After months of planning and preparation, it's finally time to experience Westgate's Annual Science Fair!

You are invited!!!

When: Wednesday, May 7th from 2:00-3:00

Where: The Commons at Westgate

All the students in our class will be presenting their findings from their science fair project. This year, we will even be joined by two 4th grade classes!  Please invite the whole family - extended family members too!

Art Appreciation
Mr. Schmidt will be doing an Art Appreciation activity on Wednesday afternoon that will involve making a model of the Eiffel Tower using sugar cookies and frosting.  Please let me know if you have any concerns about your child using these materials - thank you!

MAP Spring Test Information
MAP reports will be going home on 5/22/14. Parents will have the option of picking them up in the Main Office. This will happen in all school s across the district.

Last Day of School
Thursday, June 5th will be the last FULL DAY of school for students.

My thoughts are at the bottom of this post.  Please feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section.

When Parent Involvement Helps – and When It Doesn’t

In this thought-provoking New York Times article, Keith Robinson (University of Texas/Austin) and Angel Harris (Duke University) report on three decades of research assessing 63 different forms of parent involvement in children’s schooling. Robinson and Harris found that virtually all parents try to help their children do well in school, but most of their efforts don’t produce positive results. Here are some forms of involvement that do not boost achievement:

• Observing a child’s class;
• Contacting the school about a child’s behavior;
• Checking in with the teacher;
• Attending PTA meetings;
• Helping decide a child’s high-school courses;
• Helping a child with homework.

The bottom line, say the authors, is that “most forms of parental involvement yielded no benefit to children’s test scores or grades, regardless of racial or ethnic background or socioeconomic standing. In fact, there were more instances in which children had higher levels of achievement when their parents were less involved than there were among those whose parents were more involved.” Even seemingly positive forms of involvement such as discussing school or regularly reading with a child had mixed effects with different racial/ethnic groups, and helping with homework was associated with lower student achievement. “Most parents appear to be ineffective at helping their children with homework,” say Robinson and Harris. The only exception was Chinese, Korean, and Indian parents, whose help was associated with higher grades (but not higher test scores) for their adolescent children.

Does parent involvement ever help? Yes, say Robinson and Harris. “We believe that parents are critical for how well children perform in school, just not in the conventional ways that our society has been promoting.” Their research found a positive impact from parents who:

• Communicate the importance of school and an expectation that the child will go to college;
• Discuss what the child is doing in school (in most racial/ethnic groups);
• Request a particular teacher for a child.

“Schools should move away from giving the blanket message to parents that they need to be more involved and begin to focus instead on helping parents find specific, creative ways to communicate the value of schooling, tailored to a child’s age… [P]arents who have been less involved or who feel uncertain about how they should be involved should not be stigmatized. What should parents do? They should set the stage and leave it.”

“Parental Involvement Is Overrated” by Keith Robinson and Angel Harris in The New York Times, April 13, 2014 (p. SR7), http://nyti.ms/1gvtDCn

The Unit 8 Review Packet is tentatively due on: May 6th.
The Unit 8 Test is tentatively scheduled for: May 7th.

Bring Your Parent (or special adult) to Lunch and Recess! Friday, April 25th 

Come and experience the fun of lunch and recess with your child.  As you plan for this event, parents are encouraged to model healthy eating and make smart “green” choices.

1st & 2nd Grade:    11:35 – 12:05  lunch & 12:05 – 12:35 recess
5th Grade:               12:05 – 12:35 lunch & 12:35 – 1:05 recess
3rd & 4th  Grade:   12:35 – 1:05 lunch & 1:05 – 1:35 recess  

All adults must bring their own lunch -- there will be no special lunch available for adults to pre-order or buy the day of event.

A la carte items are available to purchase with cash the day of event. 
PLEASE NOTE:  Cafeteria has limited change.  Please bring coins or $1.00 bills.
Pretzel .25, Water .25, Milk .50

To the Parent(s)/Guardian(s) of School District 25 Elementary Student(s):

It is your responsibility to monitor your student(s) lunch account balance(s) using an on-line account at www.mymealtime.com.  The ID number needed to add each student to your account is the same number students use as a “server password” to log on to school computers.  There is no cost for setting up an account.  Only if you decide to pay on line is there a fee.  You are always welcome to send in checks to your child’s school to add funds to your child’s lunch account.

If you have any questions about how to set up an account, please refer to the district website at www.sd25.org, select departments and then food service.  On the food service home page select pre payment options.  If you need additional assistance please call the Food Service office at 847-758-4883. 

Starting April 16th the District will be using an automated phone message to let you know when your child’s account is negative more than $2.65.  Calls will be made between 8:00 a.m. and 8:15 a.m.  Once your child has a negative account balance in excess of $7.95, they will be called to the office and given an alternate meal.  When adding money to your child’s account online there is a twenty-four (24) hour delay in the money showing up in the account.  You must print your confirmation letter or send a check with your child to school to avoid the alternative lunch. Alternative lunches are the same price as the regular lunch and will meet nutritional guidelines.

If your family is experiencing financial difficulty, please complete an application to see if you would qualify for free or reduced price meals.  Applications are available on the District 25 website or from the office at your child’s school.


Sincerely,

Coletta Hines Newell
Director of Food Services

Originally published here: http://www.sd25.org/pages/sd25