Friday
October 9
Teacher In-Service
NO SCHOOL
Childcare Available
Wednesday
October 14
Westside's First
Admission Tour
9:15am
Thursday
October 15
WPO Meeting
Talking with Kids about Sexuality
6pm
Friday
October 16
SPIRIT/Pizza Day
Wednesday
October 21
Board Meeting
6:30pm
Thursday
October 22
Admission Tour
9:15am
Friday
October 23
School Pictures
October 8, 2009
No Hiding - We're Seeking
WPo Meeting Next Week
School Pictures
Marketing Westside School
Art & the Human Spirit
A Wildlife Encounter
No Hiding – We’re Seeking!
By Halloween Chairs Krista Wassermann & Angie Graves
Please revisit the sign ups for Halloween Fest!!!
There was an itsy bitsy glitch so many spots have opened back up.
If you have not yet volunteered for this super spooky event, now is the time to do it! Westside’s most daunting Halloween Fest ever is happening Saturday, October 31st and it takes the entire Westside community to make it happen! Click here to learn more about the activities and to sign up. If you misplace this Update, don’t fret! You can access the sign up sheet on the Parents & Students page of Westside’s web site along with childcare and enrichment class sign ups.
For those of you not familiar with our online sign up system, put “1” for you in the time slot for the activity you are interested in. You will have the opportunity to fill in your name and other information at the bottom of the page.
Halloween Fest is for everyone (and really isn’t THAT scary) so invite your friends, neighbors and family to come and all are welcome to come in costume – yes, that means you too!
Now – GO SIGN UP!!! Or else….
WPO Meeting Thursday, Oct. 15, 6pm
Talking with your Kids about Sexuality
By Kate Petrich, WPO President
Don’t miss this chance to be the “go to person” for your children! We’re inviting all Westside parents to next Thursday’s workshop on “Talking with your kids about Sexuality.” While statistics show that teens make better sexual choices when they have a good dialog about sexuality with their parents,” the “teen years” can seem a world away for some of us. Au contraire! We’re building them now - come learn why the ground work for this “good dialog” needs to start now, and how easy it can be to start.
The WPO is arranging free childcare for Westside students with your RSVP. Pizza and snacks for the children, and small sandwiches for parents will also be provided. Reserve your childcare with your RSVP to Kate Petrich:katepetrich@gmail.com or 206-988-5820. (If you don’t need childcare, an RSVP is not mandatory, but still helpful for planning. Thank you!). For more topic details, read Laura Fine-Morrison’s article in last week’s Update.
School Pictures, Friday, Oct. 23
School picture order forms are being sent home with your child this week. Please fill out a form and enclose payment for each child. Order forms can be turned into your classroom teacher on or before picture day, Friday, October 23. Please note that classroom pictures are not included in the packages and must be ordered separately on the form (“Y” or “Z”).
Marketing Westside School
As the admission season gets underway, you will see and hear Westside School advertised more and more. However, due to the tight economy, we are trying to be good stewards of our budget and have decided not to advertise in some of the more traditional ways. For the most part, print advertising has almost been eliminated from the marketing plan this year. Why? The cost of print advertising in magazines like Parent Map and Seattle’s Child continues to increase, yet we’re not convinced that this form of advertising is as effective as it used to be. It’s a bit of an experiment, but we’ve decided to spend our marketing budget on the advertising that has proven to be successful over the last couple of years, and use this year’s tighter budget as an excuse to test, or not-test in this case, some of our traditional marketing efforts. So don’t be surprised if you open up the next Parent Map magazine and Westside School is missing.
What is our most effective advertising? You, our parents and students! The more you talk about Westside School, the better we do! You are our most effective marketing tool… thank you for spreading the word. Tours start next week.
Art And The Human Spirit
By Margery Lamden, Art Teacher
Art is amazing... every summer we have the chance to enjoy fresh perspectives all over the world from travels, family, and books. We return in the fall to bring these new and vital experiences to our classrooms. In the words of Vincent Van Gogh “...the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people,” we see the differences between thoughts and emotions and yet each of us has a unique view of ourselves. How wonderful it is to bring these variances to each project in art. All of us have a signature and yet each of us has a different style of signing our names. I look forward to the unique and imaginative views that will be created through each art project.
A Wildlife Encounter at Westside School
No, we are not being overrun by the local squirrel population. On Friday, October 16th we will have a visit from a group known as Wildlife Encounters. They will showcase live animals from around the world and talk about their survival and conservation. Wildlife Encounters works with the channel Animal Planet promoting awareness and enthusiasm for wildlife conservation. The presentation will include animals such as the Artic Fox, Lemur, Wallaby, Porcupine, and perhaps a primate or two.
This presentation will begin at 9:30 AM in the gym and last about 45 minutes. You are welcome to join the children for this unique experience.