Woodland D50 News and Information

Header Images: Exchange Club of Gurnee Young Citizenship Award Recipients!

Left - Ella V., 8th Grade, Woodland Middle School

Right - Darious V., 5th Grade, Woodland Intermediate

Feb. 15, 2024

Dear Woodland Families,

Developing the annual District calendar ranks right up there with snow day decisions when it comes to administrator stress. You know going into the process that, at best, somebody won’t be happy about the start or end dates of the school year or the timing of spring and winter break. What both endeavors have in common is that the decision-making lens we utilize needs to address equity, safety, and impact on teaching and learning for all of our students, their families, and our staff.

In creating this year’s 2023-2024 school year calendar, I proposed a “mini-break” in February to extend the long weekend around Presidents' Day. This break is the mid-way point between Winter Break and Spring Break, and it was intended to provide a little relief to staff and families during the final stretch of winter. A review of District 50 calendars since 2016 shows that Woodland scheduled a non-student attendance day on the Friday before Presidents’ Day on four occasions and half days on two others, so really the only departure to “the norm” was to add the Tuesday non-attendance day to the calendar.

The Board of Education is currently reviewing a draft calendar for the 2024-2025 school year. As part of this review, we are taking a look at some of the changes we implemented last year, including this “mini-break” and the movement of five of our nine School Improvement Planning (SIP) days to Wednesday. It’s time to determine if these changes benefited our students and families. As we look ahead to next year, we would love to hear your feedback!

However you feel about the calendar overall, I hope that you enjoy the long five-day weekend, and take time to do something fun as a family. I am planning to attend a great event scheduled for this Saturday at the Warren-Newport Public Library in Gurnee. Woodland will be well represented at the Black History Month Celebration there on February 17. Woodland students will perform the traditional spiritual “Lift Every Voice and Sing", a group of Woodland dads are participating in Woodland District 50’s Black Dads Rock Panel, and there will be a ton of our students’ artwork on display. You can find additional information about our community celebration in the story block below.

One final piece of good news before the weekend: pitchers and catchers reported for spring training on Wednesday! In the immortal words of the great and vastly underrated Thin Lizzy, “it won’t be long ‘til summer comes, now that the boys are here again.” Go Sox.

Wishing you a safe and relaxing long weekend,

Dr. Robert Machak,

Superintendent Woodland D50

• Feb. 16 - School Closed, No Student Attendance
• Feb. 17 - Black History Month Event, Warren Newport Public Library English / Spanish
• Feb. 19 - President's Day - District Closed, No Student Attendance
• Feb. 20 - School Closed, No Student Attendance
• Feb. 21 - Special Education Parents' Resource Group, 5 p.m. (details below)
• Feb. 22 - Woodland D50 Board of Education Meeting
• Feb. 26 - Parent University: Teen Technology Use and Misuse (Virtual) Register English / Spanish

Woodland recently shared a Community Safety Alert after neighboring towns reported luring attempts of students walking home from school or the bus stop. Dr. Machak partnered with the Gurnee Police Department to create a safety video featuring Woodland's School Resource Officers to highlight important safety tips for students. This video was shared with students during the school day, and we welcome you to watch the video and discuss these safety topics with your children.

Please join us for our next Parent University Event on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. This will be a virtual presentation so that you can join from home. While the title says "teen", this presentation is appropriate for parents of children of all ages. If your child isn't a teen yet, they will be soon, and starting the conversation early is very important!
Register: English / Spanish

Dr. Patchin will cover an overview of cyberbullying, including issues parents, educators, and teens need to know about how youth use and misuse technology to cause harm to their peers. The presentation will define and provide examples of cyberbullying and discuss the role of parents in preventing and responding to inappropriate online behaviors. It will also describe many of the online environments popular among adolescents today and strategies to use to make sure they are used safely and responsibly.

After a great first year at Primary and Elementary during the 2022-2023 school year, the Parent Mentor program was able to expand to Woodland Intermediate this year. Woodland teachers and students love having parent mentors in the classroom, and the interest and demand continues to grow. We are currently looking for additional parent mentors to join the team.

Learn more about the program through the following resources:

• Parent Mentor Website
• Parent Mentor Newsletter
• A Day in the Life of a Parent Mentor Video
• Tune in for the February Board Meeting Feb. 22. Woodland Parent Mentors will be presenting to the Board of Education! Woodland Live

Pictured: Jim and Nicole Frier are new Parent Mentors to the program this year. They are currently working with Mrs. Silasiri and Mrs. Werner at Woodland Intermediate. Many other Parent Mentors are featured in the newsletter and on the website so check them out!

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey is now open! Take the survey before it closes on March 2, 2024.

Woodland District 50 is once again asking for your participation in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. This is a statewide survey of school climate and learning conditions, and we use the data from year to year to track areas of improvement, and areas for growth. As a district, we place a high value on the quality of the information we are able to pull from the survey results. But we only receive the reports if at least 20% of families at each school complete the survey! The more people that fill it out, the more powerful the data will be.

The survey provides a unique opportunity for students, teachers and parents to have a voice in improving Woodland schools. The survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes and survey responses are anonymous.

Please join us for the first meeting of the Special Education Parents' Resource Group! The topic for this meeting is "All Students Belong: Inclusive Practices at Woodland". Learn about how accommodations support your child in the classroom and get tips on how to help your child at home.

This group will also be a great place to connect with other district families, get to know Woodland staff members who can help with resources, and get answers to your questions. We are just getting started so we look forward to hearing your ideas and creating this partnership.

• Date: Wednesday, Feb. 21
• Time: 5 p.m.
• Location: Woodland Intermediate School

RSVP to Dr. Yesenia Jiménez-Captain, Director of Educational Services at yjimenez@dist50.net.

Woodland is partnering with the Warren Newport Public Library (WNPL) and other local partners for a Black History Month celebration event on Feb. 17. This is a free event, and registration is not required (drop-in anytime). Everyone is welcome!

Date: Feb. 17, 2024
Time: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Location: WNPL, 224 N. O'Plaine Rd, Gurnee

The library has a great lineup of speakers, presentations and performances, and Woodland is honored to be part of it. A group of Woodland students will perform "Lift Every Voice and Sing", there will be a Black Dads Rock Panel featuring Woodland dads moderated by Woodland students and Equity Leaders, and student artwork will be on display! We hope to see you there.

Morgan Ghys, Miss Northern Illinois’ Teen (and former Woodland student) needs your help! Morgan has partnered with Caring 4 Kids to do a Clothing Drive for kids in the community. She is collecting new and gently used clothing for kids including sweatshirts, crewnecks, sweatpants, and leggings to keep kids warm and comfortable. (Youth sizes 5 / 6 up to 16)

There are collection boxes at each school, and in the district office. We are accepting donations through Friday, Feb. 23.

Morgan is hosting an event at Gurnee Mills (Mall Entrance E) on Sunday, Feb. 25 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. and all of the Woodland donations will be sent over for her event. You are welcome to stop by with your donations if you want to show your support in person.

Please visit Woodland's Virtual Backpack to learn about other events and resources in the community. New events are added all the time, so check back often.

Featured this week in Virtual Backpack:

• Gurnee Park District Spring Soccer
• Gurnee Park District Summer Camp Guide
• Warren Township Youth & Family Webinar - Understanding Special Education Law, March 6