WOW! Prairie students exceeded their Fill the Bucket goal and earned 1,085 WOW slips for the second trimester. You remember that WOW slips are those pink slips that come home every now and then. Achieving this Positively Prairie challenge, which was created by our Positively Prairie Student Leadership Team (PPSLT), led to our fun "Buddy Reading" reward. The PPSLT combined efforts with our Helping Others Together (H.O.T.) club and kicked off our afternoon with an assembly focused on a book drive community service project. After the assembly, students met with their reading buddy, big kids with younger kids, and enjoyed an afternoon of reading in a location of their choice. To have a peek at the fun, visit our Reading Buddy Day photos. In that students exceeded the Fill the Bucket goal, a snack was earned as well. We are so proud of the students at Prairie! They really know how to be Kind, Responsible, Respectful and Ready!
6th Grade Orientation Night at Twin Groves
5th grade parents and students, please don't miss out on the great opportunity to attend 6th Grade Orientation next week on April 10th at 7:00pm. This is a wonderful evening to learn more about 6th grade and get a feel for the Twin Groves campus.
Welcome Incoming First Grade Families
The spring general PTO meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 25th at 7pm. It is at this meeting that the PTO and I enjoy welcoming our incoming 1st grade families. At the conclusion of this meeting, please join me for a tour of Prairie School during which time I can answer any questions you may have.
Growing Your Child as a Reader
Are you looking to help your child become a better reader? The BUILDING READERS NEWSLETTER is full of wonderful ideas.
Lockdown Drill
On Tuesday we conducted our second lockdown drill of the school year with the assistance of Office Staci Kupsak from the Buffalo Grove Police Department. This drill was conducted during the 3rd grade recess period to provide students the opportunity to practice getting to safety while outside. The third graders did a great job of moving into the prairie area located adjacent to the playground. All other students were in the building in their respective classrooms and did a great job as well of remaining quiet and out-of-sight. Students and staff are to be complimented for the serious manner in which these drills are discussed and practiced.
Book Drive
The Helping Others Together (H.O.T.) club is excited to be conducting their final community service project of the school year, a book drive to bring books to children in needy areas. Did you know that in communities such as ours, there is a ratio of 13 books per child. In low income areas, the ratio is 1 book for every 300 children. That's outrageous!
From April 5th - April 19th, H.O.T. will be collecting any gently used or new books to donate to Bernie's Book Bank. The books can range from the beginning reader to 6th grade level, however; please no text books or workbooks. Our school goal is to collect 4,000 books. Please find some time in the upcoming week to go through your book shelves, look under beds, or wherever else books in need of a home may be. Thank you for your support!
PTO News
Did you have a chance to see the AWESOME student artwork on display during parent-teacher conferences? Don't miss out on the chance to own one of these terrific pieces. Be sure to get your registration in to the PTO for the Friday, April 20th event. To learn more about location and cost, please visit the PTO Newsletter. We hope to see you there!
Placement Requests for the 2012 - 2013 School Year
It’s time to start thinking ahead to the 2012-2013 school year. Creating balanced class lists that meet the needs of all students is a tremendously difficult job that takes many hours of thoughtful dialogue between classroom teachers, administrators, and other staff members. We at Prairie take student classroom placement very seriously. The process for class list creation is as follows:
· First, teachers think about the social and academic needs of each of their current students, recording pertinent information to assist in the decision making process.
· Next, teachers meet together as grade level teams to form class lists that are balanced in terms of academic, social, and emotional needs as well as considering friendships and other areas. This is no easy task and often takes several meetings. Teachers consider each child’s personality, academic needs, friendship patterns, and so on as they make a match for each individual child. Specialists, the specials team, and I collaborate with the teams as needed during this process as well.
· Each grade level team types a draft set of class lists that are then submitted to me. One at a time, I will consider each student and his/her placement. At this time, parent input is also considered. Any changes in the draft lists are reviewed by the classroom teachers to ensure balance.
· Final class lists are then created with summer changes for move ins/outs reflected.
This same process happens at first grade. Willow Grove creates the class lists for our incoming kindergartners enrolled there and I will add in students who attend private kindergartens. Our goal is to create balanced class lists that promote the success of each child. The process benefits all students. Because of the input and thought given by teachers, parents, and administrators, we are very reluctant to make changes once this process occurs, as removing or moving one child can disrupt the balance of a class, impacting all students.
The Prairie staff welcomes any insight you wish to share about your child’s strengths, needs, and learning style. We will take into consideration pertinent information about your child’s learning style and needs, received on or before Friday, April 27, 2012. While we welcome your input, specific teacher requests will not be honored. Please put your thoughts in writing and address them to me at cpfaff@kcsd96.org.
