Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! My name is Stacey Anderson, and I am the Principal of Woodland Primary School. The Woodland Primary School teachers, administrators, and staff are looking forward to a rewarding year for your child. As we begin this year, please remember we are in this as a team! Together, we can make this school year a strong foundation for learning and growth for your child. Children receive the best education when the students, families, and teachers work together!

Our school theme for this year is, "You Belong Here". This theme reflects our invitation to all students and families to be a part of our Woodland community. To work with your children to reach their highest potential we need to connect with them, learn about what they like to do and all about their family. Students who feel seen, heard and appreciated work better in their learning environment.

8/19 & 8/20 Staff Institute Days-No Student Attendance

8/21 Welcome Times at Primary (See detailed information below)

8/22 First day of Attendance for Woodland Primary

8/30 Early Release

9/2 Labor Day-No Student or Staff Attendance

New this year we will have professional development for our staff every Friday, starting on Friday, August 30th. Kindergarten students will be released each Friday at 12:40 p.m. and our Early Childhood students in both AM and PM will attend with a shortened schedule. All students will have their normal lunch period. The link below will show you the entire school year schedule and the dismissal times.

Special Friday Release Dates and Times for the 2024-2025 School Year

We can't wait to meet our Primary Wildcats! On Wednesday, August 21st, grades 1-8 will have their first day of school, but Woodland Primary will host our Welcome Times on August 21st. This is a chance for you to bring your child to see their classroom, drop off their supplies, and meet the teacher and our staff! Parents will choose to attend the morning or afternoon session with their child. Parents will transport their child to the school and attend the session with their child. During this visit, students should bring their school supplies to unpack in the classroom.

Please note that you will also receive your child's bus tag when you come to Welcome Times.

Monolingual Kindergarten

8:00-9:30 or 12:00-1:30 p.m.

Dual Language Kindergarten

(Students should go to their homeroom teacher's classroom to drop off supplies and meet the teacher, then you will visit your partner teacher's classroom)

9:00-10:30 or 1:00-2:30 p.m.

Early Childhood and WELE

AM students: 8:30-10:00 a.m.

PM students: 12:30-2:00 p.m.

Kindergarten: Our monolingual and Dual Language kindergarten programs are both full day sessions. Students in kindergarten stay all day.

WELE (Woodland Early Learning Experience):

This is a grant-funded program that is for three and four year olds that qualify through the screening process. This is a half-day program.

Early Childhood: Students qualify for this program through our screening process. This is a three and four year old program and students attend for a half-day.

Based on your child’s program, your child either attends full day or for a half-day. Below are the bell times for our full day programs and our half-day programs.

****Please note that there is a drop off window to the start of each session. Students will be marked tardy if they arrive after the official start time.

Kindergarten Full Day Bell Times (Mon-Thursday)

7:35 a.m.-7:50 a.m. (drop off window)

7:50 a.m. Official start time

2:05 p.m. End of school day

Friday Early Release at 12:40 p.m.

Half Day Bell Times (Mon-Thursday)

AM Session: 7:35 a.m.-7:50 a.m. (drop off window)

7:50 a.m. Official start time

10:20 a.m. End of AM Session

Friday Special Schedule for AM: 7:50-9:50 (7:35-7:50 drop off window)

PM Session: 11:25-11:35 a.m. (drop off window)

11:35 a.m. Official start time

2:05 p.m. End of school day

Friday Special Schedule for PM: 10:40-12:40 (10:30-10:40 drop off window)

Everything you need to know is located in the special Meal Edition below. At Primary, students have to pre-order breakfast. Our half-day students have the option for breakfast (AM) and lunch (PM). We have specific guidelines for our daily snack as well. Be sure to review this information before attending our Welcome Times. If you have any questions, your child's teacher can help you during that time.

Teacher assignments will be available on Friday, Aug. 9. Log-in to Skyward Family Access to view your child’s teacher. If you forgot your Family Access Login, there is a “Forgot your Login/Password?” option, or you can email AccessHelp@dist50.net to request login credentials.

If you do not see your child's teacher listed in Skyward after Aug. 9, it may be because you did not complete the online registration process. We still have open positions in our Early Childhood classrooms, so you may not see a teacher assignment until all hiring is complete.

Transportation - Bus Information

NEW: Your child's bus information can now be found in Skyward Family Access! (starting Aug. 9)

If your child has a bus schedule that changes throughout the week, you may need to look for a more detailed view in Versatrans e-Link (bus times are still being finalized). As a reminder, your Versatrans login and password is your "Family ID number" and this can be found in Skyward Family Access under “Student Information”. (View "My Child's Family" and look for "Family ID Number".)

If a bus stop change is needed, fill out the Revised Bus Information (English / Spanish) as soon as possible. Please understand, one slight change to a route forces a change for every stop that follows. If you know that circumstances have changed for your child (for example, they will be going to a new day care provider), do not wait until the deadline to contact Transportation. The last day to request a change to be active by the first day of school is Aug. 12.

For further assistance, please call the main Transportation number at 847-856-3644, or email them at trans@dist50.net.

Medication Drop Off for ALL schools will be on Monday, Aug. 12 at the Middle School from 8 a.m. - 12 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.

Come for coffee and pastries and meet other parents!

After taking pictures, giving hugs, meeting the bus driver, and maybe even shedding a few tears … join us on the 1st day of school for coffee and pastries at the Primary School. Connect with other parents and celebrate the first day of school and this new adventure together!

Date: August 22, 2024

Time: 8:00 - 9:00 AM

Location: Woodland Primary School Gym A - Enter the school at door A10

SIGN UP WITH THE LINKS BELOW

English Sign-Up Form

Spanish Sign-Up Form

This event will be hosted by the Kindergarten Family Coordinator, Kristen Carruthers and EC/WELE At-Risk Parent Facilitator, Lavonna Garner. Teachers and students will not be attending this activity.

If you have any questions please contact Kristen or Lavonna at the following emails:

Kristen Carruthers, Kindergarten - kcarruthers@dist50.net

Lavonna Garner, EC/WELE - lgarner@dist50.net

Research shows that many of our youngest students miss 10 percent of the school year—about 18 days a year or just two days every month. Chronic absenteeism in kindergarten, and even preK, can predict lower test scores, poor attendance and retention in later grades, especially if the problem persists for more than a year.

Attendance

In the event that your child must be absent: Did you know that you can now report your child's absence in Skyward? Try our new reporting system in Skyward for a quick and convenient way to report absences in ONE place.

How it works: A parent may enter an Absence Request by logging into Skyward and entering the request for one child, or multiple children from the same household. Once logged into Skyward, select “Attendance” from the left column, and follow the prompts to indicate which child will be absent, the date(s), and reason for the absence.

Gurnee Days are almost here & the event goes Saturday & Sunday, August 10th & 11th. Our district will be walking in the parade on Sunday at noon to show our school and district pride! Also, many administrators will be working the Ribfest tent on Saturday in partnership with the Exchange Club. Stop in & have some yummy ribs!

It’s always a lot of fun!

For specific information click the link below:

https://www.gurneeparkdistrict.com/gurnee-days-2023-schedule-page