Primary School

We are looking for an amazing administrator to join the Woodland Middle School Team. Check out this opportunity for a Middle School Assistant Principal position! hashtag#LifeintheW

Students throughout the district have been making Valentines for seniors in the community. Today is the day! We are on our way to join the Village of Gurnee and the Gurnee Police Department to spread the love and deliver the Valentines. 💌

Spreading the love at Woodland Primary with parties to celebrate friendship! Thank you to our Wildcat families for volunteering and sending in fun crafts and games for the kids. #LifeintheW

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the February Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC) meeting with special guest Dr. Mario Guzman Sescosse. Dr. Guzman Sescosse's presentation was "Parenting: A Relationship of Love and Discipline" and attendees found it to be very informative and interactive. We also raffled off copies of his book and he was gracious enough to sign copies for the winners.
While the adults were learning, the children in attendance created crafts with a few of Woodland's Dual Language teachers and volunteers from the “Avanza” student group at Warren Township High School. Our friend Tobias Comfort Dog was there too!
Thank you to Community Trust Credit Union and Starbucks Gurnee for donating additional prizes for the event! We appreciate your support. #LifeintheW

Ms. Garcia and Ms. Vivas’ students created kindness flowers!

They were given a page filled with different actions - both positive and negative. They found the nice actions, then cut them out to use as the petals for their flowers!

It’s so nice to see our Wildcats choosing kindness!

Woodland was honored to host educators from Booker T. Washington (K-8) with Birmingham City Schools for a day of learning in the W! They spent the day touring Woodland's K-2 Dual Language classrooms to learn about our program and see it in action. They recently started a dual language program in their district, and this is the second group from Birmingham City Schools to visit Woodland. Thank you for your continued partnership! 💚 #LifeintheW

Wow!!! Thank you for coming to Woodland's Black History Month Celebration this past Saturday! It was a great event full of music and togetherness, amazing performances, wonderful support from our community partners and volunteers, and beautiful artwork by our talented students. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. #LifeintheW

We look forward to seeing you this Thursday, Feb. 5, at Woodland Intermediate for a presentation by Dr. Sescosse (6:30 p.m.). We will be raffling off signed copies of his books, gift cards, and bilingual books and games. There will also be crafts for the children, refreshments, and many more surprises!
Topic - Parenting: A Relationship of Love & Discipline
Learn More & Register HERE: https://app.smore.com/n/3v2d4
Thank you from the Bilingual Parenting Advisory Committee!

Our littlest Wildcats wrapped up Kindness Week with a ROAR!
At their ROAR Rally they celebrated kindness, learned “Please” and “Thank you” in ASL, and shared ways they can be kind to each other at school, in the classroom, and on the playground. They also danced with Wiley, their teachers, and their friends. What a great way to end the week!

Many thanks to State Representative Joyce Mason who met with us this week to review several pieces of legislation she is drafting to address our state authorized charter school funding issue. We are grateful for Representative Mason’s support and her unwavering commitment to the children of Woodland CCSD 50! #LifeintheW
To see more news and announcements, check out the Woodland ROAR Report for Friday, Jan. 30 - https://app.smore.com/n/sc8y0v

Spreading Kindness and Filling Buckets in Ms. Wagner's Classroom! The students gave examples of how they were kind at home:
💚 "I filled my mom's bucket by going to sleep without any trouble"
💚 "I was nice and played with my sister"
💚 "I gave my dad a high five and a hug"
💚 "I cleaned up my toys and my room"
The Great Kindness Challenge - #LifeintheW

Black Dads Rock! on CLC Lancer Radio
The Music That Made Us: Black Fathers, Culture, and Community with Black Dads Rock
In a powerful and uplifting episode of CLC’s Lancer Radio, Professor Jay Wiltshire and Dr. Brent Steffens sit down with members of Black Dads Rock, a Woodland District 50 initiative dedicated to celebrating Black culture and challenging harmful stereotypes about Black fatherhood. Blending conversation with a thoughtfully curated soundtrack, the guests share songs that have shaped their lives and communities, using music as a springboard to explore identity, fatherhood, resilience, and representation.
Episode on CLC Lancer Radio - http://www.lancerradioclc.com/Show_Archives/Black%20Dads%20Rock%202026.mp3
Spotify: Black Dads Rock! Playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2wq0RIv5T1cYU22ulWDUQK?si=a20c213b0c8f4c56&nd=1&dlsi=ffa2a44141a24d7e
Black History Month Celebration at Woodland, Feb. 7 - https://aptg.co/TV_3L_

Help us give a warm Wildcat Welcome on this very cold day!
Woodland welcomed three new #LifeintheW team members at last night’s Board of Education meeting: two new Board of Education members, Dr. Virginia Tate and Ms. Gabriela Valverde Strobehn, were sworn in at the meeting; the Board also appointed a new Elementary School Principal, Dr. Christopher Harmon, to start July 1, 2026 when Mr. Reardon moves into his new District-level Human Resources position.
See the rest of ROAR Report here: https://app.smore.com/n/4qk6y

WINTER FEST POSTPONED!
The Parent Mentor Winter Fest event has been rescheduled due to the extreme winter weather impacting our area tomorrow. The new date is Feb. 20, 2026. We hope to see you there! 🤩❄️
Event Flyer: https://aptg.co/zy4qVQ

Woodland D50 is closely monitoring the weather forecast for Friday, Jan. 23, which currently calls for extremely cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills. Please read this Winter Weather Update for more information - https://app.smore.com/n/2zx36

January 9 is Law Enforcement Appreciation Day!

We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Gurnee Police Department for all they do to support and protect our community.

We would also like to recognize and thank our incredible Woodland School Resource Officers (SRO) for the many ways they support our schools, staff, and students each and every day. Thank you for your dedication, partnership, and commitment to keeping our learning community safe. 💙

If you see Dets. Hansen, Tazzioli, or Gullifor make sure to say thank you and give them a high-five!

Thank you to our awesome Technology Team and the Tech Integration Specialists for creating this exciting EDTECH Camp for Woodland staff to kick off the January 2026 Teacher Institute Day! #LifeintheW

Woodland Primary Winter Parties! Snow much fun with the little ones! #LifeintheW

Giving in the W! Thank you to our many volunteers for lending a helping hand to support the Woodland learning community on a chilly evening. We received so many generous donations over the past few weeks that helped make the Annual Food Drive event a success. Thank you to all who brought in non-perishable foods during the various donation drives and contests at each school, attended one of the food drive events in the community, donated online, or offered your time in support of this effort. We couldn't have done it without you! #LifeintheW

Ms. McCafferty's class spent the afternoon working on their letters, spelling, and writing sentences. They had to write out a sentence and draw a matching picture, then add some fun details and colors!