Absences

The school must receive a note or a phone call (847-847-446-1062 — 24 hour voice mail) by 9:30 a.m. on the day of a child's absence from school for any reason. Children who are ill in the morning should not return to school in the afternoon unless their morning absence and permission to return has been discussed with Ms. Holtz, the school nurse, at 847-847-446-1062, before 11:30 a.m. Because it is frequently very difficult for the school to reach a parent, reporting your child's absence assures you and the school that your child is in safe hands. If a child has been in school in the morning and does not return in the afternoon, please be sure to call the office. A child who is absent from school needs to bring a note from home when he/she returns explaining the reason for the absence.

Allergies

The number of children with peanut allergies has tripled since 1989 (CNN). More and more children are being diagnosed with severe food allergies. For many of the children, eating, touching or even breathing a tiny amount of the food they are allergic to can result in anaphlaxis and even death. In fact, four out of six food allergy deaths occur in school (August 1992 New England Journal of Medicine). (1) If your child is diagnosed with a food allergy, please meet with our school nurse, Ms. Sandy Holtz. (2) Provide only commercially packaged foods with preprinted labels OR fresh fruits and vegetables OR non-food items (such as stickers or books) for classroom snacks or parties. Please avoid sending peanut products to school for classroom treats. Check the ingredients to make sure there are no peanut products in the snack. (3) Have conversations with your child, whether s/he has an allergy or not, about the seriousness of allergies.

Childcare Program (Before and After School)

This fee-based program offers care to Hubbard Woods School children at Crow Island School during non-school hours (7:00-8:30 a.m. and 3:15-6:15 p.m.). Bus service is provided to and from Hubbard Woods and Crow Island. Care will be provided on school holidays by the Winnetka Community House. Any program questions, call 604-1928; attendance change 847-446-0920 (until 2:30); emergency phone 507-7696 (program hours only).

Conferences

Reporting to parents is done primarily through conferences. Conferences are held three times a year. Additional conversations may be initiated by either the teacher or the parent.

Early Dismissal

If a student has an appointment during school hours, he/she must bring a note from home if he/she is to be excused from school. When leaving from and returning to school at these times, the person transporting the child must sign the child out in the front office.

Emergency Procedure

A call will be made to the parent at home or at his/her place of business except when the nature of the emergency does not allow sufficient time; then paramedics are called immediately. If neither parent can be reached, the adult designated on the emergency form and the family physician are contacted. If it is necessary to transport the child to a local hospital, the paramedics can go to one of the following hospitals: Evanston (all head injuries), Glenbrook, Highland Park, St. Francis, or Rush North Shore Medical Center. If you have a preference of one hospital, please note this on your child's emergency card. However, in a life or death situation, the paramedics must transport the child to the nearest hospital, which is Evanston.

Emergency School Closing

An Emergency HOTLINE has been activated by the "Emergency Closing Center" which provides another option for determining if a school or schools in the district will be closed during inclement weather. Two options are available as follows:

• You may tune in the early morning to WMAQ-AM (670), WGN-AM (720), WBBM-AM (780), WLS-AM (890), or FOX 32-TV, WMAQ-TV, WGN-TV and CLTV for announcements of closing, transportation interruptions, equipment breakdowns, etc., or
• Call the Emergency Closing Center at 1-900-407-SNOW (7669) utilizing the access code for Hubbard Woods School which is 847-847-446-0920. As well, we will try our best to contact you through our room parents.
  In addition, our PTO has devised a phone tree system to help notify families of a school closing. In the event of any emergency school closing the following procedure was developed with speed of communication as the top priority. Thus, room parents are to call only the youngest member of a family in their class. Calls will be initiated at 6:00 am for morning closure.
• Dr. Cheever will notify the PTO President or designee with the specifics of the closing and any special instructions.
• The PTO president will call the designated Room Parent Grade Team Leaders.
• The team leaders will call one room parent from each class in their grade and relay the message and any specific instructions. The first room parent contacted should call their partner, inform him/her of the closing and instructions and both room parents should begin calling their class list (of youngest) as previously divided. If the room parent is unable to reach his/her partner, he/she can make all the phone calls themselves or find another parent in the class to help with the calls. In the event that the room parents are not available, the team leader will call a parent in that class and designate him/her as the class caller for the specific closing. Callers must reach every household on their list. If the emergency closing occurs during the school day and the parent is not home, the caller can leave a message that the child will be supervised at the school until picked up. The child must be signed out before allowed to leave the school.
• As stated above, in order to reach families as quickly as possible and to avoid doubling up where there is more than one child from a given family at HWS, room parents are to call only the youngest member of a family in their class. This procedure is also followed in the distribution of the item.

In addition, the District administration has access to a group phone calling system which we use to share information for a variety of purposes.

Extra-Curricular Activities

• AFTER-SCHOOL SPORTS: This program is offered to 3rd and 4th grade boys and girls. It is an optional fee program coordinated by our Kinetic Wellness (K.W.) Instructor, Scott Klipowicz. It meets once a week from 3:15 to 4:00 p.m. Parents are responsible for transportation home.
• CHORUS: As part of the music program, 4th grade children can choose to join the chorus, which is directed by Mary Henkes. This group meets before school once a week to practice and the children have several performances during the year.
• SUZUKI MUSIC PROGRAM: Suzuki is sponsored by District 36 and funded in part by student fees. It is a parent participation program that offers violin, cello or viola during school hours to children from Kindergarten through 4th grade. For further information, please call Shelley Clark, Business Manager, 847-446-9400.

