2_23 West Feb_March Newsletter .pages

WEST KINDERGARTEN CENTER NEWSLETTER
2015-2016 SCHOOL-YEAR
707 Center Street
Baraboo, WI 53913
(608) 355-3905
Dr. Chris Olson, Principal
Principal’s Message
FEB./MARCH 2016
Dear West Parents/Guardians,
It is not too soon to be thinking about ways to engage your child in meaningful learning and engaging activities
during the summer months. Keeping your child’s mind and body active during the months away from school
supports your child’s continued development and decreases the amount of summer slide (loss of skills and
knowledge during the summer).
Having books, magazines and writing materials in your home is important during the school year and during
the summer months too. Reading to or with your child during the summer months continues to build skills from
the school year and helps children be even more ready for the next school year. Allowing opportunities for
children to write, draw, color, and practice writing skills in the summer helps to to continue to develop fine
motor skills, provides practice of letter formation and sounds, and develops spelling and reading abilities too.
The Baraboo School District will have summer learning opportunities for children currently in grades K-5.
The Summer Academy will have multiple summer enrichment offerings in the mornings from June 6-July 1 at Al
Behrman Elementary (ABE) that will be open to all K-5 students. Please be watching for more information
coming to all families at Parent/Teacher Conferences in March. Please call our school office at 608-355-3905
for more information at any time about the upcoming Summer Academy.
Please consider checking out the spring and summer learning and engagement activities at the Baraboo Public
Library, the Baraboo Recreation Department and any other opportunities that may be available around our local
area. Keeping your child engaged during the summer months will help your child to strengthen academic areas,
gives your child further practice on social and emotional skills when interacting with other children and will also
continue to develop school readiness skills as well.
Thank you for your continued support of West and BELC. We look forward to seeing all of our families at
parent/teacher conferences in March. Lastly, we hope that you’ll join us for Family Literacy Night at GLW (146
Berkley Blvd., Baraboo) on Tuesday, March 15 from 4:00-5:00 PM. for all BELC, West and GLW families.
Yours in Education,
Dr. Chris Olson,
BELC/West Principal
608-355-3906 [email protected] Important Contacts:
West Office: 608-355-3905
Kid Stop: 608-355-3925, ext.7150
Kobussen Bus Co. 608-448-4482
March 8
March 9
March 10
March 15
March 21-25
April 14
May 25
May 25
WWPA Meeting 6:30 at GLW
Parent Teacher Conferences 1:30-4:00PM
Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-7:00PM
Family Literacy Night 4:00-5:00 at GLW
Spring Break
Family fun Night 5:00-7:00PM at JYMS
West Spring Sing 10:00-10:30 at West
West Family Picnic 10:30-11:30 at West
The District shall not discriminate on the basis of sex, age, race, religion, color, national origin, homeless status, ancestry, creed, pregnancy,
marital or parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability or handicap.
WEST KINDERGARTEN CENTER NEWSLETTER
PAGE 2
West Parent/Family Outreach Events
Wednesday, March 9- Parent/Teacher Conferences from 1:30-4:00 PM & Book Fair at West
Thursday, March 10- Parent/Teacher Conferences from 4:00-7:30 PM & Book Fair at West & Upham Woods
Science visit to West
Tuesday, March 15- Family Literacy Night at GLW from 4:00-5:00 for GLW, West & BELC.
Thursday, April 14- 4K Registration for 2016-17 at East from 7:30 AM-5:00 PM
Family Fun Night at JYMS from 5:00-7:00 for GLW, West & BELC
Wednesday, May 25- West Spring Sing at West- 10:00-10:30 & West Family Picnic- 10:30-11:30
Thursday, June 2- West Bounce House & Field Day
WEST-WILLSON PARENT ASSOCIATION (WWPA) NEWS
Parent Teacher conferences are March 9-10. The WWPA provides food for the teachers on the night of the
10th so we will be sending home a food sign up slip in the Friday folders. Please be looking for that! Last time we
had great participation and it was much appreciated!!!
