We had a fun and busy first week of our new thematic unit on pets! Students explored the big question, “What are pets?” and learned about different kinds of animals people care for. We also met our class pet hamster, a special stuffed friend that students will take home one at a time to share adventures, write in a journal, take a photo, and bring back to school. In art, students created colorful cats using paint sticks, designed fish bowls with handprint goldfish, and made paw prints featuring their names. It’s been a joyful start, and we’re excited to keep learning together!

Mrs. Canchola, ECC secretary, returns to us on Monday, February 23. Ms. Moreno, who has been subbing for her, will be with us on Monday and Tuesday of next week to support Mrs. Canchola's transition back to work. We are so grateful for Ms. Moreno's help over the last three months!

District 68 is partnering with Catalyst for Educational Change (CEC) to conduct an Inclusionary Practices Needs Assessment. The focus of the needs assessment will be to gain insight into each school site culture, programs and processes and provide recommendations to the district to improve results for special education students. 

As part of the process, CEC will conduct Parent/Guardian focus group on Thursday, March 5, 2026 from 4:00 - 4:45 p.m. on Zoom. The intent of the focus group process is to gather anonymous data that will be used by an external team to build a non-biased picture reflecting our true current realities. The session will be confidential, through CEC’s Zoom platform, not recorded, and will only include parents in the group. Your comments will not be shared as individual comments with anyone within the district rather compiled through trend data for a final report for district consideration.

If you are unable to attend the focus group but would like the opportunity to respond to the same questions that will be asked in the meeting, please select that option using the Inclusionary Practices Parent Focus Group Form  linked below and the questions will be sent to you. 

How do you sign up?

This is a reminder to participate in the Illinois 5Essentials Parent Survey before March 13.

This survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of your child’s school. Your participation in the parent portion of the survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.

 

A parent survey report will be generated if at least 20 percent of parents/guardians at the Early Childhood Center's and Old Orchard Junior High complete this survey. The parent data will not be included on the State Report Card.

  

To take the survey please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ and select the appropriate survey to begin. Because the Early Childhood Center is part of Old Orchard Junior High, please type in and select Old Orchard Junior High School in the School field when you log in.

 

For more information about the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, or to view previous years’ Reports, please visit https://www.5-essentials.org/illinois. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact UChicago Impact Survey Support at 1-866-440-1874 or impact-surveys@uchicago.edu. 

Last Thursday, we sent home a Ziploc bag full of materials in the event the District needs to have an E-Learning Day because of inclement weather. Please remove the bag from your child's folder and backpack and keep it in a safe place at home. Please do not open the bag of materials at this time. If the District closes schools for an E-Learning Day, your child's teacher will send a message with instructions about what to do with the materials either on the E-Learning Day or the day before the E-Learning Day. 

We have a very limited number of extra sets and will not be able to send replacement bags of materials.

It is winter in Skokie. Please be sure to dress your child appropriately for the conditions. We will continue to go outside for gross motor activities when the feels like temperature is at or above 15 degrees Fahrenheit and the playground is not too wet.

To help your child stay comfortable and safe outdoors, please send them to school with:

If your child has a set of extra clothes at the ECC, please send us a pair of pants, a long-sleeve shirt, and socks.

Please also make sure to label all clothing and personal items with your child’s name to help prevent them from getting lost or mixed up with others.

Morning students attend school from 9:00-11:30 a.m. Monday-Friday. Drop-off time is 8:55 a.m.

Afternoon students attend school from 12:15-2:45 p.m. Monday-Friday. Drop-off time is 12:10 p.m.

Please arrive on time because our staff is unavailable to watch your child before or after sessions. Once school starts at 9:00 a.m. and 12:15 p.m., you will need to walk your child to our main entrance and sign your child in.