Happy Earth Day! Mrs. Bogdala's class started the day with a special book about the Earth read by Annaliese and her mom. #LifeintheW 🌎
Mrs. Filipowicz introduced her students to some wiggly friends today. The students observed mealworms as they learned about the life cycle of insects. Hands on learning in the W!
The Gift of Art!
Elementary artists recently created drawings of monsters and superheroes for a project with art students at Warren Township High School. Officer Hansen was really impressed with their artwork, so with a little help from Mrs. Wilinski, they turned their drawings into a framed collage for Officer Hansen's office!
A field trip for parents!
Several members of the Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC) took a field trip to Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods to learn about the “It’s A W.I.N.” program. Here are a few photos from the group’s therapeutic walk through the forest. 🌳🌲🌿
"It’s A W.I.N." stands for Art & Wellness In Nature, a community-driven initiative to increase equitable access to the health benefits of nature, and cultivate rich cultural connections to the natural world.
The next BPAC meeting is May 21, from 7 – 8 p.m. at Woodland Intermediate. Watch for details HERE: https://www.dist50.net/o/dist50/page/bpac
Today was the very first meeting of the brand new Garden Club at Woodland Intermediate. You would be surprised how much these students know about plants and gardening already! One student even gave a little fist pump ("Yes!") when Mrs. Dorgan mentioned Milkweed being a native plant because he raises butterflies. Another student mentioned that she learned a LOT about plants from her mother who works for the Chicago Botanic Garden.
For the first meeting, they toured the Courtyard to understand the space they would be working with, and to estimate out how much sun each area would get throughout the day. Intermediate received an Illinois Schoolyard Habitat Action Grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to fund this project and the Garden Club members are excited to get started!
Club Sponsors: Mrs. Dorgan & Mrs. Valkenaar
This right here!
A friendship through the years... 💚
In the first picture, you will see a Woodland Elementary teacher with her 1st grade student. In the second picture, you will see that the student is now all grown up and teaching side-by-side with her favorite teacher.
Ms. Kauck is a first year teacher at Woodland Elementary, and she teaches next door to Ms. Cohen! They have such a special connection and a great story of the relationships people build here at Woodland. Claudia talks about how Ms. Cohen was her favorite teacher and her inspiration for going into the field of education in the Woodland Wildcast: https://woodlandwildcast.podbean.com/e/inspiring-stories-from-four-educators-with-something-unique-in-common/
In a recent "Friday Feel Good" (an internal staff to staff recognition system) Ms. Cohen paid tribute to Ms. Kauck's contributions to Woodland which you can see in the 3rd picture. #LifeintheW
REMINDER! April 17 is a School Improvement Planning (SIP) Day which is an early release for students. Staff professional development will take place in the afternoon.
Calendar: https://www.dist50.net/o/dist50/page/school-year-calendar
Early Release Times:
Primary - 10:40 a.m., Elementary - 10:50 a.m., Middle School - 11:35 a.m., Intermediate - 12:20 p.m.
The 5th graders in Mrs. Klein's class recently visited Ms. Shiffer's English Language Arts Lab. You might think you are looking at pictures of students playing games, but these are pictures of students practicing reading standards (while playing games)! #LifeintheW
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month
Woodland D50 has once again joined forces with area organizations to help raise awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month in April! We are participating in the Blue Kids Lake County Program because sharing knowledge and resources about child abuse sends the message that all children deserve a chance at a safe childhood. Thank you to Detective Hansen for creating beautiful blue pinwheel displays with Woodland students! And thank you to Woodland staff members for wearing blue today to show that we all play a role in the safety of children in our community.
Reserve Your Spot for Wildcat Summer Adventures!
Looking for something fun AND educational for your Wildcat this summer? Wildcat Summer Adventures (WSA) is Woodland's summer school program. The program runs June 11 - July 3, Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. (No School June 19)
Program Flyer: https://5il.co/2drlg
Registration for Wildcat Summer Adventures will be open until May 1! Log in to Skyward Family Access, and select "Online Forms" from the column on the left. Questions? Risa Cohen, rcohen@dist50.net
https://www.dist50.net/page/summer-adventures
We are officially releasing Episode 2 of the Woodland Wildcast into the wild today!
Episode description:
Dr. Machak gets to know four Woodland educators who have something very unique in common. Listen in to hear about their favorite things to do in Gurnee, first concerts, and inspiring stories from the classroom!
Listen Here: https://woodlandwildcast.podbean.com/e/inspiring-stories-from-four-educators-with-something-unique-in-common/
This 3rd Grader from Mrs. Bogdala's class recently visited Mrs. Van Anrooy's 1st Grade class to help mentor the younger students. Shyne was there to help Mrs. Van Anrooy differentiate for the students who are ready to learn some 3rd grade math! Help us thank this Wildcat for being a wonderful leader and role model in his school. 👏💚🤩
Eclipse Safety & Reminder - https://www.smore.com/n/9zg4j
Includes information from the district and each school.
There was a 3rd Grade Pep Parade at Woodland Elementary today! The 3rd grade students are scheduled to take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) exams next week and the whole school came out to cheer them on. 1st and 2nd grade classmates created signs and lined the parade route to wish them well and to encourage them to do their best. The 3rd graders had huge smiles on their faces as they danced and celebrated along the path of adoring (and adorable) fans. #LifeintheW
In January, we asked you to submit nominations for the Village of Gurnee Teacher of the Year program. From your 246 nominations, the district selected a winner from each school, and today we celebrate the Woodland D50 Teacher of the Year School Winners for the 2023 - 2024 School Year!!!
💚 Carrie Monterroso, Woodland Primary
💚 Amber Dennis, Woodland Elementary
💚 Erica Veronie, Woodland Intermediate
💚 Richard Haines, Woodland Middle School
One of these amazing educators will be selected as the District Winner and will move on to be Woodland's Gurnee Teacher of the Year!
Congratulations to all the amazing Woodland educators who were nominated this year. We appreciate you!
Woodland School Libraries/LRCs are magical places where books and resources come to life for our Wildcats. Today is School Librarian Appreciation Day, and April is School Library Month. Thank you to the Library and Learning Resource Center teams at each school for supporting literacy, helping students find new and exciting subjects to explore, and providing a wealth of resources to our learning community.
There is a group of people on the #LifeintheW team that make a world of difference in the classroom and in our learning community. They are Paraprofessionals, and today we celebrate their dedication to our schools and the compassion they show our students. They are a crucial network of support across the district, not just today, but every day. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO! Happy Paraprofessional Appreciation Day!
Did you know that April 1 - 5 is National Assistant Principals Week? Please help us celebrate these amazing educators and administrators for their dedication to our students, our staff, and our schools.
They are known for being caring, supportive, creative, and energetic.
They are known for their singing, dancing, and playing.
They are known for being hands-on, available, and present.
And if there is a problem, yo they'll solve it!
Happy #APWeek to all of Woodland's Assistant Principals! Thank you for all you do.
District Offices are closed on Friday, March 29. School resumes on Monday, April 1 as our staff and students return from Spring Break.
Woodland is currently hiring for a Facilities Manager position to join the Operations & Facilities Department. One position is available now, and one position will be available in July. This is an excellent opportunity to be part of the #LifeintheW team! https://www.applitrack.com/dist50/OnlineApp/default.aspx?Category=Non-Certified+Supervisory
