The Sailor Signal
Cottage Lake Elementary - February 21, 2021
A Note from Principal Welch
Dear Families,
Welcome back from our Mid-Winter break. I hope you enjoyed unplugging from our remote school and took the time to make memories another way. I loved the variety of weather and I also just loved our snow last weekend. What a blessing to be able to enjoy it to the fullest! I also enjoyed a few walks this week with my dog when the sun was shining. I hope you also found times of joy and were able to take in this time.
As we come back together, we are in for 7 full weeks of learning. This is such an important time for our students and staff. I encourage all students to be at school each day, so they can optimize their learning opportunities. If I can support you with attendance, please do reach out. Attendance Matters!
I thank those of you who attended our Picture Day on Thursday, February 11. I will be sure to reach out as soon as we have received the pictures. I believe the photographers shared we had over 200 people attend, including staff. It was AMAZING to see so many students and families, despite the snow. :)
There are several pieces below that are pretty important, so I encourage you to take a read of the entries. We have two important events this week: our Materials pick-up event this Thursday and then our Black History Month & MLK Jr. assembly Friday morning. I have provided information below regarding both of these events. Please note that we will CANCEL the regular curbside library book pick-up for Thursday. Instead, anyone who orders books for a curbside pick-up, those books will be placed in your student's materials bag and you can pick everything up during your materials pick-up time. I would also like to share a special note that during our Materials Pick-Up event, our PTA will also be holding a food drive to collect non-perishable items for the Woodinville Storehouse Food Bank. There is also further information below regarding what they are in need of. The PTA will be stationed outside the front gate of the school and collecting food. Thank you for your generosity and donations!
Finally, this is a reminder of our Racial and Educational Justice family survey that was sent out before we left for break. I've posted the link below for those of you who haven't yet had an opportunity to respond. Currently, we have 73 responses. Thank you for helping to provide your feedback.
In closing, I also want to recognize that we are nearing a year that we have been working remotely. This has not been easy on any of us and our students and staff have worked so hard to flip their classrooms and learning and you all have worked your magic to also support our students. THANK YOU! I realize this is not ideal for most of you and I want to assure you we are working as a school and district to plan for a safe hybrid launch, if this is what you are interested in. As you have read from Dr. Reid's weekly COVID updates and on the NSD website, one of the tenants for our hybrid launch is staff vaccinations. We are still waiting for this to begin. I will continue to keep you all posted on updates, but you will also receive information each Friday from Dr. Reid.
I promise you our teachers are committed to providing the best possible school experience they can for our students! They have never worked harder. They all continue to amaze me and they continue to teach grade-level content and standards. Our staff is amazing! As we continue forward, if there is something we can do to support your family in a way we are not currently doing, please do reach out. While we can't tailor all instructional individually, we are certainly here to partner with you.
I wish you a great week back to learning!
Take Care,
Jen Welch, Principal
•• SCHOOL NEWS ••
Materials Pick-up THIS Thursday, February 25, from 1:00-5:00 PM
This coming Thursday, February 25, is our next materials pick-up event. Please find the below information regarding this event.
Times for the event are as follows:
- Last names A-H, pick-up from 1:00-2:00 PM
- Last names I-O, pick-up from 2:00-3:00 PM
- Last names P-Z, pick-up from 3:00-4:00 PM
- Those families who couldn't come at the earlier times, 4:00-5:00 PM
To follow safety guidelines for everyone, here are important pieces of information for each family when they come to school:
- All families will need to pick up materials in their vehicle, via the front of the school, in our car pick-up loop.
- Prior to picking up, prepare a sign with your child’s LAST name written clear and BIG. Please display the sign on your passenger side of your dash, so that it is clearly visible to staff.
Our drop-off/pick-up will occur in front of the school, in our car pick-up loop. No parking is allowed.
Remain in a single file line along the curb. Continue pulling forward as you are able. There will be staff directing you.
If you happen to be picking up materials for another family, we need you to come back at that family’s designated time. We will only have bags out for the last name letters listed.
When you leave the school driveway and head back onto Avondale, please only turn RIGHT to keep traffic moving.
