Dear West Oak Intermediate Families,

Welcome back! We hope you had a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving break with your loved ones. It has been great to have our students back in the building, ready to learn and finish the year strong.

We enjoyed celebrating the incredible talents of our students at the 5th Grade Band and Choir concerts this week! A heartfelt thank-you to Mr. Mesa, Mr. Stanich, and Ms. Borkowski for their leadership and hard work in preparing our musicians. The performances were beautiful and truly brought the holiday spirit to life. We are so proud of our students for their dedication and effort!

Thank you as well for your partnership in supporting your child during winter benchmark testing this week and next week. Ensuring students get a good night’s sleep and helping them remember to charge their Chromebooks each night makes a big difference. Our students are doing a fantastic job, and we are already seeing strong reading and math growth across grade levels!

Thank you for your continued support of our school community. We’re excited for a wonderful few weeks ahead as we move into the winter season together.

Natalie Kalette

Principal

West Oak Intermediate School

• Bus Bulletin via Lakeside Transportation: Thank you for your patience with afternoon transportation delays this week. The trains stopped on the tracks created unexpected challenges during dismissal, and we appreciate your flexibility as we worked to ensure students got home safely. To help you stay informed about any future bus delays directly from our transportation company, you can sign up for Bus Bulletin notifications here: Transportation Page. This service will send updates via email about delays or route changes.

• SEL Focus of the Month: December's SEL focus is EMPATHY! Students will be developing skills like perspective-taking, conflict resolution, and leadership through our Character Strong curriculum during morning meeting. Please see below for the monthly family newsletters: 

  • 3rd Grade Family Newsletter: English Spanish 

  • 4th Grade Family Newsletter: English Spanish

  • 5th Grade Family Newsletter: English Spanish

• Clubs and Activities: Here is the after school clubs and activities schedule. The last day for Session 1 of WOIS clubs and activities is Thursday, December 11th, with Intramurals ending yesterday. Session 2 clubs and activities information will be sent out after winter break. Stay tuned!

5th-8th grade Wrestling will begin Monday, December 8th, in our WOIS gym. All students 5th-8th grade are welcome and practices will be Monday-Thursday from 3:30-5:00pm. A current sports physical and all necessary paperwork is required to participate. 

• It's getting chilly!: As the temperatures start to drop, please ensure you are sending your student with warm winter-weather gear. We will continue to go outside for recess every day, except in the case of extreme cold or rain. If there is snow on the ground, students will need a hat (or hood), jacket, gloves, snow pants, and boots to play in the snow. 

• Diamond Awards: New to this year, we ask families to complete this nomination Form if they would like to recognize a staff member they feel are going above and beyond with what they do in the classroom, school, or district. Please consider spreading the positivity by highlighting the great work that staff our doing in our district. 

• D76 CARES: At D76, the well-being of our students and families is our top priority. Understanding the critical role mental health plays in student success, we have launched D76 CARES - a comprehensive initiative aimed at improving access to quality mental health services across our community. D76 CARES stands for Community, Advocacy, Resilience, Engagement, and Support. Treatment services are initially provided free of charge to district families for up to 8 sessions. Click HERE for treatment request.

Discuss Goals: Take a few minutes at the start of each week to ask your child what they hope to learn or accomplish. These goals can be simple: finishing a book, mastering a math skill, being kinder to a classmate, or keeping their desk organized. Helping your child set small, achievable goals teaches planning and responsibility, and it builds a strong sense of ownership over their learning. 

Checking in at the end of the week to celebrate progress (big or small!) reinforces a growth mindset and shows your child that effort leads to improvement.

Your student's classroom teacher should be your first point of contact. For building-related information, please call the front office at 847-970-3544 or contact the following individuals via email: 

• Front Office Staff: Ms. Kailey Leon: kleon@dist76.org & Cinthia Maldonado: cmaldonado@dist76.org 

• Principal: Natalie Kalette: nkalette@dist76.org 

• Nurse: Julie Marchese: jmarchese@dist76.org 

• Parents Night Out- Calling all 5-13 year olds for a fun night of Nerf battles on Saturday December 6,  5:00-9:00pm at Action Martial Arts.  Located at 706 E Hawley Street Mundelein. $35 entry fee- Sign up today!

• Next PTO Meeting- Tuesday Dec 16th, 2025 6:00-7:00 pm Diamond Lake Elementary School Library. 

Please visit the D76 PTO Website for upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and more!