Thursday
May 14
Spring Fling
6:30pm at
Grace Church
Friday
May 15
Spirit/Pizza Day
Monday-Thursday
May 18-21
4th & 5th Grade
to Islandwood
Wednesday
May 20
Board Meeting
6:30pm
Monday
May 25
Memorial Day
NO SCHOOL
Thursday
May 28
Jo Ann presents
the ERB
4:30pm
Friday
June 5
Field Day
Pizza Day
Saturday
June 6
New Family
Social
1:30-3pm
May 14, 2009
From Jo Ann - I Hear You!
Kindergarten Visits the Museum of Flight
Room Parents Needed for Next Year Now!
Summer Camp Registration Deadline
Changed to Graduation/Spirit Award Celebration
Recent Graduate Update
Bravo Teacher Appreciation Week Chairs
More Thanks from Teachers
From Jo Ann
I Hear You!
A couple of weeks ago I shared a general overview of this year’s parent survey. We appreciate the time it took, so I would like to read aloud some of your comments over the next few weeks. By sharing some of your thoughts with the rest of the Westside community, we hope that other parents with similar concerns will find it helpful.
Topic: Do you participate and enjoy WPO events? 85% agree, 14% are neutral and 1% disagree.
Parent: “Because of where I work, it’s difficult for me to be very involved in the WPO. As a result, the WPO has a bit of an insider’s club feeling. These parents have the flexibility to be on campus more often than I do, and I don’t feel very connected to it.”
Jo Ann: I have heard this expressed by both parents who work as well as non-working parents. What some perceive as “clicky,” others see as friendships that have grown over the years at Westside. By the time a student is in 5th grade, many of these parents have been together for 8 years!!! Add another sibling to the school and it’s a big part of their social network.
The only way I can suggest you break in is by jumping in! That will help to build those friendships that appear to be an “insider club.” Here are a few specific opportunities for Working Parents. You may not be able to participate in Pizza Days or Field Day, but you can team-up with a parent from your classroom to be co-room parents. It’s a great way to learn the names of the children and parents in the class and feel connected. Divide the responsibilities: You may not be able to attend a classroom party but there is plenty to do in the evening, like email communications to parents, track classroom donations, organize parent get-togethers, and arrange teacher gifts. The WPO has also done a great job in reaching out to all parents for help. Every WPO event, whether it is Movie Night, Halloween Fest, or Family Dance has set up, clean up, sign making, and a trip to Costco associated with it. Being a parent ambassador for weekend Open Houses is another opportunity for working parents.
Right now we are looking for mentor families. If you are feeling disconnected, maybe there is something you might be able to improve on your experience with your mentor family. This is also a great opportunity for both working and non-working families to reach out to new Westside families in the hopes of building friendships.
Museum of Flight
By Stuart Scolnik, Kindergarten Teacher
We’ve just returned from the Museum of Flight. We timed our field trip to coincide with one of the last launches of the Space Shuttle. While most students had been to the museum before, most had not seen a shuttle launch. For the adults, it left a mix of emotions, from bittersweet to excited to sad. The lesson on flight was an extension from the collection of butterflies in our room, which was an extension of our insect lessons.
When we started our flight instruction, we all thought it was the rudder that controlled the turn of the aircraft. However, after experimenting with foam plate aircraft, we found that the tabs on the edge of the wing controlled the turns and are called the ailerons. We noted how they turn opposite of each other. We’ve looked at how other aircraft and animals fly. We saw a plane powered by a human, not an engine. We even saw a car that could fly! We returned to Westside School tired, but in time to have an opportunity to create our own aircraft in art class.
Over the next couple of days, we will see why the Space Shuttle went into space. We will look at the images from the Hubble Telescope. We will work with our own telescopes. Later, a test pilot from the Boeing Corporation will visit us. She comes from a civilian background and is very inspirational. Flight is a dynamic subject to teach and learn, suitable for all ages, with numerous extensions, and opportunities to inspire the imagination.
