January Newsletter

We hope you have had a wonderful winter break! 

We are looking forward to having an AMAZING second half of the school year.  

January 

• Monday, January 8th - School Resumes 
• Thursday, January 11th - Five Schools, One Book Kick-Off Assembly
• Thursday, January 11th - KST PTN Meeting (6:00-7:30pm)
• Monday, January 15th - NO SCHOOL 
• Thursday, January 18th - District Spelling Bee (6:00-7:00pm)
• Wednesday, January 24th - PTN Dine Out - Portillo's (Batavia)
• Monday - Wednesday, Jan. 29-31 - SIP Writing Post Assessment

Infinite Campus Tip - Requesting Absence

Do you sometimes forget to call your child into the office because your mornings are just so busy...well we can help you out!  Here are a few steps to digitally mark your child's absence. 

1. Log into your family Infinite Campus Account  
2. Click on the 3 lines (top left)
3. Click on "more"
4. Click on Absence Requests
5. Choose which student, Excuse, and Absence Type

Once you submit it, Jessica will be notified in the front office and will mark your child absent. If you still would like to call in you can, but as a parent, I have found this way to be very helpful!! 

Mid-Year Expectation Walks

Each year we take time to review the school expectations when we return from break with all of your students as a friendly reminder. 

Stations will include:

Bathroom

Exiting the Building

Hallway

Lunch/Recess

Writing Data Review - Perseverance & Expectations in Writing 

These stations will be facilitated by 5th-grade students and staff members and will be held on Thursday, January 11th, and Friday, January 12th.   Feel free to ask your child the expectations for each of these areas as another review opportunity.

From Our Behavior Facilitator 

Let’s start out 2024 on the right foot! Please review the below tips and tricks for making the transition back from break as seamless as possible.

Tip #1: Lead by example
Want your child to begin readjusting to his or her school schedule before going back? Show them how by doing it yourself. It’s not just kids who alter their activity and sleeping habits during breaks. Parents often relax bedtimes and other structured parts of daily life.

Tip #2: Talk about going back to school
Kids can get as stressed as adults. And, just like grown-ups, kids learn to hide their anxiety or bury it. Going back to school can be very stressful for kids. Whether it’s feeling unprepared, nervous over encountering students they don’t get along with, or some other reason, kids may have feelings they are struggling with and not sharing.
As a parent, look for those signs of stress. Is your child moodier as school approaches? Do they lose their appetite? Are they withdrawn? Have you noticed a lack of energy in your child?

Tip #3: Prepare your student for class by picking up supplies and using calendars
Take a look at your child’s upcoming assignments and needed supplies. Ask your child if they have everything they need when school resumes. If not, go to the store with your student. Get them involved in the buying process. Encourage them to have a sense of ownership over what they need.

Tip #4: Get a good night’s sleep
Sleeping habits are often one of the first things altered during an extended break. Kids sleep in later in the morning. They stay up later at night. Getting back onto an appropriate sleep schedule is one of the biggest adjustments for going back to school.
Set a scheduled bedtime and stick to it several days before the holiday break ends. Your child will be in a much better position to readjust to daily school with a good night’s sleep.

Tip #5: Schedule reading times
A simple way to make going back to school easier for your child is implementing reading time. Schedule a minimum amount of reading time for your child each day. Reading is a foundational activity that keeps your brain limber and active.
You can take your child to your local library. Getting them out of the house (where all of the tempting time wasters are waiting) is an effective way to encourage more reading. The library offers endless opportunities for children to explore subjects.

Tip #6: Reduce screen time
This suggestion is hardly a surprise! Get them moving and doing other things. Brains need to be stimulated, and it’s too easy to slip into sluggish (from a mental standpoint) time-wasting with unlimited access to their tablets or cell phones.


Read the full article to learn more.

Five Schools, One Book

You and your family are officially invited to participate in our Five Schools One Book reading project which will launch on Thursday, January 11th. All Early Childhood, K-5, and MidValley learners will attend an assembly and THEN get to solve a mystery to find their books. Everyone will be sent home with their very own copy of the book where they can participate in the weekly activities to earn raffle prizes. 

Our goal is to build a community of lifelong readers, and we know that you play an essential role in encouraging your children to jump on board! Encourage your children to participate and enjoy this experience by reading and discussing the book with them. Please set aside time every night and develop a special reading routine together; or you could encourage more independent readers to maintain a reading schedule and discuss the book together. You and your child(ren) can also access videos of the book being read on the school website. 

We can’t wait until January 11th!

