The Sailor Signal
Cottage Lake Elementary - September 13, 2020
A Note from Principal Welch
Dear Families,
I hope you all have stayed safe this weekend with our incredibly poor air quality. The smoke has been so thick at times that I've been doing all I can to keep my dog inside so we don't have to open any of the doors. I am a lover of summer, but I am looking forward to a little rain this coming week to hopefully provide us with a bit cleaner air. If any of you have family and friends who have been impact by the horrific fires raging up and down the west coast, I am keeping you in my thoughts.
Tomorrow will mark the beginning of our first full, 5-day week of school. I thank you all for engaging and attending your family conferences and keep your students at the center. It is such an important time for the school staff to connect and learn what is new for your student and what is new that we need to consider as we enter the school year. I have heard such positive feedback from staff on the conferences and I hope you have felt the same.
This week, I will be meeting with each grade level for a read-a-loud and then open for Questions and Answers they have for me. I value our students' voices and I hope students will have some good questions for me. :) I am really looking forward to seeing all students this week. Teachers have the schedule and for almost all grade levels, I will be meeting with them either during their AM or PM class meeting time. It's going to be a great week!
As I look back at last week, I want to thank Brandy Landry, our Art Docent lead, for taking an idea I had and making it come to life. I knew I wanted to do something together as a community and something that didn't require students to be in front of a screen for a long period of time. Mrs. Landry created a short video and then it was art time!! I wanted students to create a sailboat, as we are the Sailors. I have appreciated hearing some of your feedback that your students had fun with this activity. One piece I shared that would be coming was where to upload your student's work. CLICK HERE to access our shared Google form to upload student creations. You can also find the link to this form on our school's website. I can't wait to see our sailboats.
I thank you for all your support and all you have done to assist in launching this school year. We could not do this year without you! I hope to see many of you in our PTA Zoom meeting on Tuesday evening @ 7:00 PM. This is going to be a great year ahead!
Stay healthy, stay safe, and I'll see you Thursday at school for our student Material's Pick-Up event!
Take Care!
Jen Welch, Principal
•• SCHOOL NEWS ••
Materials Pick-up
This coming Thursday, September 17, will be our school-wide materials pick-up event. This will run 1:00-6:00 PM. We will use only one of our front loops; the parent pick-up loop, which is the first one you access. We will have staff around to gather the bags that teachers have prepared for you. Please see the breakdown below for pick-up times for your last name.
Here is the breakdown for the afternoon:
- Last names A-G, pick-up from 1:00-2:00 PM [95 students]
- Last names H-N, pick-up from 2:00-3:00 PM [89 students]
- Last names O-T, pick-up from 3:00-4:00 PM [72 students]
- Last names U-Z, pick-up from 4:00-5:00 PM [34 students]
- Those families who couldn't come earlier, 5:00-6:00 PM
As we did in June when we picked up year end materials, we will follow the same guidelines for safety of everyone. Here are important pieces of information for each family when you come to school:
- All families will need to pick up materials in their vehicle, via the front of the school, in our car pick-up loop.
- Prior to pick up, prepare a sign with your child’s LAST name written clear and BIG. Please display the sign on your passenger side of your dash, so that it is clearly visible to staff.
Our drop-off/ pick up will occur in the front of the school, in our car pick-up loop. No parking is allowed.
Remain in a single file line along the curb. Continue pulling forward as you are able. There will be staff directing you.
If you happen to be picking up materials for another family, we need you to come back at that family’s designated time. We will only have bags out for the last name letters listed.
When you leave the school driveway and head back onto Avondale, please only turn RIGHT to keep traffic moving.
All staff will be wearing a face covering, wearing gloves, and maintaining social distancing to make sure we are doing all we can to keep each other and you safe.
What will you be picking up?
Teachers have been preparing items for you to gather and for your students to use as we launch academic work beginning September 21. Students will gather items such as: math books, word banks, science textbooks, white boards, sticky-notes, spiral notebooks, science materials, etc. Each grade-level and teacher have been working together to think of supplies you might need until the end of October. While we do not know when we will move from stage to stage in our reopening plan, I asked staff to think of the next 6 weeks and then we will go from there. All students will be receiving a special piece of Cottage Lake swag gear on Thursday, as well. Thank you to our PTA!
If you need other supplies that are not provided, please do reach out to a member of our office staff, or myself, and we will do our best to supply you with the needed materials. Lastly, as we continue to move through the year, and if we continue our learning remotely, we will be planning additional materials pick-up dates, as well. We will navigate this time together and I am committed to helping make sure each student had the materials needed to be successful.
i-Ready
As a parent and guardian, there are a few things I would like you to do to become knowledgeable about regarding the i-Ready assessments.
