E-News for KCSD96
Friday, February 21st, 2025
Dear KCSD96 Community Members,
I would like to start out by acknowledging all of our staff and families in ensuring a strong stretch of learning for students-- no matter the challenges that our recent winter weather may bring us. We have had significant cold, and some pockets of thick snow, and you have all helped put student learning at the forefront and kept distractions to a minimum. We want to thank you, for all that you're doing this winter, to ensure students have a fantastic learning experience. You are setting them up for success in the classroom and beyond.
This E-News is packed with a lot of important information. Please ensure that you and your family review the following sections:
- Calendar UPDATE: April Half Day!
- Student Registration Begins Soon
- Report Cards Ready Next Friday
- Family Educator Conferences Sign Up Soon
- 5Essentials Survey Open for Parents (Please, take a few minutes to complete it!)
- New Video: Join our Team!
One last thing, we had an incredible visit recently! The Illinois State Board of Education Superintendent Dr. Tony Sanders, Regional Superintendent Dr. Michael Karner, State Representative Dan Didech, and members of our Board of Education visited some of our KCSD96 schools. The group popped into classrooms, chatted with staff, and met our incredible students. Dr. Sanders said he enjoyed seeing the standards-based instruction, our early childhood programming including dual language, and our new Twin Groves Collaboratory learning space! There is SO much to show off here!
Thank you and have a great rest of your February!
Katie Sheridan
Superintendent
Kildeer Countryside School District 96
FEBRUARY 2025
February 21st Report Period Ends, EC-8th Grade
February 28th NO SCHOOL, Institute Day for Staff, Trimester 2 Report Cards Issued
MARCH 2025
March 3rd NO SCHOOL, District Holiday
March 4th, Student Registration Opens
March 20th Early Release Day
March 21st NO SCHOOL, Spring Family/Educator Family Conferences
March 24-28 NO SCHOOL, Spring Break
March 31 School Resumes
KCSD96 community, please note that there has been a 24-25 school calendar that has been circulating that erroneously left off a Half Day in April. Please know, there will be a Half Day for students on April 17th. This half-day was included in the 24-25 calendar that was approved and adopted by the Board of Education prior to the start of the school year.
Half Day Schedule for April 17th: Kindergarten (including Structured Kindergarten) and Early Childhood Structured: 8:40 AM - 11:45 AM. Pre-K Blended Early Childhood/ECSE: Blended/ECSE AM and PM alternate attendance days on district half-days. Even if your child attends PM, if it is a district half-day, they will attend AM hours. PM attends on Thursday, April 17th (no AM students). Hours are 8:40 AM - 11:10 AM. Parent drop-off begins at 8:25 AM.
If you like to download the calendars and keep them in your home, we kindly ask that you download the link below and print it. It is important that families plan for the upcoming Half Day accordingly. Thank you!
On behalf of the entire Kildeer Countryside School District 96 community, we want to extend a heartfelt congratulations to our students at Twin Groves and Woodlawn Middle Schools on their outstanding achievement in placing in the top 5 of their respective grade level during this year's cross country conference. Their hard work, dedication, and commitment have truly paid off, and we are incredibly proud. Superintendent Katie Sheridan had a wonderful time meeting with students, hearing more about their experiences, and awarding them with certificates of achievement. Please join us in congratulating these incredible students!
Kildeer Countryside School District 96 is excited to welcome kindergarteners for the 2025–2026 school year! To ensure all students have the opportunity to build a strong and consistent educational foundation, children who are five years old on or before September 1st of a given school year will be enrolled in Kindergarten. Children who are six years old on or before September 1st of a given school year will be enrolled in first grade. In addition to the information below, we have more details on our website.
Registration Timeline:
STARTING NOW: Begin the registration process by emailing all required documents to Cristina Castro, Administrative Assistant at Willow Grove Early Learning Center, at ccastro@kcsd96.org. If you have a student currently enrolled in Pre-K at Willow Grove, you do not need to resubmit these documents.
March 4, 2025: The district will send online registration links to families with approved documents.
March 18, 2025: Dual Language Program Virtual Parent Night from 6-6:30pm. This is for parents of incoming Kindergarten students who are interested in learning more about the program. Meeting link to be provided.
April 15, 2025: Early Bird Discount Ends for Registration. Dual Language Lottery due date.
April 29, 2025: Virtual Dual Language Lottery at 5pm. Meeting link to be provided.
April 30, 2025: Complete registration by this date to attend the Kindergarten Kick-Off event at Willow Grove Early Learning Center. Registered families get the sign-up right away once they are fully registered.
May 14, 2025: Kindergarten Kickoff will be held at Willow Grove. This event is sign-up only for families who are fully registered by April 30. Students will receive a free t-shirt!
Required Documents:
Child's birth certificate, passport, or visa
Parent/guardian driver's license or passport
Recent (within 30 days) mortgage statement, signed lease, or property tax bill
Recent (within 30 days) utility bill
Completed Enrollment Form, Residency Form, and Home Language Survey (available in multiple languages)
Please review the Health Requirements and submit the necessary health forms by the specified due dates.
For questions, contact Cristina Castro at ccastro@kcsd96.org or call (847) 541-3660.
Family/Educator Conferences are right around the corner! Once again, we are using Meet the Teacher as our scheduling platform for conferences on Thursday, March 20th (5:00-8:30) and Friday, March 21st (10:00-1:30). Sign-ups will begin MARCH 6th at 3pm.
All conferences are virtual via Meet the Teacher’s platform unless you contact the staff members and notify them.
Elementary school families: When you open the Meet the Teacher platform, you will see your child's classroom teacher in the list of available conference sign-ups as well as some specials teachers, special education teachers, and related service providers if your child sees them during a school day.
Middle school families: When you open the Meet the Teacher platform, you will see one of your child's core teachers in the list of available conference sign-ups as well as exploratory teachers, special education teachers, and related service providers if your child sees them during a school day.
Please sign-up for a conference with any staff member listed who you would like to see. Meet the Teacher Conference Sign Up will close at 4:00 pm on Monday, March 17th. After that, you must contact the building administrative assistant at the school.
Click on the link below to sign in to Meet the Teacher or copy and paste it into a browser: https://kildeerdistrict96.meettheteacher.com
For those who may be trying to sign-up for a conference using a mobile device, please know that you may encounter issues navigating the platform. For best results, it is recommended that you try to access the link on a laptop or computer.
Families with multiple students in KCSD96 may experience issues when trying to switch between sign-ups. To mitigate any problems, please try using a different browser or logging out between sign-ups.