The Woodchuck Gazette
Fall Edition, 2015
Principal's Newsletter
Thank you!
We appreciate and give thanks to our families for making Woodstock Elementary School such a wonderful and special place to learn and grow. We appreciate your support in ensuring your child is at school daily and ready to learn. We are so proud of how our students have demonstrated "The Woodstock Way" philosophy into their daily routines. Thank you for encouraging your child to be a kind, safe, responsible, and respectful Woodchuck everyday!! As always, Mr. Lugo and I are here to help and support your child's learning goals. We appreciate your willingness to volunteer, visit during lunchtimes, return Wednesday Folders and school flyers, and respond to our Alert Now phone calls. Most importantly, we thank you for keeping the lines of communication open with your child's teachers. During this holiday season, we "Count Our Blessings" for our WONDERFUL WOODCHUCK families!! ~Mrs. Hedrick
This month, our SCA is sponsoring a Canned Food Drive. Starting on Tuesday, November 17th, students can bring in canned foods to earn a yard or several yards of DUCT TAPE to boxes in the atrium. On Wednesday, November 25th, Mrs. Hedrick and Mr. Lugo will be DUCT TAPED to the walls of the cafeteria as a part of our school- wide STEM DAY activities. The SCA appreciates your donations of canned food and rolls of duct tape, too. Contact Mrs. Holloran if you have any questions or would like to volunteer on November 25th. Theresa.holloran@vbschools.com
Please enjoy our "new" newsletter format. We have decided to go "paperless" this year, and we hope that you find this format to be easy to access. There are several dates about upcoming school and VBCPS events that we want to make sure you are aware of for November and December.
Please be sure our office staff has a correct email address and phone number for you in Synergy so that you are getting our phone calls and publications. As always, please contact the office if you have any questions.
Tips from the Reading Specialists: Amy Dirks and Barb Crunkleton
Please encourage your child to read 10-20 minutes each night. For fictional books, ask them to retell what they read. For non-fictional books, ask them to tell you three facts that they learned from the book.
Ten Marks Information: Malinda Capps, Math Coach
Virginia Beach Schools has purchased an wonderful online math resource for grades K-5 this year called TenMarks. TenMarks is a rigorous math resource that provides skill practice and lessons. There is also a component, the “Ten Market”, where students can spend points they have earned on math games. Students can access TenMarks by going through the student portal on our webpage at http://www.woodstockes.vbschools.com .
Parent Drop Off Assistance
We understand that many of you need to drive your children to school for a variety of reasons. But to help keep the traffic moving, please do the following:
1. Make sure your child is sitting on the passenger side of the car.
2. Parents, please DO NOT get out of the car.
3. Finish all breakfast items, make sure shoes are on, and backpacks are in your child's hands.
4. Make sure your child is ready to pop out of the car as soon as you pull up to the curb.
Thank you! :)
Coats, Lunchboxes, and Lost and Found
A Note from Phan Conley, PTA President
Families and friends! The Holidays are upon us! It’s been another fantastic fall season here at Woodstock Elementary PTA. Together with our volunteers, the entire school staff, and our wonderful Principal Mrs. Amy Hedrick and Assistant Principal Mr. Brandon Lugo, we have built a team full of camaraderie that works tirelessly to ensure your children and their school are best suited for learning and growing.
Thanks to all of our amazing Woodchuck Families who have come in to show your support for the school through volunteering donating to the PTA and joining the PTA. Your efforts culminate in the direct improvement of your child’s learning experience, as well as their peers. Did you know that 100% net proceeds from PTA sales of SpiritWear and/or tickets to our events goes right back into the school? If you have not yet joined the PTA it’s not too late! For only $8, your donation as a PTA member gives back many times over. We offer a BOGO special where you may buy 2 memberships for $10—that’s only $5 per member! Anyone can join the PTA: local businesses, friends of the school, extended family members just to name a few. We know that Woodstock Family involvement in the school is invaluable, but for those who can not come in to volunteer as much as they’d like, a contribution to the PTA also gives back tremendously to the school.
Our next PTA Monthly Meeting will be on Tuesday December 15th, 2015 in the library from 3:30-4:30pm. We would love to see you there and hear your ideas! Please also keep in touch with us through our PTA website, our Facebook Group, and through Twitter.
Woodstock PTA has so much more planned for the 2015-2016 school year and we will keep you posted as we crank out our future fantastic events! Please stay tuned, and as always, thank you for your support of the PTA. Should you have any questions, I may be reached at woodstockptapresident@gmail.com
Here’s to a Wonderful Woodchuck year ahead!
