The Lumberjack Log
Woodside Newsletter for Parents; Welcome 2024!
Note From the Principal; Ms. Kolarik
Welcome back to school!
I hope the winter break brought you time filled with positive thoughts of family, friends, and fun and a great start to the new year. For a lot of adults, the new year brings about a time to evaluate their choices in life and make tweaks to live their best life possible. At school, we are constantly evaluating your child's progress and tweaking their programming to help make their school experience part of their best life too. This includes informal and formal assessments in content areas and in your child's social and emotional well-being. But, nobody knows your child like you, so please reach out to your child's teacher to share any insight you may have to help your child be healthy, happy, and successful. Also, if you have questions about what is going on in your child's classroom, please reach out to your child's teacher too. It's those positive partnerships that will help your child and all of our Woodside family to flourish.
Our pick up and drop off procedures are also part of our practices that help our Woodside family to be successful. I appreciate the positive communication about them! Though there may be times when additional minutes may be added to a drop-off/pick up, overall when everyone follows the rules, things are very safe and efficient. Though the vast majority of our families are following the rules, some are not. We make every attempt to remind those that either are unaware or choose not to follow our guidelines. We appreciate your understanding our need for safety and desire for efficiency. Visitors who continue to choose not to follow our safety rules may be subject to officer intervention. Also, if your end of the day pick up routine changes, please contact the office prior to 2:00. We ask you contact before 2:00 as we need the time to contact those impacted, as well as make any changes in vans/buses if applicable. It is helpful to also contact the classroom teacher, but your contact must be made to the office as our teachers are teaching during the day and do not have the ability to consistently check their messages during the day.
Finally, I am hoping you will attend this month's PTO meeting. It is on Monday, January 15th at 7PM and is virtual. It's a great opportunity to meet our PTO members, learn how you can positively impact Woodside in a variety of ways, and make those connections that will help make our students stronger than ever before.
Wishing you and yours the best and brightest this new year has to offer!
Yours in Partnership,
Julie Kolarik
Drop Off and Pick Up Reminders
Thank you for understanding the need for our drop-off/pick up rules in order to have a safe and orderly drop off/pick up line. We make every attempt to remind those that either are unaware or choose not to follow our guidelines. Visitors who continue to choose not to follow our safety procedures may be subject to officer intervention.
Please review the highlights of our drop-off/pick up rules below and call if you have questions. All visitors, families, etc. are expected to follow;
* Do not leave vehicles unattended by in the drop-off/pick up lane.
* Pull up to the furthest cone or to the car in front of you.
* Pick-up/Drop-off in "Cone Zone" only (between the two, large cones on the sidewalk--furthest is by the marquee and the other cone is by our clock tower.) Do NOT drop your child off on the side of the street.
* No passing. Please be patient.
* Right turn only at pick up of front lot.
* Please use your name card to assist with identifying pick-ups. School day ends at 3:30 and pick up starts after that. If you need your student sooner than pick up, please pick up him/her prior to 3PM.
Stay in Touch with WRPS!
Picking Up Early? Absent? Change in the End of Day Plans?
Calendar
- Tuesday, January 2: Back to School for Students - Welcome to 2024! Be on the look out for semester milk forms to be sent home.
- Monday, January 15: Martin Luther King Jr. Day & Professional Development Day for Teachers; No School for students.
- Monday, January 15: Woodside PTO meeting, 7PM--virtual
- Friday, January 19: Popcorn Friday
- Monday, January 29: Pajama Day--wear your school appropriate jammies to school--must have regular footwear, no slippers.
Semester milk forms sent home the first few weeks in January; please be on the look-out. Semester milk is $36, please choose white or chocolate, if a choice is not made on the form, white milk will be given. Payment can be made in skyward lunch account.
NURSE'S NEWS
Happy January! I hope everyone survived the winter break happy, healthy and ready to rock the new year. A few things;
- The Lion’s Club will be starting vision screening soon.
- Please watch for permission slips coming home during January. As a general rule of thumb, please keep your student home if they are not feeling well enough to attend. Students are required to remain home until fever-free (less than 100.4 degrees) without the use of medication as well as 24 hours after the last episode of vomit/diarrhea. Reducing the spread of germs is a great way to start the year off healthy and strong.
- Another way to stay healthy is getting enough sleep. For our elementary students, that means 9-11 hours of sleep each night. For example, if your child wakes up for school at 7am, he/she should go to bed before 9pm. Good quality sleep can strengthen your child’s immune system and reduce the risk of infection and illness. Getting enough sleep can reduce the risk of heart problems, diabetes, and combat symptoms of ADHD. Sleep is the time that children’s brain’s recharge and retain information they have learned throughout the day. During deep non-REM sleep, important brain development hormones are released.
- When children are getting enough sleep, moods and behavior are also improved. Sleep can also improve rationalization and working memory. Several studies have shown that children who have poor school behaviors are more likely to be sleep deprived; sleep problems occurred twice as often with children with poor behaviors than their peers. Parents that participated in these studies also reported a decrease in the number of days they were late for work when the children got adequate amounts of sleep.
- Sometimes getting children to sleep can be the biggest battle in getting enough sleep. Setting a bedtime routine and sticking to it can help the brain learn when it is time to go to sleep. In just two weeks, a routine can show signs of improvement in length and quality of sleep. Some things that could be in a bedtime routine are taking a bath, brushing teeth, reading a book, journaling or meditating.
Stay happy, healthy and safe this winter!
