WS-NL 11.15.2013 - West Ottawa Public Schools

November 15, 2013
West Ottawa Public Schools
Woodside
2591 N. Division Ave.
Holland, Michigan 49424
Phone: 616.786.1900
Fax: 616.786.1991
Dear Woodside Families,
It was great seeing all our families here at Woodside for the first night of Parent-Teacher Conferences this past
Thursday. We hope you took advantage of the PTO-sponsored Scholastic Book Fair that was here on our campus as well. Parent-Teacher Conferences provide a great opportunity to communicate directly with your
child’s teacher and gain insight into how your child is performing academically and behaviorally at school.
We believe that your child’s best advocate in making that educational connection between home and school is
you! Conference night continues on Tuesday, November 19 from 5:00-8:00pm.
This past Veteran’s Day we had an awesome assembly led by our school’s Social Worker, Mrs. Sally Woods.
We learned what it means to be a Veteran and how brave men and women defend our freedom everyday here
in America and around the world. The program began with the students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Mrs. Woods showcasing exactly what the words in the Pledge mean to us as Americans. A group of
4th graders performed an amazing skit and Mrs. Romero (our music teacher) lead the assembly in songs such
as “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and “America the Beautiful.”
Thanksgiving Recess is right around the corner! We hope everyone takes the time off from November 27-29
to spend with their families and reflect on all of which they are thankful. I’ll get it started: I am Thankful for
the opportunity to work with such wonderful teachers and staff who truly care about each and every one of our
students here at Woodside Elementary.
Yours in Learning,
Nicholas Holtvluwer
“Mr. H.”
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Nov. 19—Parent / Teacher Conferences 5pm-8pm.
Nov. 19—Bible Club
Nov. 19—Book Fair—Library 4:00pm-8:00pm
Nov. 27-29—Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 9—Dental Van
Dec. 11—Late Start Day
Dec. 12—PTO Mtg. 6:30pm
Nick Holtvluwer, Principal
Patti Freers, Secretary
616-786-1900
West Ottawa Website
www.westottawa.net
Woodside Newsletters are Green!
All WO schools have gone “green” with school newsletters. We will publish news-letters every other week, twice a
month. They will be available for view on the West Ottawa website, www.westottawa.net Just click on “Our Schools”
then “Woodside” Newsletters are located under “News.” They are also emailed to parents. Please make sure we have
your correct email address! Thank you.
Food Service lunch menus are also found on-line. Visit the West Ottawa website, select “Parent Resources,” “Food
Service” and then click on the student picture with “Lunch Menu” typed on it.
Late Start Days –Please mark your calendars!
West Ottawa Public Schools will have late start days on December 11, and March 18 for teacher professional development. These days will be treated like a 2 hour delay. School will begin for Woodside at 10:35 a.m. If your child rides the
bus, the bus will come two hours later that it normally does. Students may start to arrive at 10:25 a.m. If you have any
questions, please feel free to call the Woodside office at 786- 1900. Thank you!
Volunteering at School or on Field Trips
If there is any possibility that you may volunteer in a classroom, go on a field trip, or help at any school event this year,
it is important that you complete and return a “Volunteer Profile Form.” These forms came in your first day packet and
are also available in the office, West Ottawa requires all volunteers to have a Volunteer Profile on file. Please return
yours as soon as possible, thank you for your cooperation!
Lunch Accounts
Please remember that the meal accounts must be prepaid. Your child must
have money in the account before eating. If you have any questions,
please call the Child Nutrition and Food Service at 786-2100.
Breakfast $2.00
Lunch $2.45
BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION
Please clip the Box Tops for Education
symbols off many General Mills products. These symbols provide our school
with free money to use for field trips.
Assemblies and much more. Thank you
for keeping an eye for those Box tops
and taking the time to clip them. Each
one makes a difference! Your child’s
classroom competes with the other classes for who can collect the most Box
Tops. Classes can win a
Pizza or Ice Cream Party!
WOODSIDE STUDENT DAY
YK through 5th grades
Start Time
8:35 am
End Time
3:38 pm
Half day dismissal
8:35—11:52 am
Please have your children to
school on time!
ABSENCES
If your child is going to
be absent from school,
please call the school
office with this
information at 786-1900
before 9:15 a.m.
Student Sign In
Parents/Guardians/Visitors
Please remember to sign in
the school office before going
anywhere in the building.
This is a safety issue for the
children and adults here at
Woodside.
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM OUR TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT!
-Bus PassesStudent safety is always our top priority, so unfortunately, due to buses being fuller this year, we will not be
able to issue Bus Passes for students to ride a different bus after school. Bus passes will only be
issued it is an emergency situation. If you have an emergency situation and need your student to
ride a different bus, at the end of the day, please call the school office at 786-1900. Thank you.
STUDENT ILLNESS GUIDELINES
Please follow these important guidelines. We want to keep
everyone as healthy as possible with our Woodside family! In the early morning before school, it is
often difficult to determine whether or not to send your child to school. Most illnesses children have
are contagious, meaning other children can catch them. For that reason, we have guidelines for school
attendance so children do not infect or endanger the health of other children. For example, if your
child has these symptoms, please keep him/her home from school:
Fever - A person’s “normal” body temperature can vary from person to person. Generally speaking, any temperature over
a person’s “normal” temperature (usually 98.6) can be considered a fever. Your child’s temperature should be “normal”
for 24 hours before sending him/her back to school.
