Woodland School District 50

Great news out of WMS: Congratulations to Noah A. for winning Sectionals yesterday at Ingersoll Golf Course in Rockford. Noah shot a 73 and will be competing at the State meet next Friday in Joliet. Go Wildcats! #LifeintheW ⛳️

Thank you to the Woodland PTA for bringing the Scholastic Book Fair to Intermediate! Our Wildcats had a wonderful time finding new and exciting books and stories to read!

As a reminder, you can visit the book fair during Intermediate Curriculum Night. It’s a wonderful way to spark a love of reading while connecting with teachers and learning more about the year ahead.

Wednesday, Sept. 3 — 4th Grade Curriculum Night, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 4 - 5th Grade Curriculum Night, 6 - 7:30 p.m.

As we get further into the start of the school year, we’re excited to introduce and celebrate some of our new Woodland teachers! Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Linsey Ryan, who is starting her first year as a full-time Woodland teacher after serving as a long-term substitute last year.

We’ll continue highlighting our new staff members over the next few weeks—so keep those welcome wishes coming! 💚 #LifeintheW

WMS students worked together on these amazing "Why Study History" Collaborative Posters. The first few weeks of school are all about building connections. The students learned about each other, and discussed the importance of studying history while completing this activity. Great job Wildcats!
Thank you to Ms. Barkhurst and Ms. Barbknecht for sharing this artwork.

Ms. Oballe’s 1st grade class was practicing their letter and spelling. They went on a hunt around their classroom to find words that began with the letter “i”.

The Woodland Board of Education met last night, and the Family Coordinator's led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance. Find a summary of highlights from the meeting in the Woodland ROAR Report for Friday, Aug. 29: https://secure.smore.com/n/106fz
In this edition you can also learn about:
Wildcat Calendar & PTA Events
Saturday Study Hall & Homework Help
Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC) Meeting, Sept. 11
Special Education Parent Resource Group, Sept. 17
AND MORE!
To learn more about Woodland's Family Coordinators, please visit the district website: https://www.dist50.net/page/woodland-family-coordinators

Here are a few photos from the WMS 6th Grade Curriculum Night. Join us on Thursday night (8/28) for 7th & 8th Grade Curriculum Night!
Coming Next Week: Woodland Intermediate Curriculum Nights. Check the District Events Calendar for upcoming events: https://www.dist50.net/events

REMINDERS!
💚 The Friday Early Dismissal Schedule Starts Friday, Aug. 29.
💚 Woodland D50 is closed on Monday, Sept. 1 in honor of the Labor Day holiday.
Friday Early Dismissal Schedule:
Primary - 12:40 p.m.
Elementary - 1:00 p.m.
Middle School - 1:45 p.m.
Intermediate - 2:30 p.m.
School Year Calendar
English - https://5il.co/33x56
Spanish - https://5il.co/3mg8p

Here are Woodland we are so excited to have our Wildcats back in the schools! Mrs. Ryan’s 1st graders are having a great start to the school year. Today they learned about lions and wrote down some of their favorite lion facts. #LifeintheW 🐯💚

Safety in the W! Woodland Elementary had their first scheduled fire drill today to practice safe school evacuations with the students and staff. Great job Wildcats! #LifeintheW

Wiley wants you to have a happy & relaxing weekend after such a great start to the school year! We will be ready to cheer you on again next week. #LifeintheW

To kickoff the 2025-2026 School Year, all Woodland staff members gathered at WMS for an opening ceremony on the first Teacher Institute Day. The keynote speaker was a former Woodland student, Curtis Szajkovics, a Systems Engineer and Flight Controller at Firefly Aerospace. His keynote address was all about cool lunar missions and the impact teachers have on students! As part of his presentation he even had a slide about one of his former teachers who is still a teacher at WMS. Curtis thanked Mr. Whiteaker for igniting his interest in science and technology and for always putting up with his ridiculous questions. It was a great moment for Mr. Whiteaker to learn about the impact he had and to reunite with his former student. This is what #LifeintheW is all about!
This story was also shared in the Woodland ROAR Report this morning. In case you missed it - https://secure.smore.com/n/1ntsy
The Daily Herald also did an article earlier this year about Curtis and the “Blue Ghost” lunar lander mission he was part of! https://www.dailyherald.com/20250113/news/gurnee-native-reached-for-the-moon-now-hell-be-steering-spacecraft-to-lunar-landing/

Join the #LifeintheW Team! Woodland D50 is hiring a Network & Systems Infrastructure Engineer to join the Technology Department.

To check out this listing, and other available positions, please visit:
https://www.applitrack.com/dist50/OnlineApp/default.aspx

Woodland Primary knows that sending your little one to school for the first time can bring on mixed emotions. They hosted a Coffee & Community event for parents and caregivers to create a space to connect with other families and celebrate the first day of school. We are so excited to welcome you to the #LifeintheW community!

✨WMS is back!✨ Our Wildcats brought their back to school energy for the first day of school. They are ready to learn, make new friends, start the school year off right! #LifeintheW

A huge Wildcat thank you to Mr. Johnny & Mr. Jose Tiscareno for donating their time and talents at the WMS Back to School Bash! They provided free haircuts to give students fresh looks for the start of the school year. Looking good Wildcats ✂️💚💈

Ok Wildcats... Where will we see you this week?! We have several Back to School events for you and your family to enjoy, and we will be at the Gurnee Police Department's Back to School event for the community!
Join us for these events:
💚 INTERMEDIATE Popsicles with the Principals, 8/12, 3 - 5 p.m.
💚 ELEMENTARY Popsicles with the Principals, 8/13, 3 -5 p.m.
💚 WMS Back to School Bash, 8/14, 3 - 5 p.m.
💚 Safety Stars & Dilly Bars, 8/15, 5 - 7 p.m.
#LifeintheW

It was a busy morning at WMS for the Medication Drop Off Event!
The Health Office teams are on a break right now, but you have another chance to visit them today (Aug. 11) from 3 - 7 p.m.
More info: https://www.dist50.net/article/2309455

The Woodland ROAR Report for Friday, Aug. 8, 2025 - https://secure.smore.com/n/qftju
In this issue:
From the Desk of Dr. Machak
The Wildcat Calendar of Events
Teacher Assignments Available Later Today!
Join us for Gurnee Days this weekend
Free Adult Education Classes at Woodland
Join the Parent Mentor Program
Quick Links
Have a great weekend Wildcats! #LifeintheW

Catch the WMS Marching Wildcats at the Gurnee Days parade on Sunday, Aug. 10 at 12 p.m. These talented musicians have been practicing all week at Marching Band Camp in the evenings to prepare for a great performance. We can't wait to hear you play!