At the P/T conferences, the Scholastic book fair will be going on at West. Stop by and see what a great
selection of books we have for every reader!
Family Literacy Night is on March 15th from 4-5PM. We are collecting used books for this event so dig
through and see if your kids have any books you'd like to donate and send them to school anytime between now
and March 15th. More info will be sent home next week.
The Partners In Education Gala: This Red Carpet Event happens on March 11th from 7:30-11 PM at the Al
Ringling Mansion on Broadway. This is the biggest fundraiser for our schools so we're hoping to have a great
turnout. There will be a silent auction, free appetizers from Jose's, cash bar, dancing, and an all around great
time. Tickets are $20 each or $35/pair. It's open to the public so bring your friends! Also, join our Facebook
page (Partners In Education Gala: A Red Carpet Event) to see sponsors and silent auction businesses!
Family Fun Night is coming up on April 14th at the Middle School. This is a free event. Swimming is from
4:30-6:30. Bounce houses, basketball, photos, snacks etc run from 5-7. We hope to see you there!
BELC (4K) REGISTRATION ON APRIL 14 AT EAST
The 4-Year-Old Kindergarten Registration begins on Thursday, April 14, 2016 at East Elementary (815 6th
Street, Baraboo) from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Please bring your child’s birth certificate and recent immunization
information. All 4K students need to have turned the age of 4 by no later than September 1, 2012 to qualify for
4K within the Baraboo School District.
The Baraboo Early Learning Cooperative (BELC) is currently in its 7th year of operation. The Baraboo School
District partners with 4 childcare centers in Baraboo to have nine sections of 4-year-old kindergarten. BELC
(4K) classes are held at Children’s Day Center (AM), St. Clare/Tommy Bartlett ChildCare (AM), Bear-A-Boo
Daycare (AM) and Sunshine Playhouse (AM & PM) and at Renewal Unlimited Head Start (PM) in Baraboo. BELC
also has 4K at West (AM & PM) and at East (PM). All 4K classes (outside of Head Start 4K) run from 7:55-11:05
am or 11:50 am 3:00 pm. on M, T, Th & F.
All 4K placements are filled on a first come, first served basis and registering for 4K after April and May
can decrease the amount of 4K options still available to families. Any 4K families who do not register on April
14th will need to meet with Susan Sprecher (355-3955) between 8:00 AM- 3:30 PM at the Baraboo High School
(1201 Draper Street, Baraboo, 53913) to register for 4K. Please contact Dr. Chris Olson, BELC/West Principal,
at 608-355-3906 or [email protected] at any time with 4K questions regarding the 2016-17 school
year. Thank you for working to give your child a great start with their educational career by registering him/
her for 4K.
WEST KINDERGARTEN CENTER NEWSLETTER
PAGE 3
UPHAM WOOD NATURALIST
VISIT WEST
a F.
Diann
s
i
s
i
pet a
Th
ow to
h
g
n
i
learn
!
snake
On February 4th, students at West Kindergarten Center had
a unique opportunity to learn about some interesting animals. A
naturalist from Upham Woods visited and taught the students
about amphibians and reptiles. Students learned how reptiles
and amphibians are different from each other, what they need to
survive, and how we can help them. They will be coming back on
March 10 to teach students more about nature.
ZERO THE HERO/WEST FOOD DRIVE
In January, West School did a food drive for the local Baraboo Food Pantry. Each class tried to
collect 100 food items to celebrate the 100th day of school. On February 3rd., Zero the Hero came, and we
presented all of our collected food drive items, which totaled 300 pounds, to the Baraboo Food Pantry.
Thank you for contributing to our food collection.
WEST PBIS EVENTS
Our staff is working on continually reviewing important concepts within our Positive Behavior
Interventions & Supports (PBIS) approach. In February, we have spent time reviewing gender equity
concepts, the appropriate use of consequences, ways to help students to self-regulate, and ways to get
students moving more in the classroom.