- First, I'd like to check the operating system for the devices your child(ren) use. If your student(s) are using a district-issued iPad or Chromebook, your operating system is already up to date. If you are using a family purchased/owned device, please visit https://cdn.i-ready.com/systemcheck/ to make sure your device will run the diagnostic assessment.
- Next, I ask that families review this website for helpful information. https://showcase.dropbox.com/s/At-Home-Learning-Partner-Site-for-Pacific-Northwest-Families-Q0R8MlJ2N3oh8cydiYSui On this website, you will have an opportunity to watch a short video about the assessment and find some useful remote learning and assessing tips and resources.
- The Diagnostic Assessment will be given in small groups or even 1:1 for students. While we can't do this in person, we do need to monitor the administration of the assessment. So, during the assessment, we will need all students' videos on and their microphone on, as well.
- As students take the assessment, this is an adaptive measure. Students will be presented items that are hard for them and that is okay. This will help provide us an instructional level, where items are "just right." It is very important to know that neither you nor our instructional staff can help a student during the assessment. Yes, we will be encouraging all students and looking at encouragement, but not assistance.
The i-Ready assessment is something we will use all year long. We will administer the diagnostic assessment three times this school year and students will also be working in the online learning, as well.
Thank you for your support as we all navigate how to assess and teach remotely.
Need Technology?
Does your Cottage Lake Elementary student need a device for online learning? Please use the link below to sign up and sign the waiver. After you submit your form, Mr. Paganini will be in contact with you to set a pick-up time for you. For students in Kindergarten & Grade 1, we are issuing iPads. For students in Grade 2 through Grade 5, we are issuing Chromebooks. Students will keep these devices at home until we return to school.
•• A Cottage Lake loss ••
It is with an extremely heavy heart that I share that Mrs. Teresa (Terrie) Wagner, our beloved teacher for over 25 years, passed away on September 1, 2020. Mrs. Wagner was a valued, loved, and respected member of our Cottage Lake staff and a close friend to many. Mrs. Wagner retired in July 2019 in a quiet way, as she never liked the fanfare or special attention. She was a quiet, yet loving and confident Sailor.
In a conversation with Mrs. Wagner's husband Tom today, I learned that she was navigating heart problems and she found out a week before she passed, that she had an aggressive form of stage 4 cancer. Mrs. Wagner was a fighter and Tom wanted to make sure I shared with you all how much she loved Cottage Lake and all her students.
In asking Mr. Wagner how families could show their love and appreciation, Tom shared two things with me. First, please keep their family in your thoughts and believe that Mrs. Wagner is with us this year. Second, he said to hug the ones you love.
In lieu of flowers or cards, donations could be made to Toys for Tots, cancer research, or the Wounded Warriors Project.
We love you, Mrs. Wagner!
Forever a Sailor!
•• District News ••
Meals during remote learning and hybrid learning
Beginning Wednesday, September 9, we are offering free meals for ALL children ages 18 and younger. Students do not need to be enrolled in the Northshore School District to receive meals. This is GREAT news for each of our families; these are your tax dollars at work. I am so pleased this funding has been continued, allowing us to extend these meal services until the end of December.
For quick links:
- CLICK HERE to place an order for DAILY MEALS. [The order window time will be 2:00 PM-11:59 PM the day prior to meal pick-up. Order include breakfast and lunch, including 16oz of milk. Orders placed for a Friday pick-up will also include meals for the weekend.]
- CLICK HERE to place an order for WEEKLY MEAL PACKS. [Weekly Meal Packs will include breakfast and lunch for an entire week, including a gallon of milk. The order window will open at 2:00 PM every Wednesday and close at 2:00 PM every Thursday. Pick up for these meals will be on Wednesday the following week.]
Please consider ordering food! Our district is committed to feeding our children during this challenging time.
Free & Reduced Applications
Remember: families must reapply every year! Only one application per family is necessary.
•• PTA NEWS ••
- Our first PTA Meeting of the year is September 15, 2020 from 7:00-8:00 PM. (This will be virtual)
- Learn more about the PTA and get your 2020/21 membership at www.cottagelakepta.org.
- Your 2020/21 PTA Presidents are: Carrie Mizenko & Rachel Tarr and can be contacted at president@cottagelakepta.org.
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[YES, our PTA accounted is listed in Tacoma, but it IS our school's PTA located in Woodinville, WA.]
After selecting our school's PTA, each time you want to shop, begin with visiting www.smile.amazon.com, and then shop. You must first log into the smile.amazon.com for purchases to be eligible for the cash back opportunity.
Cottage Lake Elementary
Email: jwelch@nsd.org
Website: ourwebsite.org
Location: 15940 Avondale Road Northeast, Woodinville, WA, USA
Phone: (425) 408-4200
Facebook: facebook.com/ourschool
Twitter: @ourschool