Principal's Update 02-01-2013 and 02-08-2013

Our last days in January and first day of February were typical school days, but in our first full week of February we were off to a busy start to the month! Last weekend, the Jefferson Chess Team won its second championship in two years and two Willow Creek students, Amber Moca and Kyle Leonard, helped make this possible, as they participated in the tournament as members of the JJH Team!

The Willow Creek Supper Club held at Nonnies on January 31st was a big success! The WC PTO earned $270 that they can put back into the school as a result of the Willow Creek families who participated in the evening and showed the coupon for the school to receive a portion of the profits! Thank you to everyone who participated.

On Wednesday, we celebrated our Students of the Month from the month of January 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. January students of the month were as follows: 

Kindergarten: AM- Justin Yee                   PM- Evan Scheffer
1st Grade: Boots- John McNulty                Cannis- Danny DiNaso
2nd Grade: Armstrong- Amelia Molina     Mack- Josh Harap
1/2 Wiese: Sergio Rivera
3rd Grade: Driessens- Rebecaa Kanarski     Leonard- Hunter Jesionowski     MacNeil- Mia Tiangco
4th Grade: Chapman- Hazel Tan                Durkin- Averyiona Montanez
5th Grade: Mehok- Megan Murphy           Wilkinson- Alex Milos
6th Grade: Franson- Jacob Durkin             Keogh- Alexis Plascencia    

Wednesday was also the District #68 Spelling Bee. Willow Creek students Samantha Vallo and Syed Farhan participated in the Bee! There were also two Willow Creek alumni present, Austin Moca and Brianna Wright who participated as representatives for JJH!!




Our AR Assembly was held on Thursday morning in order to celebrate our students reading successes from 2nd Quarter. Students who reached the milestones of 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, and beyond 100% of their AR Goals placed raffle tickets into a container throughout the quarter. During the assembly, students names were pulled from the container and those students whose names were pulled won prizes. Students who were the top and most improved readers in their classrooms also participated in an Olympic Ring game and each received a prize as well. Information regarding our school's progress with AR was shared with students during the assembly and we set an all school goal for students to work towards raising the percentage of students who make their AR Goal each quarter with 85% comprehension accuracy. So far, our students have read 8,605 books and 81,136,415 words! In the first quarter, 54% of students made their goal with 85% comprehension accuracy. In second quarter, 57% of students made their goal with 85% comprehension accuracy. As a result, our school goal is for 70% of students to meet their goal with 85% comprehension accuracy by the end of the year. We do have many more students who met their point goals during first and second quarter than our percentages show, however, it is important for our students to not only meet their point goals, but also to demonstrate understanding of what they have read by also achieving an average of 85% or higher accuracy with comprehension.




Thank you to all of our parents who attended parent/teacher conferences last week. It was great to see so many parents over the two days! Please continue to communicate with your child's teacher throughout the remainder of the year in order to collaborate to ensure success for our students. During conferences, our teachers passed out a letter to parents in regards to the Illinois 5Essentials Survey that is now available in multiple languages for one parent per household to complete. The Illinois 5Essentials Survey provides a comprehensive assessment of school organizational culture with actionable reports to help drive school improvement on five indicators or "essentials": Effective Leaders, Collaborative Teachers, Involved Families, Supportive Environment, and Ambitious Instruction. I have included a link to the letter on my principal's page, for anyone who was unable to attend the conferences or does not have the letter. Please take a few minutes to go online and complete the survey. Your feedback will be used to directly impact the goals that are set for our school in the future. Directions to complete the survey are included in the letter.

 

Have your friends and family help you clip Box Tops throughout the winter. Each grade that clips and submits 600 Box Tops by February 22, 2013 will celebrate with a Mix it up Lunch! In addition, the top two grades in the school will earn a treat!!! Also, all students who complete a sheet will be entered in a drawing for a free movie rental from Red Box – 20 total rentals! All box tops must have current dates – BTE will not accept expired dates. Please tape or glue Box Tops to the attached Box Top Winter Contest Form. Forms also went home with students.

Upcoming Dates to Remember: 

Tuesday, February 12th: Sour Lips Lollipop Sales
                                           Band Winterfest, JJH, 5:30 p.m. dinner and 7 p.m. concert
Wednesday, February 13th: Sour Lips Lollipop Sales
Thursday, February 14th: Valentine's Day, Sour Lips Lollipop Sales
Friday, February 15th: Spirit Wear Orders Due
                                        Market Day Pick-Up, 2:55-3:55 p.m.
Monday, February 18th: Presidents' Day, NO SCHOOL
Thursday, February 21st: Cultural Arts Assembly, 1:45 p.m., Jabali African Acrobats

Check out the pictures below of the students whose names were chosen in our "Positive Paws" raffles over the last two weeks!