Winter Hill Wildcat Weekly
November 20, 2023
Principal's Message
This week is our spirit week and thank you to all the students and staff who "switched" and dressed up as each other today. It was a fun time for all! Check out our first graders with "Mr. B." mustaches.
Spirit Days
*Tuesday 11/21 - "Anything but the backpack" day.
Students can bring anything but a backpack to hold their belongings.
*Wednesday 11/22 - Twin Day or Match Day*
Students come dressed matching with friends or teachers.
**A quick note about Twin Day- Student council had several discussions about this day and talked through ways for every student to feel included. Student council decided to offer all students grades 1-5 stickers to wear (if they choose) to match stickers student council members will be wearing. Groups of student council members are assigned to classrooms and will be coming around on Tuesday morning to ask students if they want to wear the sticker (teachers can hold on to them and pass out on Wednesday).
This Wednesday is an early release day.
*PK students will be released at 11:30.
*Grades 1 - 8 will be released at 12:00.
*Kindergarten will be released at 12:15.
**There is no community schools after school on Wednesday and parents & caregivers should plan to pick up their student at the dismissal times listed above. The Winter Hill shuttle will run its regular early release schedule ONLY for students who regularly take the afternoon bus.
I want to take this Thanksgiving week to thank everyone in our community for working together to support one another. We are all truly grateful to have such a strong, Wildcat community.
The next Winter Hill Wildcat Weekly newsletter will come out on Friday, December 1, 2023.
Quarter One Report Cards
Quarter one report cards went home with students today. In the envelope, parents and caregivers will find other information as well.
*Students in grades 1 - 3 received a general letter about reading benchmarks. Additionally, if a student in grades 1 - 3 did not meet the fall benchmark, parents/caregivers were notified of this.
*Students in grades 3 - 8 received a general letter about iReady assessments and students' fall 2023 iReady assessment results for math and English language arts (ELA). (The general letters are linked below.)
PTA Update
ROAR 115 at the Winter Concert!
Would your student (and perhaps your family) want to show support for the permanent location of WHCIS to be at 115 Sycamore Street? Wear our Wildcat ROAR 115 tee shirt for the Winter Concert! The tee shirts are being sold at cost for $10 a shirt, regardless of size and would look like this:
Order your shirt now!
Fill out this Google Form to pick your color(s) and shirt size(s): https://forms.gle/mj6ecU7VyAaX56py8
PTA will coordinate the printing and delivery of your tee shirts to your homeroom.
Winter Clothes for Wildcats!
Our winter clothing drive was an enormous success! We would like to recognize our community partners Connexion and MAMAS for their invaluable support. Our PTA is thrilled and proud to have pulled off an enormous amount of work that we are told has made so many students and their families happy. Please check out our Facebook page for details! Our Family Liaisons have a message for you about all the organizations and teams of people who helped make this a success.
Volunteer Recognition
Please thank the following people if you know them, for service to the WHCIS community:
· Klaus and Mimi Schultz for their work in securing donations for Principal’s Coffee Hour on Nov 17, 2023 from Modelo’s Market Café, owned and operated by the D’Souza family in Magoun Square.
· Barbara Halpenny, Mimi Shultz, Emily Spicer Hankle, Elba Valerio, Jennifer Stoddard Imari and others for hours and hours of work with PTA officers to organize heaps and mounds of clothes in preparation for the clothing event.
· Student Council members for jumping in wherever we needed you to make coffee hour and the clothing event run smoothly.
Dec 13th Musical Bingo at Daddy Jones Bar
Shauna Powers is working on final details for a fun musical bingo night on Wednesday, Dec 13th . Please save the date! Stay tuned!
Wildcat Wish Lists
· Nurse Shannon made it easier for us by creating a wish list on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/15TLD818NP8OS?ref_=wl_share
Please check out the wish lists from our AIM teachers!
· Ms. B’s CLASS
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3CAO0VJL30LKR...
· Ms. DiPaolo’s CLASS
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/VRE6J64EDD4...
· Ms. Landry’s CLASS
https://www.amazon.com/regist.../gl/guest-view/1QGOW1JALNJAZ
· Mrs. H’s CLASS
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2ELB6XBPYWPA0?ref_=wl_share
Here is a wish list from Ms. Tara Murphy Beardsley of Newcomer Academy! https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1BG9W581UIXVB?ref_=wl_dp_view_your_list
Here is a wish list from Ms. Julie Scafidi! Amazon.com
Ms. Scafidi teaches 8th grade math and science. Mrs. Scafidi makes our Wildcat T-Shirts and puts on our 8th Grade Moving Forward Ceremony, among many other things! Most recently she represented our school in the Title I Basketball game versus Healey.
