Tiger Talk

12/08/20

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Join us for the Time Machine Book Fair!

Where: WCHE Library

When: November 26-December 9 (Virtual/Online Shopping)

December 7-11 (On-campus students shop in the library*)

*The Book Fair is not open to outside visitors or guests. Thank you for your understanding.


  • Step 1: Students will preview the Book Fair the week of November 30th to create “wish lists” to share with parents.
  • Step 2: Parents set up an eWallet account (watch the eWallet video)
  • Step 3: Students shop for books the week of December 7th during their designated class time.
  • Step 4: Enjoy your books!


*In an effort to keep our Book Fair operating safely, we will be accepting payment through Scholastic eWallet or checks only. Cash is not allowed. (watch the eWallet video)


Online access to all of our Book Fair titles are available in a new and unique format! Shop the fair virtually with a 360 degree tour! All purchases will be shipped directly to your home. All funds raised through the online Book fair directly benefit our school library and library programs. Online shopping opens on November 26th. Happy Reading!


Shop the Scholastic Online Fair Here


Thank you for your continued support of our school!


Cathy Seidenberger, WCHE Librarian

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It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like.....Holiday Dress Up Days!!!!!

All Tigers, remote learners and in-person learners, are cordially invited to participate in our WCHE Holiday Dress Up Days. It's all in fun in hopes of making spirits bright.


December 8............Deck the Halls! Wear a Holiday Shirt/Dress

December 9............Mad about Plaid! Wear your Plaid

December 10..........Candy Cane Christmas Day. Wear Red and/or White.

December 11..........Jump on the Polar Express Day! Wear Pajamas.

December 14..........Dashing Through the Snow. Dress like a Reindeer or Wear Antlers

December 15..........Merry Grinchmas! Dress like a Grinch and/or Wear Green

December 16..........Ugly Sweater Day

December 17..........Red/White/Santa Hat! Wear Red, White and/or a Santa Hat

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Revised LTISD 2020-2021 Calendar!

Changes were made to our instructional calendar. As a result, our winter holiday class parties will move to Thursday, December 17. Friday, December 18, is now changed to a student holiday. Our winter break will be December 18 through January 6.


Students will return to school a day later at the end of their winter break. Instead of returning on Tuesday, January 5, students return to school on Wednesday, January 6. January 18 and 19 are student holidays.


Later on, there are a couple of additional changes. On Friday, March 5, there is no school for students, and Friday, March 12, will be an early release day. School will be dismissed at 12:05 pm on March 12.

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Remote Tiger Artists Liam and Henry Sykes Dazzle us with their Amazing Artwork

Want to be involved? Be a homeroom parent!

Some of our classrooms do not have a homeroom parent to help organize class events. If you'd like to be more involved in your Tigers' class activities, check in with your Tigers' teachers to see if they are still looking for a homeroom parent. Thanks!

Staff Shout Outs

WCH Families,


In the last few weeks, families submitted shout outs to our staff. Your words of appreciation were priceless and brought big smiles and tears of joy. Thank you, and please continue to submit your shout outs!


If you would like to send a shout out to a WCHE staff member or teacher, I will gladly pass it along. It can be anonymous or signed. Thank you for lifting up our hardworking teachers and faculty. We love what we do and appreciate your partnership.


Thanks for taking a minute to say thanks!


Melanie

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Remote Learner Ellery Lowe Shows Off her Colorful Artwork

Congratulations to our West Cypress Classroom Spelling Bee Champions

West Cypress is, again, participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and third, fourth, and fifth grade Tigers have already been studying for the December 11 West Cypress Spelling Bee. In preparation for the December Spelling Bee, we held classroom bees last Friday to determine the champion for each classroom. The classroom champions will then represent their classes in the December Spelling Bee.


