Woodland ROAR Report

Aug. 7, 2026

Dear Woodland Families,

We are less than two weeks away from the first day of school, and back to school preparations are well underway. I know that many of you are excited to log in to Skyward Family Access this afternoon to see teacher assignments. I am certain the Wildcat network will be buzzing with activity as you reach out to friends and neighbors to see who is in your class. If you don’t see a teacher assigned for your student this afternoon, please don’t panic! There are a number of reasons why this might be: it may mean that you haven’t completed the online registration process, or it could be that your child has a new teacher and we are still finalizing the new hire paperwork. Our hard working employees in the District’s registration and school offices will be helping you get the information you need over the coming days. There are many moving pieces behind the scenes, so we appreciate your patience and understanding as it all comes together.

In case you are wondering what Back to School preparations look like, here are a few highlights from this week.

• Math/MTSS Summit with Neighboring Districts - Educators from Woodland, Gurnee D56, and Warren D121, in partnership with the Lake County Regional Office of Education, participated in a full-day professional development training with a keynote presentation by Dr. Jo Boaler. A variety of sessions were offered focusing on Mathematics, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), Data Literacy, Behaviors, Differentiation, PBIS, Building Thinking Classrooms, and more. See photos from the MTSS Summit here.
  
  
• Leadership Planning Council - District and school leaders came together to collaborate, plan, and prepare for a successful school year. As a leadership team, we established measures that will inform our progress towards the FY27 goals set by the Board of Education. Each school team and department developed specific action plans focused on reading proficiency, expanding opportunities for students to access advanced programming, and increasing daily attendance across our schools. You will be hearing more about these three goals and how you can help us achieve them as the school year progresses. Stay tuned!
  
  
• New Teacher Orientation - Woodland welcomed new team members for New Teacher Orientation throughout the week. I am thrilled these new staff members have made the decision to join #LifeintheW, and I cannot wait to see what wonderful ideas and energy they will bring to our students and learning community. See Photos and a Reel on Facebook & Instagram!

Next week we start bringing students and families back into the district with events at each school to help break the ice and ease our Wildcats into the new school year. Please view the District Events Calendar for dates and times for Medication Drop-Off, Popsicles with the Principal events at Primary, Elementary, and Intermediate, and the Back to School Bash at Middle School. These events are designed to bring District families together in a fun and festive way to generate excitement before the first day of school.

Finally, I hope to see you at the Annual Gurnee Days Celebration on Saturday. Team Woodland, including Wiley the Wildcat, will be walking in the parade on Saturday morning. We will be right behind the WMS Marching Band, and I know they have been practicing every night this week! We will also be volunteering in the KidZone on Saturday afternoon, and our new Facilities Director will be taking a turn in the dunk tank at 3:30 p.m.! Feel free to come and interact with us in the park.

Wishing you all a safe and happy weekend,

Dr. Robert Machak, Superintendent

Woodland D50

Photos from New Teacher Orientation - See more on Facebook and Instagram

8/7 & 8 - Gurnee Days (Woodland will be walking in the parade and volunteering at the KidZone)

• Elementary Dismissal at 10:50 a.m.
• Middle School Dismissal at 11:35 a.m.
• Intermediate Dismissal at 12:20 p.m.

8/20 - Primary: Coffee and Community, 8 - 9 p.m.
8/20 - Woodland Board of Education Meeting
8/23 - PTA Event: Playground Playdate & Kona Ice Truck, 1 - 3 p.m.
8/24 - WMS: 6th Grade Curriculum Night, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
8/25 - WMS: 7th/8th Grade Curriculum Night, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
8/26 - Primary: Curriculum Night - Mono Kindergarten 5:30 - 7 p.m.
8/27 - Primary: Curriculum Night - Dual Language & Early Childhood (EC)/WELE, 5:30 - 7 p.m.
8/28 - Friday Early Dismissal Schedule

The district uses an early dismissal schedule on Fridays for staff professional development.

Friday Early Dismissal Schedule:

Primary - 12:40 p.m.

Elementary - 1:00 p.m.

Middle School - 1:45 p.m.

Intermediate - 2:30 p.m.

Please Note: The Friday early dismissal schedule starts on Friday, Aug. 28. The first Friday of the school year, Aug. 21, will be a full day of school.

2026-2027 Calendar

Visit our Back to School Headquarters for all your back to school needs in one place!

Teacher assignments will be available in Skyward Family Access on Aug. 7 in the afternoon. We do NOT expect this information to be available until approximately 3 p.m. or later.

Please Note: The Registration Department expects a high volume of calls/emails on Friday afternoon regarding registration and accessing Skyward Family Access. You may not receive a reply until next week. We will get back to you as quickly as we can, and we appreciate your patience!

