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!