Woodland D50 News and Information

August 4, 2023

Dear Woodland Families,

#LifeintheW has officially returned to full back-to-school mode. While our families were all hopefully enjoying the well-deserved summer break from school, all of us here at Woodland kept busy with a variety of professional development and school improvement projects, parking lot repairs, classroom painting and cleaning, hiring new staff and administrators and, most importantly, preparing for the return of our Woodland Wildcats!

This week, each of our school principals sent out welcome letters and we posted an information-loaded Back-to-School Headquarters page on our new District website. In this newsletter, you will find some of the information repeated because we don’t want you to miss anything. Check out the important dates section, link to the instructions for returning student registration if you missed the July 15 deadline, and get ready to log-in to Skyward Family Access on August 10 to find your child’s teacher this year (and your Woodland Middle School child’s schedule).

I am writing to you this morning after a wonderful week of planning and collaboration with District and School Administrative colleagues. We spent three days together in professional development, reflecting on the successes and challenges of the previous year, reviewing the Strategic Plan initiatives we will implement this year, and getting to know our new team members. Rev. Dr. Robert Spicer joined us for a training and refresher on the use of Restorative Practices in Schools, and Dr. Jacinta Thomas provided a meaningful session on Engaging and Empowering Multicultural Children in Our Schools. The WMS Marching Band even surprised us Wednesday morning with a pop-up performance to give us a sneak peek of what they are planning for the August 13 Gurnee Days Parade.

Administratively, we approached the 2022-23 school year with a Brave, Bold, and Courageous mindset: that mantra guided our strategic planning process and was our guiding principle for making student-centered decisions throughout the school year. As we reconvened officially this week, we challenged each other to build on that momentum to take a Braver, Bolder, and even more Courageous approach this year. Collectively, we had so much to be proud of as we looked back. We also had candid, honest conversation about the areas in which we need to improve. We have several new resources in place for our students to hit the ground running during year one of the new Five-Year Strategic Plan, none more important than the committed new teachers and administrators who now call Woodland home.

Every conversation I had with our district families at my community “Meet and Greet” conversations in July was positive and supportive: from the Board of Education to your administrative team to our families and students, everyone is poised and excited for a great year at Woodland! I hope that you have had a fun and restful summer, and I look forward to welcoming everyone back to school in a few weeks. Please know how grateful all of us here are for our Woodland community’s enthusiastic support for the year ahead.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert Machak, Superintendent

Woodland D50

NEW: Check out "District Events" in the new Woodland D50 Mobile App. Click on an event to automatically add it to your calendar!

• Aug. 10 - Skyward Family Access Opens (view child's teacher, WMS schedules)
• Aug. 13 - Gurnee Days Parade! Watch for the "Woodland Rocks" Float, and cheer on the WMS Marching Band.
• Aug. 14 - Medication Drop Off (see below)
• Aug. 16 - Elementary Popsicles with the Principal 3 - 5 p.m.
• Aug. 17 - Intermediate Popsicles with the Principal 3 - 5 p.m.
• Aug. 21 - Elementary Meet & Greet 2:30 - 4 p.m. or 5:30 - 7 p.m.
• Aug. 22 - Intermediate Meet & Greet 8 - 10 a.m.
• Aug. 22 - Middle School Meet & Greet 12:30 - 2 p.m.
• Aug. 23 - First Day of School for grades 1 - 8
• Aug. 23 - Primary School "Welcome Time" Appointments
• Aug. 24 - First Day of School for Primary
• Aug. 24 - Woodland D50 Board of Education Meeting, 6 p.m.
• Aug. 30 - 7th & 8th Grade Curriculum Night
• Aug. 31 - 6th Grade Curriculum Night

Additional detail about Back-to-School events can be found on the district website.

Earlier this week, the four school principals sent out welcome letters. Just in case you missed it, you can find them on the Back-to-School Headquarters page, or link to them below.

Woodland Primary - Stacey Anderson

Woodland Elementary - Jared Reardon

Woodland Intermediate - Tim Sheldon

Woodland Middle School - Tiffany Drake

Woodland School District 50 will NOT be hosting an in-person Proof of Residency event. The Registration Deadline for RETURNING students was July 15, 2023.

If you did not complete your returning student registration before the deadline, view instructions on the Registration page.

Once Skyward Family Access reopens, please check your child’s bus stop location by logging in to Versatrans e-Link (bus times are still being finalized). Your Family ID number is both the login and password, and this can be found in Skyward Family Access under Student Information.

View "My Child's Family" and look for "Family ID Number"

The bus app technology continues to improve. You are able to track your child's bus through the app, or access Versatrans from your desktop!

Parents requesting a bus stop change should fill out the Revised Bus Information form (English / Spanish) as soon as possible. Parents should understand that even one slight change to a route forces a change for every stop that follows. If you know that circumstances have changed for your child (for example, they will be going to a new day care provider), please do not wait until the deadline to contact Transportation. The last day to request a change to be active by the first day of school is Friday, Aug. 11.

For further assistance, please call the main Transportation number at 847-856-3644, or email them at trans@dist50.net.

Medication Drop Off for ALL schools will be on Monday, Aug. 14 at the Middle School from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 3 - 7 p.m.

Nurses and health assistants from each school will be on hand to take medications, physicals, vaccine forms and discuss health needs with parents ahead of the "meet and greet" days.

Parents are strongly encouraged to drop off medication on this day if at all possible!

Woodland will once again be representing #LifeintheW at the annual Gurnee Days celebration! Members of the administrative team will be serving ribs at Ribfest on Saturday, Aug. 12, and we will be in the parade on Sunday, Aug. 13. Look for the WMS Marching Band and the "Woodland Rocks!" float making our way through the parade route. Thank you to our awesome volunteers for helping create the 70's themed float. We sent out a call for creative contributors and that call was answered by staff, students & families, district administrators, and Board of Education Members!

Would you like to walk with us in the parade? If so, please email Elizabeth Sánchez Szepesi for more information. eszepesi@dist50.net

Download the Woodland D50 app from the iOS App Store or Android Play Store