Dear Blackwell Friends and Families,

It is hard to believe that we are winding down another school year! We feel like we say this every year, but time sure goes by fast. Our staff is busy making plans for the end of the year and for the start of the 2012-2013 school year. We are currently in the process of reflecting on our goals that were set forth for this year and celebrating our progress towards these goals. Our staff has been very busy this year working on our focus of working together as a professional learning community, implementing many Sheltered Instruction strategies for all students, providing additional time to master literacy skills using a balanced literacy approach in our Parallel Block and continuing to implement PBIS school-wide. This year has been an exciting one!

We are approaching the busiest time of our year. Many end of the year activities are planned for our students, and the staff has a great deal to complete to finish off the year. Our students just finished our last round of MAP testing. It has been exciting to see kids reach their goals and make many gains in both Math and Reading. All parents will be receiving a print out of their child’s MAP progress before the school year ends.

The second of May was kicked-off by celebrating our teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week – “Bobcat Olympics.” We all had a blast working together as teams to compete for various rewards and bragging rights. Congrats to the Yellow Team for taking home the gold! Our teachers were treated with a week of wonderful surprises provided by the world’s best PTA. Teachers received gifts, cards, and a bounty of food and refreshments all throughout the week. The Blackwell staff wanted me to thank our parents for making this week something special.

As always, we thank you for your support!

Regards,

 Brad Carter

 Principal

Please click here for the Blackwell Banner

Blackwell had a guest author come and work with students for 4 days.  He helped each grade create a    story, illustrate it, then bind it.  The whole school was involved and each classroom ended up with a book!  Each book was on display during our Celebrate Reading and Writing Celebration.  Thank you PTA for bringing  Mr. Lehman to our school.

     Our guest author, Mr. Lehman, is brainstorming  ideas for the  
     theme of the book  with the students.
     

   5th and 6th graders discussing the conclusion for the book.

Dear Wonderful Blackwell Community,
On Thursday, May 10 Blackwell and the Schaumburg Police are sponsoring a walk/ride/bus to school day. Not only is this a healthy option for our students, and great for the environment, it is also one way to reduce the congestion around the neighborhoods making it safer for everyone.

Did you know…?
*A 15 minute walk to and from school 5 times a week burns off the equivalent of 11 pounds of fat in a year.
*Walking helps to improve overall balance and coordination.
*Bicycling and other forms of exercise have been shown to help increase bone density.
*Walking and biking is a convenient form of transportation for short journeys and can be faster in highly congested areas.
*Test results show that children who walk to school are more alert and ready to tackle the day.
*If a class of 25 children walked to school, that class would burn 7,500 calories per day; reduce catbon monoxide emissions by 2.75 lbs. per week and save $135 in gas.
*Taking the bus reduces traffic, congestion and gas emissions.

Let’s show Schaumburg how healthy the Blackwell Bobcats are! Please join us in walking, biking or riding the bus on May 10th!

 Truly,

 Brad Carter

 Principal

Click  here  for the Blackwell Banner

 Blackwell families and friends,

 I cannot believe that today is May 1^st!  Time is going by rather quickly and it will continue to do so due to the variety of activities scheduled this month.

 Thank you to our families for attending Celebrate Reading and Writing Night this past Thursday. Students were able to showcase their wonderful writing pieces and demonstrate how much they have grown as writers since the beginning of the year. Thank you to Edie R. and Kim L. for creating a one of a kind experience for the students of Blackwell to work with an author to create a story as an entire school. Our students created a masterpiece that will live within their classrooms for other students to share for many years to come. Remember, our Scholastic Online Book Fair goes through May 4^th. Families can go to www.scholastic.com and type in Elizabeth Blackwell to order books to support our school.

 Here are some other reminders for the upcoming weeks:

 *May 1^st to May 11^th -MAP testing continues this week and next. Encourage your child(ren) to do their best and reach for their growth targets from the fall.

*Wednesday, May 2^nd – ½ Day Institute Day (No School EC/K and 11:40 Dismissal for Grades 1-6)

*Thursday, May 3^rd – Hot Lunch

*Monday, May 7^th – Pizza Day

*Tuesday, May 8^th – Market Day Pick-up

- Kindergarten Info Night from 6-7pm

-PTA Meeting at 7pm

*Thursday, May 10^th – Blackwell “Walk to School Day”

*Friday, May 11^th – Ice Cream Day

 Have a sensational week!

 Regards,

Brad Carter
Principal
Blackwell School

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Attention: R&B Club Morning Readers

The last day for students to attend R&B reading club from 7:45am-8:30am, this school year, is Monday, April 30th. After this date students should not arrive at school until 8:25 AM ~ Thank you!

Superintendent Rafferty’s April article was recently published in the Daily Herald. It can be accessed in both English and Spanish on the School District 54 website at http://sd54.org/. 

Click here to read the Blackwell Banner

Dear Blackwell Families and Friends,

 We have a very busy week at Blackwell! Our entire school will be creating an original book with the help of our visiting author, James Lehman. He will be leading our students through a workshop to create a unique story that every child has a piece in creating. This will begin on Tuesday with a brainstorming session with the school and each grade level, and last the entire week with various bookmaking steps. Our goal is to have a finished version of the story by Celebrate Reading and Writing on Thursday, April 26th.

.Our very first “Talent Show” will take place on Thursday, April 19th at 7pm. Mr. Banas and Mrs. Nolan have been working around the clock to ensure our performers are ready for this event. If parents cannot make the 7pm showing, you are welcome to stop by school at 1pm for the afternoon performance. Good luck to everyone from our performers and stage crew. Blackwell definitely has talent!

 Blackwell will be showing “Dolphin Tale” on Friday, April 20th as part of Family Movie Night. More information is contained in the Banner this week.

