The curbside drop off and pick up procedures have been shared with parents all throughout the year and have a permanent posting on our newsletter. It is so important that ALL drivers follow the developed procedures. The procedures are in place in order to keep ALL people safe.

We ask that all drivers enter the curbside drop off from the North (coming from 16th Street) and either get in line along Franklin Street curb and wait your turn to enter the curbside area so as not to block the driveway leading to the loading dock. We need to leave that open for delivery trucks, and our custodial and maintenance vehicles. Franklin is a very busy street in the morning and is not the place for U turns. If you haven't been following the procedures, please plan your morning routine to do so. If everyone is following the procedures, then everyone is assured to have a safe and positive experience.

Thank you to all the drivers who have been following the procedures all year. It is greatly appreciated!

Please contact the WLC Office at 507-233-8300 with any questions.

There is still room in all of our evening ECFE classes, we would love to have more families join us for the last 4-5 weeks of class.

Click here to register online.

Community Family Fair

Join us on Saturday, April 29 from 10:00-11:30

We have space for more vendors, register at <Contact ECFE for more information email

Vehicle Fair

We are looking for vehicles for our Community Vehicle Fair!

Wednesday, May 17, 2023 - 5:30-7:00pm

If you have a vehicle you can share, please click here & let us know!

Besides the usual vehicles, we would love to add a tractor, boat, snowmobile, 4-wheeler, etc....anything children can sit in or on. Think outside the box! This is a great community event!

Kindergarten Kickstart

We are working out the final details for this summer's classes. Keep watching for more information!

We have been trying to “March” into spring, but have found adventures along the way!

In March, we were finally able to take our Winter field trip to Flandrau State Park. While at Flandrau, the park rangers were able to teach us a lesson about snowshoeing. We learned why snowshoeing is important and how to use the snowshoes properly. The students then took a walk on the trail in a pair of snowshoes. After snowshoeing, the students were able to spot different tracks in the snow, color matched, and tried to search for letters in nature.

We learned about the letters Mm and Pp during March and had fun with pigs in the mud! Students were able to write rhyming words on pigs and place them in their gooey, tasty mud. We also learned about the letter Vv and made vivid vases with vibrant flowers.

We are looking forward to seeing and meeting our incoming kindergarten students for Kindergarten Registration on the 13th and 14th.

March’s Scholastic Book Fair was a GREAT Success!

Big thank you to parents, grandparents, community members, and staff for supporting the WLC Library’s Scholastic Book Fair in March. The library will receive over $2000 worth of books and materials for the students to enjoy and read. Your generosity also placed 80 books into the classroom through the teacher wish list program. Plus an additional $43 dollars were donated to the “All for the Book” program. The money is used right away to buy books for the library while Scholastic matches the amount to support kid programs across the United States. Thank you again for your support!

Angela Hoek WLC Media Specialist.

March was madness! Kindergartners started the month by learning all sorts of basketball skills including; dribbling, bounce passing, chest passing, catching, and shooting a basket. Next, the kindergartners jumped into the jump rope unit where they practiced short and long jump rope skills. While jumping the long jump rope, students used teamwork to learn how to turn the long jump rope. They finished the unit by earning various “Jump Rope Ninja Belts” based on how many jumps they could get in a row with the long jump rope. April will be “popping” with excitement as the kindergartners will be working on volleying skills with balloons. They will learn how to volley using various body parts, for example, their hand, elbow, head, and knee, then get a chance to play 1v1 balloon volleyball. The kindergartners will then learn how to strike or hit a ball on the ground using their hands to play games like gaga ball, wall ball, and striker ball. As soon as the weather warms up and dries up, phy ed will move outside for the remainder of the school year. The end of the school year will be wrapped up by learning how to throw frisbees, bat/strike in t-ball, and kickball.

Don’t forget to stay active for at least 60 minutes each day! With the weather warming up, the opportunities are endless!!

With the snow FINALLY melting, WLC staff love to get outside and take in the natural elements. We learn best when we can actually DO! Working with manipulatives, creating, and exploring. Last month Kindergarten introduced shapes, and the special education team is working on incorporating more outside learning with our students. Did you know we can find so many shapes right outside your door?

The sun can be a sphere!

Steps can be a rectangular prism!

