West Middleton Update
A Compassionate, Collaborative Community of Learners
October 2018 Newsletter
An update from Mrs. Krych
We just finished up a whirlwind week of parent/teacher conferences, a fun PJ day celebration, and our 2nd annual Wolverine Dash. A HUGE "Thank You" to our PTO organizers Anne Ernst and Jen Moore, as well as all of the amazing volunteers who made the day possible. As of Sunday night, we have $23, 262 raised. Please continue to collect and turn in money through this Friday. We have already earned two of our fundraising goal rewards - an all school extra recess and an all school PJ & popcorn day. The $30,000 reward is a bouncy house celebration. We earned this last year and it was a huge hit with the students. We are really hoping to surpass $30,000.
Thank you for joining us for parent/teacher conferences last week. We really enjoyed the time getting to know you and hear about all of the things you love about your child. In the last newsletter I sent home a few weeks ago, I mentioned that we would be having an academic family night in November. The purpose of this night is to share information about our curriculum, answer any questions and share strategies you can use to support your child's growth. After reviewing our calendar, we have decided to move this event to January. We have several upcoming family events and are trying to balance the desire to host family engagement activities with everyone's busy schedule. We will be hosting our Harvest Lunch on Wednesday, November 14th during your child's lunch time. Our annual Winter Tea, the music concert for all grade levels, is Friday, December 14th. We are rescheduling the academic family night for Thursday, January 10th. We will be sending out more details on each event as we get closer to the dates.
One of our most important goals is to continue to make connections and grow together with our families. We hope that through our continued communication, family engagement nights and individual connections with families that we are well on our way to accomplishing this goal.
With Gratitude,
Mrs. Krych
Wolverine Dash Photos
Fabulous Volunteers
Willy Cheering on Our Wolverines
Love the Support!
Thanks for Cheering On our wolverines
Mrs. Johnson & Mrs. Smith Rocked It Out ALL Day Long
We love that our dash is a family event
Additional Information included with this newsletter
We are sharing our Second Step newsletter for each grade level as well. Second Step is our school wide social emotional curriculum that is taught by Lindsey Hellenbrand, our School Counselor. For the first month of school, all teachers taught the first unit that focuses on Skills for Learning. Our goal is to use consistent, common language throughout our building and with all staff. You can support our efforts by talking to your child about what they learned and how it can apply to your life at home.
And finally, we are sharing e our monthly curriculum updates by grade level. Each month you will receive a brief curriculum update on what is coming up over the next month in your child's grade. The purpose is to increase communication between home and school and to give parents a better understanding of what we are focusing on each of our subject areas. If you find this helpful, please mention it to your child's teacher.
PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports) - The Wolverine Way (UPDATED)
PBIS News
We are off to a great start at West Middleton! We started the year teaching what does it look like and sound like to be respectful, responsible, safe, and a learner in all areas in the classroom and in areas of the building! The four expectations of Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe, and Be a Learner are the Wolverine Way.
We had an all school assembly where we celebrated our first couple of weeks of school and had a great time watching grade level teams play Minute to Win It games. All students have learned our new school song that we sing at assemblies, make sure to ask your student to share with you the amazing song Mr. Finkel and Mrs. Spahn created!
On October 1st we had an assembly to learn what it looks like and sounds like to follow the Wolverine Way in the hallways and in the bathroom. We are really focusing on being Responsible for the month of October. Students sang the school song and then watched a video of students being respectful in the hallway by walking in a line with a voice level of 0. The video also had clips of students being quick, quiet, and clean in the bathroom by washing their hands, having a voice level of 0, and throwing away paper towels after washing hands.
Each month we have students nominated by teachers for student of the month who have modeled exceptional behavior of the Wolverine Way. This past months winners for the Student of the month were:
- Kindergarten - Ka'Myia Shamsee
- First - Wilson May
- Second - Rebecca Hummel
- Third - Angel Hsu
- Fourth - Taran Turner
Drop Off/Pick Up Procedures
If you are dropping off or picking up your child, you must remain in your vehicle at all times. You can drop off/pick up on the left side of the bus lane. Please pull up as far as possible (up to the light pole, way beyond the crosswalk) next to the island sidewalk that separates the bus lane from the car lane. See picture below (red circle). Students will use the island sidewalk and crosswalk. Students should never leave or enter cars from any other place in the parking lot.
During drop off and pick up, we have a long line of cars waiting. If you need a few extra minutes to help your child with their backpack or supplies, or you need a few extra hugs, please use one of the parking stalls and walk your child to the crosswalk. We need to be as efficient as possible in order to avoid a back up onto Mineral Point Road.
The spots located in front of the Annex (our additional 4th grade classrooms) are now open and that has helped to relieve some of the congestion after school. In a few weeks our additional parking should be available for all school events and other occasions when our parking lot is full. It's exciting to see this project almost at completion. Thank you for everyone's efforts to keep our Wolverines safe!!