REMINDERS:

• If you do not see your child's teacher listed in Skyward after Aug. 7, it may be because you did not complete the online registration process.
• We are still processing paperwork for new hires so it is possible that a teacher will not be listed for your child's class yet. Check again soon!
• Class rosters and bus schedules will continue to shift slightly as additional families complete registration.
• There are many moving pieces behind the scenes. All of the final details will continue to come into focus over the next few days/weeks!

We provide this information every year as a reminder, and to ease your Back-to-School nerves. Transportation delays are to be expected the first few days of school. Please know that our Woodland bus drivers will be 100% focused on getting your child home safely. As you will see from the list below, there are many possible reasons for delays. We appreciate your patience.

Here are a few common things we see:

• We still have students enrolling in the district which means we are adding students and possibly bus stops to our routes in the final days before school starts. This may make for small changes to timing all the way down the line.

• Many parents want to take first day photos during the morning pick-up, or it may take a little extra coaxing to get little ones on the bus for the first time. This may be a big transition for some. Our youngest wildcats often need help getting on and off the bus the first few days. The steps are big and the supplies are heavy!

• Traffic patterns will be very congested the first few days, so we recommend taking the bus if possible. We have a large volume of cars and buses trying to enter and leave our parking lots in the morning and afternoon. Even with traffic control support from law enforcement, moving that many cars and buses through our parking lots takes time. The parent pick-up line usually begins to flow better after everyone gets used to the system and that can easily take a few weeks. We will go as slow as we need to in order to make sure everyone is safe.

• Remember, we have a multi-tiered system, so if there are delays with bus call at one school, this may make buses late to the next school. If a bus is rerouted, even a five-minute delay can easily turn into a 30-minute delay at the next school as the buses are staged for dismissal. While we do everything we can to tighten this up, other factors can throw a major wrench in the plan.

• Our bus drivers are working hard, and they want to make sure they get everything right. They will be checking rosters and seating charts and taking their time to get to know the students on their route. After the first few days, this process is quicker and more efficient. We would rather experience delays at first, if it means making sure students get on the right bus and make it safely home.

• The phones in the Transportation Office will be ringing off the hook on the first few days of school. We bring office staff from the district office, business office, and other locations to support Transportation with the call volume, but it will be hard to get through. This does not mean that your call is not important to us, or that something is wrong. Please consider sending an email (trans@dist50.net) or delaying your call until the following week with questions and concerns that are not urgent.

Thank you for your support!

Our new drivers recently completed orientation, where they learned more about our Transportation Department and the Woodland learning community. We're grateful to have them on our team and look forward to the impact they will make on our students and district this school year!

Gurnee Days is THIS WEEKEND! Woodland is excited to once again represent #LifeintheW at the annual Gurnee Days Festival on Saturday! Team Woodland will be joining in the community celebration by marching in the parade on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The WMS Marching Band has been practicing all week! We will also be volunteering in the KidZone from 11:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m., and our new Facilities Director will be in Dunk Tank at 3:30 p.m. We hope to see you there!

Medication Drop Off for ALL schools will be on Monday, Aug. 10 at the Middle School from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 3 - 7 p.m.

Nurses and health assistants from each school will be on hand to take medications, physicals, vaccine forms and discuss health needs prior to the first day of school.

REMINDER: The deadline for vaccines and physicals is Oct. 15, 2026.

Registration will be starting soon for Free English as a Second Language Classes through the College of Lake County (CLC). These are FREE classes offered at Woodland Intermediate School.

In-Person Registration and Placement Testing

Date: August 24 & 27

Time: 5 p.m.

Location: Woodland Intermediate, 1115 N. Hunt Club Road, Gurnee

Testing and registration may take up to three hours. Seats are limited. Please bring a picture ID and your CLC student number.

New Student? Apply online if you have never taken classes at CLC before.

English as a Second Language (ESL)

• Monday / Wednesday, August 31 – December 9, 6 – 9 p.m.
• Tuesday / Thursday, September 1 - December 10, 6 – 9 p.m.

Click here for the ESL/ELA Classes Flyers in English and Spanish.

Please visit Woodland's Virtual Backpack to learn about other events and resources in the community. New events are added all the time, so check back often.

Featured this week:

• Gurnee Teen Center - August Calendar
• Back-to-School Bash Event & Supply Drive at Gurnee Mills Mall, August 8
• Movie in the Park, presented by Warren Youth and Family Services, August 21

As the year begins, make sure you take advantage of all the resources Woodland has to offer!

Does your child need:

• Additional support in Reading, Math, or another subject area?
• A quiet place to finish homework, or work on a project?
• Help with researching or writing a paper?
• Help studying for a test?

Our certified teaching staff is ready to help! Learn more about Wildcat Saturday Study Hall and start taking advantage of this FREE resource in September.

Follow Woodland on our socials for school updates, celebrations, and job opportunities!