Email: woodstockptapresident@gmail.com
Website: www.wespta.net
Phone: 757-648-4200
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/woodstockpta
Twitter: @weswoodchuxpta
Book Fair Update
Our fall Book Fair continues through November 20th. We are open from 8:45 – 4:00 each day (closed from 12:30 to 1 daily for lunch). On our final day, Friday, November 20th, we close at 1 p.m. to pack up.
Please join us for the Family Night Book Fair Event on Tuesday, November 17th, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Cash, checks payable to Woodstock ES, and charges accepted.
Library/Learning Commons Update
Our Woodchucks are checking out and enjoying great and wonderful books from our Library. Please help your students return their books in a timely manner. Books are checked out for a two-week time period and can be renewed. Students are permitted to check out two books at a time.
Also, please help your student to take care of books while checked out. Use large zip-lock bags to protect Library books from rain and water. If a page gets torn…ask your student to bring the book to the Library for repair where we will use our special, acid-free book tape.
Save These Items for Our Makerspace Area
Our Library is transforming into a Learning Commons, which is a space where students gather to create and make things that support learning. We are seeking donations of the following items to help stock our Learning Commons makerspace. Please drop these items off in the orange bin at the front doors of the Library/Learning Commons. All food container items should be washed and dried. Thank you!
We can use:
Toilet paper and paper towel tubes
Plastic milk bottles (quart, half gallon, gallon)
Plastic cottage cheese containers
Soda bottles (1 and 2 liter sizes)
Craft sticks (small and large)
Pipe cleaners
Brass-colored paper fasteners (brads)
Yarn, string
Plastic aerosol can tops (from hairspray, etc.)
Any other items that look interesting that can be used to make something else
-Pam Barre, Library Media Specialist
Fall Festival
Fall Festival was a great success! We thank all our parent volunteers, our vendors, our DJ and the school staff who worked long hours to ensure that families and kids would have a great time. We hope you enjoyed the food trucks, bounce house, obstacle course, pumpkin patch, kids crafts, face painting, DJ, festival games and the exciting cakewalk! It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed seeing all the little smiling faces and making memories for them! Who knew that the PTA girls and Mrs. Hedrick would get rounded up and get snowballs thrown at them from the kids? We loved seeing the excitement in their faces! I would like to thank my PTA Team—Jen Barker, Crystal Kaspar and Misty Futrell--for pulling together in a matter of weeks to work out the details of Fall Festival in order to make it a great success. Well-done ladies! ~Phan Conley
Reflections Winners
The PTA, Mrs. Hedrick and Mr. Lugo would also like to thank Mrs. Cherie Brogan and Mrs. Jan Beda for their hard work as Reflections Co-Chairs. Our students submitted many wonderful pieces and it was a process to market the program, ensure submissions were within regulations, and submit them for judging! We will be looking forward to hearing if our students placed in the city-wide or state-level. The students will be formally recognized at a reception planned for February. Thank you for ensuring the completion and success of our Reflections program!
KUDOS to PTA VOLUNTEERS!!
Our Box Tops program would not be a success if not for our Box Tops Chair Ashley Hoskins and Casey Edwards helping her out. Thank you both for the commitment you’ve given us and the amount of work you’ve put in order for our school to reap rewards from this wonderful program.
We’d also like to thank Mr. Tony Jones, Mrs. Dirks, and Mrs. RosaLee Aftel in the front office for handling the Watch D.O.G.S. program. Thank you for getting all of our WatchDOG Dads into to school for volunteer time!
A quick thank you to our Membership Chair, Alexis Walker, for jumping right in and helping us with our growing PTA Membership, and also to Amber Sheffield, Brandi Ziemba and Mrs. Pulley for all your hard work with the Citizen of the Month program!
We also appreciate all the parents, grandparents, Woodstock alumni who volunteer their time at school and home to help our teachers and students.
Remember to record your volunteer hours online.
News from the PE Department!
Physical and Health Education-
Over the past several weeks, we have been working with Speed Stacks during physical education classes. This activity has become very popular throughout our school. Research has shown that participating in speed stacking can improve hand-eye coordination and reaction time up to thirty per cent, along with improving right and left brain activation, bilateral coordination and fitness. You should see the students do pushups while speed stacking.
