Friday
January 11
Assembly 9:30am
Spirit/Pizza Day
Pre-K Potluck
6:15pm
Tuesday
January 15
Tour for Current Westside PK Families 9am
Wednesday
January 16
Tour 9:15am
First Grade to Play
Board Meeting
6:30pm
Monday
January 21
Martin Luther
King Jr. Day
No School
Friday
January 25
Tour 9:15am
Spirit/Pizza Day
Parents Night Out!
Saturday
January 26
Open House
1-3pm
Janaury 10, 2008
Westside SPIRIT Auction Procurement
Childcare for the In-Service
and Conference Days, Feb. 1, 7, 8
Winterfest DVD's Available in the Office
Lost and Found
Chinese Update
Parents Night Out
Westside SPIRIT Auction Procurement
By Jana Barber, Procurement Chair
I hope you’ve marked your calendar for Westside’s 19th Annual Auction, March 29th, 2008 at the Hall at Fauntleroy. We’ll celebrate the SPIRIT of our school community, and raise funds to support our school’s operations and our vital tuition assistance fund.
Your auction committee is working hard to put together an amazing evening, filled with fun, celebration, and some great items. To ensure our success on March 29th, we ask that every Westside family donate or procure at least one item to the auction.
Below is a list of “WHAT’s HOT” and “WHAT’s NOT” to guide you as you consider your auction donation.
The deadline for donating items is Febuary 15th – just before mid-winter break. Note that you don’t have to have the item turned in by then, just the procurement form. Procurement forms are available in the office, or click here for a PDF. If you need help with an idea or have a suggestion, reach out to Mary Harrelson, (maryharrelson@comcast.net) auction chair, or Jana Barber, (janabarber@comcast.net) procurement chair.
Here’s to the SPIRIT of Westside!
What’s HOT
- One-of-a-kind Experiences (backstage access, tix to the Oscars, race car driving, private winery stay & tour)
- Gift Cards (Nordy’s, West Seattle & downtown restaurants )
- Dinners/Parties/Catering
- Premium Wines
- Vacation Homes (long weekend/week long stays) & Trips
- Sports Tickets (suite, club level, center field/center court)
- Spa/Beauty Services @ popular establishments (Ummelina, Gene Juarez, Ola Salon etc.)
- Entertainment (Paramount, Benaroya, 5th Avenue)
- Anything unique/over-the-top that you would want to buy
- Items that are hard to get/not available to the general public
What’s NOT
- Museum tickets/passes
- Lessons
- Personal Services (Training, in-home consultations)
- Short-term memberships to health clubs
- Software, DVD’s, Video Games
- Photography sessions that don’t include prints
- Clothing
- Anything used or dated
Crunched for time? Creativity? Before you rush out to buy something to donate, consider a cash donation. Cash donations can be combined to purchase gift certificates or complete a package (eg: purchasing air fare or a restaurant gift certificate to complement a hotel/vacation donation) and will sell for top dollar!
Simply complete a procurement form noting your cash donation amount, and attach a check!
Childcare for the In-Service Day,
Feb. 1 and Conference Days, Feb. 7 & 8
Parents who are contracted for childcare (not drop-in only contracts) can now sign up for childcare for the school in-service day, Friday, February 1 and for conference days, Thursday and Friday, Feb. 7 and Feb. 8, on the website. Care is available for full day Westside students from 8am to 5 pm. Go to the parent section of the website, then to before and after care. There is a flat fee of $40 per child per day. The sign-up will open to all families on Jan. 24 for the in-service day and on Jan.31 for the conferences days, subject to space available.
Drop-in care for Westside students, for the length of the parent conference only, is available free of charge. Please note whether you will be using the drop-in care on your teacher’s conference sign up sheet. Thank you.
Winterfest DVD’s Available in the Office
Winterfest DVD’s are still available in the office for $15. Stop by and pick one - or more - up. It’s a perfect gift and a fun DVD to have around the house to remember Winterfest!
Lost and Found
Please check the lost and found collection in the main building. There are quite a few winter jackets. We will be giving away items that have been left here for a long time. It is very helpful if parents put names or at least initials on clothing tags, especially on the Westside spiritwear. Thank you.
Chinese Update Da Jia Hao! Hello All!
By Steven Whiting, Chinese Teacher
I hope that everyone had an enjoyable holiday season. Now it is time to hit the ground running in 2008. The kids have been making good progress in Mandarin Chinese. Each class has learned a different song and I will introduce new ones as the year progresses.
The Fourth and Fifth Graders have completed “The Snail Song” which they sing with great enthusiasm - as Linda and Judith can attest. Next I plan to teach them “My Little Donkey.” Now we are concentrating on dates, days of the week and descriptions. They will be doing a little more reading and writing in 2008 as well as continuing work on the pinyin system and on the Chinese word processor. They will also learn how to tell time, talk about locations, and discuss food.
The Third Graders have just learned “Old MacDonald’s Farm” (Old Mr. Wang in Chinese) to reinforce the names of various vegetables. The volume always goes up when they get to the EE, AI, EE, AI, OO part. They have learned how to say what school they attend and what grade they are in. They have been doing descriptions, nations and nationalities and will soon talk about what countries their ancestors came from. They will also learn how to ask permission to do various things
The Second Graders did a great job singing “The Pekinese Dog” song in Chinese at Winterfest. They are now learning to ask how to say something in Chinese as well as descriptions of people and things. They are also asking and telling their birthdays. Soon they will learn how to say what school they attend and what grade they are in and how to ask permission.
The First Graders have been working on descriptions through learning my version of “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” They will soon learn asking and telling their birthdays and how to sing “The More We Get Together” in Chinese.
The Kindergartners have learned the “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Feet” song in Chinese as well as other body parts and family members. They will soon learn the “Two Tigers” song and continue their “interviews” by expressing likes and dislikes about colors and fruits.
The Lunar New Year will be coming soon so we will review the twelve Chinese zodiac animals, talk about customs and legends associated with Chinese New Year, learn a New Years chant and hand out red envelopes.
Parents Night Out!
The 4th and 5th graders head to Islandwood on Bainbridge for four days in Early February - part of an annual living and learning experience that Westside students get to participate in. Part of attending is earning the right to go, and the 4/5s have been busy raising money to contribute their share towards this experience.
On Friday, January 25th, they invite you to take an evening off! Leave your kids with them! For $25/child, the 4/5s (and some of their parents) will entertain your child/children in the gym, and in the early learning center (a movie might be shown!) and even give them dinner! You can drop off any time after 5:30, and you will need to pick your child/children no later than 9 pm - so all can get to bed after exhausting themselves! Children must be 3yrs old.
Sign up online, but don’t dawdle! In the past, this event has sold out (we can only handle so many little bundles of joy at one time). Special price for Dads whose spouses are heading out on the Mom’s ski weekend. Make your checks payable to Westside School. Thanks for helping the 4/5s make this worthy event a success!