Principal's Update 01-10-2015, 01-17-2015, and 01-23-2015

It is hard to believe we are almost through January already!

Despite our days off during your first week back in the new year, we still had a busy week! The students returned and we completed what we call a "Skill Blitz" with the entire student body. The "Skill Blitz" is an opportunity for staff to revisit the Willow Creek Way and remind students of our expectations of Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe in each of the locations throughout the school.

On Friday, January 10th, we held our school Spelling Bee for students in grades 4th-6th! Our top two spellers, both sixth graders, Kailey Furgeson and Jacob Poeschel will be moving on to represent Willow Creek at the District Spelling Bee on January 28th. We had impressive spellers from each of the participating grades this year and it was quite a competition to watch from beginning to end! Kailey was our building champion for the second year in a row!! Kudos to all of our students who participated! It was obvious they put a lot of time into studying and preparing for the event!!



Session #2 of our after school clubs also began during our first week back! Students involved have been enjoying learning sign-language or reading and talking about books!!

In our second week back, we began our mid-year benchmark assessments with students. All students once again took the STAR Tests. These results will be shared with parents at our upcoming conferences in February. Conferences are being held on February 12th and 13th. Parents should have already received confirmation of the date and time for their child(ren)'s conference on those two days.

This past week, we celebrated our students of the month from the month of December! 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- Yajaira Chehin 
                          PM- Angelina Boulos

1st Grade: Boots- Carlos Mendoza- Guzman 
                   Cannis- Kylie Proctor

2nd Grade: Armstrong- Kayden Seidelman
                    Mack- Jaiden Vlasici 

3rd Grade: Leonard- Yvonne Boleaga  
                    MacNeil- Arfah Khaled

4th Grade: Chapman- Sofia Zasiebida 
                    Durkin- Dulce Rodriguez

5th Grade: Buchholz- Quetzallli Chavez
                   Wilkinson- Tyler Llaneta

6th Grade: Driessens- Hailey Mendez
                    Keogh - Jacob Poeschel 

The PTO winter fundraiser kicked off this past week. Students should have brought home a KidStuff Coupon Book with information about the sale of these books to raise funds for our school. The fundraiser will run from now until February 6th. By February 6th, students should bring in their order form for additional books they sold and money to purchase the coupon book or return the book coupon book to school if your family does not wish to purchase the book. 

The 5Essentials Parent Survey is also now available for parents to complete. The survey will take approximately 5 minutes and the results will be used to improve our school. In order to receive the results, we need at least 20% of our parent population to participate. In the past, we needed 30% and we have been successful, so it is my hope that once again at least 30% or more of our parents will participate in the survey. The results will also be included in our next school report card, so the more participants we have, the more accurate indicator we have of how our parents think we are doing. The survey can be easily accessed by clicking on this 5Essentials Parent Survey Link. Once at the website you will clearly see the parent survey and can begin. There is also additional information regarding the survey and quick click links to the survey on our district and school websites for parents to learn more or easily access the survey.   

This week is the last week to turn in nomination for the Gifted Program. All students in Grade 2 and Grade 6 will automatically be screened for the gifted program. In order for students in grades 3, 4, or 5 to be considered for the program next year, the student needs to be nominated by either a teacher or a parent. Details regarding nominations can be found on the Peachjar, which was posted back in December or on the district website, by clicking on the following link to details for the Gifted Program, or click the link to the identification page or nomination forms. Students who are already in the program in grades 3-5 do not need to be nominated again, they remain in the program throughout their time at Willow Creek. All nominations are due by this Friday, January 30th. 

The DuPage Regional Office of Education is inviting students in grades 5th - 8th and their parents to the Presidents' Day STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Open House!!  The event is from 10 a.m. -12 p.m. and is free! A flyer with details for the event and a registration form have both been posted to the WC Peachjar!! 

Details regarding the February, 25th Band Winterfest Concert have also been posted to the Peachjar!! 

Upcoming Dates to Remember:
Friday, January 23rd - End of Second Quarter
Wednesday, January 28th - 3rd Grade In-School Field Trip
                                                District Spelling Bee
Thursday, January 29th - Roller Skating Party, 6:30-8:30 p.m. @ Lombard Roller Rink
Friday, January 30th - Last day to Submit Gifted Nominations 
Monday, February 2nd - BOE Meeting, 7:30 p.m. @ JJH
Tuesday, February 3rd - PTO Meeting, 7 p.m. in WC LRC
Thursday, February 5th - 5th Grade Field Trip to the Museum of Science and Industry
Friday, February 6th - KidsStuff Coupon Book Order Due or deadline to return books
                                        6th Grade Field Trip to Alder Planetarium
                                        Market Day Pick-Up
Monday, February 9th - Pizza w/ the Principal for January Students of the Month
Wednesday, February 11th - AR BBQ @ lunch for students who earned 200% of their goal
                                                  Battle of the Books Building Competition
                                                  Band Solo and Ensemble Festival
Thursday, February 12th - No Pre-K Classes
                                               1/2 Day of School for Students
                                               Report Cards Distributed
                                               Parent/Teacher Conferences 3-8 p.m.
Friday, February 13th - No School for Students
                                          Parent/Teacher Conferences, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Monday, February 16th - No School, President's Day
February 17th - 20th - CoGat Testing for Gifted Identification for Grades 2 and 6
Tuesday, February 17th - Monday Schedule
Friday, February 20th - Market Day Pick-Up

Check out the picture below of our students whose names were drawn in our "Positive Paw" raffle this week!