January 20- Early release - Dismissal at 11:52 & End of 1st Semester

January 26- Kindergarten Showcase, 6-7pm

January 27- Popcorn Day

February 2- Kindergarten Montessori Open House, 9:15-10:15am & 10:15-11:15am

February 6- PTA Meeting, 5-6pm

February 10- Early Release - Dismissal at 11:52am

February 13- No School - Mid Winter Recess

Kindergarten Showcase for all West Ottawa Elementary schools will take place at 6PM on January 26, 2023. If you have an incoming Kindergarten student you are welcome to attend to hear about West Ottawa's educational offerings.

Waukazoo will host a subsequent Montessori Kindergarten Open House on Thursday, February 2, 2023 from 9:15-10:15am & 10:15-11:15am. Presentations will begin at 9:15 & 10:15 with Q & As and tours to follow.

On Friday, January 20, 2023 the Waukazoo Student Council will be holding our annual Super, Not Ordinary, Winter (S.N.O.W.) Day. Students will have access to a hot chocolate bar (ingredient lists are available in the office) and other winter based activities.

Now that the weather is getting colder it is important to reiterate the District’s cold weather recess policy. Students will go outside for recess everyday unless it is below 0° (or if it is raining hard). Waukazoo asks that all students bring boots, gloves/mittens, a coat, and hat daily for recess.

Michigan has constantly changing weather, just think back 2 weeks ago when over 8 inches of snow accumulated to the Thanksgiving holiday when it was 50 degrees, and sledding at Waukazoo is dependent on the conditions. Students will be holding off on sledding until there is a large enough amount of snow so the students are not sledding in mud. Once there is enough snow accumulation we will continue to utilize a rotation for sledding days. Students will have at least one day of sledding and will routinely have two days of sledding each week. Finally, thank you again to the Waukazoo PTA for providing enough sleds for all grades levels to enjoy a sled for each student to use their own sled daily.

Panther Pathways will be back for a 3rd session at Waukazoo. Waukazoo will offer Boys Basketball and an Enrichment Club this session. Session 3 will begin on February 20 and wrap up March 24. More information will be shared in the coming weeks.

As part of previously approved West Ottawa bond projects Waukazoo will be adding on beginning in the late spring. 2 classrooms will be added off the southwest corner of the building and 1 classroom will be renovated. The remainder of the building will see a significant refresh with carpet, locker, and paint improvements over the summer. The work will be completed in time for the 2023-2024 school year at Waukazoo.

Waukazoo will be continuing to utilize Waukazoo Pride Tickets this year. These tickets recognize students for being Respectful, Responsible, Ready to Learn, or demonstrating Waukazoo Family Pride. Our goal this year is to reach 12,500 tickets this year. Let’s go kids!

Pride Tickets to Date = 6,796

January’s PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) root is PERSEVERANCE. Waukazoo’s Upper Montessori team is leading the building’s look at PERSEVERANCE each Friday in January. Ask your student about PERSEVERANCE and see what they have learned.

Morning drop-off will continue to begin at 8:30am, please remember that students are not supervised prior to 8:30am. The doors will electronically unlock and there is a bell to note the 8:30am time.

As colder weather has arrived it is important to note that students will not be able to enter prior to 8:30am.

My name is Kendra Hackney and I am one of the Montessori kindergarten teachers here at Waukazoo. I grew up in Grand Rapids and lived in Chicago for seven years after I married my husband Tim. We decided to raise our two children here in Holland both because of the proximity to family and to Lake Michigan. We love spending time on and near the water! I have been teaching at Waukazoo for seven years. Prior to my years here, I taught for two years in Walker, MI and seven in downtown Chicago where we took our students on countless field trips throughout the city. Here are a few fun facts about me:

• I am a fourth generation graduate from Calvin College.

• I attended a nature-based sixth grade program at Blandford Nature Center.

• I am attempting to be an avid bird watcher.

• I love traveling, especially to warmer climates.

• After years of killing plants, I finally seem to have a bit of a green thumb.

• The majority of my family members worked in education and several of them were art educators.

• I love going to plays, musicals and concerts.

• Lately, my love of reading has focused on audio books.

Hi there!

My name is Grace Frazer and I teach Kindergarten here at Waukazoo. I have been at Waukazoo for four years now and have had the opportunity to teach Second grade, First grade, and Kinder. I love helping kiddos learn to love school! I went to Hope College and got a degree in Early Childhood and Special Education. I am currently working on getting my Masters in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Outside of school I love to do all of the outdoorsy activities. Hiking with my dog Franklin , camping, and going to the beach are some of my favorites!

Welcome back to the library! Don’t forget to bring

back your books that you read over break!

Library Check-Out Days

Monday, Wednesday, & Friday

Thank you for helping your student

remember to bring their

books back on or before their library day!

The Recorder…then and now!

4th and 5th recorder unit!!!

Waukazoo 4 th and 5 th graders have embarked on a recorder unit that we will

visit throughout the remainder of the year. The recorder is a terrific “first

instrument”. Starting in 4 th grade, West Ottawa students are given the

opportunity apply all they have learned about music and put it together and

learn to play a woodwind instrument. The recorder is a very old instrument,

dating back over 600 years and is the great grandparent of the modern-day

flute. It’s design dates back to the time of Henry VIII of England in the 14 th

Century. The basic design of the recorder has not changed much since

then. Recorders were first made of wood (and many still are), however now

you can find recorders made of plastic that are more durable, very

affordable, and fairly easy to play, which makes the recorder the perfect

“first instrument” to learn in an elementary school music program.

DK Book publishing has a fun video sharing the history

Hi Waukazoo Families,

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break spending time with family and friends! This week in Physical Wellness we will be starting our tennis unit. Students will learn the proper way to hold a tennis racquet as well as hit the fundamental strokes of tennis (forehand, backhand, volley, serve). It's my goal that by the end of our tennis unit students can rally with a friend or against a wall as well as hit an overhand serve. Going to be a lot of fun! Have a great week!

-Mr. Metz

Fifth grade students are starting a unit on Spanish adjectives. We will learn a

variety of Spanish adjectives to describe objects and people. Students will do a

fun magazine project in partners to reinforce the new vocabulary. Ask your child

how to say large in Spanish!

Technology Talk!

Micro:bits, Botleys, and CuteBots! Oh My! We have been building our programming knowledge with new materials at every grade level! I’m so thankful we have a district that supports Computer Science instruction! See my website to find out what we’re learning! You’ll also find links to the sites we’ve been visiting. Be sure to email me if you have any questions about our adventures in Tech!!

Mrs. O’Brien

obrienp@westottawa.net