All staff will be wearing a face covering and maintaining social distancing to make sure we are doing all we can to keep each other and you safe.
What will you be picking up?
Teachers have been preparing items that you should anticipate using between now and the end of March. If your student has ordered library books, those will also be placed into your student's materials bag.
** If you need other supplies that are not provided, please do reach out to a member of our office staff, or myself, and we will do our best to supply you with the needed materials. These items could include a student desk, an appropriate chair or alternative seating option, or if you need more school supplies. Please reach out if we can assist you in creating a workspace for your student that also matches their size.
PTA hosted Food Drive at Materials Pick-up on Thursday, February 25.
February PTA Act of Love and Service: Food Drive for the Woodinville Storehouse Food Bank
February is a month of showing love, kindness, and gratitude toward others. This month, the CLE PTA is hosting a food drive to collect non-perishable items for the Woodinville Storehouse Food Bank to help others in our community. The Woodinville Storehouse Food Bank serves Bothell, Kenmore, Kirkland, Redmond, and Woodinville.
Please participate in this act of love and service by bringing non-perishable items to be dropped off during the materials pickup on February 25th. The PTA will be collecting items outside of the gate on your way out. The most needed items right now are:
- Pasta sauce (not pasta)
- Hamburger Helper
- Cereal
- Toilet paper
- Non-perishable shelf-stable milk (sold in tall cardboard cartons and does not need refrigeration).
They accept ANY non-perishable items, but please refrain from donating expired food.
Thank you in advance for your help!
Black History Month/MLK Jr. recognition assembly - February 26 @ 10:15 AM
Below is the Zoom information for the virtual assembly:
https://nsd.zoom.us/j/81516631302?pwd=bzBTTlRyZlROSXdkWExBSFB2Z2dUdz09
Meeting ID: 815 1663 1302
Passcode: 426158
I'm looking forward to a great event, where we bring everyone together to recognize we all belong here at Cottage Lake Elementary!
Racial and Educational Justice family survey
The Cottage Lake Racial and Educational Justice Team would like to ask for your anonymous input on how we are doing with regards to partnering and engaging with families and community members. It is crucially important to us that every Cottage Lake family feels respected, included, and valued in our community. By taking the time to complete this survey, you will be helping us to identify areas of improvement so that we can continue to make Cottage Lake a place that feels inclusive and representative to all families and students. Again, this survey is anonymous so that all families feel safe to answer honestly.
Please click THIS SURVEY LINK to access the parent survey.
We thank you for your time and input. This survey will close on Friday, February 26 @ 9:00 PM.
Kindergarten registration is OPEN!!
Spread the word!! We want Kindergarten students!!
If there are questions about the registration process, please email Mrs. Negrin (tnegrin@nsd.org) or Mrs. MckInnon (smckinnon@nsd.org). Email is the best communication avenue at this time. We do not have staff regularly working on site.
We are excited to welcome new families to Cottage Lake!
Upcoming Parent education event provided by our PTA
March 4th 7:00-8:30 PM
***Space is limited***
Register at: https://heartfulparentacademy.mykajabi.com/northshore
“Live” Workshop: Parent Coach® Christy Keating, J.D. will explore a new framework for addressing (almost) any conflict or challenge that arises with children, whether they are toddlers, teens, or in-betweens, and helps parents when that “I don’t know what to do or say” feeling happens.
Christy will touch on:
- How our brains hijack our best intentions while parenting;
- How to respond rather than react;
- What our children’s challenging behaviors may actually be telling us and how to decode the messages;
- Why time-outs, rewards, punishments, and bribes don’t work and what to do instead; • How to problem-solve with our children; and
- How to ensure our solutions help our families THRIVE.
Drawing on principles of positive discipline, research, and writings by Dr. Daniel Siegel, Jane Nelsen, Lynn Lott, Rudolph Driekurs, and her own experience as both a parent and parent coach, Christy teaches parents a new framework for interacting with their children and solving problems. Attendees will walk away with clear strategies they can use to parent in a way that builds love, joy, connection, along with important social-emotional skills.