West Kindergarten Center staff continues to positively reinforce desired student behavior by generously
using Bee Bucks (including the new addition of Respect Bee Bucks in February), sharing positive messages
home about student progress, adding student highlights to our “Bucket-Filling” hallway display. All of our
classes earned a “Dance Party” in January, a classroom party in February, and we’ll be working toward a
“Fancy Dining” event in the lunchroom in April too. Coming in March will be a rainbow of colored Bee Bucks
that correspond to different areas school.
We continue to use the morning meeting starting out each day to help all of our students feel connected
and to set the stage for learning. In addition, all of our kindergarten classrooms have been using social/
emotional resources and lessons with our Second Step curriculum. We have just received an order of social
story books to help us to further model and practice desired behaviors and social skills while we practice
literacy skills too. Lastly, we have created learning opportunities for our students about self-awareness and
self-regulation within our Zones of Regulation work too.
Please ask your child about whether they earned a Bee Buck today and why. Please ask them about what
it means being in the green, yellow, blue or red zones within the Zones of Regulation. Thank you for
supporting positive behaviors at West!
WEST KINDERGARTEN CENTER NEWSLETTER
PAGE 4
JUMP ROPE
dles.
jump hur
e
le
a
m
m
E
CeCe and
FOR HEART
On February 12th., kindergarten students participated in Jump Rope for Heart in P.E. with Mrs.
Brownell. For about 30 minutes they rotated to different heart healthy stations. They used short jump ropes,
an agility ladder, ran and then listened to our hearts with a stethoscope, jumped hurdles, and did Chinese jump
rope. The kids were excited to show their families what they do in P.E. Thank you to those of you who could make
it! It was a wonderful way to make our hearts stronger and to raise money for the American Heart Association.
Thank you for your kind donations!
OPEN ENROLLMENT
Full-Time Public School Open Enrollment allows parents to apply for their children to
attend a school district other than the one in which they live.
• Full-time public school open enrollment only applies to students who live in one school district and
want to attend in another. Students are applying to attend a district, not a particular school.
• Applications are accepted only between the dates of February 1st and April 29th, 2016, Monday - Friday,
from 8 am to 4 pm. The website will not be available for data entry until February 1st.
• Applications may be mailed, but any application received after April 29, 2016 at 4:00 pm will be rejected
regardless of postmark.
• Incomplete or inaccurate applications may be denied.
• Applications are available on the DPI website (this is the preferred method of application), but only during
the application period mentioned above: http://dpi.wi.gov/open-enrollment or from Baraboo High School at
1201 Draper Street.
• If your child is currently attending the Baraboo School District and you moved into another district since
last February, you MUST apply for open enrollment in order for your student to continue to attend here.
• Parents may request a specific school or program on their open enrollment application, but enrollment in that
particular school is subject to space and other limitations and is not guaranteed.
• If you live in another district and your student is already attending here under open enrollment, they may
continue to attend here without re-applying, unless they are entering high school in the fall of 2016.
If you have any questions, please contact Susan Sprecher at (608)355-3955.
COOL READING IN OUR IGLOO
Saizzi
and
ing
e read
Mia ar
ol
ally co
in a re
place!
We would like to thank everyone who collected milk
jugs for the construction of our reading igloo. Students
had fun reading books with friends.
WEST KINDERGARTEN CENTER NEWSLETTER
PAGE 5
INCLUSIVE SCHOOL
ENVIRONMENTS
What is inclusion?
Inclusion is the preferred method of placement for students with special needs whenever possible. In
IDEA( The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), Section 504, and the ADA (The Americans with
Disabilities Act) it is clear that students with disabilities must be educated in regular education settings to
the maximum extent appropriate in light of their needs, and prohibit their exclusion unless education there
cannot be achieved satisfactorily even with appropriate supplementary aids and services.
What is an inclusive classroom environment?
