Meadowbrook Star News 10/3/25

Hello Meadowbrook Families!

Our 1st and 3rd graders jumped into field trips this week with our 1st grade classes walking to NBJH to collaborate with 8th grade students to observe in the garden (pics below). They were busy practicing their scientific observation and drawing skills. Our 8th graders were awesome hosts! The 3rd grade will be headed to Brookfield Zoo today with beautiful weather to observe animal communication strategies.

Next week, we're back to a full week of school. We have our annual Erin's Law presentations on Wednesday as well as our PTO meeting on Wednesday at 9:30am. We're looking forward to PTO pizza day on Thursday as well. Parents should have received an email with a link to register for parent-teachers conferences on 10/15 and 10/16. We hope you're all able to make time in person, or via Zoom, to connect with your children's teachers.

Our new gym is progressing quickly--the weather has been a big help in keeping construction on schedule. Yesterday they were able to pour the slab for the floor of the gym and the CMU walls are rising up several feet per day. It's exciting to see the building taking shape! Have a great weekend!

Warmly,

Ginny

We're excited to share an opportunity for Meadowbrook students to learn more about one another's cultures leading up to our Culture Fest event on November 19th. Our PTO has organized presenters to share information about their cultures with students during an after-school club. The club will be held in two sessions: Session I: 10/22 &10/29; Session 2: 11/5 & 11/12. Both sessions will take place from 3:30-4:30 at Meadowbrook and are open to all grade levels. Each session will accept the first 20 students who sign up. If fewer than 20 students sign up for a session by 10/16, students signed up for one session may also attend the other session. If you're interested in having your child attend, please sign up here.

All Illinois public schools are required to administer a physical fitness assessment to students in grades 3-12. Illinois has selected FITNESSGRAM (the FITNESSGRAM and Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) are registered trademarks of The Cooper Institute), a health-related fitness test that is intended to help students acquire lasting habits of regular physical activity. The four required areas of fitness assessment are as follows:

• For Aerobic Capacity, grades 3-5 will take the PACER test (recommended) or Mile Run Test (alternate) or Brockport test (adapted);
• For Flexibility, grades 3-5 will take the Back-Saver Sit and Reach test (recommended) or Trunk Lift test (alternate) or Brockport test (adapted);
• For Muscular Endurance, grades 3-5 will take the Curl-Up test or Brockport test (adapted); and
• For Muscular Strength, grades 3-5 will take the Push-Up test or Brockport test (adapted).

If you have any questions about these assessments, videos are available on-line through YouTube, or you may contact Mrs. Hamilton or Mr. Tampier.

It's time to start planning for Halloween! Meadowbrook is excited to celebrate with our students on Halloween, October 31st. Students in 1st-5th will change into their costumes after lunch to prepare for our PTO-sponsored classroom parties from 2:15 to 3:00 for kindergarten and 2:30-3:00 for 1st through 5th grades. The parties will be immediately followed by the Halloween parade. Kindergarteners are invited to wear their costumes to school for the whole day.

Parade Details:

Due to construction, we will parade around the red/west playground area this year. We invite parents/guests to assemble on the playground beginning at 2:45, leaving a path for students to walk on either side of the blacktop. The parade will begin at 3:00 and we will follow a path on the west side of the blacktop toward the Marcee Lane path and then loop back through the grass to the east side of the blacktop and back into the building.

**Parents CANNOT pick up students directly from the parade. We need all students to dismiss according to our procedures to ensure student safety. Parents are welcome to wait on the blacktops following the parade to meet students at 3:30. Please alert your child's teacher if your child will be dismissed a different way than normal (e.g., you pick up instead of the child riding the bus) on 10/31.**

Costume Reminders:

• Students should bring their costumes to school to be ready to change into them after lunch. Students should be able to change on their own. Unfortunately we are unable to help with hair or makeup.
• We do not allow replicas of weapons with costumes.
• Please avoid overly scary costumes, costumes referencing alcohol or tobacco, or costumes with full face masks.
• Students should also be able to move comfortably in their costumes and take them on/off if needed to use the bathroom, etc.

If your student's after school plans have to change, please let the office know by 2pm at the latest. We understand emergencies may arise, but in order to get all of the after school plans to each classroom, we need to have them by 2pm, please.

Construction crews have been busy this week building our new gymnasium, as part of our district's Build 28 initiative. Click the link above to watch the latest time-lapse video!

Projected Construction Timeline

• March 2026: Meadowbrook gymnasium completed & construction of the new Meadowbrook School begins
• August 2027: New Meadowbrook School completed
  

Fall Elementary Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held October 15-16. Families are able to schedule conferences online through Monday, October 13, at 7:00 p.m. Click here for more details!

The Hunger Resource Network (HRN), Grill House and Cabo Mexican Cocina are teaming up with local high school students to host HRN’s first fall Students Helping Students campaign. This event helps provide personal care items to local families in need. It will be held on Sunday, October 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Grill House/Cabo Mexican Cocina at 3147 Dundee Road in Northbrook. Click here to view a flyer with more information.

The first 100 people to either bring a completed bag or donate $35 will receive $50 worth of gift cards, $25 for Grill House, and $25 for Cabo Mexican Cocina.

Stay connected with us on Facebook - MeadowbrookPTODistrict28

And on Instagram - d28.meadowbrookpto

Subscribe to the Meadowbrook calendar at this link!

October 8: Erin's Law presentations

October 8: PTO Meeting @ 9:30am, staff lounge or join via Zoom

October 9: PTO Pizza Day

October 15: Parent-teacher conferences 4:30-7:30

October 16: Half Day- Noon Dismissal Parent-teacher conferences 1:00-8:00

October 17: NO SCHOOL

October 23: PTO Pizza Day

October 24: Picture Retakes

October 24: Husky Pack meeting

October 28: Beginning Band Demo Night @ NBJH @ 7pm

October 29: String, Philharmonic & Chamber Orchestra Concert @ NBJH @ 7pm

October 31: Halloween! Parties @ 2:15 (K), 2:30 (1-5); Parade @ 3pm

District 28 invites local non-profit organizations and community government agencies to promote events for families and children. You can view the complete list of events on the district's Virtual Backpack web page. To submit an event, please email a PDF flier to Samantha Scheinman, Director of Communications & Community Relations, at sscheinman@northbrook28.net. All fliers are subject to approval.