Meadowbrook Star News 9/19/25

Hello Meadowbrook Families!

Our Huskies enjoyed a lot of time outside this week with the beautiful weather. We'll try to remember these 80 degree days when it's cold and grey in February! The great weather has also allowed our new gym construction to proceed according to plan and we should see walls going up in the next week or two. Check out the latest time-lapse video below to see the progress!

We're looking forward to a short week next week with Tuesday as a non-attendance day due to the holiday. We'll be wrapping up our fall assessments next week and we'll be kicking off our Husky Packs as well. See more info about Packs below. As a reminder, our construction crews will still be working on Tuesday. Please make sure to remind your children to avoid the Meadowbrook east/blue playground without supervision and to be aware of truck traffic if they're in the area.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Shanah Tovah to all who celebrate Rosh Hashanah next week.

Warmly,

Ginny

We're excited to kick off our Husky Packs next Friday morning! All students and staff have been grouped into cross-grade level "packs" of 10-11 students and two or three staff members. These Packs will stay together as students move through their years at Meadowbrook, meeting monthly for fun activities to help build students' sense of belonging and connectedness. Our first meeting will focus on getting to know you activities and will give Packs time to create secret hand signals as a non-verbal way to acknowledge their fellow Pack members when they cross paths in the hallway. "Packs" are a practice already in use at Greenbriar and Westmoor and Northbrook Junior High (called "Crews"). We're excited to add our Huskies to their very own Packs!

Per state requirement, we will be providing age-appropriate presentations to all students about sexual abuse prevention on October 8th. We will be using the same presenter, Victor Pacini, who has presented in District 28 for many years. Please click here for more information.

As a reminder, our construction crews will continue work on 9/23 and 10/2 when school is not in session. Please do not allow your children to play on the Meadowbrook school grounds unsupervised during these days. There will be construction trucks entering and exiting the property throughout both days and there will not be school supervision. Please also remind students who bike around the village on their own to stay off of Meadowbrook property during those days.

At the end of last month, Principal Hiltz was a featured guest on the district podcast, Insight 28. The episode, which was released earlier this week, shares details on the construction happening at Meadowbrook as part of the district's Build 28 initiative. Click here to give it a listen!

In the meantime, the construction crew has been busy this week building our new gymnasium. Click the link above to check out our latest time-lapse video!

Projected Construction Timeline

• August 2025: Meadowbrook gymnasium construction begins
• March 2026: Meadowbrook gymnasium completed & construction of the new Meadowbrook School begins
• August 2027: New Meadowbrook School completed
  

Fall Elementary Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held October 15-16. More detailed instructions with login information will be sent on Thursday, September 25. Families will be able to schedule conferences online beginning Tuesday, September 30 at 7:00 p.m. The scheduling window will close on Monday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m. Click here for more details!

Meadowbrook is adding a Parent Safety Committee this year to work alongside the building safety team to ensure school safety remains a top priority. The committee will meet in person every other month on Friday mornings, with the first meeting being Friday September 26 from 8:30-9:30 am. Please sign up on the PTO website if you’re interested in joining (Log in→Volunteer→Volunteer for Committees→Scroll down to find “Parent Safety Committee”). Please reach out to whitneygoldin@gmail.com with any questions.

Help make classroom parties memorable! Volunteers team up to plan, bring supplies (no food allowed!), and run the fun. Party Dates: Halloween: Fri. 10/31, Winter Holiday: Fri. 12/19, Valentine’s Day: Thurs. 2/12 (Noon Dismissal) - Parties are scheduled for 30-45 minutes (depending on grade) at the end of the school day. Registration info:

• Complete one form per child

• Sign-up Deadline: Fri. 9/19 (TODAY)

• Volunteers Announced: Mon. 9/29

• 3 volunteers per class per party — selection is fair and random (especially since spots fill fast in younger grades).

Let’s make some classroom magic happen! Sign up HERE.

It’s your last chance to snag these fun new designs this Fall, so grab some warmer gear (we’re talking beanies and sweatshirts), many with our slick new Husky logo. The collection also has ADULT sizes - so treat your inner child and show your spirit at the next school-wide event! The sale closes this Sunday (9/21), so SHOP HERE!

Read our latest monthly newsletter HERE.

Stay connected with us on Facebook - MeadowbrookPTODistrict28

And on Instagram - d28.meadowbrookpto

Subscribe to the Meadowbrook calendar at this link!

September 23: NO SCHOOL

September 26: Husky Pack kick-off meeting

October 2: NO SCHOOL

October 8: Erin's Law presentations

October 8: PTO Meeting @ 9:30am, staff lounge or join via Zoom

October 9: PTO Pizza Day

October 15: Parent-teacher conferences 4:30-7:30

October 16: Half Day- Noon Dismissal Parent-teacher conferences 1:00-8:00

October 17: NO SCHOOL

October 23: PTO Pizza Day

October 24: Picture Retakes

October 24: Husky Pack meeting

District 28 invites local non-profit organizations and community government agencies to promote events for families and children. You can view the complete list of events on the district's Virtual Backpack web page. To submit an event, please email a PDF flier to Samantha Scheinman, Director of Communications & Community Relations, at sscheinman@northbrook28.net. All fliers are subject to approval.