Riverwood's Top 5

• Model Kindness Every Day. Children learn by watching! Let them see you speak gently, lend a hand, and show gratitude.
• Celebrate Acts of Kindness. Catch your child being kind and name it — “I saw how you helped your friend pick up their crayons. That was so thoughtful!”
• Practice Empathy at Home. Talk about feelings — yours and theirs. Ask questions like, “How do you think your friend felt when that happened?”
• Create a Family Kindness Challenge. Set a weekly goal (like “Say something kind to three people today”) and share your kind moments at dinner.
• Read Books About Kindness. Stories open hearts! Try Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud or Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson.

As we recognize that not all children are comfortable celebrating Halloween, costumes are completely optional. Your child can wear PJ’s if they’d like or their Riverwood spirit wear! However, if your child would like to wear a costume, we do have rules that must be followed:

• Costumes must be worn over clothes. We will not be permitting students to change in or out of costumes at school. They are welcome to come to school in costume but they must be able to practically participate in all school-day activities including P.E.

• Costumes may not be demeaning to any ethnic group, race, religion, nationality, disabilities, gender (boys as girls and vice versa), or individual (staff or student) at the school.

• Costumes may not cause a disruption or distraction to the school program

• No weapons, toy weapons, or props replicating weapons ( light sabers, ray guns, squirt guns) are to be brought to school.

• No costumes that completely hide the identity of the student, i.e. Hazmat suit, gorilla suit, “Scream” character.

• Costumes may not be scary. We are a K-5 building and want to be sure all students feel safe.

Please look for communication from your child’s teacher about specific times and classroom details about Halloween.

For the drop-off and pick-up process, there will only be one way to line up in the car queue.

For drop-off and pick-up, vehicles must line up coming from the south on Glenbrook and turn right onto Driftwood. After drop-off or pick-up, cars must exit straight onto Winding Creek and then to Crystal Lake Rd. No left turns onto Driftwood from the school. Please see the included traffic flow map.

Conference sign-up will open to parents via Skyward on Monday, November 3rd at noon and close on Friday November 21st at noon. The conferences will be held:

• November 24th (12:00 - 8:00 PM); and
• November 25th (8:00 - 12 PM).

At Riverwood, we are proud of our incredible teachers! If you’d like to recognize a teacher who has gone above and beyond, please share your shout-out in this Google Form. Your message will be shared with the teacher and may be highlighted in school communications.

Ms. Manczko has been working with the class on phonics and the improvement on my daughter’s reading has been profound. She has gone from struggling with sounding out words to saying the letter sounds with ease. Every day she is excited to go to school and says her favorite thing about school is Ms. Manczko. Specially Ellie says, “Ms. Manczko is so nice. She lets us make crafts about stories we read. She lets us do numbers with counting to apples or other things in a line.”

Mrs. Biddle has been such an amazing long-term substitute. From decorating the classroom, attending open house, planning fun lessons, grading, pulling small groups, reteaching, and so much more; she is truly appreciated!!! We thank her so much for all that she does to give these 5th graders a great last year in elementary school. She goes above and beyond and we are so thankful for her.

At Riverwood, we utilize Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) to encourage safety, responsibility, and respect. Students earn Rocky Cash for positive choices and can spend it at the Rocky Store on Fridays from 9:10–9:45 am.

Support PBIS at home by discussing daily displays of safety, responsibility, and respect with your child. Celebrate their positive choices with the Rocky Cash they earn!

We invite parents to volunteer at the Rocky Store or donate items via the linked Google Form. This month’s SEL theme is Friendship and Community, and we are grateful for our wonderful Riverwood families! For questions, contact Mrs. Sterbenz at ksterbenz@d15.org.

This month in Balanced Wellness our focus is Daily Wellness Habits. A calendar went home with your Rascal, but here is a digital copy. Please send it back at the end of the month for a Wellness Reward!

Thank you for your support and being such an important part of our Balanced Wellness program!

Check out the new Specials Newsletter for important information.

Specials Spectator

Help decorate the Learning Media Center! Pick one of your favorite book characters and a pumpkin the size of a basketball or smaller. Then decorate the pumpkin to look like your favorite character. If you are in need of inspiration, do a Google search for “pumpkin book characters.” All pumpkins will be disposed of November 1st unless you send a note along with your pumpkin indicating you would like it sent home on October 31st.

¡Ayuda a decorar el Centro Tecnología de Aprendizaje! Elige uno de tus personajes de libros favoritos y una calabaza del tamaño de una pelota de baloncesto o más pequeña. Luego decora la calabaza para que parezca tu personaje favorito. Si necesita inspiración, busque en Google "personajes de libros de calabazas". Todas las calabazas se eliminarán el 1 de noviembre a menos que envíe una nota junto con su calabaza indicando que desea que se envíe a casa el 31 de octubre.

OCTOBER

Mon, Oct 13th: NO SCHOOL - Non-Attendance Day

Thu, Oct 16th: Riverwood Trunk or Treat (5:30-7:00 PM) on the blacktop

Mon, Oct 20th: School Safety Assembly

Kinder-1st & 5th Grade (9:30-10:10 AM),

2nd-4th Grade (10:20-11:00 AM)

Tue, Oct 21st: PTO Culver's Night Fundraiser (5:00-8:00 PM)

Wed, Oct 22nd: 5th Grade Music Concert (6:30-7:30 PM)

Mon, Oct 27th-Fri, Oct 31st: Haunted Gym

Mon, Oct 27th-Fri, Oct 31st: Red Ribbon Week

Fri, Oct 31st: Early Release (2:10 PM)

UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS🏁

OCTOBER

Wed, Oct 15th: 4th Grade Pioneer Life Experience @ Glacier Park (9:30-1:50 PM) (DeBlok & Vidal)

Thu, Oct 16th: 4th Grade Pioneer Life Experience @ Glacier Park (9:30-1:50 PM) (Erber & Pawlak)

Fri, Oct 17th: 4th Grade Pioneer Life Experience @ Glacier Park (9:30-1:50 PM) (Darlage & Mesnard)

Fri, Oct 24th: 2nd Grade Richardson's Farm (9:20-1:30 PM)

Tue, Oct 28th: 4th Grade Chicago Wolves Game (9:00-2:00 PM)

Don't forget to come!

Please refer to the District 15 Parent/Student Handbook to find many answers to questions you may have that pertain to all D15 schools available in English and Spanish.

Website: https://www.d15.org/Domain/14
Location: 300 South Driftwood Trail, McHenry, IL, USA
Phone: 779-244-1400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057063505521

Twitter: @RW_Rascals