BULLDOG BULLETIN

Dear Bulldog Families,

I hope this message finds you well and looking forward to a refreshing spring break! I want to take a moment to recognize our incredible 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders for their hard work on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR). They have been taking their time, carefully reading each question, and truly giving it their all. We are so proud of their dedication! When we return from break, students will complete the Math portion of the IAR, and we know they will continue to do their best.

With the warmer weather, we are seeing more students walking and riding their bikes to and from school. Please remind your children to use crosswalks and to be especially cautious around Old Mill Grove Road. Drivers, we ask for your continued attention and patience during arrival and dismissal times to keep everyone safe. Additionally, a friendly reminder to ensure that our playground gates remain closed at all times for the safety of our students.

We are also looking forward to a fun community event—McTeacher Night on April 16! This is always a great evening where families and staff come together, and we hope to see many of you there.

Thank you for your continued support in keeping our school community safe and engaged. Wishing you a wonderful and restful spring break!

Warm regards,

Dr. Colleen Conway

📌 March 24-28: No School | Spring Break

📌 March 31-April 11: IAR Testing (3rd, 4th, 5th grades)

📌 April 7: PTO Meeting 6:30 at Sarah Adams

📌 April 16: McTeacher Night

📌 April 18: Institute Day

📌 April 21: PTO Earth Day Celebration

We Need Your Help - Please Fill Out The 5Essentials Survey for Our School!

From Tuesday, February 18, 2025 - Monday, March 31, 2025 parents/guardians, students, and teachers across Illinois are invited to share their thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness.

This survey is a key tool in ongoing efforts to improve student learning and school conditions. District 95 highly values the insights and perspectives of parents/guardians; please complete the survey to assist in shaping the educational environment and experience for students.

Survey Participation Details:

• Survey Period: Feb. 18, 2025 - March 31, 2025

• Who Will Participate: All teachers and fourth through 12th-grade students (4th & 5th grade students at our school will take during the survey window March 14th)

• Parent/Guardian Participation: All parents/guardians are encouraged to complete the survey. A 20% or higher response rate will generate a specific parent/guardian report. Please help our school hit our goal of 20%! CLICK HERE to take the Parent Survey!

• More Information about 5Essentials: Visit https://www.5-essentials.org/illinois

The 5Essentials Survey, administered online by UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago, is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of a student’s school. It focuses on five indicators that can predict important student outcomes, including improved attendance and test score gains:

• Effective Leaders

• Collaborative Teachers

• Involved Families

• Supportive Environments

• Ambitious Instruction

Research in more than 400 schools has shown that schools strong on at least three of these “5Essential” indicators were ten times more likely to improve student learning gains in math and reading. This highlights the significant impact of feedback from parents/guardians.

For specific details regarding student participation in the survey, including how and when students will be involved, please seek information from your student's building principal.

Identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential. The data collected will be instrumental in guiding improvements in schools. Please note, that parent/guardian data will not be included on the State Report Card.

Participating in the parent/guardian portion of the survey provides valuable insights to understand the conditions at a student’s school and guide improvement efforts. For any questions or concerns, please contact UChicago Impact Survey Support at 1-866-440-1874 or impact-surveys@uchicago.edu.

Your participation is greatly appreciated and is key to contributing to the collective effort in school improvement.

As we did in the fall, we will be collecting information from students in Grades 3 through 5 during the week of 3/31/2025 regarding social-emotional needs. This information will be used to plan for any additional supports for students, as well as to facilitate home-school collaboration on student needs as they return from an extended break.

Additionally, as we did last spring, we are looking to collect information related to students’ feelings of belonging here at school to inform our work in this area at a building and district level. These survey items will be combined with the needs assessment items (referenced above), in order to streamline this data collection process.

This process should only take a few minutes, and will be minimally disruptive to your student’s school day. Students and families may view the items from the needs assessment HERE and from the belonging survey HERE. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have.

As summer approaches, District 95 will once again be offering a variety of Summer Semester programs for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, including Extended School Year (ESY).

Summer Semester Course Offerings

Please click the links below to access further information about the summer semester and the programs that will be offered. If you are having trouble viewing any of these resources or need translations, please contact Aubrey Allen at aubrey.allen@lz95.org or (847) 540-5489.

• K - 8 Summer Semester Course Guide

• LZHS Summer Semester Course Guide

Summer Semester Registration

Summer Semester 2025 registration will open on Monday, April 7, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. and run through Friday, May 16, 2025 for in-district families. Families who are not residents of District 95 will be able to register for a limited number of courses at the high school level from May 1, 2025 - May 16, 2025.

Registration will be conducted exclusively through ParentVue, accessible via the district website (www.lz95.org) including for non-District 95 families.

See below for news and updates brought to you by our very own Bulldogs!

The 2024-25 Sarah Adams yearbook is now available for ordering. We have soft and hard cover options, which will be delivered to school in May.

Link to order - https://yearbookordercenter.com/job/25039

Job Number - 25039

The 2024-25 Sarah Adams yearbook ordering deadline is April 1st.

To order (or see if you've placed an order) click on the link below -

https://www.yearbookordercenter.com/?event=general.displayLanding&jobnumber=25039

Please email SAYearbookLZ95@gmail.com with any questions and don't forget to join the Sarah Adams Yearbook (that exact name) facebook group to submit your photos for inclusion in the yearbook.