Our Third Grade Class Champions are:


  • Luke Hatfield
  • Scarlett Norris
  • Hayden McDaniel
  • Saanvi Banerjee
  • Harper Gardiner


Our Fourth Grade Class Champions are:


  • Lucy Leach
  • Declan Andrews
  • Chandlyr Pelczar
  • Joy McKinney
  • Landon White


Our Fifth Grade Class Champions are:


  • Raegan Ragland
  • Teagan Jatzlau
  • Haden Hatfield
  • Hailey Burke
  • Ryker Sacky


Congratulations to these Tigers for being class champions. We are proud of you and wish you the best in our upcoming December 11 West Cypress Spelling Bee.


Thank you, Mrs. Tara Ali, for being our faculty sponsor for our Spelling Bee.

News from Nurse Hensel

On the top of my holiday wish list is the wish that all of our Tiger families will enjoy their upcoming holidays. With that wish in mind, here is a link to the latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding holiday travel.


I wish you all a safe, healthy and happy holiday season!


And, as always, please feel free to contact me any time you have questions or concerns.

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Hello, Tiger Families:


I would like to emphasize the importance of staying healthy, especially now that it's holiday season. If you have any reason to believe that your child was exposed to a COVID 19 positive person, please let us know, and please follow quarantining guidelines.


If your child is feeling ill or has fever, please remember to keep him/her home. If you are choosing to keep your child at home temporarily, please let us know by emailing me, your child's teacher, our registrar, Becky Wright, and our nurse, Dana Hensel. Remember that your child can temporarily stay home due to possible exposure and engage in schoolwork asynchronously via his/her teacher's Schoology page and be counted present for the day.


I know all of this can be confusing. To clarify,


  • The school officially moves in-person learners to the remote setting when we require quarantining for close contact, symptomatic, or COVID 19 positive students. This usually lasts 10 - 14 days. Upon completion of the quarantine, students return to in-person learning.

  • Parents can choose the remote setting at any time and have a student moved to the remote classroom. Students moved to remote setting by parent choice must wait until the beginning of the next grading period to re-enter in-person learning and must complete and turn in the instructional status change form. The deadline to submit the form to enter in-person learning for the 3rd grading period was December 4.

  • Parents who choose to keep children home temporarily due to exposure have the asynchronous Schoology option with their in-person teacher.


If you have questions about any of this, please feel free to email me, and I will help you navigate. Most importantly, we want students to be safe, healthy, and learning. Our winter break is coming soon. Until then, we look forward to fun, productive, and safe learning


With warmest regards,


Melanie



Melanie Beninga provides info, photos, and updates via Twitter, too. If not already following Melanie Beninga in Twitter, you can follow her @principalwch and @mbeninga.

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Please pick up remote learner holiday party supplies from our lobby December 16, 8 am - 5 pm. Holiday parties are Thursday, December 17!

Remote Learner Lifetouch Photo packages are available for pick up in the lobby 7:40 am to 6:00 pm on school days.

Remote Learners Worked Hard for their APEX Prizes! Be sure to pick them up, too!

Any remaining prizes earned by our remote learners will be available for pick up at the school in the front foyer. The prizes are in clear Apex bags. Student names are written on the bags.

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Wall of Fame for Shoe Tying

Our Wall of Fame for Shoe Tying is dedicated to Kinder, 1st, 2nd, and/or 3rd Grade Tigers who have just learned to tie their shoes AND for Kinder, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade Tigers who know how to tie their shoes and have not already been honored on our Wall of Fame for Shoe Tying in prior years.


The honor is extended to in-person learners and remote learners. Contact our PE coaches if you have questions or need a paper or electronic shoe sent to your Tiger(s.)

In-Person Learner Replacement Transportation and ID Badges

Accidents happen. And, when an in-person learner loses his/her Transportation or Campus ID badge, lanyard, or badge reel, we are happy to replace them at the price it costs us to purchase the replacement materials. Replacements can be purchased by cash or check payable to WCHE.


  • $3 - Transportation ID scan badge
  • $5 - Retractable transportation badge reel
  • $2 - Transportation lanyard and plastic sleeve
  • $1 - Campus student ID badge, holder, and lanyard.


