members, 3-4 Willow Creek students, and 3-4 Willow Creek parents. I am looking for the 3-4 parents who will serve on this committee. If you are interested in being a part of the committee please contact me as soon as possible.

Friday was our Willow Creek Family Movie Night. The event was a huge success! We had our best attendance for this event yet! Thank you to our PTO parents who planned and organized the event. Also, a huge thank you to the Willow Creek staff who helped me with the popcorn for the evening. We were so busy, I forgot to take pictures of the event, but was so happy to see so many of our students and their families present!! Thank you to everyone for being so patient with our popcorn making!!

District #68 Kindergarten Registration for the 2013-2014 school year will be held early this year. Our pre-registration dates for next year's kindergarteners are Wednesday, April 10th from 4-7 p.m. and Thursday, April 11th from 1-6 p.m. I have included a link to the the flyer with information regarding the pre-registration. This flyer will remain on my principal's page on our school website until registration occurs. Please note that the flyer is in English and Spanish. The second page of the flyer is the Spanish version. If you do not have an incoming Kindergartener, but know of a neighbor or friend who has a student who will be starting kindergarten, please pass along the information regarding our pre-registration dates.

Initial Parent/Teacher Conference forms for February conferences will be going home with students this week. Please complete and return this form to your child's classroom teacher by Friday, as the teachers will be meeting next week to determine exact times for each family. Once exact times have been determined, the teachers will send home a final notification with students so parents will know their exact conference time for February conferences.

Upcoming Dates to Remember: 
Monday, January 14th: School Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at JJH
Wednesday, January 16th: End of Second Quarter
Friday, January 18th: Market Day Pick-Up, 2:55-3:55 p.m.
Monday, January 21st: NO SCHOOL, MLK Day
Tuesday, January 22nd: Willow Creek Spelling Bee, Grades 4-6
Navigating the American Education System Mtg. for Bilingual Families Grades 4-8, 6-7:30 p.m., JJH
Thursday, January 25th: 1st and 2nd Grade Musical, 7 p.m.

Check out the pictures below of the students whose names were chosen in the Positive Paw raffle this week!

Happy New Year: Principal Update 12-21-2012

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone enjoyed holidays that were happy and healthy and that everyone brought in the New Year with cheer. We certainly ended our last week in 2012 at WC on a high note!! Our students continued their learning as usual, but also got into the holiday spirit!! Our student council candy cane sale throughout the week was a huge hit!

On Wednesday, the students of the month for November celebrated their accomplishment by enjoying 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.

The Students of the Month for the November were as follows:
Kindergarten: AM- Matas Pocuis                    PM- Jonathan Venouziou
First Grade: Boots-Adam Meitz                       Cannis-Noah Battle
1/2 Wiese: Omar Solano
Second Grade: Armstrong-Noah Kombrink     Mack: Lily Beaurain
Third Grade: Driessens-Priscilla Plascencia     Leonard: Eric Meitz          MacNeil: Gabriele Platauna
Fourth Grade: Chapman-Joseph Rosalia         Durkin: Olivia Scheffer
Fifth Grade: Mehok-Kamile Dirzys                 Wilkinson: Ryan Sepulveda
Sixth Grade: Franson-Rachel Jeske                  Keogh: Elijah Pendleton

 

On Thursday, fifth and sixth grade students in chorus participated in their winter holiday performance. The students performed for the Willow Creek student body during the day and for their families in the evening! Our chorus did an excellent job and a huge kudos goes out to Mrs. Hector for preparing them for such a successful performance!




Student Council also sponsored a day for students to wear Holiday Hats in order to raise money for Hurricane Sandy Relief. Our students who wore hats donated $1 and not only demonstrated their holiday cheer, but their consideration for those in need at this time. Funds raised have been given to the Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Fund.



The week culminated for our students with an all school assembly on Friday, followed by the classroom winter parties. The 5th and 6th grade Literacy Enrichment students performed a Reader's Theatre and the WC Staff also had a special performance for the student body at the assembly. Thank you to all of our room parents who planned the holiday parties for our students. I know the students really enjoyed themselves!







Join us this coming Friday, January 11th for our Willow Creek Family Movie Night. Admission is free and each child will receive one free bag of popcorn. There will also be additional popcorn, candy, and drinks for purchase. This year, we will be watching "Pixar's Digital Shorts." All children must be accompanied by an adult. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

Please be sure students are dressed appropriately for the winter weather. It is important for students to have a hat, a scarf, and gloves each day, as the students continue to go outside throughout the winter months for recess unless the wind chill is below zero degrees. Also, students must have both snow boots and snow pants in order to play in the snow at school. It is suggested that students do not arrive each day before 8 a.m. when the doors open, especially in the cold weather.

Click on the links for Building Reader's Newsletter in English and Spanish!

Upcoming Dates to Remember: 
Monday, January 7th: School Resumes
Tuesday, January 8th: PTO Meeting, 7 p.m., WC LRC
Friday, January 11th: Movie Night, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, January 14th: School Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m., JJH LRC
Wednesday, January 16th: End of 2nd Quarter
Friday, January 18th: Market Day Pick-Up
Monday, January 21st: No School, MLK B-Day
Tuesday, January 22nd: WC Spelling Bee, Grades 4-6
Thursday, January 24th: 1st and 2nd Grade Musical

Check out the picture below of our students whose names were chosen in the Positive Paws raffle for the last week before winter break!