Week 32: 04/13/20 – 04/17/20

Posted on April 13, 2020 by kennedyelementary

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Ready to take on the week ahead????

Please be sure your virtual meetings (zoom/Google Meets) with students for this week are updated in the school schedule here.

Check out this Reading Challenge below…..how else can we foster and continue a love of reading at home? While our Kubbies can access Scholastic resources, EPIC and NewsELA resources…..did you know that MyOn News has been activated for our district? Students should now be able to find a NEWS tab next to their Library tab where they can access 5 daily news articles written specifically for kids.
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While West40 has unfortunately cancelled the Butterfly Kits, if you’re still interested in ordering a cup of butterflies for your students to learn/observe, check out www.insectlore.com where you can purchase a cup of caterpillars, or a butterfly kit! Are there other learning opportunities that our Kubbies are missing out on, that we can still re-create via e-Learning???

Looking for an easy way to plan your week out & communicate with parents?! Sharing information for the whole week in one place will be well-received by our families! Please be sure you are communicating your weekly zoom times, as well! Remember — our parents may be feeling overwhelmed with e-Learning, just like the students. Please be sure you are regularly communicating with families about what students are learning about throughout the week, and how parents can support their child/children at home. How did you communicate with families prior to COVID-19? Are you at least communicating that same level of engagement? What would you want to know as a parent?

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Remember, Donna, Sarah and I are a phone call/text away! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, feedback or concerns! We are here to support you. Please let us know how we can help!

Let’s have an amazing week!

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Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, April 13th

Tuesday, April 14th

Wednesday, April 15th
CPT Meetings!

Thursday, April 16th

Friday, April 17th
ABC COUNTDOWN BEGINS!! (click to see the PDF version)
A – ARTIST DAY!
WEAR BLUE to PROMOTE AUTISM ACCEPTANCE!

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5 by Friday! Continue making positive connections! Parents would love to hear how their children are CRUSHING e-Learning! Pick up the phone or consider sending a positive postcard!

(04/19) Happy Birthday Chris Gonzalez

Looking Ahead……
(04/22) Administrative Assistants’ Day

Week 31: 04/06/20 – 04/10/20

Posted on April 6, 2020 by kennedyelementary

….and what a beautiful, sunny Sunday it is today!

I hope you were able to enjoy time during your Spring Break resting and relaxing and making new memories with those you love (while social distancing).

As we welcome our students back tomorrow, and return to e-Learning, please remember that you are just as instrumental in developing the social and emotional needs of your students as you are in developing their academic needs.

You have risen to the occasion and done an amazing job implementing e-Learning. The love, purpose, grace, compassion and innovation you’ve demonstrated are commendable! Our Kubbies have been amazing, too — adjusting to the new world of learning they’ve been thrown into! Thank you for supporting our students and families. We will come out of this stronger, living and loving differently than we ever have, with new levels of appreciation and gratitude that we never even knew we had! This may be the toughest thing we’ve ever done, but let’s keep going! Our Kubbies and their families are counting on us!

We all became educators because we care about kids…..now more than ever, they are counting on our presence (albeit, via an iPad). Your relationships with your students and your commitment to their well-being will sustain your connections in the weeks to come. Relationships matter, now more than ever!

Focus on COMMUNICATION, CONNECTION, CARE, COMPASSION, and COMFORT!

Let’s kick off another amazing week of e-Learning tomorrow. Remember, no e-Learning on Friday.

Donna, Sara and I look forward to connecting with each grade level/team tomorrow via a ZOOM meeting to catch up and look ahead together. Please check the Kennedy calendar for your grade level’s timeslot & ZOOM link.

Have a great Sunday….and see you all (virtually) tomorrow!

We’ve got this!

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, April 6th
Welcome Students Back to e-Learning: Week 3

Tuesday, April 7th
Happy Birthday Beata Dering 🙂
Happy Birthday Ivanka Ananieva 🙂
Happy Birthday Mirta Cruz 🙂

Wednesday, April 8th
Happy Birthday Sharon Muntova 🙂
CPT Meetings

Thursday, April 9th

Friday, April 10th
NO SCHOOL (No e-Learning)

(04/11) Happy Birthday Sam Alfirevic 🙂

Week 30: 03/23/20 – 03/27/20

Posted on March 23, 2020 by kennedyelementary

Good (snowy) evening to our Kennedy family!

