IB Snapshot Introduction: As you probably know, Julian is an International Baccalaureate (IB) school. What does this mean? How does this affect the teaching and learning that happens in our classrooms? We will be using this space throughout the school year to continuously answer these questions by sharing pictures from our classrooms. We hope to show you through pictures how the teaching and learning at our school is in alignment with the IB Mission Statement.
IB Snapshot #2
This snapshot comes from Ms. Welchko’s math class. The IB Mission Statement states “The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people.” One of the ways we develop this is through opportunities for students to work on tasks that can be solved in multiple ways. On this assignment, the students used their knowledge about finding the area of simple shapes to come up with a strategy to find the area of this complex shape. There are multiple ways to solve this problem, so the students discussed their ideas in knowledgeable, caring ways. They used the skills of communication and collaboration to work together and accurately complete this task.
Student Led Parent/Teacher Conference – Thursday, Jan. 31
Families received information from their student's grade level team leader to sign up for student led parent/teacher conferences over the past week or so. You should have received an email from SignUp.com that enabled you to schedule a conference with your student's teacher. Our students lead these conferences. Yesterday, they spent time considering the following International Baccalaureate Approaches to Learning Skills: organization, communication, being reflective, and affective skills. Students completed a reflection form and collected work samples from their classes to share during their conference. They also had a pre-meeting with their conferencing teacher in order to ensure that they are prepared and ready to lead this important conversation.
8th Grade Graduation Date
In case you missed this communication prior to winter break: I am reaching out to let you know that this past summer, we submitted a request to Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRFHS) to hold our eighth-grade graduation ceremonies at its building on Monday, June 3. The high school told us that the day we wanted was not available due to a scheduling conflict involving another organization. We then reached out to several other local venues to find out if they could host us on our preferred date. Unfortunately, none of them could accommodate the size of our group or meet the needs of our students and their families.
As a result, we have decided to hold this year’s graduation ceremony at OPRFHS on Saturday, June 1. The last day of school for 8th grade students will be Friday, May 31.
The ceremony for Brooks students will take place at 10 a.m., while the ceremony for Julian students will take place at 2 p.m. We will provide you with more detailed information about graduation toward the end of the school year. Until then, we want to apologize for any issues or inconvenience this may cause, and encourage you to contact us if you have any questions.
Attendance Matters
Ask parents about the importance of school attendance in the early grades, and they can tell you why showing up every day matters. They can also share their very real challenges in getting children to school. Bringing Attendance Home, a video from Attendance Works, features parents talking to other parents about reducing absenteeism. Filmed in schools across the country, the video offers tips for parents and schools to improve student attendance. Together, our parents and schools can make attendance a priority. We know this is a very important indicator of student success.
Check out “Bringing Attendance Home: Parent Video” from Rachel Auerbach on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/101425388
Illinois 5Essentials Survey
We are administering the Illinois 5Essentials Survey again this year to certified staff and parents/guardians from all 10 of our schools, as well as students in grades four through eight. Please click here to learn how parents/guardians can participate in this important endeavor and click here to access the parent/guardian version of the survey.
Please note that school-level reports will only be generated if at least 20 percent of our parents/guardians complete the survey. Julian currently has 9% of its parents/guardians that have completed the survey. We need your feedback!
Thanks in advance for taking some time to complete it.
Upcoming Events:
Thursday, January 31 - Student-Led Parent Teacher Conferences / Half Day of School for Students
Friday, February 1 - Half Day of School for Students
Friday, February 15 - No School
Monday, February 18 - No School / President's Day
Sincerely,
Dr. Todd Fitzgerald