An inclusive classroom means all students have access to resources and facilities.
Instruction in all areas are tailored to student needs.
The curriculum is rigorous and relevant.
Educators are culturally sensitive and respectful.
Interactions with staff and other students are positive and encouraging in an atmosphere of learning.
It may include assessments that are varied to give each student the opportunity to demonstrate learning
(Education Northwest, 2011) in different ways.
What are the benefits of an inclusive classroom environment?
In an inclusion classroom, a general education teacher and a special education teacher work together to meet
the needs of students. Many opportunities for collaboration and teaming result.
Gives special education students the support they need while they learn alongside their general education
peers.
Regular education students benefit from the additional resources and supportive techniques used in an inclusion
classroom.
Teachers weave in specifically designed instruction and support that can help students make progress.
Inclusion classrooms can accommodate children with a wide range of learning styles and needs.
Teachers meet everyone’s needs by presenting lessons in different ways.
References:
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/cal/pdf/guidingprinciples1.pdf
The Inclusional Classroom Promoting Learning by Sue Watson: http://specialed.about.com/od/integration/a/
inclusional.htm
5 Benefits of Inclusion Classrooms- By Peg Rosen: https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/evaluations/
choosing-not-to-have-child-evaluated/5-benefits-of-inclusion-classrooms
NEWS FROM OUR GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
The elementary school counseling program offers classroom guidance lessons in grades K-5. As part of those
lessons we collaborate with Kristine Snow from the Hope House to provide one of the presentations. The Hope
House is a safe haven for families experiencing domestic violence of some type. Mrs. Snow will be coming to the
West Kindergarten Center on March 30 to present, “Hands Are Not For Hitting” to all Kindergarten classrooms.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel to contact either Mr. Davies or Dr. Olson at 355-3905.
WEST KINDERGARTEN CENTER NEWSLETTER
PAGE 6
Go to the following link for the current school menu.
http://www.baraboo.k12.wi.us/parentstudent/lunch_menus.cfm
PLAY A GAME WITH DICE AND CARDS
Take turns rolling two dice and adding them together. Write down the total for each roll. See who
has the highest total after 10 turns. Or play a game of cards. Have each person draw one card and turn
it over. The player with the highest number keeps both cards. Continue playing until you’ve used the
whole deck. The winner is the person with the most cards.
DRIVE, SAIL OR FLY?
Here’s a fun way for your child to practice sorting skills. Have him gather toys
cars, boats and
airplanes. Together divide a large sheet of paper into three sections for land, water, and sky. Ask him to
steer each vehicle to where it belongs. For example, a jeep goes on land, a tugboat goes in the water, and a
plane in the sky.
2016 ELEMENTARY SUMMER ACADEMY REGISTRATION & TIMELINE
The Baraboo School District will be offering enrichment summer courses within the Elementary Summer
Academy (formerly known as summer school) at Al Behrman Elementary (400 Mulberry St., Baraboo) on MondaysFridays from 7:30-11:50 AM on June 6-July 1 with free breakfast and free lunch being provided for all students.
There will a multitude and variety of summer course offerings available that match the interests and needs of
students currently in the grade ranges of K-1, 2nd-3rd and 4th-5th. Bus shuttles are available before and after
school to/from GLW/KidStop, East and Boys & Girls Club. Summer academy registration will begin on March 11 at
10:00 AM., and registration options will be available online, in-person at West School at 707 Center St. and by
mail/backpacks. All summer enrichment courses will be filled by families on a first come, first served basis and
enrollment space is limited. Please be looking for a Elementary Summer Academy booklet of course offerings
coming home to your family at the March 9-10th Parent/Teacher Conferences. Please contact Dr. Chris Olson,
BELC/West Principal, at 608-355-3906 or [email protected] at any time with summer academy
questions regarding the 2016-17 school year. Thank you for already planning ahead to the summer to engage your
child in fun, hands-on learning experiences during the summer.