We are about to embark on WEEK 2 of E-Learning! Thanks for all you’ve done to keep in touch with our Kubbies, check-in on their well-being, bring smiles to their faces, ensure their safety, and provide them with engaging, FUN learning experiences virtually. I’m amazed at how quickly this all came together, and how much you’re all doing to keep the relationships STRONG between home/school.

This week, we want our students to start the week FRESH….a NEW START…..

Please archive your assignments and daily tasks assigned from last week…..we want students to log-in tomorrow morning with a clean slate and clean mind ….ready to tackle Week 2 (the less, the better….as e-Learning on Showbie is new for everyone).

As you saw from Stacey’s email, the team leaders worked this weekend to create a school-wide VIRTUAL SPIRIT WEEK for our Kubbies! Whether students/families post on Instagram, Showbie or Seesaw, please use this as a chance to bring our students/staff together this weeK!

Donna, Sara and I also challenge all of our KUBBIES and their families to participate in an e-Learning CHALLENGE. We are asking every student to draw their very own Kubbie or Kubbie Paw to show their love for our #kennedykubbies school community! With many people going for neighborhood walks to get fresh air, let’s see how much KUBBIE LOVE we can see in our neighbors’ windows!

Mrs. Polakowski has GRACIOUSLY created a guided drawing video for Kenny the Kubbie and Kenny’s Paw, and posted the videos on her YOUTUBE channel.

Teachers: Please share this CHALLENGE and the videos with your students in their E-Learning folders tomorrow!

*Amazing job to all of you who have created their own YouTube channels to share content! Such an awesome way to share read alouds, etc!

We are here to support you in any way we can! We are an email, text, call or Google Hangout/Zoom call away (and we love joining in on your class calls, too, so please be sure to invite us)! We will be working from home as well, starting tomorrow.

Stay healthy, be safe, and be sure to take care!

Leaving you with these daily quarantine questions to reflect on each day this week:

Week 29: 03/16/20 – 03/20/20

Posted on March 16, 2020 by kennedyelementary

Wow, what a day!

There are many things we cannot control.

I imagine we all experienced a sense of uncertainty today. I’m hopeful that some of your questions were answered and you feel ready to take on e-Learning together on Monday morning!

THANK YOU for being positive, flexible, and GROUNDED today for our Kubbies!

Thank you for your hard work in creating meaningful e-Learning activities for our students.

Here is the folder (in our shared Kennedy drive) where we will house the e-Learning materials. Feel free to continue adding ideas and resources you may find over the weekend to share with your team. Here are some Showbie Resources you may want to revisit over the weekend if you need a refresher!

We (all staff) will meet on Monday morning at 8:30am in the cafeteria. We will review some more info about e-Learning and will make sure we’re all on the same page before launching our morning welcome message for our 1st e-Learning day, together shortly after!

If any of your students were not at school today (to take their iPad home), they have been contacted and you will receive an email from Sara with a specific appointment time on Monday when your student and their parent(s) will stop in the office.

We will take time on Monday to review training/learning functions on Showbie. We’ll make sure that each teacher JOINS the classrooms that they need to join and that we are all situated! Together we’re better, and together we’ll provide the best learning experiences for our Kubbies!

We’ll also take this time to SHARE awesome e-Learning resources, ideas, materials to keep our students excited about learning and engaged with us over the next two weeks.

PLEASE take the time to add resources or activities so we can learn from one another and create some amazing e-Learning days for our students. Feel free to add a slide, and fill in information so we can share-out and learn from one another on Monday! Collectively, we’re better! Many of you have already shared such amazing resources with one another! Let’s keep this going!

We are going to get through this the way we always do….with care, compassion, community and support!

We got this….and we’ll be stronger on the other side for it.

Thank you to every single person who pitched in to help today — we so appreciate your help and willingness to just lend a hand!

