Woodland School District 50

Sean Murphy Named Lake Region Assistant Principal of the Year! The Illinois Principals Association has named Sean Murphy as the Assistant Principal of the Year for the Lake Region. Mr. Murphy is an Assistant Principal at Woodland Middle School serving the staff and students in 8th grade. He has been part of the Woodland Learning Community as an Assistant Principal for 18 years. Mr. Murphy received this recognition from his peers for his efforts in positively shaping the climate and culture at the Middle School and being active in the community. He helps to foster emotional and physical well-being and safety at the Middle School. He makes connections by sending personalized birthday greetings to all the 8th grade students, and by creating a "Rose Garden" for staff to recognize other staff members throughout the school. Mr. Murphy has also served on the district's Equity Team to help shape board policy, and create educational and extracurricular opportunities for students. He works to elevate educator and student voices, and regularly seeks feedback from student leaders through clubs and teams at the Middle School. Outside of the middle school, Mr. Murphy lives in the district and is active in the community as well as a leader at his Church. Congratulations to Sean Murphy on this recognition and thank you for representing Woodland D50! #LifeintheW

The Woodland Wildcast wins an award! The Woodland Wildcast has 1,000 downloads and counting! We couldn't have done this without you - thanks for listening! Help shape future episodes of our award-winning podcast to help make the Wildcast a true representation of the people who make up #LifeintheW Submit Questions, Topics, and Guests: https://lnkd.in/gwpg8BKB Award Announcement and Judges Comments: https://lnkd.in/gZHD7zP9 Listen to Past Episodes: https://lnkd.in/gGb4fEWU

Kicking off the Annual Holiday Food Drive! We invite our entire Woodland learning community to get involved. There are several ways to participate, LEARN MORE: https://lnkd.in/gUbgGugF Take a look at the flyer to see the list of items we are requesting. You can drop donations off at your child's school, or the district office. THANK YOU! #LifeintheW (Photos in this post are of Food Drive Volunteers setting up the Woodland Food Pantry in December 2023.)

New Opportunities to join the #LifeintheW Team! Please help spread the word. Facilities Manager:  https://lnkd.in/gpXxNfwA Primary Principal:  https://lnkd.in/gM2KMkgt All Positions: https://lnkd.in/gWy4GeqG

Happy Principal Appreciation Day to Mrs. Anderson, Mr. Reardon, Mr. Sheldon, and Mrs. Drake! National Principals Month is celebrated throughout October, but Oct. 25 has been designated as Principal Appreciation Day in Illinois. This dynamic team of school leaders was recognized at the Board of Education Meeting last night. #LifeintheW #ThankAPrincipal Illinois Principals Association

Oct. 20 - 26 is America's Safe Schools Week! Just as we have done for the past two years, Woodland released a special Safety Newsletter today to all staff, families, and community partners. Even though school safety is something we think about all the time, America's Safe Schools Week gives us the opportunity to highlight our partnerships with the community, bring forward emerging concerns that we want our stakeholders to be aware of, and share helpful tips and resources. https://lnkd.in/g7_BK5iY Thank you for being an important partner in safety! #LifeintheW

This week is America's Safe Schools Week and National School Bus Safety Week! Safety on the school bus starts with our Woodland drivers. #LifeintheW To celebrate School Bus Safety Week, our drivers are "Stepping into Safety" with snazzy new safety socks! Woodland bus drivers are employees of the district, and they are responsible for transporting our students to and from school safely. This is a job they take seriously and we appreciate these dedicated employees for their commitment to our students. School bus drivers in Illinois must go through a rigorous training and licensing process, as well as background checks and other safeguards, to ensure they are qualified to perform this important role in the district. Every day, Woodland bus drivers conduct a full safety inspection of their bus before picking up students. Drivers are also provided professional development and go through safety evaluations to make sure our students are in good hands. Learn more about safety on the school bus on the Wildcast! https://lnkd.in/gTKbfjDy

Shining a spotlight on the Parent Mentor Program at Woodland! Our amazing Parent Mentors recently had the opportunity to share their experience with Community Leaders to highlight how impactful this program is for Woodland Teachers and Students. Thank you to State Senator Mary Edly-Allen, State Representative Joyce Mason, Village of Gurnee Mayor Hood, and Dr. Karner from the Lake County Regional Office of Education for supporting our Parent Mentors. Did you know that Woodland is the first school district in Lake County to implement a Parent Mentor Program? We are now in our 3rd year of the program. The Parent Mentor Program is more than just parent volunteers visiting their child's classroom. These are Woodland parents who apply to be part of the program and complete a formal training program before being assigned to a classroom. Parent mentors work four days a week for two hours a day. While in the classroom they work one-on-one with students, lead small group activities, support the classroom teacher, and participate in weekly training and workshops to increase their skills and proficiency. After completing 100 parent mentoring hours, our program participants receive a stipend of $1500. The Parent Mentor program is also a great launching pad for those interested in entering the field of education. There are opportunities through the program to become certified to be a paraprofessional or substitute teacher. In fact, some of our former Parent Mentors are now current Woodland Employees! Learn More: https://lnkd.in/gTbn8bbx

October is National Principals Month, and Woodland has some of the best around! Please help us wish Stacey Anderson (Primary), Jared Reardon (Elementary), Tim Sheldon (Intermediate), and Tiffany Drake (Middle), a very happy National Principals Month! Woodland is lucky to have such knowledgeable and caring school leaders, who show up each day ready to support the students and staff in their schools. Not a single district initiative, directive, or goal happens without their hard work. #ThankaPrincipal #LifeintheW

New Teacher Alert! We want to welcome Pilar Colmenero, a visiting International Teacher from Spain, who is teaching Spanish Language Arts at Woodland Middle School. Also new to the WMS team is Christopher Palasz, an 8th Grade Language Arts Teacher. Welcome to #LifeintheW! Here are a few photos from a recent visit to their classrooms. We hope you and your students have an amazing school year. (We will continue to visit new staff members over the next few weeks so keep the welcome wishes coming)