Spring is approaching, and this is the time of year we begin to

plan for the next school year. This year, much of our planning is being

affected by external forces.

There’s been so much in the news lately about schools – it feels

as though a day doesn’t go by that we’re not hearing new thoughts on

how to ―fix‖ the state budget deficit. Unfortunately, we’re in a situa-

tion that the fixes are going to impact our students directly. It is

critical, as parents, as community members, and as citizens of Illinois,

that you listen to the debates and express your views.

One recent proposal called for a consolidation of school districts

across the state. Rather than have local school districts, the state

would create one district per county. Local control would be gone.

The bill was not called for a vote, but rather removed until further

conversations can take place. This occurred

because citizens called their legislators to

express their concerns. Your opinions DO

matter. You can find contact information for

your state legislators at: www.lwvil.org (scroll to

Government Guide, Elected Officials). Click on

the link to enter your address. You can call or

email to share your opinion.

There will be a great deal of information in the community this

month regarding important issues on the April ballot. Voting day is

April 5 - please become familiar with the local issues. Our kids deserve

your thoughtful consideration.

Mary Ann Savage

Principal

A Message from the Principal...

Mary Ann Savage

Principal

Melissa Lawson

Assistant Principal

The News at Willow School

District #153

Mission Statement

Willow School

1804 Willow Rd

Homewood, IL 60430

708-798-3720

Inside this issue:

Kindergarten Orientation

Important Dates

VIP Day

Student Council

Reading First

Homewood Foundation 153

PBIS

Box Tops for Education

All Children

Will Learn;

All Children

Will Be Served.

Para los que hablen

espaňol se puedu

llamar a Olimpia

Tienstra con

sugierencias o

preguntas. 647-0088

March 2011

Friday, March 4 Early Dismissal at 11:40 am

End of 2nd Trimester

Monday, March 7 Casimir Pulaski Day - Schools Closed

Wednesday, March 9 Market Day pick-up, 6:15 - 7 pm @ James Hart

Friday, March 11 Report Cards go home

Wednesday, March 16 Kindergarten Orientation Meeting, 7 pm @ Willow

Thursday, March 17 St. Patrick’s Day

Sunday, March 20 First Day of Spring!

Monday, March 21 School Board Meeting, 7 pm @ Hart Media Center

Wednesday, March 23 Kindergarten Registration, 2:30 - 6:00 pm @ Willow

Friday, March 25 VIP Day, 8:30 am - 10:00 am

Enjoy Spring Break March 28 - April 1 Monday, April 4 Students return

Page 2

Important Dates to Remember:

The News at Willow School

Kindergarten Orientation Mark your calendars! It’s time to start planning for the

2011-2012 school year. If you, or someone you know residing in

the district, have a child who will be 5 years of age on or before

September 1, 2011, it’s time to think about Kindergarten.

On Wednesday, March 16, beginning at 7:00 p.m., we invite

parents to attend our Kindergarten Orientation

meeting. You will meet our kindergarten staff,

hear an overview of the kindergarten program at

Willow School, and pick up your registration forms.

This program is designed for parents only.

On Wednesday, March 23, Kindergarten

registration will be held at Willow School from

2:30 to 6:00 p.m. We ask that you bring your

completed forms (the forms you will receive on

March 15), along with all required documents to registration.

We will photocopy and return original documents to you as you

register. Registering early helps us as we make important planning

decisions for the upcoming school year.

Sunday, March 13th

Set your clocks forward

one hour before

you go to bed!

Children must be five

years of age on or

before September 1.

Page 3 The News at Willow School

Homewood Foundation 153

The 6th Annual

Fundraiser and Auction

Saturday, April 9th

6:00 pm to 11:30 pm

Ravisloe Country Club

Buffet dinner

Cash bar

Silent and live auctions

Entertainment

Raffles and games

Tickets are $45 before April 5th and

$55 thereafter.

Contact Shelley Peck at 647-2390

or

Purchase tickets online at

www.homewoodfoundation.org

Proceeds from ticket sales go directly toward

our mission of supporting inspired teaching in the

Homewood School District 153 schools.

2011-2012 Registration

Student registration packets for returning

students will me mailed home on April 8, 2011.

The deadline for registration packets to be

returned to the district registrar office is

Friday, May 20, 2011.

If you have any questions, please contact

Janice Kirschenbaum.

647-2138

VIP Day is March 25th!

8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

The students

are looking forward to a morning filled

with fun activities!