A big thanks to Dr. B for her courageous leadership!! Thank you for always keeping the safety of SD81’s students and staff at the forefront of every single decision you make! We are grateful for your leadership.

Donna, Sara and I couldn’t ask for a better work family to ride out a pandemic with.

Be well, and let us know if you need anything!

(Please be sure to forward any questions or concerns so we can navigate this together).

See you on Monday at 8:30am in the cafeteria!

Wash your hands!

Stay healthy!

(and let me know if you have any spare toilet paper

….just kidding).

Week 28: 03/09/20 – 03/13/20

Posted on March 8, 2020 by kennedyelementary

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I hope you enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful weather this weekend!
Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, March 9th
2nd Grade Data Review Meeting with RR
Yearbook/Technology Club (2:30pm-4:00pm)

Tuesday, March 10th
AXA Visits during Lunch Periods in Teacher’s Lounge
Faculty Meeting @ 2:50pm
Mentor Meeting (4-5pm)
Kindergarten Round Up (6:00pm)

Wednesday, March 11th
1/2 Day of School (click here for agenda)
*IAR TESTING BEGINS FOR 3RD GRADE (click here for schedule)
Lincoln Buddies Visit 2nd Grade (9:15am-10:00am)
WENDY’s Pennies for Patients Event!
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Thursday, March 12th
FLASH 48 – Pennies for Patients
Talent Show Rehearsal (2:30pm-4:00pm)
SEL Committee Meeting (2:40pm)

Friday, March 13th
FLASH 48 – Pennies for Patients
5 by Friday! Continue making positive connections with families!

(03/15) Music Boosters Pancake Breakfast
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Week 27: 03/02/20 – 03/06/20

Posted on March 2, 2020 by kennedyelementary

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Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, March 2nd
Hop on Pop: Hop out of bed and wear your PJs to School
Happy Birthday Bonnie Bricker 🙂
3rd Grade Data Meeting with RR
Dr. Seuss Committee Meeting @ 2:45pm (D115)

Tuesday, March 3rd
Fox in Socks: Wear a pair of silly socks!
Happy Birthday Natalie Barcas 🙂
PreK Students Visit Kindergarten (8:45am & 12:25pm)
Faculty Meeting @ 2:50pm

Wednesday, March 4th
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish: Wear RED and BLUE to school!
Dr. Seuss Night! 6:30pm-8:00pm *Hope to see you all there!*

Thursday, March 5th
Cat in the Hat: Wear your favorite hat to school
Happy Birthday Debi Cesario 🙂
2nd Grade Rehearsal @ LMS (8:45am-10:00am)
Talent Show After School Rehearsal (2:30pm-4:00pm)

Friday, March 6th
Green Eggs & Ham: Wear GREEN to school
Non-Tenured Summative Evaluation Meetings (scheduled by admin)
PreK Screenings
2nd Grade Dr. Seuss Musical Performance @ LMS (9:00am)
Pennies for Patients Mini-Presentation (Click here for schedule)

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Keep in mind we will have many visitors in our building on Wednesday for the big event! Please give your classroom spaces and common spaces some extra TLC. This is our opportunity to shine! Let’s continue to make Dr. Seuss Night a memorable event for our students, families and the community of Schiller Park!

Week 26: 02/24/20 – 02/28/20

Posted on February 24, 2020 by kennedyelementary

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Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, February 24th
Happy Birthday Shannon Keating 🙂
Kindergarten DATA Meeting with RR
Yearbook/Technology Club Meeting (2:30pm-4:00pm)
Dr. Seuss Committee Meeting @ 2:45pm (D115)
Project Unify Basketball Game @ 3:45pm (Lincoln Gym)

Tuesday, February 25th
Happy Birthday Briahna Santoro 🙂
1/2 Day Parent/Teacher Conferences
NO FACULTY MEETING

Wednesday, February 26th
Washington School Community Forum @ 6:30pm

Thursday, February 27th
PreK Parent Workshops
SPIRIT ASSEMBLY 8:15am-9:00am ***NOTE NEW DATE AND TIME
BUILDING TOUR @ 9:30am
Charity Committee @ 2:30pm
Talent Show Committee Meeting @ 2:30pm (D209)