Field Trips

Be sure to sign the permission slip that your child brings home before each field trip. This is a legal requirement.

Good Student Guide

Our expectations for the children and the behaviors we value as a community are: Be Safe, Be Smart, Be Respectful and Responsible. If you are a GREAT STUDENT, you are all of these things!

BE SAFE!

• Tell an adult immediately if something seems wrong.
• Never open the school doors for anyone. All guests should enter through the front door.
• Cross the streets at the crosswalks with the adult crossing guards.
• Walk bikes & scooters on school property.
• Keep your hands and feet to yourself. Never hit, kick, push, pinch, threaten, or hurt another person.

BE SMART!

• Be on time! Arrive in the morning by 8:30 and 12:25 in the afternoon.
• Be curious, ask questions, be imaginative! Show a sense of humor!
• Know how to share your ideas with others. Encourage your friends to share their ideas too.
• Do your best work always. Show pride in your work and your school.
• Listen carefully to others. Speak thoughtfully. Be cooperative.
• Take a chance. Don’t worry about always having the right answer. The way most people learn is by making mistakes.
• Discover your learning style and feel good about it! No one should make fun of you because of the way you learn.

BE RESPECTFUL & RESPONSIBLE!

• Show respectful behavior toward all people and our property.
• Be friendly. Use good manners. Help other when needed.
• Be quiet in the hallways.
• No bullying, no lock-outs. Accept other people the way they are and help them join in your activity.
• Keep your cubby area, classroom and lunchroom neat and clean. Be dependable and responsible.
• Be happy! Be true to yourself and your values. Everyone should treat your fairly no matter what. Everyone should be kind to one another. No one should laugh at you, tease you or hurt your feelings.
• Be honest. Tell the truth.

Hours of School

Morning: 8:40 a.m. - 11:25 a.m., children should arrive by 8:30.
Afternoon: 12:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m., children should arrive by 12:25.

Students may enter their classroom at 8:30 a.m. The playground is supervised from 8:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. In case of inclement weather, please send children so they arrive only five minutes prior to the start of school. The school offers before- and after-school childcare for a fee. Call the Winnetka Public Schools office (847-446-9400) for more information.

Kinetic Wellness

If children are physically unable to participate in physical education or recess on a particular day, they are required to bring a note to the school nurse from their parents. A pair of tennis shoes should be kept at school for physical education classes. They should be clean and marked clearly with the child's name.

Lost and Found

The lost and found is located along the east hallway. Be sure to label your child's clothing with his/her name. Clothes not claimed will be donated to charity at winter recess and the end of the school year.

Lunch

The day includes a lunch period long enough for all students to go home to eat. Students also have the option to stay at school on a fee basis and eat a bag lunch brought from home. The lunchroom is located in the auditorium. The children go outdoors for supervised play before or after eating, weather permitting.

• Before the start of the school year, parents may sign up their 1st through 4th grade children to stay at school for lunch for one or more days per week. The registration and cost of this supervised lunch program is handled by the Winnetka Public Schools district office. For children who have not prepaid, the program can also be used on an occasional basis. Children may stay any day with a bag lunch and daily fee. Parents are not allowed to bring McDonalds or Panera lunch to their child at school. If a child who is registered is not going to stay for lunch on the day he/she is enrolled (except due to an absence from school), he/she must bring a note to the school office by 11:00 a.m. notifying the lunchroom program that he/she will not be staying for lunch.
• Children who are signed up for the lunchroom program are not to leave school grounds unless a written note or telephone message from home has been given to our lunchroom supervisor before 11:00 a.m. Parents will be notified if their child has an unexplained absence from the lunchroom program.
• Children who leave school during lunch must be under adult supervision.

Medication in School

The following procedure must be followed for your child to receive medicine in school:

• The school must have a written order from your physician stating dose, time, interval, side effects and duration.
• A signed permission form from parent or guardian (forms available in nurse's office) is necessary.
• Medication delivered to the nurse should be in the original container - both prescription and non-prescription - NEVER a baggie or envelope.
• All medication is to be administered by the school nurse or parent.
• For their own protection, children must never carry or take medicine on their own.

Newsletter

The Item, the school newsletter, is emailed to each family approximately every other Monday. The deadline for notices to go into the Item is the prior Wednesday at 3 p.m. Please put them in the Item box in the school office or email to itemeditor@hotmail.com.

Nurse

Sandy Holtz is at Hubbard Woods each day from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Please feel free to call her with any concerns at 847-446-1062; this is a 24-hour voice mail. Please call the nurse anytime your child has a contagious disease, whether it occurs on the weekend, during vacation or on a school day. Contagious diseases to be reported are strep throat, scarlet fever, and chicken pox. Head lice should also be reported as soon as they are suspected.

Parties

Birthday parties or treats at school should be planned in advance by parents and teachers. Simple and easily managed refreshments are best.

Phone Messages

Please call the entrance monitor, Joan Kuzel, with important messages for students before 11:00 a.m. and/or before 2:45 p.m. to allow her sufficient time to relay them to the children.

Visitors

Parents are welcome to visit at all times. Please arrange in advance a time convenient for you and the teacher. Please respect the integrity of the instructional process – do not “drop in” the classroom during instructional hours. Visitors must sign in with the receptionist at the front desk upon arrival.