Fox Ridge Family Newsletter

Please do not reply to this email or any sent from our mass communication system. These are noreply products. A few families have attempted to email me using this email or replying to this email, but fortunately they also included their teachers so it was received and we noticed the noreply email which was intended for the principal. The correct email is michelle.woodring@d303.org.

Friday, February 7 at 6 p.m. - Foxes Take the Stage: A Lip Sync Event

Monday, February 10 at 7 p.m. in the LRC - Monthly PTO Meeting

Friday, February 14 - Classroom Valentine's Day Celebrations

Monday, February 17th - NO School-President's Day Holiday

Tuesday, February 18th - NO School for Students

Thursday, February 20 at 6:30 p.m. - PTO's Parent Night Out at Whiskey Bend

Friday, February 21st - End of 2nd Trimester for Elementary Students

Thursday, February 27th - Half Day of School for Students 12pm Dismissal

Friday, February 28th - NO School for Students

Please check your child's HAC (Home Access Center) account for emergency contacts. All students should have at least one emergency contact that is not a parent. In case of emergencies or illness an emergency contact is someone who can pick your child up from school within one hour of being called. Please email Nia.York@d303.org or Colleen.Monahan@d303.org to add an emergency contact for your child or children.

If for ANY reason you need to get out of your car while picking up your child from school (ie-strapping child into car seat, child needs assistance), PLEASE PARK and walk to pick up your child. There is NO exiting of vehicles in the Pick Up/ Drop Off Lane. This is too dangerous and delays the Pick Up/Drop Off lane from moving! In addition, as you are waiting on Tyler to enter the parking lot at arrival or dismissal time, it is suggested that you put your hazards on so that other moving traffic is aware that you are stopped.

At Fox Ridge, each student will achieve grade level standards in literacy, math and social emotional and behavioral skills.

Tonight marks our first-ever Foxes Take the Stage! I had the pleasure of attending the dress rehearsal, and I am beyond impressed by our talented students. Great job to everyone for working together, practicing, and preparing for the show—have a fantastic time tonight!

A huge thank you to our PTO and all the parents who helped organize and support our groups. A special shout-out to Ronde Green, Emily Pacini-Ides, and Juan Bazan for your dedication and hard work in making this event possible!

Upcoming Spirit Week

Next week, our Student Council has planned an exciting Spirit Week—details are listed above. We look forward to seeing everyone participate!

Staffing Updates

We have a few staffing changes to share:

• Mrs. Fong, who has been a special education para, will now transition to the role of LRC para.
• Mrs. Anastasiou has joined us as our new special education para—please give her a warm Fox Ridge welcome!
• Mrs. Martinez has joined our team as our ML para, further supporting our students.
• Mrs. Singh will begin her maternity leave in early March. We are pleased to welcome Mrs. Reed as her long-term substitute. She will begin transitioning into the role during the last week of February and fully take over in March.

Thank you all for your ongoing support and commitment to our students. Let’s have another great week ahead!

As you may have seen, we are kicking off two reading programs: Ozzie Reading and One Book One School (OBOS).

Ozzie Reading is a reading incentive program in partnership with the Kane County Cougars baseball team. We are starting a new tradition in which our entire Fox Ridge community will work together to meet the required reading minutes. Parents will verify these minutes through a Google Form sent via our weekly bulletins.

This program is unique because our school will attend a Cougars game as a whole-school field trip during the school day. This special experience is funded by our school building budget and serves as a wonderful way to celebrate our readers in the spring. Unlike other schools that may have done similar programs, families will not attend with us during the school trip. However, students will receive an additional ticket to attend a future game with their families.

We are committed to ensuring that all students in our school read or are read to for the required minutes. We will keep track using the google forms and provide make up opportunities to ensure all students are able to earn the free ticket through their reading. We know the importance of daily reading, and nothing supports student growth as readers more than consistent reading practice.

During our second semester, all classroom teachers are identifying MVP's related to iReady. Last week was our first week, below are the students that were recognized by their classroom teacher's. They all had the photos taken and are highlighted in our front hall frames. We will do this moving forward to encourage iReady engagement and completion. We know that completing 45 minutes in both areas reading and math supports students in achieving their typical growth and stretch growth.

This is what teachers were asked to do-Please review your students data from the past week, identify a student that is most improved in reading and another that is most improved in math (this can be someone who is putting in more effort, time, passing more lessons, anything to recognize and acknowledge their work.)

Here are the students from this week-Congratulations!

KBr Nora Favero/Harper Rush

KB Jo Pokorny/James Hill

KG Maris/Noah

1B Dylan/Oakley

1G Arya Munz/Emeric Jagielo

1M Henry Siedor/Ray Aung

2B Jesus/Pahal

2H Ben Griffiths/Danny Todd

2M Hunter/Lucy

3D Nylah/Max

3G Henry Kaye/Ved Patel

3M Noah/Roxanna

4Ad Caleb Moore/Cameron Jagielo

4An Charlotte/Lexi

4S James Ide/Moises De La Rosa

5M Zander Denk/Keya Desai

5T Abby/Will

5U William Bongard/Rian Al Zinkee

On Thursday, February 27th, all elementary students in D303 will have a half-day of school due to our Spring parent-teacher conferences. These conferences serve a different purpose than our Fall goal-setting conferences. Spring conferences provide teachers the opportunity to connect with families of students to discuss progress towards goals and areas for growth. The February 27 conferences have a much shorter time frame of 1:00 to 3:25. This means that teachers will only be able to meet with a few families that afternoon. Your child’s teacher will be sending a letter home next week with either a request to meet or a message stating that a conference is not necessary at this time.

Due to the 12:00 dismissal, students will not have lunch at school that day. All classrooms will take a snack break at some point in the morning.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out, michelle.woodring@d303.org.

As part of our school wide behavior incentives, individual students earn Golden Paws from teachers for meeting our behavior expectations of being respectful, responsible and safe. The Paws are entered into a raffle drawing that takes place on Fridays during lunch time. Students are recognized by their peers and are able to select a small prize. If you have items you would like to donate (stickers, croc charms, pokemon cards, etc), please send them in to Mrs. Patty Griffith, our Student Support Interventionist.

CHANGE OF CLOTHES:

Please remember to send a weather appropriate change of clothes to school with your student.

Also, we need donations of gently used GIRLS Pants, shirts and underwear.

ILLNESS:

If your student is diagnosed with an illness or infection, please notify the health office. We are tracking our students' health closely to watch for any trends in the classrooms. This includes, but not limited to, respiratory illnesses, COVID, Flu, Pink Eye, and Strep. We appreciate any information you give us regarding your student in the event they are ill.

Please remind your student to cover their coughs and sneezes and wash their hands often.

The CDC recommends that people with strep throat stay home from work, school, or daycare until they meet the following criteria:

• They are no longer feverish
• They have been taking antibiotics for at least 12–24 hours

People with strep throat should also:

• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve
• Wash hands frequently
• Wash cups, utensils, and other items that have been touched by an infected person

CDC 2024

Christina Marello, Building RN, 331-228-2404, christina.marello@d303.org.

Today's the big day! Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Performers should enter at door 48, while families use 43 (main doors). Please bring your ticket confirmation to the event in digital or physical form.

There will be two basketball games (5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.) on campus tonight. The parking lot will be extra busy due to East playing North. Please plan accordingly.

Break a leg, Foxes!

This program runs from Thursday, January 2-Sunday, February 16.

foxridgepto.com

PTOFoxRidge@gmail.com

Private Facebook Group

The locked glass display case in our front lobby is a great opportunity for students to show off things they like to collect. Some examples of collections that could be displayed in the case: cards, figurines, stickers, stuffed animals, rocks/shells, or books. We will curate any collections submitted by students to ensure they are school appropriate. Collections will be displayed for 2 weeks. Interested? Fill out our Display Case Form for a chance to have your collections featured.

District 303 is proud to partner with the Glenbard Parent Series (GPS) to offer our families broader access to information sessions and resources that support their child’s development.

For decades, GPS has been offering free programs that aim to empower and strengthen families, individuals and communities. As a partner organization, District 303 will support promoting upcoming programs and their importance to our local community.

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The D303 Community Preschool has openings for the 2025-2026 school year. The Preschool Lottery will be held from January 21, 2025 - February 7, 2025. Names will be drawn on February 10, 2025 and you will be notified by end of day February 11, 2025 if you received a spot for the 2025-2026 school year. Those who are not selected in the lottery will be placed on a waitlist and will be notified if space becomes available.

If you are interested in D303 Community Preschool for the 25-26 school year please fill out the link below for your child to be added to the lottery.

25-26 Preschool Lottery Sign-up