If you have questions, please contact president@cottagelakepta.org
Please CLICK HERE to see the flyer for this event.
Book Circulation for ALL!!
Readers, Readers..... we are looking for more readers!!
You can now order books EVERY WEEK!!
We are now moving our book circulation to EVERY WEEK!! The schedule will stay posted for reference, but if your student wants books weekly or needs to keep them an extra week, they can order any time and the books will be ready the following Thursday. If you want to borrow a book, please complete the link below to reserve books for your student(s).
- ALL STUDENTS - Your upcoming book distribution day is: Thursday, February 25
- We are extending the book ordering window until Monday evening.
- If you want books, please fill out this form http://go.nsd.org/sailorbooks by MONDAY, February 22 @ 8:00 PM.
- There will be NO REGULAR CURBSIDE pick-up event on Thursday. Instead, any student who selects curbside pick-up, their library books will be placed in their materials bag and those can be picked up at their specific time shared above.
Please click on the button below to locate the book circulation schedule (this is updated regularly) and find the request form in one place.
Happy Reading!
Participation during Specialists
Our specialist teachers of PE, Music, and Library have seen a decrease of students participating in live teaching classes and would love for more students to participate in their recorded lessons, as well. For your student to show their participation during recorded lessons, teachers have linked a Google form students need to complete each week. This is where they share their learning.
If you need help accessing your student's specialist link, please visit your specialist teacher's Schoology page, reach out to them via email, or contact Ms. Welch.
See you online soon!
•• District News ••
•• REPEAT of District News ••
School Waivers
Waivers for the 2021-2022 school year will soon be accepted. This is earlier than before, as we look to have a better understanding of our student numbers for the next school year. Please see below for the dates we will begin accepting waivers.
If you live In-District:
- Grades K-12 - February 22, 2021
- IHS IB Program - December 7, 2020
- ILHS 10th Grade - December 7, 2020
- 9th grade - Fill the application online
- 9th grade - Fill the application online
If you live Out of District:
- Current Students staying at their current school - February 22, 2021
- Current Students transitioning to 6th or 9th grade - April 19, 2021
- New Students - May 7, 2021
- IHS IB Program - December 7, 2020
- ILHS 10th Grade - December 7, 2020
- 9th Grade - Fill the application online
You can also find further waiver information by visiting: https://www.nsd.org/schools/get-started/waivers
Meals during remote learning and hybrid learning
Beginning Wednesday, September 9, we are offering free meals for ALL children ages 18 and younger. Students do not need to be enrolled in the Northshore School District to receive meals. This is GREAT news for each of our families; these are your tax dollars at work. I am so pleased this funding has been continued, allowing us to extend these meal services until the end of December.
For quick links:
- CLICK HERE to place an order for DAILY MEALS. [The order window time will be 2:00 PM-11:59 PM the day prior to meal pick-up. Orders include breakfast and lunch, including 16oz of milk. Orders placed for a Friday pick-up will also include meals for the weekend.]
- CLICK HERE to place an order for WEEKLY MEAL PACKS. [Weekly Meal Packs will include breakfast and lunch for an entire week, including a gallon of milk. The order window will open at 2:00 PM every Wednesday and close at 2:00 PM every Thursday. Pick up for these meals will be on Wednesday the following week.]
Please consider ordering food! Our district is committed to feeding our children during this challenging time.
•• PTA NEWS ••
- Our next PTA Meeting is this week: Tuesday, March 9, 2021 from 7:00-8:00 PM.
- Learn more about the PTA and get your 2020/21 membership at www.cottagelakepta.org.
- Your 2020/21 PTA President is Rachel Tarr and can be contacted at president@cottagelakepta.org.
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[YES, our PTA accounted is listed in Tacoma, but it IS our school's PTA located in Woodinville, WA.]
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Cottage Lake Elementary
Email: jwelch@nsd.org
Website: https://cottagelake.nsd.org/
Location: 15940 Avondale Road Northeast, Woodinville, WA, USA
Phone: (425) 408-4200
Facebook: facebook.com/ourschool
Twitter: @ourschool