Friday, February 28th
Happy Birthday Alicia Peccatiello 🙂
SPRING PICTURE DAY (in gymnasium) *Everyone gets their picture taken!
SLBC Swimming Day

(03/01) Happy Birthday Tami Ericksen 🙂

Week 25: 02/17/20 – 02/21/20

Posted on February 17, 2020 by kennedyelementary

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Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, February 17th
NO SCHOOL – PRESIDENTS’ DAY
Happy Birthday Jackie Hood
Happy Birthday Mike Deany

Tuesday, February 18th
K-2nd to LMS for Washington Musical (Frozen Jr) @ 9:00am

Wednesday, February 19th
3rd to LMS for Washington Musical (Frozen Jr) @ 9:30am
2nd/3rd TAPS during CPT
Board of Education Meeting @ 7pm

Thursday, February 20th
Kindergarten/Bilingual Articulation @ 2:00pm (Room 132)
Spirit Committee Meeting @ 2:30pm
Washington Musical @ 6:30pm

Friday, February 21st
PreK Field Trip to Shedd Aquarium

(2/23) Harlem Wizards Basketball Game

Week 24: 02/10/20 – 02/14/20

Posted on February 10, 2020 by kennedyelementary

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Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, February 10th
Kids Heart Challenge (all Week) in PE class *Jump Rope For Heart*
PreK to Washington School for 4th Grade Buddies Event (9:30am)
2nd Grade (Craft, Keating, Rowland) to PF Changs (10:00am)
PreK to Washington School for 4th Grade Buddies Event (12:25pm)
1st Grade DATA Meeting with RR @ 2:30pm

Tuesday, February 11th
Happy Birthday Lindsay Imyak 🙂
PATS Field Trip to Shedd Aquarium @ 9:00am
2nd Grade (Oraham & Ward) to PF Changs (10:00am)
Faculty Meeting @ 2:45pm (Presentation Space)
SLT Meeting (following Faculty Meeting) – 3rd Grade Project Space

Wednesday, February 12th
8th Grade Buddies Visit 3rd Grade (8:55am)
10am *TOUR COMING THROUGH KENNEDY SCHOOL*
*Please be sure your spaces are prepared for visitors*
PreK/K/1st TAPS during CPT
Wizards Committee Meeting @ 3:00pm

Thursday, February 13th
1st Grade Field Trip to LEGOLAND (8:45am)
SEL Committee Meeting @ 2:45pm

Friday, February 14th
End of Trimester 2
Happy Birthday Kaitlin Hillner 🙂
Please be sure your Parent/Teacher Conference Schedule is finalized in google spreadsheet!
HOT COCOA Bar in Faculty Lounge, Courtesy of the Culture/Celebrations Committees 🙂

(02/15) Happy Birthday Agnes Niewinski 🙂
(02/17) NO SCHOOL – Presidents’ Day & Happy Birthday to Jackie Hood and Mike Deany!

Week 23: 02/03/20 – 02/07/20

Posted on February 3, 2020 by kennedyelementary

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Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, February 3rd
Welcome Back from maternity leave, Abby & Becky Z!
Reading Room/Bilingual Closed for ACCESS (Through Wednesday)
February Buddy Event (Mon-Thurs this week)
3rd Grade Data Meeting with RR @ 2:30pm
Dr. Seuss Committee Meeting @ 2:45pm

Tuesday, February 4th
Happy Birthday Anne Weinthaler 🙂

Wednesday, February 5th
Happy Birthday Jenna Bartello 🙂
2/3 STEAM CPT Time
PreK/K Articulation CPT Time (Room 132)

Thursday, February 6th
Happy Birthday Heather Longo
Charity Committee Meeting @ 2:30pm

Friday, February 7th
Happy Birthday Alanna Mixter & Isabella Rybinski 🙂
Kindergarten Field Trip to Disney on Ice
2nd Grade (Miro/Domingo) Field Trip to PF Chang’s