Playground equipment can represent a cone!

Take the time to find shapes with your child on your next walk!

2D shapes:

-square

-rectangle

-circle

-triangle

-rhombus

3D shapes:

-cone

-rectangular prism

-cone

-cylinder

-pyramid

Happy Exploring!

April is Stress Awareness Month. Stress is an automatic physical, mental, and emotional response to change and challenges that everyone experiences and the majority of adults likely don’t feel that we need a special month to be MORE aware of our stress! While we recognize the multitude of stressors that we manage in our day to day lives, it may not be as easy to recognize what may be stressing our kids. As with healthy diet and exercise habits,, the lessons we teach our children now about how to manage stress can serve them throughout their lives. See below for what stress might look like in your child, and for ways that you can help them to better manage it.

Signs of stress in children:

-changes in their typical behavior

-emotional outbursts or increased irritability

-sleep issues: trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, and/or having nightmares

-struggling in school: with focus or in relationships with friends and classmates due to having trouble managing their emotions

-frequent headaches or stomach aches: stress causes the release of a hormone called cortisol, which can contribute to these physical symptoms

-increased defiance: when feeling overwhelmed, becoming defiant or stubborn may be a way that your child is trying to get out of whatever situation is causing them stress

Stress prevention/reduction strategies:

-create routines and maintain them: giving your child something that they can count on being the same most of the time offers a sense of stability and consistency.

-make finding time to talk part of your routine. Be creative. This can happen in the car on the way home from school, while helping them get into jammies, or over a meal at the table. Children tend to share more when not feeling pressured to talk specifically about what may be stressing them and when they don’t have to look directly at you.

-build choices into their day to offer a sense of control. This can be as simple as letting them choose which fruit to have with their breakfast or what story to read at bedtime.

-laugh. Try to find humor in your day to day and share this with your child. Laughing relieves stress.

-make playing as a family part of your routine. Go on a walk, play a board game, sing and dance along with your favorite songs.

-communicate with the other adults in your child’s life, such as teachers, daycare providers, and parents of your child’s friends, about how things are going for your child outside of home.

-encourage healthy eating and sleeping habits

-Don’t create such a full schedule that there isn’t time for relaxation, fun, and self-care.

-model appropriate stress management. Show your child that you can take a few deep breaths before reacting so that they can follow your example.

Ways to help your child manage their stress:

-set clear expectations for behaviors that you will and will not tolerate

-let them know what you would like them to do, not what you wouldn’t like them to do

-maintain your own calm so that you can act rather than react; Do not match their stress or emotion level even when a behavior is upsetting. Be consistent, validate their emotions, and follow through on the expectations that you have set.

-let them know that it is okay to express emotions in appropriate ways

-pick your battles: try to ignore any behavior that may be irritating, but is not unsafe, and offer praise as soon as you see positive behavior

So, while our children’s lives will be full of changes and challenges that we have no control over, we can work to help them to build a foundation for healthy stress management habits that will serve them well now and in the future. For more information on stress in kids, visit: https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/stress.html, https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/children, or https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/stressed-out-kids.

Registrations can be received by:

• Online with a credit card at http://newulm.ce.eleyo.com

• Phone: 507-233-8307 (registration is complete only after payment has been received)

• Mail: Community Education, 910 14th St. North, New Ulm, MN 56073

• Stop in at our office at the Washington Learning Center, 910 14th St. North (door #1)

Crystal Fleck

Community Education Coordinator

Washington Learning Center

910 14th North Street New Ulm, MN 56073 | (-507-233-8307 | *- cfleck@newulm.k12.mn.us

Visit our website at http://www.newulm.k12.mn.us/community-ed/

Like us on Facebook community ed.new ulm

Preschool parent cars will be lining up along Franklin, the length of the parking lot, as they wait to turn right onto 14th N Street.

Kindergarten parents will continue to line up along the WEST side of Franklin just north of the parking lot entrance.

Thank you for your efforts in following these plan to keep everyone safe.

Please review the 2 maps below for preschool and kindergarten traffic plans.

We want to keep Franklin Street free of parked cars during drop off and pick up so parents waiting in cars can line up there and not block the street.

Thank you for your efforts in following these plan to keep everyone safe.

Please see the maps and contact the office with any questions. (507) 233-8300