Our WCHE Receptionist, Mrs. Michelle Harper, will be happy to assist you in the event replacement badges are needed.

On-line Learning Available ONLY Through Your Child's LTISD Account

To gain entry to student learning, students should use the LTISD LT1 Classlink to enter and access all classroom google links. This ensures secure and safe learning.


If students/parents attempt to access class meetings or documents without using the student's credentials in LT1 (for example, logging in to the browser from a parent's personal or work account instead of the student's LTISD account) access is restricted. To prevent unauthorized people from accessing our classrooms, only appropriate LT1 Classlink logins with the student's credentials can gain access. Access attempts by any other accounts will be denied.


PLEASE be sure to access all google links through our LT1Classlink using the appropriate LTISD student's credentials.

District Assisting With Technology to Support Remote Learning

The Lake Travis Independent School District (LTISD) will lend Chromebooks and WiFi hotspots to students in grades K-12 who have limited or no access to a device at home and who do not already have a device from our initial deployment this past spring. Our district has had a high volume of requests. Thank you for your patience.


Families who meet the above criteria may request a Chromebook and/or WiFi hotspot through the Skyward "Technology Device Request" form by linking to Skyward through a browser. Link to Skyward here. Please complete 1 request form per student. When the LTISD has the student's Chromebook and/or hotspot ready for pick up, they will notify you.


Also, there is a known issue affecting the login credentials of some of our families with district-issued Chromebooks, and we have developed a solution to help you establish credentials for login. If you are unable to log in, please follow the steps outlined here, and if you need additional assistance, please feel free to contact us. We appreciate your patience.

The Lake Travis Community Library Offers Reading Challenges on Beanstack!

Reading Challenges

The Lake Travis Community Library is excited to offer reading challenges on Beanstack all year round! With challenges for everybody, they encourage you and your entire family to sign up and earn badges for different reading activities! Active challenges are listed below.


Beanstack Challenge: Holiday Reading Challenge

Use Beanstack to log your reading minutes from November 1 through December 31. The LTCL challenges you to read 1,000 minutes – that’s just 20 minutes each day! If the community collectively reads 100,000 minutes, the Friends of the Lake Travis Community Library will donate $1,000 to LTLov’s Green Santa. Green Santa assists local children and families in need by providing meals, groceries, and gifts for the holidays. Registered children range in age from infant to 17 years and are living at or below the poverty line. Help us reach our community goal!


Beanstack Challenge: 1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Enjoy reading 1000 books together to help your little one prepare for Kindergarten! Children who are read to from birth have a larger vocabulary, a higher rate of academic success, and are more likely to become lifelong readers and learners. Reading together provides a great opportunity for bonding and will create lifelong memories for both of you. Log each book you and your newborn, infant, or toddler read together (yes, repeats count!) to earn badges to help you reach your goal.


*A reader under 5 years old must be registered to see this challenge in Beanstack.


How it works

  1. Register yourself and other family members on Beanstack or the Beanstack Tracker app on your mobile device.
  2. Log your reading and participate in fun reading activities to earn badges for the challenge!
  3. Happy reading!

Our Neighborhood Bookmobile is Back!

The Lake Travis Community Library Bookmobile comes to our neighborhood amenity center for contactless reserve pick up service, take and make crafts, and free Wi-Fi.


Our favorite Bookmobile will be a the West Cypress Hills neighborhood pool on alternating Thursdays from 3 to 4 pm, beginning Thursday, October 8.


Visit the Lake Travis Community Library website for more information.

Changing Instructional Status

A change from in-person learning to remote learning can be made at any time. To request this change, complete the LTISD Instructional Change Form. The completed form should be forwarded to our Registrar, Becky Wright.


A change from remote learning to in-person learning can also be requested on the LTISD Instructional Change Form. The completed form should be forwarded to our Registrar, Becky Wright no later than 2 weeks prior to the start of the next grading period, as shown below:


  • Form Due Date was 12/4/20 for the grading period beginning 1/6/21
  • Form Due Date is 2/26/21 for the grading period beginning 3/22/21.