Many students have asked me about purchasing the speed stacks. During physical education classes, we used the basic speed stack, which includes twelve cups, carry bag, instructions, along with an instructional CD. Please visit www.speedstacks.com/go to review the items available for purchase. The site will be open from November 18th through December 2nd. All orders have to be placed online or by calling the company toll free (1-877- GOT CUPS [468-2877]) and placing your order with a credit card. Please do not send any money or checks to school. When ordering online, please be sure to click on Woodstock ES. All orders will be shipped directly to my attention at Woodstock Elementary before the Winter break.
These items would make a wonderful holiday gift. If you are purchasing them as a gift and do not want your child to know, please contact me via e-mail and I will make arrangements for you to pick them up. Please provide me with your child’s name and classroom teacher’s name. Otherwise, orders will be sent home with your child. We are not using this as a fundraiser, but will be getting additional speed stacking equipment for participating in their program.
If you have any questions regarding this program, please feel free to contact me at Laura.White@vbschools.com.
Gifted Resource Teacher Updates!!
Here is the link to Mrs. Brogan's website:
http://teacherweb.com/VA/WoodstockElementary/MrsBrogan/apt1.aspx
Woodstock Gifted Testing Dates
2015-2016
Fifth Grade Screening: September 21, 2015
First Grade Screening: November 12, 2015
First Semester Testing: January 14, 2016
February 25, 2016
Kemps/Old Donation School Applicants
5th grade and HOLDS
First Grade Testing: March 17, 2016
Second Semester Testing June 1, 2016
City-Wide Information Nights about Gifted Education
Gifted Visual Arts:
Wednesday, December 9th
Kemps Landing/ Old Donation School 6pm- 7pm
Gifted Dance Education
Thursday, December 10th
Kemps Landing/ Old Donation School 6pm- 7pm
ODS Information Night (For current 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders)
Thursday, January 7th
6:30pm
VBMS ART (grades 5-7)
Tuesday, December 8th
Va. Beach Middle School 5pm- 5:30pm
Kemps Landing Middle School (for current 5th graders)
Thursday, December 3rd
KLMS/ Old Donation School
6:30pm- 7:30pm
Old Donation School (for current 1st graders)
Thursday, February 4th 6:30pm
Upcoming Events at Woodstock Elementary School!!
November and December
Tuesday, November 17
Journalism Club, 3:15
***Book Fair Family Night, 5:30- 7:30pm***
Wednesday, November 18
Winter Concert Rehearsal, 3:15- 4:20pm
Book Buddies, 3:15
Good News Club, 3:15
Tuesday, November 24
Citizen of the Month, 8:45
Winter Concert Rehearsal, 3:15-4:20pm
Journalism Club, 3:15
PTA Turkey Bingo, 5:30
Wednesday, November 25
Adjusted Dismissal 12:40pm
School is closed for Thanksgiving Holidays (November 27 & 28)
Tuesday, December 2nd
Journalism Club
Winter Concert Rehearsal (Chorus) 3:15pm- 4:20pm
Tuesday, December 8th
Strings, Chorus, and Fourth Grade Concert "Crazy Carols"
6:30pm
Daytime performances will be held at 9am and 2pm on Tuesday, December 8th
Wednesday, December 9th
SCA meeting, 3:15pm
Thursday, December 10th
Adjusted Dismissal 12:40pm
Spirit Night at Village Inn 5:30pm- 8:30pm
"Wear your PJs"
Tuesday, December 15: PTA Board Meeting 3:30pm
Tuesday, December 22nd: Citizen of the Month ceremony 8:45am
Wednesday, December 23rd: Adjusted Dismissal 12:40pm
Winter Holidays: December 23rd (12:40pm)- January 1st. School resumes on January 4th.
Middle School Information Nights
Woodstock will host a Middle School Information Night for FIFTH GRADE PARENTS on Tuesday, December 8th prior to the Chorus Concert. The information night will be from 5pm- 6pm, and we encourage families to stay for the Strings and Chorus events afterwards. Please note the time change, too.
It’s that time to think about the transition to middle school for our fifth graders. Registration will take place in January of 2016. Students interested in academies will need to fill out an application, as well.
KEMPSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Wednesday, January 6, 2016, 6:00-7:30 PM
BRANDON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Wednesday, January 12th at 6:30pm
KEMPS LANDING SCHOOL
Thursday, December 3, 2015
PLAZA MIDDLE SCHOOL MYP
Tuesday or Thursday, November 16 or 18 at 6:30pm
Please contact Mrs. Brogan or Ms. Pulley for more information at 648-4200.