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!