LTISD Chromebooks to Remain Checked Out to Students While on Campus

Students who checked out a District-issued Chromebook for remote learning at home and will be returning to in-person learning on campus should retain the device and bring it to school for use in the classroom as needed, much like an assigned textbook.


Chromebooks will remain checked out to the student until a date to be later determined or at the end of the 2020–2021 school year, whichever comes first.

Meals for Remote Learners

Students in remote learning at home may purchase a meal for pickup from our school cafeteria. Learn more here.


Please note, menu options may be limited. If a parent or child in remote learning at home wishes to pick up a meal at school, accommodations must be made via email directly with the café manager, Mrs. Corinne Stewart, before 10:00 a.m. daily. All meals for remote learners must be picked up at the school’s front office during the regular meal schedule.

Yes, Students Withdrawn from LTISD May Re-enroll Later for In-Person Learning

A frequently asked question pertains to re-enrollment of LTISD students after they have been withdrawn.


Students can be re-enrolled for in-person learning after having been withdrawn as students of the LTISD. The re-enrollment process is the same as the enrollment process for any new LTISD student. The re-enrolled student will, initially, be scheduled for in-person learning at the school building.


Once the re-enrolled student is attending school in person, remote learning, if desired, may be selected when the district next extends an invitation to select a preferred learning option.

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Counselor's Corner

Our campus Second Step topic for this week is about empathy, same and different feeldings:


We all want to have friends here at school. But people can have similar or different feelings about the same situation. For example, I might feel scared to climb up high, and my friend might feel excited. Learning to respect other people’s feelings can help us make and keep friends! This week, notice other people’s feelings and whether they’re the same or different from yours.


This month at WCHE, we will be learning about emotion regulation! All students will be guided in coping skills that are helpful to manage strong feelings, and our bulletin board in our main hallway has been updated (see photo above) to remind Tigers of ways to "keep cool." Younger tigers will practice breathing and mindfulness skills, and older tigers will explore the brain as it relates to our thoughts and feelings (we are talking about you, amygdala!). I look forward to working with and having great conversations with all of our students!


Do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. We are one team, one family.

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Upcoming Events

11/26 - 12/09/20....Shop our Virtual Book Fair Here.

12/02 - 12/11/20....Superintendent's ThoughtExchange

12/07 - 12/11/20....WCHE Book Fair Campus Shopping Days

12/08/20................Deck the Halls Day - Wear Holiday Shirts/Dresses

12/09/20................Mad about Plaid - Wear Plaid Today

12/10/20................Candy Cane Christmas Day - Wear Red and/or White

12/10/20................3rd Grade Virtual Field Trip to the Nutcracker

12/11/20................Polar Express Day - Wear your PJs

12/11/20................WCHE Spelling Bee - 3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders 9 - 10:30 am

12/14/20................Dashing Through Snow Day - Dress Like a Reindeer/Wear Antlers

12/15/20................Merry Grinchmas! Wear your Green and/or be a Grinch

12/16/20................Remote Learner Materials/Supplies Pick Up Day! 8 am - 5 pm

12/16/20................Ugly Sweater Day

12/17/20................Red - White - Santa Hat Day - Wear red and/or white and/or a Santa hat

12/17/20................Classroom Winter Holiday Party Day. View Party Schedule Here.

12/18 - 01/05/21....Winter Holiday - No School for Students

01/06/21................In-person Learning Begins for the Grading Period That Begins January 6

01/18 - 01/19/21....Student Holidays - No School!

02/10/21................Classroom Valentine Party Day

02/11 - 02/15/21....Student Holidays - No School!

02/26/21................Instructional Status Change Form Due - Grading Period March 22 +

03/05/21................Student Holiday - No School!

03/12/21................Student Early Release at 12:05 pm!

03/15 - 03/19/21....Spring Break

03/22/21................In-person Learning Begins for the Grading Period That Begins March 22