Upcoming Author Visit

The Extraordinary Imagination
of Jenny Figment

Author Visit Information

We are excited to welcome local author Jennifer Hayes to our schools for the release of her new book The Extraordinary Imagination of Jenny Figment!

February 27th

- KPASS 9:30-10:15

- 2nd 7 3rd Grade 10:30 - 11:15

BOOK ORDER FORM

This Is Us Bulletin Board

We would love to feature your family on our "This Is Us" bulletin board in the main hallway. To celebrate this theme with us, we would love to have our families join our whole school bulletin board.  Please email a family photo to Jessica.Bottorff@kaneland.org so we can print it off and add it to our bulletin board in the main hallway.  Thanks for participating! 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080549abaa2ca5fe3-preschool#/

Or VISIT https://www.kaneland.org/departments/pre-k  

December Newsletter

Important Dates

• December 1 - PTN/IgKnight BINGO 6-8pm @ IgKnight Academy 
• December 6 - PTN Night Out - Noodle & Co. 
• December 7 - PTN Meeting at 6:30 PM
• December 12 - KST Spelling Bee (3rd - 5th grade) 1:30-3:30 pm
• December 13 - Fun Lunch - Culver's 
• December 13 - PTN Night Out - Beef Shack
• December 15 - 1st Grade Music Concert 9:30-10:00 am
• December 19 & 20 - 1 Hr Early Dismissal  (2:25 & 2:30)
• December 20 - Holiday Parties (K: 10:40-11:20) (1st-5th 1:30-2:20)
• December 21 - January 7  WINTER BREAK 

 December Spirit Month

Click this link to save it to your phone: A December to Remember - Holiday Spirit Week 2023

Our Holiday Spirit Month starts on Tuesday, December 5th with a 12-day Countdown.  I'll send weekly reminders to help you out! 

A Few of Their Favorite Things

Are you wondering what your child's teacher(s) favorite things are to get a head start on this holiday season?? CLICK HERE to see their lists.  

Connecting with KST's Google Calendar

Do you use Google calendar?  If so, feel free to add our calendar to yours to keep up to date on what's happening at KST.   KST Google Calendar

iReady Testing

Students in 1st-5th grade will be taking the iReady Diagnostic 2 reading and math tests the week of December 4-8. Please make sure they get a great night's sleep and hearty breakfast that week! Please encourage your student(s) to take their time on the tests and try their best. We do utilize the data provided to develop the next steps or supports for students.  

Pre-Paid Milk
You are able to prepay milk for the year or by each semester. This is available when you register into your child's Infinite Campus account. The last day to purchase milk for the second semester will be January 12th to pay for the entire school year, the fee is  $42.00-2nd sem. Login to your family's Canvas Account to purchase. Click on School Store. Click on John Stewart Elementary. Click on Pre-Paid Milk. 

Your child can also bring 50 cents daily to purchase milk when they would like if you do not want to prepay milk for the semester.  

News from Lunch and Recess Monitors 

• Please refrain from sending your child with a toy or ball to recess.  We have plenty of equipment for all students.  
• Please help us remind your child not to share food with other students. Our monitors are doing their best but they are still trading and sharing. 
• Students are also eating most of their lunch during snack time. If you could please send your child with more food or separate bags for lunch and recess, that would be appreciate. 

Kaneland Cares Closet 
The Care Closet is still available this year for any family who is struggling with basic necessities. See the link below for more information:     Cares Closet    

School Improvement Plan Mid-Point Check-in

KST Goal: By February 2024, students in grades 1st - 5th achieving in the on and above level will increase by 25%, in the area of writing development in a Narrative writing piece. Based on the assessed pre-narrative in September and post-narrative in February.

On Tuesday, November 21st our SIP building team created a plan that asked for staff to self-reflect on the Writing Delivery Table and Writing Audit Form as a team/individual which was identified as an Action Item from our School Improvement Plan. 

• Teachers reflected on the proficient and approaching proficient statements and created action steps for any approaching proficiency statements that you have identified as an individual or team. 

Teachers also had time to assess each student's mid-point writing and work collaboratively as a grade level to create the next steps to support our writers based on the information they received from the assessment. For our mid-point check-in, all 1st-5th grade students participated in a 90-minute writing piece over a three-day time span where a random sample of 25% of the grade level (1st-5th) provided us with our mid-point check-in data.

Our student's midpoint data:

PBP Professional Development 

During another part of our PD (Professional Development) Day on Tuesday, November 21st our. Student Samples were presented and teachers reflected on how they would answer the following questions based on the work shown at each station.

1. What probing questions would you engage in with this child?

2. What notes or data would you take?

          3. What are the next steps you would create with the student? Kaneland PBP