Bad cough - Defined as persistent and interfering with schoolwork. Children often do not remember to cover their mouths.
Coughing can easily spread germs.
Diarrhea, vomiting or severe stomachaches - These symptoms should be gone 24 hours before sending your child back
to school.
Red eyes (with yellow drainage) - Your child may wake up in the morning with his/her eye stuck shut. This may indicate
“pink eye” which is extremely contagious. Please check with your physician.
MAKING THE CALL WHEN BAD WEATHER STRIKES
The decision to delay or close school or to send students home early is weighed heavily. Your child’s safety is our
primary concern. Several factors are considered including current road and weather conditions as well as the weather
forecast.
Thank you for your cooperation. Please be prepared when severe weather threatens and keep in mind:
Announcements are made by 6:00 a.m., whenever possible, regarding a decision to close school or delay the start of
school.
Parents and students may find out about school closings, delays and starting times and cancellations by:
Calling the Information Hotline (786-1100)
Press 5510 for school closing information
Press 5511 for district cancellations
Checking the Internet
District Website: www.westottawa.net
Tuning in to a cable television access channel
Charter Communications (Channel 96)
T2 Communications (Channel 2)
Watching the following television stations:
WWMT (Channel 3)
WOOD (Channel 8)
WZZM (Channel 13)
Cancellation Board Policy
The Athletic event cancellation policy states that if school is cancelled due to weather conditions, all grade K- 8 afterschool activities will automatically be cancelled. A decision to conduct or cancel grade 9-12 events/ activities will
normally be made after 12 noon and announced on the Hotline, television stations, and
WHTC radio station.
HOLIDAY GREETING CARD
COMPETITION
I would like to announce the 27th annual Holiday greeting
card
competition which is open to all West Ottawa students. I
invite all
students to share their artistic talent and submit an entry
for our
holiday greeting card competition.
The drawing selected for first place will be used on the front
of our
holiday greeting card that will be sent to all West Ottawa
employees from the West Ottawa Board of Education.
1.
Thank you to Woodside’s wonderful PTO who
provided the delicious meal for our staff on
Thursday, during conferences. We appreciate
everything that you do for us. Thank you very
much!
The original artwork may be done in black and white or
color on an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of white paper.
2. The competition involves the front of the card only.
3. Each entry must have the student’s name, grade, and
school printed on the back in order to be considered.
4. All entries are due to me by Wednesday, November
20, 2013.
The artist of the entry selected will be invited to the December 16 Board meeting to receive 25 copies of the card. The
artist will also
.receive a $50 gift certificate to
Barnes and Noble Bookstore.
Sincerely,
Thomas K. Martin
Superintendent of Schools
The kinders are learning about
farm animals and have learned
some of the same songs as the
first graders about la granja
and los animales. One of the crafts we made was un cerdo/puerco, which is a pig.
This week first graders continued learning about la granja-the farm with a song
called Vengan a Ver Mi Granja. Ask your child to tell you about some of the
animals we have learned in Spanish and the hand motion we use to help us remember them.
2nd graders learned about the parts of the head by playing some games as well
as making a head self portrait and labeling the head parts in Spanish.
3rd graders are learning about deportes-sports. We are also working on phrases
to tell if students like or dislike certain sports.
4th graders spent time this week reviewing numbers to 75. They also are working on learning phrases that they can write in a biography later this year. We
will continue reviewing numbers as well as learning ways to explain how we feel.
5th graders are learning about classes at school. They will be filling out an horario (schedule) to show what their school day looks like. Be sure to ask your fifth
grader about some of the activities we have done to practice school subjects.
Señora Zimmer
Music Notes
We are off to a great start this year and it is hard to believe it is
almost Thanksgiving!
1st grade has been working very hard on their steady beat patterns
and learning their instruments. We are into the second family now,
the Brass Family.
2nd grade has been working with instruments learning different
rhythms to play with instrumental songs. Our first one was to the
Washington Post March and now we are beginning one for the winter. They have also completed their first lesson on their keyboards.
3rd grade is preparing to being working on start, step and repeat on
their keyboards. This is a hard concept to understand but they are
proving to be up to the challenge. We will be testing on their progress in a few weeks.
4th grade has begun recorders! They are doing a great job on them.
We need to work more on blowing GENTLY. Look for some
songs to be coming home that they can work on also. There are
still a few recorders left to purchase if your child does not have
their own. They are $4.00 for a black one and $5.00 for one of the
color recorders. They can bring the money to me at any time.
5th grade has been working on their recorders also reviewing what
we learned from last year. We just finished a 4 week lesson on
Johnny Appleseed too which they did wonderfully on and had a
great time singing the Johnny Appleseed song. What a great group
of singers!
Mrs. Romero
Links from the Library and Lab
By Miss Marco, Technology/Library Media Specialist
Please feel free to stop in and see me during Parent-Teacher Conferences. I will be at Woodside for conferences on Thursday,
November 14th from 1 – 4 and 5-8 pm. I will be in the library instead of the computer lab. This would be a great time to see what
your child has been learning in the computer lab so far. You
might also want to find out which assignments he or she will be
graded on at the end of 2nd semester and how these assignments
are coming along.
Change Your World @ Your Library!