Whittier Weekly
June 9, 2020
Principal's Note
Parents, Families, Guardians:
Last day of school! I still can't believe how the end of this year has went. I know that this last part of the year was challenging for you as parents & guardians as you navigated the pandemic as it related to careers, childcare, staying healthy, and the overall safety of your family. So congratulations to YOU and our students for making it work, learning in new ways, and showing perseverance!
As many of you are probably wondering, we are not sure what school will look like in September as of now due to COVID 19. I am hopeful that we will be back in the classrooms with our students. I encourage everyone to follow the School District of Waukesha webpage and social media sites for updates this summer as it relates to the 2020-2021 school year. We will NOT change anyone's access for ClassDojo throughout the summer and I will continue updating with any new information as it comes in. WebEx will be shut down for elementary student access this week.
We are honored to work with YOU and your children everyday. I loved my first year at Whittier with such an amazing group of kids, families, and community. Looking forward to many more!
Brandy Hart
Whittier Principal
5th grade send off!
4th and 2nd grade teachers stopping in to say have a great summer!
Racism and Civil Rights Resources
A lot has happened in our community, in our country, in our world in the past few weeks. Typically, these types of complex, challenging conversations would be ones we have with students at school in their classroom communities. As that is not a possibility at the moment, we know that the responsibility for discussing issues of racism and civil disobedience are falling mainly on families. CNN will be hosting a Sesame Street town hall on Saturday morning at 9 AM to talk to children and their families about racism which can be a start. We will include additional resources for beginning or continuing these conversations with your children here:
Here is a good starting point of guidelines for Talking to Kids about George Floyd
The American Psychological Association has some additional guidelines for Talking to Kids about Discrimination
Sesame Street Resources for Parents and Teachers – Helping Kids Grieve
Here is a short video for parents about how to help your children cope with the media coverage: Helping Your Child Cope with Media Coverage of Community Racial Trauma: Tips for Parents
Here is a second article for helping kids process what they’re seeing in the media What To Say To Kids When The News Is Scary
Here are two lists of children’s books that can help you begin or continue talking to your children about race Embrace Race: children's book list to help foster discussion and Todays Parent: Book List
Here is a compilation of resources geared towards talking to children about race Resource Roundup -talking to kids about Race
As always, our student services team is available as a resource to help students and families. Please don’t hesitate to contact us via ClassDojo or email!
See the below Whittier video in support of #blacklivesmatter
Whittier Mission Statement
Whittier School Hours: 8:30am-3:40pm
Email: bmhart@waukesha.k12.wi.us
Website: https://sdw.waukesha.k12.wi.us/WhittierES
Location: 1103 South East Avenue, Waukesha, WI, USA
Phone: 262-970-2800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhittierElementarySchoolPto/
Twitter: @WhittierWire