Whittier Weekly
March 19
Principal's Note
Hi Families:
Thank you to all the families that attended our first night of virtual conferences this week. We are looking forward to our next conference night on Thursday, March 25th. We expect to connect with 100% of our families in order to provide academic updates and continue to partner home and school for a great last trimester.
Upcoming dates below:
- Spring Break - March 29-April 5th - NO SCHOOL for face to face or virtual students
We are here to be your partner in education and we are honored to work with YOU and your children everyday! Enjoy your day off tomorrow!
Brandy Hart
Whittier Principal
1st grade!
Team Whittier!
3rd grade!
Report Cards!
Family Math Help Site!
The School District of Waukesha is committed to working to improve math instruction for students. We strive to create future mathematicians who are creative problem solvers, persevere in new situations, and collaborate with peers.
To help with this, the district's math instructional team has created a Family Math Help Site to support families and give them a glimpse into their child's mathematics experience in the SDW. The site provides resources such as:
Basic Fact Strategies
Computational Fluency Strategies
Vocabulary Words
iPad Friendly Sites
Family Letters for each Unit
Learning Math Facts at Home
The SDW Math Continuum
A detailed description of The Math Workshop
7 ways you can help your child at home
Check it out and let us know if you have any questions!
State Testing: Forward Exam
Wisconsin students in grades 3-8, and 10, will be participating in the Forward Exam during the March 22 – May 14, testing window. State assessments, including the Forward Exam, are required by both State (Wis. Stat. § 118.30) and Federal ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) Law. Participation in State assessments can help determine the impact the pandemic has had on academic achievement and equity. Equitable testing is important because clearly knowing the performance of all students is the first step in closing achievement gaps. We must know exactly which gaps exist, the size of the gaps, and the persistence of the gaps.
Our school is scheduled to take the Forward Exam April 12-April 30.
In-person assessment is the only viable method for the state assessments. The company who produces the test has no remote (virtual) testing option available. Students who are not currently participating in face-to-face instruction will be invited to participate in Forward testing at the school they would have attended in 2020-2021.
During testing, we will follow the same health and safety precautions we use during regular instruction including temperature checks, sanitizing of equipment and cleaning of surfaces. You can read more about our mitigation efforts on our school district website.
The Forward Exam tests students in the areas of English language arts (ELA), mathematics in grades 3-8, science in grades 4 and 8, and social studies in grades 4, 8, and 10. One or more subtests may be administered daily during our selected time frame. Please make sure students are healthy before sending them to school. Keep students home who are ill or have been exposed to COVID-19. Students not in school on testing days will be scheduled for a make-up test prior to the close of the testing window.
The Forward Exam Information for Families brochure gives more information about the assessment. The Forward Exam measures the knowledge and skills students should have for their grade-level. Their performance on the assessment will not affect their grades. Please encourage students to take the test seriously and do the best they can. The results of these tests will be used to help school staff make determinations regarding curriculum, placement, and services to best support students.
If you have any questions, please contact Brandy Hart at bmhart@waukesha.k12.wi.us
Black History Museum!
Move Forward Spring Wellness Challenge!!
Staying home over Spring Break? The Waukesha Education Foundation Inc. (WEF) has your “stay-cation” agenda! The Move Forward Spring Wellness Challenge kicks off the week of Spring Break! This month-long event is full of FREE virtual and small in-person activities, hosted by area businesses and organizations.To preview the events and register, visit the event calendar on the Foundation’s website at: https://bit.ly/wefsteps.
After Spring Break Week, we will be continuing the focus on Wellness here at Whittier by participating in the WEF Movement Minute Challenge. Every day, students will be participating in intentional movement and recording their total minutes at the end of the week. We encourage students, staff, families and community members to keep track of their own movement minutes and do the same, and credit it to Whittier!
Waukesha Education Foundation Inc will award Wellness Grants to the Elementary and Secondary schools with the highest accumulated minutes per student average by the end of the Move Forward event. The Parent Organization of the winning schools will also receive a $200 grant!
Please help us earn this top spot by recording your own Movement Minutes on the Foundation’s Website at the end of each week in April: https://bit.ly/wefsteps.
Monthly Characteristic!
- September was RESPECT
- October we practiced FOCUS
- November we worked on building GROWTH MINDSETS
- December we tackled TOLERANCE
- January, we moved our focus into SELF CONTROL
- February, we worked on ACCEPTANCE
- March we practice KINDNESS
The picture shows a book all of our classrooms will be reading sometime this month! It's called If Kids Ran the World and it's all about all roads leading to kindness and what we (even kids!) can do to make our world a better place.
You can support at home by praising your child when you see sharing, manners, and kind words to and about others. Kindness can show up anywhere - let's work together to notice it when we see it!
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