 District 54 offers “Take Your Child To Work Day” on Thursday, April 26, 2012. A “Take Your Child To Work Day” packet, which includes a parent letter explaining guidelines and procedures, permission form, and follow-up activities, is available in our school office. The purpose of this “Take Your Child To Work Day” is to provide an opportunity for children to discover first hand a career as well as an opportunity to discover how the skills they learn in school are applied in everyday work experiences. Packets will be available in the office beginning April 16th. If you wish for your child to participate in “Take Your Child to Work Day” please contact Sue Longo at suelongo@sd54.org   Students interested in participating in “Take Your Child To Work Day” must return their signed permission form to their Principal.

 Midterms will be going home on Friday. Students that are not performing to their fullest will be receiving a midterm report. Please continue to work in conjunction with your classroom teacher to make positive steps to improve grades before June 5th .Teachers are available at any time to review your child’s progress.

 Have a very enjoyable week!
Regards,

 Brad Carter
Principal

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 Hello Super Families of Blackwell School,

 Expect Respect- Our PBIS Bully Prevention Program

 The students and staff at Blackwell have been learning and practicing the Expect Respect Program for several months, starting with our Cool Tools in January focusing on PBIS Bully Prevention Program curriculum (How to use Stop, Walk, Talk as a strategy to deal with disrespectful behavior). The students have been continuing to learn and practice skills for respectful behavior through our all school goals and community/social skills/team building class meetings as well as the on-going conversations with staff and students throughout each day, teaching, re-teaching respectful behavior. For more information on this program, please be sure to attend this month’s PTA meeting. Mrs. Brodie, Blackwell social worker, will be reviewing the program and sharing information/data gathered over the year.

 Thank you to all of our parents that supported our “Opening Day” of the baseball season last week. Without your support, we could not have popped enough popcorn and serve the masses for lunch. Our students and staff loved the day! We are so fortunate to have such a supportive cast of parents that constantly put the students of Blackwell School first. Our students truly earned this incentive by reducing the amount of majors/minors by half from where we were last year in March. Tremendous job!

 Have a marvelous week!

 Regards,

Brad Carter
Principal
Blackwell School

Click to read the Blackwell Banner Apr 9 2012

Tremendous Blackwell Families,
Welcome back from your week long break! I hope that you got to spend some quality time with the family and rejuvenate for the final few months of school.

 As we head into the spring months, I will be keeping you informed of any changes that might be occurring at Blackwell. A few changes I would like to tell you about concern a few staff members venturing out to try new things at another school. Both Ms. Betsy Brantner and Mrs. Shannon Steen will be headed to Stevenson School next year. Ms. Brantner and Mrs. Steen have been instrumental in guiding Blackwell to being one of the top schools in SD 54 and have made a huge impact with the students, families and staff. I wish them the very best as they will continue making positive changes and connections at their new school. 

To fill the vacated literacy coach role, Mrs. Debbie Dubinski will be using all of her 22 years of experience to support our students and staff in the area of literacy. Mrs. Dubinski has been working at Lakeview School for the past 22 years working in the primary grades as a teacher and a literacy coach. Due to the open position left by Mrs. Cubberley (retirement), we had to fill that role too. Mrs. Jill Donlan, a seven year veteran at Lakeview School will be joining our staff as a 1/2 multi-grade teacher. Mrs. Donlan has been a proud member of School District 54 her entire life. Her husband is also a teacher at Mead Jr. High. Both Mrs. Donlan and Mrs. Dubinski are excited about the new change and have heard many wonderful comments about the Blackwell community.

 Thanks again for your commitment to our students! We have a very busy final two months, so keep your eyes peeled to the calendar to see what’s happening.

 Have a wonderful week!

 Regards,

Brad Carter
Principal

 Click to read the Blackwell Banner  Apr 2 2012

Hello Blackwell Families and Friends,

March can be defined by four simple letters, I.S.A.T. All the students at Blackwell are working hard on growing academically, socially, and emotionally. Part of measuring that growth comes by demonstrating their knowledge on standardized tests in grades 3-6. The teachers have done an outstanding job of teaching concepts that will not only help the students succeed on this test, but in the years to come. Now that ISATs are completed, we will continue with our normal classroom schedules. Great job, once again, to our students for doing their very best on the test!

Beyond ISATs, we have been experiencing some unseasonably warm weather. Please be reminded that students are expected to wear clothing that is in keeping with health and safety standards and does not interfere with the educational process. Our teachers have had discussions with students about appropriate dress, so all students are aware of what is acceptable and what isn’t. For P.E., Mr. Navas wanted me to remind students to wear gym shoes on gym days.
A friendly reminder that all Family Folders are due back on Wednesdays! Our students bring home Family Folders every Friday to inform parents on all the important happenings at Blackwell. Please get your folders in on time so that we do not have to create new folders or need to contact families multiple times. Thanks for your assistance and thanks to our PTA members and volunteers that help with the folders.

I would like to thank the PTA and all the parents who have volunteered throughout this year. Your dedication and willingness to help makes Blackwell School an amazing place to be! Thank you!

And finally, I will be sending the Blackwell Banner Newsletter as an attachment from now on. We always have so much information in the Banner that sometimes it is extremely large and fills up your email inboxes.

Have a wonderful week and a safe and enjoyable Spring Break!

Regards,
Brad Carter
Principal
Blackwell School

 Below is the link to our newsletter:
Blackwell Banner

Click here for the Blackwell Banner   Mar 19 2012

Upcoming Events

March 19- Pizza Monday

March 20 – Last Day of After School Band for 5th Graders

March 22 – Hot Lunch; GEMS Club; Last Day of Band for 6th Graders; 5th/6th Band Concert at Addams Jr. High

March 23 – Ice Cream Day

March 26-30 – Spring Break