Become a Member!
We will continue to take members throughout the school year. If you haven’t yet signed up to become a member, you can sign up as a member online, and pay your dues online too! Unless we have the vast majority of parents, caregivers and teachers signed up as members, our PTA will not have the legitimate ability to speak for the whole school community. At a time when our community is so fractured and dislocated from our beloved location on Sycamore Street, we cannot amplify your voices until you join us!
Please contact winterhillpta@gmail.com if you have any questions.
BAM (Becoming a Man) @ Winter Hill
The Becoming a Man (BAM) program empowers young men to develop the social and emotional skills needed to thrive. We are pleased to have 55 BAM scholars enrolled in the program at Winter Hill under the guidance of youth specialist Jahveh Jimenez. They recently attended a Celtics games.
Coffee Hours
THANK YOU to Ms. Marylou and our PTA for an awesome community resource fair and clothing drive at our last coffee hour. It was one of our best attended coffee hours!
We hope to see you at our next coffee hour!
Each month, from October - May, we will host a coffee hour for parents and caregivers to discuss various topics.
All are welcome! Interpretation will be provided.
We will alternate between mornings (8:15 - 9:00) and afternoons (1:45 - 2:30). These will be held at the Otis Street Play Area (weather permitting) or in the cafeteria.
- December 14, 2023 8:15 - 9:00 --> Meet Our School Counselors: Come learn about the role of counselors in our school (This is a Thursday to accommodate the winter concerts.)
- January 19, 2024 1:45 - 2:30 --> Online Safety: Come learn about how to keep students safe on the Internet
- February 16, 2024 8:15 - 9:00 --> Math Curriculum: Come learn about our math curriculum and how families can support students at home
- March 15, 2024 1:45 - 2:30 --> Summer Programming & Preparing for the Next School Year: Come find out what programs are available for students over the summer and how to support students transitioning to the next grade
- April 26, 2024 8:15 - 9:00 --> Autism Awareness & Acceptance: Come learn about autism, our AIM (Adapt*Include*Motivate) Program for students with autism, and acceptance for neurodiversity
- May 17, 2024 1:45 - 2:30 --> Supporting Healthy Lifestyles & Good Nutrition: Come learn about activities and supports for students to choose healthy activities and foods
Information from Coffee Hours:
- 10/20/23 - ELA Curriculum - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ifnzM-9VXprhNpDcKQakDwIea_qUUpiGYcgT-BtQPVE/edit?usp=sharing
Thank you to the PTA for sponsoring these coffee hours and your generous donations of coffee and snacks!
Wildcat Blog
We feature a different class on our Winter Hill Wildcat Blog each week.
This Week: Ms. Day (5th grade math & science)
Next Week: Ms. Payette (5th grade ELA & social studies) & Ms. Nahktigal (resource room)
Important November & December Dates
November 20, 2023 - Report Cards Go Home for Quarter 1
November 22, 2023 - Early Release Day
*PK dismissed at 11:30
*Kindergarten dismissed at 12:15
*Grades 1 - 8 dismissed at 12:00
November 23-24, 2023 - No School, Thanksgiving Holiday
December 6, 2023 - Early Release Day
*PK dismissed at 11:30
*Kindergarten dismissed at 12:15
*Grades 1 - 8 dismissed at 12:00
December 7, 2023 - Conferences 4:00 - 7:00 PM
*Grades 1 - 8 Conference @ the Edgerly and on Zoom (teachers will be setting up appointments times the week of 11/28/23)
December 14, 2023 - Principal Coffee Hour 8:30 - 9:15 AM
*Note this is a Thursday to accommodate the Winter concerts.
December 14, 2023 - Governing Board 6 :00 - 7:30 PM
*Meeting will be in the Edgerly library.
December 15, 2023 - Winter Hill @ Edgerly Concerts
*Grades 4 - 8 Winter Concert @ East Somerville Neighborhood School 9:30 AM
*Grades 1 - 3 Winter Concert @ East Somerville Neighborhood School 1:45 PM
December 22, 2023 - Winter Hill @ Capuano Concert
*Details to follow
December 22, 2023 - Early Release Day
*PK dismissed at 11:30
*Kindergarten dismissed at 12:15
*Grades 1 - 8 dismissed at 12:00
December 26, 2023 - January 2, 2024 - Winter Break, No School
January 3, 2023 - Students return from winter break
Somerville Public Schools Calendar can be found here.
Please see here for important dates on the Enrollment Calendar for SY25 school registration.
Winter Hill Community Innovation School
115 Sycamore Street
Somerville, MA 02145
School: 617-629-5680
Cell: 781-227-7861