Thursday, May 28, 2015

Spreading Our Wings

This is the time of the year when I see our students spreading their wings and starting to soar! 

The second and third grade Musical Drama Club did an outstanding job creating the scenery, costumes, singing and dramatizing the African folktale of Anansi the Spider.


Our kindergarten friends are ready for first grade! They experienced a school lunch in the commons just like the big kids. 

The emergence of butterflies from their chrysalids brought much wonder and excitement to our second graders. 

It was such a special treat to have these two students in charge as Principal for Half Day. They observed classrooms, inspected the roof and boiler rooms, and read to our kindergarten students. 


Our fifth grade students continue to rock! Each class received Super Donor certificates from Lurie Children's Hospital for their outstanding work on the service project that brought hundreds of craft kits and handmade comfort blankets to the children at the hospital. 




Thursday, May 21, 2015

A Caring Community


The Dryden Caring Kids Club and residents of the Moorings came together for some reading and BINGO fun this week. We are thrilled to begin this intergenerational partnership where we can learn and play together and help one another. 









We also experienced being part of a caring global community this week. Our middle schools have an exchange program with the middle schools of Shitara, Japan. The students from Shitara spent a morning in several of our classrooms. Shitara and Dryden students expressed such friendliness, kindness and respect to one another. 






The incredible impact of caring teachers was celebrated at the PTA Scholarship Breakfast this week. 
The scholarship recipients below are former Dryden students who thanked their teachers for making a lasting positive impression on their lives. What an incredibly rewarding experience!


Friday, May 15, 2015

Playful and Passionate

Dryden is a place where everyone puts forth their best effort and works hard, yet there is always a spirit of playfulness in all that we do. The third grade team hosted their annual "Solar Awards".  Much like the Oscars, students voted for various categories of awards for the planets they had been researching. Getting dressed up and walking down the red carpet added to the fun and excitement of this culminating activity.  






The Kindergarten Celebration was a fun way to showcase just how far our youngest students have come in such a short period of time. They entertained their families and loved ones with song and dance, then enjoyed a reception in the commons and classrooms afterwards.




 Our fifth grade students showed their school pride at the AHSD25 5th Grade Track Meet at South Middle School yesterday. They put their best effort into these races and really shined. Outstanding work, 5th Grade!







Student Council's Dolphin Beach Dress Up Day brought lots of sunshine and smiles on a cool and cloudy spring day. It made us start thinking of the fun in the sun we will soon be having during our summer vacation. I can't believe it's already that time of year! How far we've come!





Thursday, May 7, 2015

So Much to Celebrate!

What a week! There were so many special events at Dryden, and we truly enjoyed them all!
We were overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the PTA for Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. Everyday they filled our faculty lounge with special treats to eat: taco luncheon, candy bar, bagels for breakfast and sub sandwiches. We definitely felt appreciated!

The fifth grade musical performance was spectacular! It was a high-energy evening filled with talented singing, acting, dancing, and instrumental and rhythmic performances.









May 6 was National School Nurse Day! We celebrated our school nurses, Mrs. Hamilton and Mrs. Leventhal, and thanked them for all they do to care for our children and help them feel better. 

We had a special celebration for our parent volunteers. Every student and staff member in our school lined the halls to applaud and thank them for their service in making a positive difference in our students' lives. Our students decorated table cloths and notecards for the special breakfast waiting for our volunteers in the LMC, where they enjoyed a video of all of our students and staff dancing and singing "Volunteers are AWESOME!"







We are so proud to have the artwork of several of our students on display at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library this month for the District 25 Art Show. Please stop by to see their beautiful masterpieces!




 We would like to thank all of our local businesses in Downtown Arlington Heights who welcomed our students and introduced them to the World of Work!  Students learned about the daily responsibilities of a variety of careers and the importance of customer service. It's exciting to start thinking of all the possibilities for careers in their very promising futures!

Arlington Heights Fire Department



School Resource Officer Veenstra & the Arlington Heights Police Department

Egg Harbor Restaurant


UPS Store


California Pizza Kitchen

School of Rock


A la Mode

Vignettes

Runners Hi-n-Tri


Fausto's Pizza 

And many more...


What a beautiful day to be out and about in Downtown Arlington Heights!