Friday
December 21
Early Dismissal
No Aftercare
Monday
December 24 -
Friday,
January 4
Winter Break
School Closed!
Monday
January 7
School Resumes
Thursday
January 10
Tour 9:15am
Friday
January 11
Assembly 9:30am
Spirit/Pizza Day
Tuesday
January 15
Tour for Current Westside PK Families 9am
Wednesday
January 16
Tour 9:15am
Board Meeting
6:30pm
December 20, 2007
Winterfest DVD's
Visit the Westside Annex
Enrichment Classes
Half Day Tomorrow
Thank You for the Toys!
Annual Giving Update
Winterfest Away from Home
From Jo Ann - Security Update
Offense, Defense and the Winter Solstice
Winterfest DVD’s
Did you reserve a Winterfest DVD? Or would you like one (or more) for the holidays? They’re available in the office! Each DVD costs $15. Reserved DVD’s are held aside for you, but there are more available. It’s the perfect gift!
Visit the Westside Annex
Tomorrow, from drop-off to pick-up, the newly re-modeled admin house will be open for visitors. Come check it out, and discover Heidi’s (Business Manager) and Jana’s (Development and Marketing Director) new offices. (Just go all the way down the hall, out the back doors, and the house is on the right.)
Enrichment Classes
Space is still available in a few enrichment classes. Check out what’s still open at www.westsideschool.org/parents.htm. Is your child’s favorite class full? New enrichment classes will start again after mid-winter break.
Half Day Tomorrow
Remember, Westside is only open until noon tomorrow. There is no aftercare! PS, PK and K all dismiss at 11:45am, and grades 1-5 dismiss at noon. Happy Holidays! See you January 7th.
Thank You for the Toys
The kindergarten classes decided to give their toys to the North Highline Fire Station instead of Toys for Tots this year. It was decided that supporting the local community is very important, and what better way to do that than to give toys to a local fire station. The Fire Chief, Scott LaVielle, was thrilled with all the toys and plans to visit all the kindergarten children to thank everyone for their generosity. The fire station has adopted 40 families in the area and will make sure that those families will receive the gifts. Thank you all for helping us with this.
Annual Giving Update
Annual Giving is wrapping up, and 98% of Westside families donated this year. Many classes reached 100% participation. Congratulations to Nancy’s preschool class, both kindergarten classes, Margie’s first grade class, the 2nd, 3rd and 5th grade classes! You’ve earned Westside an extra $7000 in matching!
It’s not too late to give. Visit www.westsideschool.org/annualgiving.htm.
Winterfest Away from Home
By Amy Eby, Jacob Eby’s (PS) mom (From an email)
While Westside was celebrating Winterfest, Jacob Eby (preschool class) was attending his grandfather’s memorial service in San Diego. He decided that he would have Winterfest anyway, and in front of a large crowd gathered on a Naval air craft carrier, Jacob took the microphone (wearing his little black suit, tie and vest) and sang “Down with Darkness” in front of everyone, bringing them to tears. At the end of the song, as the last lines were approaching, he said “but I need two hands to do this part” into the microphone. I held the microphone for him, and he repeated the entire song with the clap. It was great--you would have been so proud of him!
Thanks for all of the music he learns at school and sorry we missed the show!
From Jo Ann - New Security
At our Toast of the Town, 2007 auction, we raised $58,000 for our First Class Classrooms Fund-a-Wish. Our vision was to improve technology in the upper classrooms, to create a better learning space for all grades and to beef up security.
As the school year was winding down, we started to work to implement our wishes. We installed vertical blinds to create more natural light and we added the 18 new flat-screen monitors and computers for our students. Over the summer, we purchased three Tablet PCs and LCD projectors, and our teachers are learning to use these tools and will begin integrating technology into the classroom. In addition, we added eight new classroom printers and two more computers for second grade. We also purchased a die-cut machine, and the teachers are happy cutting out shapes and letters with just the press of a paper-cutter.
Our last item on the fund-a-wish list is a building security system. We implemented a portion of the security vision this summer. We upgraded our phone system to work with the new portable buildings, and part of this upgrade included an intercom at the front door and at the side playground door. This intercom rings directly to Kathy’s desk. The system is not quite finished, as it requires special door locks and a keyless entry system. We have decided to finish this installation in the summer of 2008, and increase our security with card readers and door fobs next school year. Thank you for your patience.
Offense, Defense and the Winter Solstice
By Donna Jornlin, PE Teacher
What’s a “space bubble?” How do you “use your radar” in the gym? “Let’s do a shoe check!” These are prompts or cues I use in my classroom to help students focus on safety and personal space awareness. Children learn best when they feel safe, not just physically but also emotionally. We spend time each week, in pre-school and primary classes particularly, doing activities that help children learn to move their bodies safely through space and around each other! One example is Anatomy Back to Back, starting back to back with a partner, using a loco-motor movement like skipping to move to music, then listening for the next match. It might be palm to palm or knee to knee. This is a terrific warm-up activity and helps them learn to respect each other’s personal space while moving. Gotcha is a fast-paced game we play in 2nd - 5th grade which incorporates quick reflexes as well as jumping, dodging and dashing to miss the beanbags sliding across the floor. Dodge City and Traffic are two more that use a small space and a few commands to change direction.
The 3rd, 4th and 5th grades do a mat segment each week, called “Muscle Mat Monday” which focuses on their core; key muscles from knee to shoulder that stabilize the body. Ask them to demonstrate the plank, opposites and let-downs. This month the skill unit for 4/5 has been volleyball, beginning with beach balls and then moving into regulation size balls. They’ve practiced underhand serves, digs and sets, and learned key elements of the game. Offense and defense have been the buzzwords in 1st - 5th grade, where we’ve tried Knockdown, a game where bowling pins are the target, and Nine pin, a partner game where one guards the can while the other tries to kick a ball into another team’s can.
Our December “Have a Healthy Body” topic is TEETH - how and why to take care of them. One comment was, “It’s just as important to have strong teeth as strong muscles!”, and a 1st grader’s definition of cavities was......”the poop the bad bacteria leaves on your teeth!” It’s quite a treat hearing each grades’ opinion of their world!
Make an active lifestyle a part of your new year. Celebrate the season with light. I’m buying my daughters and nieces headlamps for a winter solstice walk. Imagine how much fun your kids would have with their lights bobbing along looking for bugs in the dark of winter!