Woodland D50 News and Information

May 19, 2023

Dear Woodland Families,

It is hard to believe that we are down to the last three weeks of the school year. The excitement level across the District continues to rise with all of the end-of-year events and celebrations coming our way. This week, for example, Intermediate hosted its Open House and there were several final concerts and play performances across the District. We held a reorganization meeting of the Woodland Educational Foundation on Wednesday night and Field Days are right around the corner. We are now looking forward to several activities we have planned specifically for our 8th grade students as they wrap up their final year at Woodland.

With all the great events coming up for our students, I want to draw your attention to four meetings next week that offer our parents and guardians the chance to get involved before the end of the school year. You’ll see additional details in the “Important Dates” section of this newsletter, but consider this note your personal invitation from me to join us as we continue the Bold, Brave, and Courageous work of the district:

• On Tuesday (5/23), the Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC) will meet at 7 p.m at the Warren Newport Library in Gurnee. This is a great opportunity to connect with other families and learn about resources in the community!
  
  
• On Wednesday night (5/24), Dr. Doug Bolton will be at WMS for a presentation about creating inclusive school communities, student safety, and managing challenging adolescent behaviors. Register Here.
  
  
• Thursday morning (5/25) will be the final PTA meeting of the school year, and it is NOT too late to get involved! The meeting will be held at the ESC (District Office) at 9:30 a.m.; the PTA Board will be sharing plans for next school year.
  
  
• The Woodland Board of Education will meet on Thursday evening (5/25). The meeting agenda will be posted on Tuesday afternoon, so watch for an email invitation next week.

Finally this week, I want to give everyone a peek “behind the curtain” as we get closer to going live with a new website and mobile app for the district. I am so excited about this initiative and want to recognize our award-winning Communications Manager, Brooke Hagstrom, for her leadership of it. You may remember in the fall that we asked for some initial feedback about your experience using the district website through a parent engagement survey. If you participated in the Strategic Planning process, you also heard discussions about the website during the kickoff meeting in January. In March, we presented a project update to the Board of Education to showcase some of the functionality we are building into the new website and mobile app.

I’m sharing this information now because we will be soft launching this project before the end of the school year. Our plan is to quietly go live for stakeholders to begin exploring and getting used to the site in the early stages; as we do we will continue to build the website and mobile app over the summer. Not everything is finalized yet. We plan to play around with the navigation as we get feedback from some of our internal users and departments throughout the summer. When we ramp up communication in August as everyone shifts into Back-to-School mode, we will officially launch a more complete product and robust user experience. If you visit the website and it suddenly looks completely different, don’t panic! We ask that you “Pardon our Dust” over the next few weeks, and if you run into something that isn’t working just yet, or content you can’t seem to find, please reach out to Brooke Hagstrom (BHagstrom@dist50.net) or me with your feedback.

A cool feature of the new website and mobile app is the new communications platform for sending email newsletters, text alerts, and robocalls. Your contact information will be pulled from Skyward Family Access like it currently is for this purpose, and this should be a fairly seamless process for you as the recipient. The first text message families receive as we move forward with this project will include a welcome message from Apptegy (see photo). Stay tuned for additional details.

Thank you for another great week in the W, and thank you for your continued support of our Woodland students and staff.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,

Dr. Robert Machak, Superintendent

Woodland D50

• May 23 - Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC) Meeting, 7 - 8 p.m., Warren Newport Public Library (English / Spanish)
• May 24 - Parent Information Night - Dr. Bolton Presentation
• May 25 - May Board of Education Meeting
• May 29 - Memorial Day, District Closed

PTA Events:

• May 25 - PTA Meeting, 9:30 a.m. at the ESC (District Office). This is the last meeting of the 2022-2023 School Year!

Registration is now open for the 2023-2024 school year for returning students. Please look for an email from the Registration Office, or visit Skyward Family Access to begin the re-registration process as soon as possible. The deadline is July 15, 2023.

Registering now ensures the district has current student and family information on record, and assists the district in planning and staffing for the upcoming school year.

Trouble logging in?

On the Family Access login screen there is a “forgot your login/password” option available to assist. For help with logging in and to request login credentials, you may send an email to AccessHelp@dist50.net.

If you require assistance with the Online Registration process, please email Registration@dist50.net or contact the Student Registration Office at (847)596-5682 or (847)-596-5683.

DID YOU KNOW? Several grade levels require an updated physical and vaccination record for the 2023-2024 school year. Please see below or visit the district website for details. Don't wait, make your appointment now.

If your student has an appointment scheduled in the upcoming months, be sure to request an IL physical form and/or updated vaccination record. You can turn this into your student’s current school NOW for the NEXT school year!

Kindergarten Students/Students New to District 50:

• Physical Exam (Parents please complete the yes/no Health History questions on the back and sign and date)
• Complete immunization record signed by the medical provider
• Dental Exam on IL form (dated within 18 months)
• Eye Exam on Illinois form dated within one year of the first day of school

Second Grade Students:

• Dental Exam on IL form (dated within 18 months)

• Physical Exam (Parents please complete the yes/no Health History questions on the back and sign and date)
• Complete immunization record signed by the medical provider
• Dental Exam on IL form (dated within 18 months)

Middle School Students participating in Sports:

• Sports Physical - Valid for 13 months from last exam but should cover the entire sports season. Must be turned into Health Office at least 1 week before tryouts. Please contact the Middle School Health Office to confirm that a current sports physical is on file

Please contact the Health Office at your student’s school if you need assistance in meeting these requirements.

The Advocate Children’s Ronald McDonald Care Van will be visiting the Woodland Community on June 29th. Please contact Kara Edgeworth at 847-984-8704 to see if your child qualifies to be seen by this provider!

Woodland Primary has a new mural to promote being KIND! Staff and students painted all the hearts to form the letters, and Woodland's TRIN (TRanslation & INterpretation) Team helped with the translations. The word KIND was translated into 39 different languages! Did you know that Woodland students speak more than 40+ different languages in their homes?

Great teamwork makes beautiful artwork. To see more photos, follow the #LifeintheW on Twitter.

The Woodland PTA is in need of artwork for the 2023/24 events calendar. Submission Deadline: Friday, June 2. All Woodland students are eligible to participate. The PTA needs artwork for the front cover of the calendar, as well as artwork for each month of the year.

To Submit Artwork:

• Students MUST write their Name and current Grade on the BACK of the artwork in PENCIL or CRAYON. Please do not use pen or marker. If the name or grade is missing, the artwork cannot be considered.
• All entries must be submitted to the school office by Friday, June 2.

The Cover Winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of the final calendar. Each Month Winner will receive a $10 Ice Cream Gift Card and a copy of the final calendar. Contact: Kristin Michna, dist50pta@gmail.com

This summer, Woodland Dual Language Teachers are partnering with the Warren Newport Public Library to bring you storytelling, singing, dancing, and crafts in Spanish.

• Cuentacuentos: Mondays, 6 - 6:45 p.m, June 12 - August 7.
• Manualidades: Fridays, 1 - 1:45, June 9, June 16, July 14, July 21, July 28, Aug. 4

See the fliers for additional details!

Healthy and nutritious summer meals are available for children (18 and under) when school is out.

To find a Summer Meals site near you:

• Call (800) 359-2163
• Text "FoodIL" or "ComidasIL" to 304-304
• Visit the Summer Meals website

Free Summer Meals are part of the Summer Food Service Program funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Please visit Virtual Backpack for information about other events and resources in the community.