Meadow Glens Newsletter
News from Katy Lynch, Principal
May 10, 2017
Dear Meadow Glens Families,
As the 2016-2017 year comes to a close, we say, “goodbye” to the year that was and “so long” to our fifth grade students who will head off to junior high in the fall. When I first arrived at Meadow Glens six years ago, these graduating students were the incoming kindergarteners that I welcomed on my first day. I take great pride as I look back and reflect on the last six years as your principal at Meadow Glens. Our Meadow Glens team has come through in big ways over the past six years, and together we have brought about many changes that have impacted our school and community in many positive ways. Below are some of the team’s accomplishments over the past six years.
Responding to community interest, we planned for and implemented a STEM Night and two Elementary Science Olympiad teams—Thank you SFCP for your partnership on this effort! We were again a recipient of the district SFCP Best Practice Award for our STEM event. The efforts of our parents and community are also evident in the results of the recent achievements at the Elementary Science Olympiad competition.
Meadow Glens 6A
- Anatomy-1
- Aerodynamics-3
- Backyard Biologist-1
- Mystery Powders-2
- Science Password-1
Meadow Glens 16B
- Bridge Building-1
- Junk Cars-2
- Metric Mastery-1
- Rock Hound-2
- Trajeggtory-1
- Weather or Not-2
- Write It, Do It-1
At Meadow Glens, we have targeted our school improvement efforts to align with the district strategic blueprint commitments. Our staff has helped to develop district curriculum that aligns to standards, piloted new resources, and implemented curriculum for English Language Arts, Word Study, and Math. Next year, we will be implementing the newly adopted Social Emotional Learning curriculum and resources, 1:1 Chromebooks and 2:1 iPads, and will continue the curriculum work and learning around Next Generation Science Standards. We restructured our grading and reporting model to reflect grade level standards and expectations. From a programmatic standpoint we reorganized our behavior management system to reflect a Positive Behavior and Restorative Justice Model. Lastly, we have calibrated our instructional design to enable full implementation of a Multi-Tiered System of Support, providing a system of intervention, enrichment, and support services to all students.
During these last six years our team here at Meadow Glens has also accomplished much to improve our school campus. We worked with officials of two municipalities to improve traffic patterns and arrival and dismissal procedures to ensure a safe arrival and dismissal of students. In addition, a bus lane was constructed on Muirhead resulting in improved student safety and traffic flow. In partnership with an Eagle Scout and former Meadow Glens student we installed a school butterfly garden, providing outdoor learning opportunities for students and staff members. Also, the redesign of our library, supported in part by Home & School several years ago, has supported our shift to a learning commons model. A gradual makeover of our lobby supports the diverse students and families at Meadow Glens, improves security, and helps us to put our best foot forward when welcoming our community into our school. I am pleased to report that the replacement of the old roof at Meadow Glens, something that was an ongoing issue for years, has made the rainy season a little more tolerable. This summer, work will also continue with some classrooms getting new carpet.
In the area of community engagement, we have put into practice parent involvement programs and events such as the H&S sponsored reading incentive program and Dad’s and Donuts. We have continued an after school academic support program with the support of Naperville Education Foundation (NEF). We have also continued to grow our community partnerships with local organizations such as the Humane Society, STEM vendors, and Anderson’s Bookshop which support our students and community events.
From an academic perspective, our students continue to achieve and grow well beyond grade level expectations. While most of our students do exceedingly well, we still have achievement gaps with some of our students. We will continue to look at school-wide fall to fall growth and grade level achievement data to guide school improvement efforts. We can continue to improve the success of our students, and I fully believe that the structures necessary to achieve this success are in place.
I encourage you to celebrate with me the wonderful things that have taken place at Meadow Glens and that will surely continue in the years to come.
-Katy Lynch
Invitation to Attend MG Retirement Celebration
Meadow Glens Home & School would like to invite all students (past and current) and their families to honor our beloved retirees--4th grade teacher Ms. Angelos, Music teacher Ms. Wysocki, and Custodian Mr. Don Massingill with a cake reception on Wednesday, May 17th, at 2:30 pm in the MPR. The Meadow Glens community thanks them for their years of dedication and service!
5th Grade Celebration- Meadow Glens’ 5th Graders Rock!!
Meadow Glens Home & School invites all 5th grade students to celebrate the culmination of elementary school on Wednesday, May 24th. Aramark will provide a pizza lunch in the MPR sponsored by H&S and then students will enjoy fun and games in the gym. Don’t forget to wear your 5th grade t-shirts.
News from the Library
This week (May 8-12) is the last week that your children will be checking out books at school. To date, the students at Meadow Glens have checked out 19,431 books and magazines for the 2016-17 school year. We certainly have a school of readers! Please help us prepare for inventory by making sure that all books and magazines are back to the library on Monday, May 15th. We really appreciate your help with this! Thanks for all you do to support your children as readers at home. Don’t forget to sign up for the summer reading programs at your local libraries! Have a wonderful summer filled with family, friends, and BOOKS! ~ Ms. Kassen, Learning Commons Director
Hello Spirited Eagles!
This Friday is our last spirit day of the school year…COLOR COMPETITION DAY! Don’t forget to wear your grade level color on Friday! Kdg- Red, 1st- Blue, 2nd- Orange, 3rd- Purple, 4th- Yellow, 5th- Green
DLI Devices
Students in a DLI classroom need to bring their devices, power bricks and bags back to school on Friday, May 19th. The items will remain at school for the remainder of the year. Thank you for your support in returning the DLI devices.
Good Will Games
This year, Good Will Games will take place on Thursday, May 18 and Friday, May 19. The schedule is as follows:
5/18/17
8:20-9:35…..3rd Grade Classes
9:55-11:25…4th Grade/4th Gr PI+
12:50-2:20…5th Grade/5th Gr PI+
05/19/17
9:20-10:30…..Second Grade Classes
11:30-12:40…Kindergarten Classes
1:05-2:15…….First Grade Classes
Last Day of School 2016-2017
Barring any unexpected situations (weather or otherwise) which would cause us to delay the final day of school for the 2016-2017 school year, the last day of school will be Thursday, May 25, 2017. The last day of school is a full school day 8:15am-2:30pm.
Summer Learning
Summer learning in Naperville 203 offers something for every student, whether seeking to support core learning to maintain academic growth or enriching learning in areas not traditionally covered during the school year. Summer learning experience is designed for six weeks, June 5-July 14. Parents may register students for one or both three-week semesters. Visit the district website for more information or call (630)637-7346.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
May 17- Elementary PI+ Parent Night
May 18- Ice Cream Social 6:00-7:30pm
May 23- 4th Grade Travel USA in MPR 8:30-10:20am
May 24- 5th Grade Celebration in Gym (students only)
May 25 Last day of school, School Picnic 11:00am-12:00pm, Assemblies 11:15am & 12:15pm, 5th Grade Clap-out 2:15pm
A few last words…
So, as I come to the end of a longer letter than I originally intended to write, I extend my grateful thanks to the entire MG community for the way you continue to support us, our teachers and our students. I also wish you all an excellent summer, wherever you may be, and I look forward to seeing many of you in August.
~Katy Lynch
