Spring Break is here!

We made it to Spring Break!  I am so proud of the work the students and teachers have done this year.  Across the grade levels, I have seen amazing work being accomplished by our students, as they are taking their learning to a higher level.  Congratulations to everyone and enjoy your break.

PLEASE VISIT THE PTO NEWSLETTER LINK AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE!

Spring Book Fair
Spring book fair will be Saturday, April 13 at Barnes & Noble in Deer Park. Students from many activities will be performing throughout the day and I am hoping to see as many Woodlawn families there as possible. Please mark your calendars and get over to the Barnes & Noble in Deer Park on April 13.

Eighth-grade Parents 
If you haven't turned in the paperwork for graduation, great America and the bowling party, please do so as soon as possible. Go to the link on the Woodlawn home page.  

Just a reminderIf you know that your child is going to miss a school day, please call the Woodlawn office and let us know ahead of time. It is hard to chase down parents when they are on vacation. i

Spring Conferences
You can still sign up for spring conferences! Remember that these are student led conferences and that you can sign up to review how your child is doing by calling the Woodlawn main office and making appoint an appointment with your child's homeroom teacher.

I hope that everyone has a safe spring break and I look forward to seeing everyone on April 1st. (No Joke)

Mr. Grana

So that's what a week without a snow day feels like...

What a week!  We finished ISAT’s, had incoming 6^th grade parent night, 2^nd Quarter Standards Based Report Cards went live online, Boys Night Out, Pi Day, Spring Fling  and many other activities were happening this week.

PLEASE VISIT THE PTO NEWSLETTER LINK AT THE  TOP OF THIS PAGE!

SPRING BOOK FAIR IS COMING UP!!!! APRIL 13^TH AT BARNES & NOBLE IN DEER PARK.  LOOK FOR FURTHER DETAILS IN UPCOMING BLOGS.

Standards Based Report Cards

We went live with report cards this week and I am pleased to report back to families that the new report cards have been well received by most parents. If you are having any trouble accessing the report cards, please contact the main office and we will investigate for you. 

EXPLORE UPDATE

I received some phone calls this week from 8^th grade parents who could not access their students' Explore results. Building Codes have changed due to a problem with their master schedule upload.  Here is new information that parents will need to access their reports. 

Go to www.examlogin.com

Enter the new building code:

Woodlawn:  7F75

The individual student IDs HAVE NOT CHANGED.

BOYS NIGHT OUT

Last night was incoming 6^th grade boys night out.  Good times.  Chicago Bear quarterback Matt Blanchard was here to share words of wisdom with the students. Great job by the PTO parents who organized this night.  I was a little surprised that no one wanted to hear about my stint as a Freshman “B” quarterback for the 1979 Arlington Cardinals.  We were 1-6. 

 Here's Matt Blanchard and me, the Greg Grana...

Although for those that truly know me, you know I'd prefer to see this...

5 ESSENTIALS PARENT SURVEY

If you haven’t already, please login and complete the Illinois 5Essententials Survey. It's not too late, and we'd really appreciate your feedback.  https://illinois.5-essentials.org/

Pi Day 3.14

Mrs. Gartenberg's and Mrs. Kalisz's 6th grade math classes really enjoyed celebrating Pi Day yesterday.  According to Wikipedia, Pi is "The number π (/paɪ/) is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, and is approximately equal to 3.14159. It has been represented by the Greek letter "π" since the mid-18th century, though it is also sometimes written as pi."  But to the rest of us, Pi is nothing but a good time...

Have a great weekend... and just one more week until Spring Break!

Mr. G

Report Cards!!!!

Woodlawn Families,

The new Standards Based Report Cards are available to view online!

Click on PowerSchool to see grades and teacher comments.  Click on the class grade to see the comment.

The regular report card envelope  is coming home today with directions for viewing and interpreting the report card.  Also included is the Standards Based Grading and Reporting Parent Handbook.  You can find these links on our Woodlawn website as well.

I am excited about the new report card and the wonderful information parents are going to receive!  Check it out and let myself or Mr. Murphy know if you have any questions.

Greg Grana
Principal

Student Led Conferences

Last week I blogged about the student led conferences.  There is a correction to the information I posted and I would like to apologize if it causes any inconvenience.  All grade levels doing student led conferences are done with your homeroom teacher.  Please begin calling the main office tomorrow to secure your time.  Remember that conferences are Monday, April 8th from 5-8:30p.m. and Tuesday, April 9th from 10-1:30p.m.

March 8, 2013

It is Friday?  When Monday is a holiday and Tuesday is a snow day, it makes for a very quick week.  I am 100% sure that our students who returned home on Monday evening from Washington D.C. were thrilled beyond belief to hear that there was no school on Tuesday.  The students had a great trip and Mr. Martin reported to me that this group was fantastic to travel with and represented their school and community well.

PLEASE VISIT THE P.T.O. NEWSLETTER AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE!!!!

Thanks to everyone who gave me blog theme ideas.  I will try to incorporate those ideas into future blogs.  Special thanks to Mr. Murphy for writing the blog last week.  

REPORT CARDS:

Our second trimester online report cards are coming out this Wednesday, March 13th.   Yes, we have made our report cards available via PowerSchool so that you can see grades via the internet.  We will be sending home an envelope which will have information on how to view the report cards and a form that will take you through the Standards Based Report Card parent guide.  As always, please sign and return the envelope to your homeroom teacher.  We ask that you sign so that we know that you have accessed the report card and received the SBR parent guide.  As a parent myself, I know that the change to Standards Based Report Cards has been challenging, but the information regarding where your child has strengths and deficits will be unmatched from any report card you have received at the middle school level.  The classes reporting out in SBR will be LA, PE, Health, Facs, Spanish (7th), Band (6th) & Orchestra (6th).  All other classes will be following the regular report card format.  My hope is that you can see the difference a Standards Based Report Card will make for parents as they follow the progress of their child.  

