Weston Newsletter
November and December 2019
Have a warm holiday season!
Dear Parents/Guardians:
As parents, guardians, and teachers of young children, we all want to help our children be successful. One way to do this is to take the time to meet together to discuss your child’s progress in school. We want to share their successes and challenges, to get your input, and share ours with you. Please be sure to take advantage of the time set aside for you to do this at your child’s Parent-Teacher Conferences. If you don’t have an appointment scheduled, please call the office at 810-591-8483.
The month of November often causes us to pause and reflect on all the things we are thankful for in our lives. I am thankful each day to be a member of the Weston Family. This year we have about 440 Weston Wonders who make each day special. Their passion for learning, love of literature, and enthusiasm for life bring a smile to our faces. The Weston family is graced with staff members who share their love, kindness, and teaching expertise with your children each day. We are so lucky to have such a dedicated group at Weston Elementary. They are so interested in learning new ways to help our Weston Wonders achieve even more success each year.
Finally, thank you to all the wonderful parents and guardians who support our Weston Community. Through this collaboration, we are able to support our students to be the best they can be. Thank you for sharing your precious children with us each day!
We hope that everyone has a wonderful two months of holiday celebrations!
In education,
Douglas Hibbs
Weston Principal
Principal’s Academic Piece: This newsletter-writing
When you think you’re done, you’ve just begun!
Encouraging our children to write at home can make a big difference in the development of their writing skills. Writing should be fun! Allow your child to be creative and take risks. Focus more on the process and less on the product of your child’s writing.
Process
-Think of topic
-Picture topic
-Say
-Sketch
-Write
Sleep is vital for our young students!
Getting enough sleep at night is very important for school aged children.
Research shows that students who get the correct amount of sleep on a daily basis feel better, are healthier overall and have better moods. With this, students who sleep enough show better scores academically.
At Weston, first and foremost, we want everyone to be healthy. After that, it is important for children to be successful in school. Both of these become easier for a child if he or she has an adequate amount of sleep.
Please take a look at the chart below. Wake up time is at the top. The age is to the left. Look at the top, what time your child arises each day. Follow down to their age to find what their sleeping time should be. For instance, if your child wakes up at 7am and is 7 years old, he or she should go to bed at 8:15 every night.
Here is a link that discusses sleeping further:
https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/specialties/sleep-disorder-center/sleep-in-school-aged-children
Attendance note for the November/December edition!
"Bee here and bee present!"
Research shows that attendance is an important factor in student achievement.
Check out this link for more information:
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/attendancedata/chapter1a.asp
This information is from the National Center for Education Statistics. The below paragraph is from the article.
"The primary rationale for high-quality attendance data is the relationship between student attendance and student achievement. Teacher effectiveness is the strongest school-related determinant of student success,1 but chronic student absence reduces even the best teacher's ability to provide learning opportunities. Students who attend school regularly have been shown to achieve at higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance. This relationship between attendance and achievement may appear early in a child's school career. A recent study looking at young children found that absenteeism in kindergarten was associated with negative first grade outcomes such as greater absenteeism in subsequent years and lower achievement in reading, math, and general knowledge.2"
Dates to be noted!
- November 1: End of First Marking Period
- November 13 and 14: Conferences at Weston, 3:50p-6:50p
- November 15: No School
- November 27: 1/2 Day of School
- November 28-29: No School, Happy Thanksgiving!
- December 19 and 20: Polar Express
- December 23-January 3 No school, winter break
- January 6: School Resumes
- January 17: End of 2nd MP, End of 1st Semester
- January 20: No school, MLK and Records Day
- January 30 and 31: Science Alive
- February 17: No school, Mid-Winter Break
*See classroom newsletters for special classroom and holiday events.
**See below for a picture of the full Kearsley calendar.
Two great health based programs in our community!
Kearsley High School offers the UM Health Center through the Regional Alliance for Healthy Schools. The UM Health Center is in the back of Kearsley High School and services all grade aged students up to 18 years old. The phone number is 591-5330.
Eat Well-Be Well is being offered through Hurley and Kohl's Cares.
Clothes, Coats and More!
Please make sure your child has appropriate gear while at school.
Some important reminders about clothes and gear while at school:
- Please be sure to put an extra pair of clothes in your child's backpack. Bathroom accidents occur with young students and it is important to have extra clothes so this can be taken care of properly. Having a shirt, pants, underwear and socks in a plastic bag in your child's backpack can make an accident an easy fix. If your child seems to be having multiple accidents, having a couple pairs might be a nice idea.
- Make sure your child has gear for outdoor weather. It is starting to get cold in Michigan. Students now need winter jackets. Soon we will add gloves, winter hats, snow pants, boots and scarves. Make sure to put your child's name on all items. If anyone needs support in getting gear, please let us know.
Thank you!
Polar Express returns to Weston!
Polar Express will return to Weston on December 19 and December 20.
Rooms 1, 2. 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 will be on 12-19.
Rooms 5, 10, 14 and 20 will be on 12-20.
For this event, students will get to meet Handsome Harry the Conductor who will share Polar Express through the book. Harry will give the students a bell to ring. The students will then get to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate or chocolate milk with a cookie. The classroom teacher may choose to watch the movie on one of these days. Pajamas are a popular choice during Polar Express as well. Please look to each classroom newsletter for specific information.
Weston Elementary School
Weston houses DK, K and 1st for Kearsley Community Schools
Principal: Douglas Hibbs
Counselor: Holli Taylor
Administrative Assistant: Derena Olsen
Administrative Clerk: Ronda LeBrasseur
Email: dhibbs@kearsleyschools.org
Website: www.kearsleyschools.org
Location: 2499 Cashin Street, Burton, MI, USA
Phone: 8105918483
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weston.kearsley
Twitter: @WondersofWeston