-Nurse Mandy
KEEPING WOODSIDE SAFE
We appreciate your conscientiousness and courtesy to other families, our faculty, and our staff as we work together to keep everyone safe and active in their learning!
Reminders;
- No students on campus prior to 8:30.
- Your child's teacher should be the first contact about questions or concerns about the classroom/your student. Please reach out to your child's teacher with any concerns. If you need to meet, schedule times to meet that work for both of you--virtually or in person.
- If you'd like to send a birthday treat please make sure it is pre-packaged, not home made. Balloons, flowers, and the like are not accepted.
- Please see the drop-off/pick up rule reminders elsewhere in this newsletter.
Winter Weather Attire
As we move towards the winter intensity, please be sure your child is coming to school with winter attire, including boots, snow pants, hats, and mittens. We require students to wear their winter coat, hat, mittens and depending on the conditions, their boots and snow pants as well. We are finding more and more of our upper elementary students refusing to wear proper winter attire and/or zip of their coats. Please have a conversation with your child regarding proper winter attire at school.
On the days school is in session, students do play outside, but there are bound to be times when the weather does not allow this to occur. The guidelines below are in effect for all recess/outside activities.
- If the temperature (actual temperature) is below zero, no one goes outside
- If the temperature is above zero and the wind chill is between 0 and -10 degrees, students may go outside if properly dressed for 10-15 minutes
- If the temperature is above zero and the wind chill is colder than -10 degrees, students may not go outside
- When there is snow, students must have cold weather attire, including boots and snow pants, in order to play in the snow.
There may be times when school is cancelled due to weather conditions and those times will be announced via our district channels. The first three winter weather days will be traditional snow days with no work to make up. The fourth and following will be virtual learning days. We will send the materials for virtual learning days home on the second winter weather day in anticipation of the fourth winter weather day (just in case the third and fourth hit back to back).
What if there if there are several snow days? It's a virtual learning day starting with the FOURTH snow day!
Of course, we would much rather have your student with us on campus, but with weather in Wisconsin we just might three snow days and then a fourth. If we do, good news!! We have anticipated and planned for just such an occurrence and your student will be experiencing a robust off-campus learning experience. (Elementary students have three snow days built in, so on the fourth snow day it will be a remote learning day.)
Your student’s classroom teacher will be compiling learning activities and sending home a packet after our second snow day to "Open just in case of snow day!" #4. In it, you will find learning activities, a tentative schedule for the day, and information on how to log on for any check in and/or online lessons with the teacher for two more potential snow days. Though the remote learning days packet/information (the first three snow days are traditional snow days--no remote learning sent home) is not designed to be completely online, we strongly encourage families to participate fully in any and all of the day’s online lessons and follow the schedule as much as possible. That being said, we understand there are some families that are unable to. It is okay and in those instances, we ask you to communicate with your child’s classroom teacher and work on the materials in the packet as best your child can. Please send the completed materials back to your child's teacher upon return to school.
Thank You for Sharing Your Child with Us!
WRPS is committed to ensuring that all students and parents have access to school district information, policies, procedures, and programs. If you need assistance with interpreter or translation services, or other special accommodations that would be helpful to you, please contact either your child’s school office or call the Pupil Services Department at 715-424-6724 so that we can assist you.
Spanish
WRPS está comprometido/a a garantizar que todos los estudiantes y padres tengan acceso a la información del distrito escolar, pólizas, procedimientos y programas. Si necesita ayuda con servicios de intérpretes o traducción, o cualquier otra adaptación especial que le sea útil, por favor, póngase en contacto con la oficina de la escuela de su hijo/a o llame al Departamento de Servicios para Alumnos al 715-424-6724 para que podamos ayudarle.
Hmong
WRPS xav kom txhua tus menyuam thiab niam txiv sawsdaws tau kev pab ntawd lawv lus tsev kawm ntawv txog peb cov ntaub ntawv, kev cai, thiab lub hom phiaj. Yog koj xav tau kev pab txhais lus lossis lwm yam, thov hu rau koj tu menyuam lub tsev kawm ntawv lossis hu rau Pupil Services Department ntawd tu xov tooj 715-424-6724. Peb zoo siab pab koj.
Special Statement Regarding Sex Discrimination Under Title IX In compliance with the federal title IX statues and regulations set forth in Chapter 106 of Title 34 of the code of Federal Regulations, the District does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of sex in any education program or activity that the District operates. Title IX's requirement not to discriminate in any education program or activity extends to cover, but is not limited to, District students, certain admissions processes, and District employment. Inquiries regarding how Title IX and the federal Title IX regulations apply to the District may be referred to the DIstrict's Title IX Coordinator (as designated below), to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the US Department of Education, or to both. Please refer to Board Policy 411.11 for additional information. WRPS Title IX Coordinators Brian Oswall, DIrector of Human Resources 510 Peach St Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494 P: 715-424-6710 E: brian.osall@wrps.net
Pupil Non-Discrimination Statement The School District of Wisconsin Rapids is committed to equal education opportunity for all District students. The District will not deny any person admission to, participation in, or the benefits of any curricular, extracurricular, pupil services, recreational or other program or activity because of a person's gender, race, national origin, ancestry, creed, religion, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender identity, or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability, or any other characteristic protected under State or Federal civil rights laws. Please review board Policy 411 for additional information. Incidents of discrimination or harassment should be reported to a teacher, administrator, supervisor, or other District employee to be addressed or forwarded on to District Compliance Office Brian Oswall.