INCOMING 6TH GRADE PARENT NIGHT:

Please let all incoming 6th grade parents know that Woodlawn will be hosting an introduction to Middle School evening.  All parents who will have 6th graders entering in the fall are welcomed to join myself and Heather Friziellie in the Woodlawn gym at 7p.m. this Tuesday, March 12th.  We will have a presentation, student panel and be available to answer questions.  I hope to see you there.  

SCHOOL SUPPLY KITS:

Everyone wants to make their lives simpler...here is one of the easiest ways get your school year off to a good start without fighting the crowds at the store.  Go to the PTO Newsletter link and sign by NEXT FRIDAY, MARCH 15TH for your school supply kits.  This is great for each grade level and this year, you can buy extra items for your student.  Get on this now!!!!

SIGN UP FOR CONFERENCES:
Spring conferences are upon us!  All conferences are student led and our students are expected to be a part of this process.  6th grade students do this through their Options class and will be assigned their homeroom teacher, where 7th & 8th grade students can have any of their teachers be a part of the conference.  Dates and times are April 8th from 5-8:30p.m. and April 9th from 10-1:30p.m.  Call the main office 847-353-8500 beginning this Wednesday for an appointment.

Finally, we lose an hour this weekend.  Spring ahead one hour.  

In like a lion...

Happy Friday!  

My, oh my, flipping the calendar to March this morning was an odd feeling.  I can’t believe how fast the year is flying- today also marks the end of the second trimester!  And while I’m sure your students have reminded you many times, don’t forget that there is no school on Monday, March 4, as we recognize Casmir Pulaski Day. 

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE PTO NEWSLETTER

WASHINGTON D.C

Safe travels to our 8th graders and staff members who are traveling to visit our nation's capital this weekend.  Learn lots, and have a blast!  (Teachers, drink lots of coffee!)

INFORMATION COMING YOUR WAY

Parents of 6th and 7th graders, please check your child's backpack for their winter MAP scores. Parents of 8th graders, please check your mail, as EXPLORE access codes have been mailed home to you. Should you have questions about either MAP or EXPLORE, feel free to contact Greg or me to discuss. 

On March 13, we will publish Trimester 2 report cards online. We will email you directions for accessing the report card via PowerSchool. Please note that report cards will NOT be printed in hard copy, as you will be able to see all the fabulous information right on PowerSchool.  We will still send home a report card envelope which will contain directions for accessing the report card as well as a Standards-Based Reporting parent guide. I'd ask you to sign and return the envelope to us in order to confirm that you got the information and accessed the report card. 

Finally, be sure to check PowerSchool now in order to monitor your child's midterm Specials grades in Art, Communications, FACS, and Music. 

Click here for an informational video on how to navigate the PowerSchool parent portal.

DISTRICT 96 FOUNDATION NEWS

We are proud to announce the name of a Woodlawn student who is one of the recipients of the 2013 K.I.D.S Grant Awards sponsored by the District 96 Foundation. Woodlawn’s winning grant stood out from a pool of fourteen applicants.  Four student groups from Kildeer Countryside, along with Woodlawn sixth-grader, Saurav Chandra, won grants because they had outstanding ideas to help their fellow classmates learn. Saurav’s grant is to use an Elenco Snap Circuit Green Alternative Energy Kit so he and his fellow classmates can learn about environmental concepts like green and alternative energies. Saurav confidently stood up to be recognized when the foundation Prize Patrol arrived at Woodlawn.  Foundation representatives informed me they liked the versatility of his idea when he wrote, “This kit can create 129 different electronic projects related to energy using circuit boards.” 

More information about K.I.D.S. Grants can be found at www.96foundation.org.

2013-14 DATES

At Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting, the calendar for the 2013-14 school year was approved.  Click here to take a peek at next year's dates.  

ISAT SCHEDULE

As you may be aware this year's ISAT (Illinois Standards Achievement Test) will take place next week. Our schedule will be as follows:

Wednesday, March 6: All 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade (Reading/Math)

Thursday, March 7: All 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade (Reading/Math)

Friday, March 8: All 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade (Reading/Math)

Monday, March 11: 7^th grade only (Science)

While students cannot study for the ISAT, they will certainly benefit from getting a good night's sleep and eating a healthy breakfast. It will also be important that students arrive on time each day, as we'd like as few make-ups as possible. Please visit the D96 website to see the ISAT question structure or to access practice questions. If you have specific questions regarding the ISAT, please contact Greg or me directly. 

Attention parents of fifth-graders...

The D96 Parent-to-Parent (P2P) Network is partnering with Woodlawn and Twin Groves Middle School principals and staff to present a brand-new transition program for parents whose current fifth-grade students will be attending middle school in August 2013. 

This don’t-miss program on Tuesday, Mar. 12,  @ 7 p.m., Woodlawn Middle School Gym, for ALL District 96 parents of current fifth graders will feature a student panel for Q&A and practical transition tips, middle school staff, and Principals Heather Friziellie and Greg Grana. 

Please note that this program replaces the school-based programs presented in previous years. One program/one date for ALL parents of current D96 fifth-grade students: Tues., Mar. 12, 7 p.m., Woodlawn Middle School gym, 6362 Gilmer Rd, Long Grove 60047.

That's all folks, enjoy the long weekend!

Chris