Thanks to all the parents that have made all our field trips possible.
Next Year Room Parents Needed Now!
By Sue Winter, WPO Room Parent Coordinator
Do you like to be “in the know”? Are you an emailer extraordinaire? Would you like to connect more with your fellow class families and teacher? If you answered “yes” to any one of these questions, you could be a great room parent!
Room parents work in teams of two or more to organize class events, support teachers, and help keep our Westside community strong. Sign-ups for next year’s room parents are going on now for all classes. If you would like to be a room parent or have questions about the job, please contact WPO room parent coordinator Sue Winter at suewinter@comcast.net, or sign-up on the WPO volunteer board by the office.
Summer Camp Registration Deadline!
Tomorrow is the deadline for summer camp registration. Our numbers are still low. If you are interested in signing up, please register now! We are offering some fun activities! Click here to register. If you’re considering it, but would like to pay in installments instead of all at one time, please email David at davidb@westsideschool.org.
Graduation and Spirit Awards Changes
By Jo Ann, Head of School
June 11 is our celebration of the Westside School spirit and the graduation of our fifth graders. It is very moving to see the accomplishments of our students, as both graduates and fourth graders demonstrate their poise. Fourth graders “graduate” their fellow students in the fifth grade, each speaking about the graduates. The program has concluded with a year-in-review slide presentation, which usually results in many teary eyes as we send the fifth graders off to continue their celebration.
In the past, we have also recognized all first through third grade students with individual spirit awards. It is wonderful to hear praises of all! However, because of the growth of our school, we have decided to move the spirit awards into classroom celebrations. Our enrollment in lower grades together with the high number of fifth graders (this year we are graduating 20!) has made us reconsider our evening’s program.
By moving the spirit awards to the first through third grade classroom celebrations, we will have time to focus our June 11 program on our fifth graders and truly let them shine. If you attended the Spirit Week assembly on May 16, you have already seen what a talented group they are!
In this year’s program, fourth graders will continue to graduate our fifth graders, and the fifth graders will have more opportunity to share their accomplishments. All of you, our families, are invited to be part of the celebration, view the all-school multi-media presentation, and wish our graduates well. I am so proud of them. They represent Westside School in all the ways I expect – they are smart, confident and caring! Come help us celebrate.
Recent Westside Graduate Update
By Donna Jornlin, PE Teacher
Mariam Khodr, a 2007 graduate of Westside & current Madison 7th grader, was one of 26 middle school students honored this week at the Mayor’s Scholar Awards. Chosen from a group of 200 applicants, the award recognizes young people who have overcome difficult circumstances, who are doing great work helping others, & viewed as leaders in their community. Mariam helps with chores in her family, teaches others about recycling & would like to one day become a doctor. When I spoke with her, she mentioned several times during our conversation how much she loved Westside. Congratulations to her & her family!
Bravo TAW Chairs Lisa & Shannon!
By Kate Petrich, WPO President
Special thanks to Teacher Appreciation Week Chair, Shannon Marsh, and Co-Chair, Lisa Medina, for a fantastic week last week. They designed a week of thoughtful gifts, delicacies, and surprises, that showed our teachers how much we appreciate their classroom magic. On behalf of the WPO, thank you for a terrific job!
More Teacher Thanks!
A few of our teachers missed out on thanking all the parents for teacher appreciation week. Here are a couple more “thanks!”
Thank you all for the special week - I loved the pastries and coffee delivery service, and the dessert buffet was like one of those children’s movie dreams - chocolate, cheesecake, homemade ice-cream, rhubarb crisp, more chocolate, all mit schlag! The book is delightful and the thoughts and drawings are priceless.I’ll treasure it always. Cathy, Music
A heartfelt thank you to all that contributed to the extravaganza that was last week! We all felt very appreciated and full! It was wonderful! Chris, 1st Grade