Woodland Watch
A Woodland Wildcat Always R.O.A.R.S.
December 3, 2021
Upcoming Events
- December 1-15: Food Drive
- December 10: NO SCHOOL - Teacher PD
- December 16: Early Dismissal @ 1:35pm
- December 23 - December 31: Winter Recess
- January 3rd: School Resumes
Message from Mrs. Schneider
Dear Woodland Families,
The events of this week in Oxford and the copycat threats have shaken all of us. Thank you for your understanding and support as we cancelled school on Thursday and Friday out of caution. Thankfully, the threats were fully investigated and found to be not credible. Today, our staffs worked together to prepare for our students' return and to review safety protocols. Woodland had already completed a review of and practiced ALL of our safety drills this fall, but additional instruction and feedback is always appreciated from our law enforcement partners.
My number one priority is that students feel safe and are safe. With the tragic event at Oxford High School, sometimes confidences are shaken. I want to take a few minutes to share what safety protocols we have in place AND the conversations that took place in classrooms on Wednesday and will likely occur again on Monday. Having this information may make it easier to have conversations with your children.
Because of the age of our students, we made the decision on Wednesday not to bring the shooting up unless it came up naturally. Some students had no idea anything happened and others knew every detail that had been on TV. It did come up in some classrooms, even some kindergartners were talking about it. When it came up, our goal was to acknowledge any fears, be honest, and remind them of how safe they are. We also kept explanations developmentally appropriate. For elementary students, the best course of action is
- to provide simple information balanced with assurance of safety
- to remind students about what we do at school to keep you safe
- to separate fact from fiction
- Mrs. Schneider and every teacher's number one job is to make sure you are safe and ready to learn.
- Our outside doors are always locked.
- Anyone that wants to come in has to be buzzed in by Mrs. Scrase or Mrs. Montano. They can see who they are on the camera before letting them in.
- There are cameras throughout the building to make sure everyone is being safe.
- We practice drills (5 fire, 3 tornado, 3 lockdown/evacuation) each year. We have done 3 fire, 2 tornado, 1 lockdown, 1 evacuation drill already this year. The language we use is "We practice our drills so that we know what to do in an emergency. If there is a fire, where would we go? (outside to the parking lot) If there is a tornado, what do we do? (go into the bathroom or against the wall and cover our head) If we have to evacuate or leave Woodland, where do we go? (to the church next door). Whenever we talk about our lockdown/evacuation drill I use kid terms. "We would evacuate the building if it was not safe to be in here. There might be a gas leak or an unsafe or dangerous person. We leave the building and head over to the church next door." We NEVER use the term "active shooter" during a drill. We read the book "I'm Not Scared, I'm Prepared" which is written in a student friendly way. Check it out on Youtube and you may want to watch it with your child. We read it in school prior to our evacuation drill.
- We have safety rules on the playground and in our classrooms. You may want to open the conversation by asking your child to share what things we do have at school that make him/her feel safe. (The prior list can help lead the conversation.)
- We used examples and language from the Positivity Project to help use frame conversations. Teamwork, Kindness, Leadership, Self-Control, Optimism, Love, Integrity
In Wednesday's letter, I sent three articles you may find helpful in guiding your conversations. The two I used with staff today during our PD are Parent Guidelines for Helping Youth after the Recent Shooting and Talking to Children about the Shooting and we will be using these strategies in the next weeks.
Please know that your children mean the world to us. We know that you are entrusting us with your most important people. If you ever have any questions regarding our safety protocols or your child is struggling because of this week's events, we are here to answer your questions and to support your student.
Hug your kids,
Arryn Schneider
Report Cards
Please keep the papers at home and return the envelope to school. We will reuse them for 2nd marking period.
Woodland's Annual Food Drive
Our annual Gleaners Food Drive started this week! Students can bring in canned goods and non-perishable food from Wednesday, December 1st through Wednesday, December 15th. Woodland's annual food drive provides boxes of food for our Blessings in a Backpack families and for Gleaners Food Bank. We have been very fortunate in donating thousands of pounds over the last few years. This year we hope to provide over 1,500 pounds to help those in need over the holidays.
Items needed at Gleaners:
Canned Fruit (no heavy syrup)
Canned Vegetables
Tuna Fish
Peanut Butter, Sunbutter, Wowbutter (in plastic jars)
Healthy Cereal/Oatmeal
Hearty Soups
Stews
Canned Spaghetti or Pasta
Beans (black, kidney, pinto, or refried)
Canned Meats (chicken, salmon)
Boxed Pasta
Macaroni and Cheese
Rice
Pancake or Baking Mixes
Vegetable Oil
Spices
Cafeteria and Hot Lunch
Breakfast is served every morning in the cafeteria from 8:25am-8:45am.
All students (no forms required) are eligible to receive free lunch this year. If a child orders a 2nd lunch, they must pay the $3.50 charge. Money can be added to student accounts on Parent Portal.
Hot Lunch
Monday 12/9: Chicken Nuggets or Garden Salad
Tuesday 12/10: Pepperoni Pizza or Cheese Pizza
Wednesday 12/11: Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich or Bagel w/ Cream Cheese
Thursday 12/12: Chicken Patty or Garden Salad
Friday 12/13: No School
Happy Birthday!
December 1: Jackeline M.
December 2: Sharon M-R., Kinley N. Kaleb N-D.
December 3: Christian V., Raiyan Z.
December 4: Evie L.
December 5: John I., Stella P.
December 6: Olivia T.
December 7: Ubayy D., Kalen S.
December 9: Avery A., Madisen A., Saish B., Sanvi B., Mallory M., Jaxson S.
December 10: Ralfo I., Kento M.
Woodland Elementary School
Email: arryn.schneider@avondaleschools.org
Website: avondaleschools.org
Location: 6465 Livernois Road, Troy, MI, USA
Phone: 248-537-6900
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoodlandROARS/