Wade King Elementary
May 2019 Newsletter
A Note from the Principal
Dear Wade King Families,
The ultimate goal of the International Baccalaureate Program is to empower students to take ACTION that results in positive changes in our community and world. Action can take many forms and is an essential element of our Primary Years Program. Students (and adults) in our school community take action by choosing to participate, advocating for a change, working toward greater social justice, social entrepreneurship, or making a lifestyle change.
As students engage in units of inquiry, our hope is that they will be inspired to take action, either on their own or with others. As our 2nd graders inquire into nutrition, some students are making intentional choices to eat different foods or get more exercise. As our 3rd graders learn about water, some of them are teaching others about water conservation. Action can be as simple as helping a peer solve a problem or choosing to learn more about a topic of interest.
We have several Action Teams that have been taking action this month to support community groups they are drawn to. With the support of our counselors, Ms. Regina and Mrs. Wakefield, one Action Team coordinated a hygiene drive to collect personal care items for the Bellingham School District Family Resource Center and another is collecting clothing to donate to the Lydia Place. Another Action Team is supporting the Humane Society. Last week, this team made pet treats and sold them at the Talent Show. This week, they encouraged staff and students to send photos of their pets ‘all dressed up.’ Every student has been able to enjoy these photos during lunch and has the option of ‘voting’ for their favorite by adding change to that photos jar. The change will be donated to the Whatcom Humane Society.
The best part of student action is seeing how proud our students are of the things they have accomplished. If your student is taking action at home, be sure to share it with us!
Stephanie Johnson
Principal, Wade King Elementary
Important Dates in May
5/3 Children's Gallery Walk downtown Bellingham 5-8pm (PTA Sponsored)
5/3 Field Trip for all 3rd Grades: Forest School 8:00am-2:30pm
5/6-5/10 Staff Appreciation Week (PTA Sponsored)
5/7 Fairhaven Middle School field trip for 5th grade 9:10-11:20am
5/7 Kulshan MIddle School field trip for 5th grade 9:10-11:20am
5/9 Spring Clean Up/Weeding 12:45-2:30pm (PTA Sponsored)
5/9 PTA Meeting, Dinner & Open Gym for Kids: 6-8pm (PTA Sponsored)
5/15 Fairhaven Middle School Parent Night 6-7:30pm at FMS
5/15 Kulshan Middle School Parent NIght 6:30-7:30pm at KMS
5/17 Jr Ski to Sea Parade: Cornwall Ave - Line up at 4:30pm (all students welcome)
5/21 Volunteer Appreciation Lunch: 10:30am-12:45pm in the Library
5/23 Kindergarten Open House from 2-5pm
5/27 NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day Holiday
5/29 5th Gr Strings Concert 9:45am in the Cafeteria
5/31 Field Trip for Catudio/Montfort to Fairhaven Park 12:15-1:45pm
5/31 World Tour: JAPAN! 5:00-8:00pm
Downtown Bellingham Children's Art Walk - Starts This Friday!
Plan a family walk around downtown Bellingham this month! You will find art work created by student artists hanging in many businesses and restaurants. Wade King art will be hanging at these locations until approximately May 20th.
DIVINTI Music - 1213 Cornwall Avenue
Russell, Wermus, Niva, McColl, Samuelsen, Gutierrez, Livezey, Catudio
Community Co-Op - 1220 N Forest Street
Hall, Fleenor, Mungarro, Cornelsen, Foote, Howard, Tipton
Co-Op Bakery Café - 405 E Holly Street (closes at 7pm)
Mitchell, Smith
Pickford Film Center - 1318 Bay Street
Zoba, Montfort
.
The Children’s Art Walk Map will be posted on the Allied Arts web site on Thursday, May 2nd by 5:00 pm. The map can also be found at the Allied Arts website.
Staff Appreciation Week - May 6th to 10th
Please join the PTA in thanking Wade King Staff next week!
Choose one day or two (or all five) to participate,
then show staff they are loved and appreciated.
Monday: Bring or make a pretty flower for your teacher and/or staff members you and/or your teacher appreciate.
Tuesday: Make a point of saying “thank you” to staff members and encourage your child to do the same.
Wednesday: Encourage your child to draw a picture for a staff member.
Thursday: Indulge your teacher and/or a staff member you appreciate with a treat or snack.
Friday: Make a card or write a note to show appreciation for staff you appreciate
If you would like to help our PTA provide breakfast and/or lunch for our staff, sign up here.
State Chess Tournament
FREE Online Positive Parenting Conference
At Wade King, developing the social-emotional skills of our students is just as important as developing academic skills. Several of the professionals that we lean on to support our own understanding of social-emotional skill development are part of a free online Positive Parenting Conference that begins on May 7th. If you are interested, you can reserve your free spot with this link.
Spring Is In The Air: TAKING ACTION AT WK
WCC Is Hosting A STEM Carnival - Afternoon of May 9th
Whatcom Community College is hosting a free science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) carnival on Thursday, May 9 from 3 - 6 p.m. in the Syre Student Center. This hands-on event is aimed for families, children, teens and adults. Parking and admission are free. For more information, visit whatcom.edu.
PTA Parent Gathering (Library) and Student PJ Fun (Gym) - Thursday, May 9th 6:00-8:00 pm
On Thursday, May 9th from 6:00-8:090 pm, bring your pre-school and school-aged kids along for a fun filled evening while you get together with other parents. You can drop your kids off in the gym in their pajamas. NOTE: Infants and toddlers can stay with parents in the Library - we are not able to supervise this youngest age group. If your child needs special accommodations for our PJ Open Gym, please call the office at 360-647-6840 to let us know. We will plan for your child!
Parents and Kids will enjoy pizza and have a chance to win prizes. All parents and children who attend will receive a raffle ticket for prizes AND kids who wear their PJs get 2 raffle tickets!
During the Parent Gathering, parent will be able to connect with other parents, hear what's happening in our school, and share their thinking on ways to strengthen our school community.
Members of our PTA will share:
...Myths about the PTA
...What does the PTA do? How does it benefit students directly?
...When and where to connect families and building up our community.
...Gather ideas on ways to increase parents' involvement in our PTA and at school
events. What works for our families?
...Different volunteer options and PTA positions that are available.
...Information on our district Equity Fund.
Attending our Parent Gathering does NOT mean you have to sign up to volunteer! We are looking for parents to help with these things, but we will not pressure you to take on a volunteer role.
Come join us for an evening of fun, food, and interesting dialogue with other parents. Stay for part of the evening or the entire event!
Please RSVP with this link so we are sure to have enough dinner for everyone!
Come Join the Parade - Friday, May 17th
State Assessments for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders
Our state testing is nearing an end for our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders! Short test sessions will occur in the mornings on the following days. As with any day of learning, a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast are an essential part of every school day. We recommend parents and guardians encourage students to do their best learning every day and avoid overemphasizing testing. If you have questions about testing at Wade King, please connect with your child's teacher and/or Mrs. Johnson, our principal.
- 3rd Grade - May 21, May 22, May 23
- 4th Grade - May 7, May 8, May 9
- 5th Grade - May 1, May 2, May 14, May 15, May 16, May 17
Kindergarten Open House is May 23rd from 2-5pm
Kindergarten Registration has started at all Bellingham Elementary Schools.
If you have a child who will be 5 years old before September 1st, please visit your neighborhood elementary school to register for kindergarten! To find out more about registration and required immunizations, please visit our school district web site or contact Mrs. McMeel or Mrs. Murphy in the Wade King Office at (360) 647-6840.
If your child will be 5 before September 1st and you aren't planning on having him/her start kindergarten, please contact our school principal, Stephanie Johnson.
Wade King’s Kindergarten Open House will be in the afternoon on Thursday, May 23rd. Please turn in your completed Kindergarten packets to the school office by May 8th. We will send out reminders about our Open House to all registered Kindergarten families.
Meet-a-Truck Event sponsored by City of Bellingham and Bellingham Public Library on May 23rd
Have you ever wondered about the big public works trucks you see around town? From 1-3pm on Thursday, May 23rd, the City of Bellingham Public Works Department and the Bellingham Public Library invite you to come view some of the equipment used to keep our City running. The trucks and other vehicles will be on display to the public in front of City Hall located at 210 Lottie Street, near the downtown library.
This event takes place during Public Works Week, a time to celebrate and appreciate the work it takes to maintain city infrastructure and the services the Public Works Department provides for our community. From keeping our roads safe for travel to treating our drinking water, Public Works is behind services enjoyed by the public every day. This is a free event for people interested in learning more about Public Works or for kids who love trucks and other equipment. There will be demonstrations, activities, crafts and story time.
Everyone is welcome!
Fantasy Book Donations
- Deltora Quest
- Dragon Slayer's Academy
- Secret of Droon
- Notebook of Doom
- Faerieground
- Spiderwick Chronicles
- Unicorn Quest
- Animorphs
- Percy Jackson
- Dragons in a Bag
- Werewolf Series
- Chronicles of Narnia
- Time Warp Trio
- Warriors
- Animorphs
- The Rangers Apprentice
- Underland Chronicles
- Artemis Fowl
- Harry Potter
- The Golden Compass
- City of Ember
- Maze Runner
Tonka Truck Donations
Volunteer Positions
The PTA wants their website to be a place that families can easily access information about school events, meetings, and people to contact. Our After-School Clubs and Programs are only featured on the PTA site so, having a current connection for registration is very helpful! If you might be able to help, please contact our PTA president, Rebecca Hutchison or Greg Mroz at wadekingpta@gmail.com.
Art Walk Volunteers
Do you love children's artwork? Are you unable to volunteer on a regular basis, but could volunteer for one event? Kathleen Harri and Cate Webb have been coordinating Wade King's participation in Downtown Bellingham Children's Art Walk. They are looking for volunteers to help take down Wade King art around May 20th. They are also looking for someone who could potentially take on the Art Walk Coordinator role next year. If you are interested in either of these things, please contact Kathleen Harri.
Girl Scout Leader
Did you know there is a Girl Scout Troop that meets at Wade King? This troop is looking for a new leader and assistant leader. If you would be able to take on this roll, please contact parent volunteer Teddi Anshus.
Box Tops - An Easy Way To Earn Money For Wade King PTA
Do you want to help out the school, but don’t have the time?
Did you know you earn $.10 per BoxTop and can easily earn 2-5 times more just by using the BoxTop app? Yes, there’s an app for that too, and it’s EASY! Check it out:
https://www.boxtops4education.com/bonusapp/how-it-works
Here’s the quick run down on how it works!
Check out all the products you get Box Tops for.
Buy the products you want.
Take a picture of your receipt.
Earn extra money for the school!
Seriously, it’s that easy!
Then, turn in the BoxTop to school and our PTA can collect even more!
Here's another tip... Trim your box tops well! BoxTops have to be trimmed before mailing them in so they can be bundled and to save on shipping costs.
Link Your Fred Meyers Rewards Card & Use Amazon Smile - Easy Ways To Support Wade King PTA
If you link your Fred Meyer Reward Card to Wade King PTA, every time you shop a portion of your purchase will be rewarded back to our school. It’s simple, takes only a moment, and has a positive impact on our fundraising efforts.
If you linked your card last year, you will need to re-link it again this year!
To link your Fred Meyer Reward card...
- Go to Fred Meyer Community Rewards: www.fredmeyer.com
- Follow the links to COMMUNITY REWARDS and link your card to Wade King
If you shop Amazon.com, you can also earn money for our PTA.
- Go to Amazon Smile: www.smile.amazon.com
- Search for Wade King PTA
- Start shopping... and 0.5% of your purchase will come back to the PTA!
Don’t forget to tell your friends and family about these programs.
They can link their cards to Wade King too!
Wade King Elementary School
Email: Stephanie.Johnson@bellinghamschools.org
Website: http://wadeking.bellinghamschools.org/
Location: 2155 Yew Street Road, Bellingham, WA, USA
Phone: (360) 647-6840
Facebook: facebook.com/WadeKingElementary
Twitter: @WadeKingElem