Crow Island Connections

Dear Crow Island Community,

We have another exciting week ahead at Crow Island! This week we’ll be recognizing Safety Week, with opportunities for students to practice important safety routines throughout the week.

We’re also looking forward to our Run-a-Thon on Thursday, October 8! This is always such a fun event for our students, and parents and families are invited to come cheer on our runners. This year’s Run-a-Thon will take place on the blacktop and grassy area near the back playground, which is a change from last year’s location.

One quick note for Thursday morning: we will also be holding our fire drill at 9:00 AM. If you arrive early for the Run-a-Thon and see fire engines at school, don’t be alarmed! We hope to see many of you there!

It should be a great week at Crow Island!

Sincerely,
Anna

October

• Monday, October 5th | Safety Week Starts
  

• Wednesday, October 7th | Vision and Hearing Screening

• Thursday, October 8th | PTO Runathon

• Friday, October 9th | High Five Friday

• Wednesday, October 14th | Picture Retake

• Thursday, October 22th and Friday, October 23th | Fall Conferences- no student attendance
  
• Friday, October 30th | Halloween Parade and Ghost Walk

• Monday, November 2nd | No School- Institute Day
  

• Tuesday, November 3rd | No School- General Election Day

• Friday, November 6th | Kindergarten Butterfly Migration + Outdoor Performance @ 2 PM

• Monday, November 23rd- Friday, November 27th | No School- Thanksgiving Break

In art class, we made a school wide unity art project to kick off the start of the school year. A school unity art project is a large-scale collaborative display where individual student artworks combine into a single, cohesive installation representing community and belonging. Each student made one monochromatic collage to include in their grade level collaborative display. Monochroma means "ONE COLOR". Collage means "to cut and glue" in order to make a composition. The pieces were installed in chromatic order. The artistic style of our pieces were inspired by the artwork of local artist, Ryan Dickey (2nd grade teacher Ms. Dickey's husband!), who makes collages using his own photography. (Our students used photos from National Geographic magazines donated by a community member, which reinforces the idea of repurposing materials.)

Today we kicked off Crow Island's Safety Week with a successful practice lockdown drill. Our students and staff did a wonderful job, and we are grateful to the Winnetka Police Department and Ray Finnerty for supporting us this morning.

Looking ahead, we will hold our evacuation drill (fire drill) on Thursday and our shelter drill (tornado drill) on Friday.

To finish out the week, we’ll celebrate with High Five Friday! Members of the Winnetka Police Department will join us at morning arrival to help close out Safety Week in a joyful way. We hope your child(ren) will walk past the circle drive before school for this special event.

The Annual Crow Island Run-a-thon is on Thursday, October 8th.

Run-a-thon is the PTO’s largest fundraising event of the year and is a school tradition dating back to 1985! Students are encouraged to run or walk 30 laps and raise money from family and friends to support their participation. You are invited to attend the event to cheer on your child!

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Misericordia Special Olympics Track & Field Team. Donation forms were sent home a few weeks ago.

Run-a-thon Schedule and locations:

• Kindergarten: 12:45 PM- 1:15 PM (Grass in the back of the school- not the woods)

• 1st Grade: 9:15–9:45 AM (Grass in the back of the school- not the woods)

• 2nd Grade: 10:00–10:30 AM (Grass in the back of the school- not the woods)

• 3rd Grade: 10:00–10:30 AM (Back blacktop)

• 4th Grade: 9:15–9:45 AM (Back blacktop)

  
  

Please note: In the event of rain, the event will be moved inside or postponed to October 9th.

As a reminder, students should only be dropped off at one of the following locations in the morning:

• Circle Drive
• Glendale Avenue near the back playground

Please do not drop students off on Mount Pleasant. Also, please do not park in the parking spots along Glendale, as those are reserved for teachers and staff.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership!

Reminder: Prepare for Fall Parent-Teacher Conference Sign-Up

Fall Conferences will be held on:

• October 22 - 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

• October 23 - 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

What is ParentsMeeting?

Parents Meeting is the online scheduling system used by The Winnetka Public Schools for parent-teacher conference registration. Through Parents Meeting, families can view available conference times and select appointments with their child’s teacher(s).

When can I sign-up for conferences?

Fall conference sign-up opened on Thursday, October 1 at 12:00 p.m.

School-Specific Links

• Crow Island: https://crowislandelementary.schoolcloud.co.uk/

• Greeley: https://greeleyelementary.schoolcloud.co.uk/

• Hubbard Woods: https://hubbardwoodselementary.schoolcloud.co.uk/

• Skokie: https://theskokieschool.schoolcloud.co.uk/

• Washburne: https://carletonwashburne.schoolcloud.co.uk/

  
  

When logging in, please enter your information exactly as it is in PowerSchool. You can check this by logging into the PowerSchool Parent Portal and clicking on “Account Preferences” to view your information. This includes using the email address registered in PowerSchool.

If you experience difficulty logging in, please complete a Help ticket.

Add the Notification Email Address to Your Contacts

To ensure you don't miss any communication regarding your conferences, please add the email address noreply@schoolcloud.co.uk to your email contacts.

Important Dates

• October 1 at 12:00 p.m.: Fall conference sign-up opens

• October 21 at 12:00 p.m.: Fall conference sign-up closes

Additional information about conference scheduling, including school-specific details and instructions, will be shared as we get closer to October 1.

*Deadline has been extended*

Instructional Technology Survey Extended Until October 6!

Winnetka Parent Institute: October 7, 2026

Exploring Innovamat: A Fresh Approach to K–4 Mathematics

10:30 am -11:30 a.m. - The Skokie School Resource Center

*Please note - this is an in-person event*

Join us for an interactive introduction to Innovamat, our new K–4 mathematics resource. Parents will experience math learning as our students do—exploring problems, sharing strategies, and building understanding through discussion and discovery, all while learning how Innovamat’s spiraled approach develops confident, flexible mathematical thinkers.

RSVP here

Each October, we take time to recognize and celebrate the many contributions of individuals with disabilities in our schools, workplaces, and communities. It is an opportunity to highlight the importance of inclusion, respect, and equal opportunity for all.

You can refer to our monthly observance calendar here

Crow Island 101 Document:

Our Crow Island 101 Guide is a helpful, at-a-glance resource for families. Many parents like to keep a copy in their kitchen for quick reference. You can view it here: Crow 101 Document.

Arrival & Dismissal:

Please take a few minutes to review our Arrival & Dismissal procedures for this year. These routines help ensure a safe and smooth start and end to each school day for all students.

Hot Lunch Program:

Crow Island has a hot lunch program run through a third party collaboration with our PTO called Marla's Lunch. You can register and sign-up here: Marla's Hot Lunch.

Email:

annatrilla@winnetka36.org (Principal)

christinedemas-hall@winnetka36.org (Administrative Assistant)
Website: https://crowisland.winnetka36.org/
Location: 1112 Willow Road Winnetka, IL 60093
Phone: (847)-446-0353
Instagram: Winnetka Public Schools