Intermediate School

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

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

Good morning, I am sorry to reach out twice this weekend. The video on how children can hide apps on their phones in the newsletter was not displaying correctly. It has been fixed, but here it is: https://youtu.be/625jFK59V2M?si=QS-QF0HK_508pSmt. It is worth the watch and a quick check of your students devices, too!

Here is the Intermediate Principal Parent Newsletter for 4-12-24. Enjoy this beautiful weekend! https://www.smore.com/n/fr784 Tim "We made sure everyone wore Eclipse Protective Eyewear" Sheldon Intermediate, "because we wanted to protect our PUPILS" Principal & Dad Joke Teller

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/

Happy MOONday! It was a gorgeous day for the moon to cause a solar eclipse. Intermediate students enjoyed their bonus science lessons today and went outside to observe the solar eclipse this afternoon.

Eclipse Safety & Reminder - https://www.smore.com/n/9zg4j Includes information from the district and each school.

Here is the latest Intermediate Principal Parent Newsletter https://www.smore.com/n/fr784 Tim "How does the Man in the Moon cut his hair?" Sheldon Intermediate "Eclipse It!" Principal & Teller of Dad Jokes Runner Up: How do you organize a solar eclipse party? (You planet!)

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

Wishing our Wildcat Family a happy and healthy Spring Break! Here is the weekly newsletter with highlights from the March Board of Education Meeting and other important reminders: https://www.smore.com/n/e28a4

Celebrating Women's History Month with a wonderful panel of speakers today at Woodland Intermediate. These incredible women leaders shared information about their life experiences and provided helpful tips and suggestions for overcoming challenges. They connected their path to leadership with the people who inspired them, and the things they were passionate about. They also shared meaningful advice about knowing your own worth and not letting others opinions hold you back. Women's History Month Panelists: Kristina Whitmore, Vice President of Operations Northwestern Medicine Judge Randie Bruno, 19th Judicial Circuit Court Dr. Lanée Walls, Woodland Associate Superintendent of Educational Services Holly Kim, Lake County Treasurer Detective Kelly Hansen, Gurnee Police Department, Woodland SRO Moderator: Michelle Mallari, Assistant Principal at Woodland Intermediate Event Organizers: Pam Valkenaar and Jessica Pierson

Today is World Down Syndrome Day, 3/21 Natalie and her teachers are wearing pretty cool shirts to raise awareness about World Down Syndrome Day, and we have seen LOTS OF SOCKS throughout our schools. People are encouraged to wear silly/crazy/colorful socks on WDSD to get people talking. The idea is to start a conversation, so when people ask you about your socks you can tell them, “I’m wearing them to raise awareness of Down syndrome”. The date for WDSD being the 21st day of the 3rd month, was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome. For World Down Syndrome Day 2024, the call to action for people around the world is to End The Stereotypes.