🎃 Happy Halloween, West Oak Families! 🎃

What a fun and festive week it’s been at West Oak! Our students had a wonderful time celebrating Red Ribbon Week, showing off their school spirit, and learning about the importance of making healthy and positive choices. Today’s Halloween parade and classroom parties were such a blast—our hallways were filled with smiles, laughter, and so many creative costumes! A huge thank you to our amazing PTO volunteers who helped organize and run classroom activities today. Your time and support helped make the day extra special for our students!

We also want to celebrate some fantastic attendance news for the month of October! Congratulations to our 4th grade students for having the highest average daily attendance at 96.5%! 5th grade was close behind at 96.49%, and 3rd grade came in strong at 95.44%—all of which are increases from August and September. Thank you, families, for helping ensure your children are at school each day and ready to learn. Your partnership truly makes a difference!

As a friendly reminder, Monday is a late start day to accommodate teacher professional development! 

Wishing all of our families a happy, safe, and candy-filled Halloween! 🎃👻🍬

Natalie Kalette

Principal

West Oak Intermediate School

Parent Teacher Conferences: We are excited for you to join us on November 24th for Parent-Teacher Conferences. To help you successfully schedule your child’s conference(s), please review the important notes below. 

Your child’s teacher(s) will send out Parent-Teacher Conference sign-up information through ParentSquare on Monday, November 3rd. Within ParentSquare, you will find a list of available time slots to schedule your child’s conference. When signing up, please select your preferred time and indicate whether the conference will be held virtually or in person in the notes section. You may also note if you require a translator during the conference.

If you choose to attend virtually, your child’s teacher(s) will send you a Google Meet invitation based on your selected time. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s teacher or your school’s front office.

Erin's Law: In accordance with Erin’s Law, all Illinois public schools are required to provide age-appropriate lessons each year to help students recognize unsafe situations, understand personal body safety, and know how to seek help from trusted adults. We will be presenting the lesson during the weeks of November 10th through November 21st. These lessons are designed to empower students with knowledge and skills to protect themselves. They focus on:

• Understanding the difference between safe and unsafe touches

• Identifying trusted adults at home and school

• Learning how to say “no” and get help when feeling unsafe

• Recognizing personal boundaries and respect for others

The lessons are presented in a sensitive, age-appropriate manner by our trained staff and/or approved curriculum resources. Our goal is to ensure students feel safe, supported, and informed. If you have questions about the content of these lessons, wish to review the materials before they are presented, or do not want your student to participate in this lesson please contact your school social worker by Friday, November 7, 2025:

• Diamond Lake School: Deborah Wargaski 847-566-6601

• West Oak Intermediate School: Lisa Brickert 847-970-3544

• West Oak Middle School: Lindsay Harmon 847-566-9220

Thank you for your partnership in helping us keep all students safe and informed.

Illinois Report Card: The 2025 Illinois Report Card for Diamond Lake District 76 is being released today.  This summer Illinois adjusted student proficiency levels on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) test taken in the spring of 2025 by students in grades 3-8 to reflect college and career readiness.  According to the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois has had the toughest benchmarks in the country for math and English language arts — meaning, many students who were doing well in school were somehow not “proficient” on state assessments. In science, the bar was too low, so many students looked “proficient” on paper, even if they hadn’t fully mastered the material.  With this adjustment now in place, the reading and math proficiency levels of nearly all districts has risen and science slightly lowered.  Additionally, the levels of student proficiency were moved from 5 levels to 4 levels to match the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) and the ACT.  For more information on the changes, please click here.  

We are pleased to report that all District 76 schools have been given ‘Commendable’ status for 2025!  Highlights include very strong growth in reading and math.  We will use this data to further evaluate the effectiveness of our District and school improvement plans to ensure we Embrace, Empower, Excel Each Child Each Day.  Further information about the District 76 Illinois Report Card results will be shared at the November Board of Education meeting.

Community Wellness Fair: Join us on Thursday, November 6th for a special visit with author and psychologist Doug Bolton and Community Wellness Fair! He’ll share insights from his new book and lead a conversation on how a student’s community—families, schools, and local partners—can foster wellness and drive academic success. Come learn practical strategies to strengthen belonging, build resilience, and create the supportive networks every learner needs to thrive. The Wellness Fair will take place from 6:00-7:00 p.m., and Dr. Doug Bolton will speak at 7:00 p.m. Please click here for more information. 

SEL Focus of the Month: October's SEL focus is RESPONSIBILITY! Students will be developing skills like focusing, organizing, and goal-setting 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: Clubs and activities are underway! Here is the after school clubs and activities schedule. 

Birthday Treats:  Due to dietary restrictions and various allergies within the classrooms, families will need to refrain from providing birthday treats.  Classrooms will recognize and celebrate students’ birthdays in other ways! We appreciate your understanding. 

It's getting chilly!: As the temperatures start to drop, please ensure you are sending your student with extra layers, jackets, gloves, and hats. We will continue to go outside for recess every day, except in the case of extreme cold or rain. 

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.

Connect Learning to Life: Look for opportunities to connect what your child is learning in school to everyday experiences. Ask your child to measure ingredients while cooking, estimate how long a trip will take, or read signs and menus when you’re out together. When children see how school skills are used in real life, they understand that learning is meaningful, valuable, and something they’ll use for a lifetime.

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 

• Winter Clothing Drive-Is running through November 7.  We are collecting new hats, gloves and scarves.  And gently used coats, snow pants, boots or Hoodies?  Donation boxes will be available at each school office. 

• Ice Cream day is Tuesday November 11th during lunch. Students can print and return this form with cash or  Order Ice Cream and Pay Via Zelle. If students do not order ice cream, they will be given a popsicle. Want to help serve Ice Cream? Sign up here!

• Next DINE OUT- Thursday November 13th from 5-8pm at Portillos

• Next PTO Meeting- Tuesday Nov 18th, 2025 6:00-7:00pm Diamond Lake Elementary School Library. 

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