DAY

Willow’s first and second grade Student Council members helped organize the ―Pennies

for Patients‖ program this year. During the month of February, all the students and staff at

Willow School were encouraged to collect change to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma

Society. Over $1,600.00 in pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, or more, was donated. The

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma,

myeloma and Hodgkin’s disease and to improve the quality of life of

patients and their families.

Student Council continues to set a good example teaching students

how to help their peers, their school and their community. Thank you to all

for your generosity.

Page 4 The News at Willow School

Student Council

Willow parent, Tina Moore,

recently contributed book sets to each

of our classroom libraries through the

Wells Fargo Reading First Program.

Reading First is an initiative fully funded

by the company to support reading in the

prekindergarten through

second grade classrooms.

Each one of our classrooms

benefited this year from

the program, which has

donated over one million

books to schools since its

inception in 1997.

Thanks so much, Mrs. Moore!

Wells Fargo’s Reading First Program

Dental Health

February was Dental Health

Month and Dr. Lynn Malone, D.D.S. and

Robyn Marchi, dental hygienist, from

The Center for Dental Excellence

gave presentations to all our first and

second grade students on February

16th. Our school nurse says … Brush

your teeth regularly!

Mrs. Moore shares one of the books with

Mrs. Klupchak's kindergarten class.

Page 5 The News at Willow School

School-Home Connections: Family Literacy Bags Foundation 153 is proud to fund the Family Literacy Bag project that is

ongoing in several Willow kindergarten classrooms. Participating teachers

designed the program to help "promote positive attitudes toward learning,

connect home and school, promote oral language development, support learning,

and keep students engaged." So far, these creative activity bags have been a

big hit with both parents and students. The children are really excited to

receive their bags every week, and the parents give the literacy bags rave reviews as well.

They like the range of topics that come home, the variety of activities included in the bags,

and the pride their children exhibit when demonstrating a new skill. Family Literacy Bags

enable parents to be actively involved in their children's learning, without having to spend

extra money on supplies or take time off from work to be in the classroom.

WILO Radio: Playing All The Latest Hits! Foundation 153 is also delighted to purchase sound equipment and

book bins for Miss Rost's WILO Radio project. Each week, children put

on a radio show that teaches them valuable research skills, allows them

to practice reading fluency, and seeks to improve their overall reading

skills. Please visit www.Foundation153.org and click on "Video Theater"

to see an engaging video of these budding broadcasters in action.

PBIS: Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

Willow students enjoyed watching a Disney sing-a-long movie

and eating fruit snacks as this month’s school-wide celebration.

Classes attend these monthly celebrations by redeeming 10 Wildcat

Wow Certificates which they earn by following the Willow Way;

Be Safe, Be Caring and Be Ready.

The PBIS program rewards students for positive behavior and

making good choices.

Page 6 The News at Willow School

Congratulations to Mrs. Wallace’s second grade class for winning the Box Tops contest!

They submitted a total of 705 Box Tops. Each student will receive a Culver’s card for a FREE

cake cone or dish of frozen custard. Way to Go!

It has been another successful collection period at Willow School. Our next check from

the Box Tops for Education program will be approximately $960.00. Our school collected this

amount during November through February. That is awesome!

The January and February winners are:

Please keep sending in your monthly collection sheets. Remember to check expiration

dates as we do not get credit for expired Box Tops. Also, please attach only 10 (ten) Box Tops

to each collection sheet. Additional Box Tops are always welcome—just send them to school in

a Ziploc baggie or envelope labeled with your child’s name and classroom teacher.

Due to the overwhelming participation in the contest, we will re-run the contest from

now until May 27th. The classroom that turns in the most Box Tops from now to May 27th, will

win Culver’s cards for each student.

Thank you for your continued support in this program.

Kristin Sline,

Box Tops Coordinator

Box Tops for Education

EC and PreK

Grace Cairo

Ethan Redd

Micaiah Abramczyk

Carmella Abramczyk

Kindergarten

Blake Lopez Graham MacLeod

Abigail Roberts Phoebe Bosch

Danavan Wright Diego Rosales

Emily Wendt Savannah Roberts

First Grade

Logan Bernath Erik Dedo

Madelyn Zirbel Kameron Box

Rowan Moxley Katelyn Bava

Gabriel Tienstra Madison Skowronski

Makaela Miller Lucas Bouchie

Chad Ganshirt Sam Starkenburg

Jeanette Kouassi

Second Grade

Lily Bosch Isaac Perez

Patrick Hutton Colby Lomaglio

Ellery Homrich Jayla Schnackenberg

Paul Crecco Adam Freeman

Chase Bethea Eddie Wilson

Antonio Cipolla J T Senzel

Riley Brooks Christina Turovsky

Charlie Franc Andrew Gaughan

Julia White