Black Cat Bulletin
Keeping it R.E.A.L! Respect + Effort + Attitude= Leadership
MARCH 2017
From Our Principal...
Dear families,
Thank you so much for your continuing support of our school. Our 14 Days of Giving Campaign raised almost $10,000, and the impact we had on our community was priceless. I still hear students and parents talking about the random acts of kindness they are continuing to do. Keep it up, Black Cats!!
There are so many things to celebrate right now. To share just a few:
- Our students have been ROCKING the ISTEP+ testing. They are taking it online this time, and are doing very well with the technology. The technology has been cooperative, and the students' attitudes are awesome. We can't wait to see how they do!
- Mrs. Schefer, a fifth grade teacher, won the Area Council PTA Outstanding Educator of the Year. We're SO proud of her!
- Our PTA won the Outstanding Project Award and many other achievements. What a WONDERFUL PTA we have!
- The weather has been beautiful, so there are lots of outside recess days. (You'd never imagine how important those days are to our kiddos!)
- The PBIS Rewards Day was held today and 596 out of our 667 children (89%) were able to participate. (They earn a ticket to the reward by having no office referrals, and/or having less than 2 Ns or 1 U on their report card.) Great job, boys and girls!
Today ends the 3rd quarter. We have 9 weeks of school left in this year. Our goal is to continue working towards thinking deeper, working harder, and being kinder as the year progresses. Thank you, again, for your support of our children, our staff, and our community!
In appreciation,
Katie White
principal
From Our Principal Intern...
Dear Families,
Homework can often be a struggle at the end of a day. However, having consistent practice of skills outside of school can result in great benefits to your child's learning! Consider utilizing some of the homework tips from the US Department of Education shared below as you work with your child at home.
GENERAL HOMEWORK TIPS FOR PARENTS
✪ Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework. Avoid having your child do homework with the television on or in places with other distractions, such as people coming and going.
✪ Make sure the materials your child needs, such as paper, pencils and a dictionary, are available. Ask your child if special materials will be needed for some projects and get them in advance.
✪ Help your child with time management. Establish a set time each day for doing homework. Don‘t let your child leave homework until just before bedtime. Think about using a weekend morning or afternoon for working on big projects, especially if the project involves getting together with classmates.
✪ Be positive about homework. Tell your child how important school is. The attitude you express about homework will be the attitude your child acquires.
✪ When your child does homework, you can do homework. Show your child that the skills they are learning are related to things you do as an adult. If your child is reading, you read too. If your child is doing math, balance your checkbook.
✪ When your child asks for help, provide guidance, not answers. Giving answers means your child will not learn the material. Too much help teaches your child that when the going gets rough, someone will do the work for him or her.
✪ When the teacher asks that you play a role in homework, do it. Cooperate with the teacher. It shows your child that the school and home are a team. Follow the directions given by the teacher.
✪ If homework is meant to be done by your child alone, stay away. Too much parent involvement can prevent homework from having some positive effects. Homework is a great way for kids to develop independent, lifelong learning skills.
✪ Stay informed. Talk with your child‘s teacher. Make sure you know the purpose of homework and what your child‘s class rules are.
✪ Help your child figure out what is hard homework and what is easy homework. Have your child do the hard work first. This will mean he will be most alert when facing the biggest challenges. Easy material will seem to go fast when fatigue begins to set in.
✪ Watch your child for signs of failure and frustration. Let your child take a short break if she is having trouble keeping her mind on an assignment.
✪ Reward progress in homework. If your child has been successful in homework completion and is working hard, celebrate that success with a special event (e.g., pizza, a walk, a trip to the park) to reinforce the positive effort.
Taken From: https://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/involve/homework/homeworktips.pdf
From Our Counselor...
All ISTEP+ and IREAD-3 assessments will be completed online this year. Exact dates and times have not yet been set. Please keep the following dates in mind as you plan appointments this semester.
State Assessment Dates (students must take the practice test):
IREAD-3 practice test
Friday, March 10th
IREAD-3
Monday, March 13th
Tuesday, March 14th
ISTEP+ Online Part 2
Grades 4 and 5: April 18-24
Grade 3 April 25 - 28
INFORMATION
New Black Cats: Kindergarten Enrollment
Kindergarten Round Up will be April 4, 2017 beginning at 6 pm. We ask that you have your packets completed and returned, if possible, before that night. Be sure to bring your child to this event--it's a chance for information for you, your child to spend some time with other children of similar age, and for you to tour the building.
We can't wait to meet our new little kittens!
Thank you Public Education Foundation
I am happy to announce that early this year I applied for a PEF Grant and was awarded this grant.
With this grant I was able to purchase Music Manipulatives for the classroom.
Some of the items I was able to purchase are hand bells and a giant playable keyboard.
All of the students will have an opportunity to enjoy using these manipulatives.
I would like to give a big thank you to PEF for the consistent support of public education.
Anne Woodruff
Congratulations to these students!
Reitz District Art Show Winners
Congratulations to many of our artists who had entries at the Reitz District Art Show this year. There were so many impressive entries. The following students won awards, and we wish to congratulate them! Thanks to Mrs. Kemper for always displaying such fabulous artists' work!
Honorable Mention Ribbons
Alexandrea Donea – Birch trees
Gracie Rush – Foil Art
Edgar Tyler – Swimming
Cordelia Hoover - Underwater
Wrestling Tournament Winners
Reise Majors – 2nd place/ 80lb weight class
Reise is in 3rd grade at West Terrace Elementary.
Cayden McGrew – 2nd place/ 55lb weight class
Cayden is in 2nd grade at West Terrace Elementary.
PAWS ON PARADE
Congratulations to the top walkers:
Tied 1st Cooper Johnson 40 miles 0 laps Bass 3rd grade
Tied 1st Jayden Folz 40 miles 0 laps Allen 3rd grade
Tied 1st Nolan Hanmore 40 miles 0 laps Bass 3rd grade
2nd Nolan Bigham 30 miles 2 laps Kavanaugh 2nd grade
3rd Caroline Engler 21 miles 3 laps Kavanaugh 2nd grade
4th Issac Goedde 21 miles 0 laps Kavanaugh 2nd grade
5th Rowyn Weiss 20 mies 2 laps Corressell 1st grade
SPIRIT WEAR SALE
Cafeteria Job Opening
AZZIP PIZZA Gives Back
Recycling News
Please remember to recycle your aluminum cans here at West Terrace! We have a recycle cage in the east side parking lot right next to the blue recycle dumpsters. All proceeds go to help our school!
As a reminder, we no longer collect plastic caps for recycling at West Terrace.
Thank you to everyone for helping our school!
Calendar Link--click below for calendar
Important policy reminders
***New Policy*** Visitors to West Terrace
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding!
Drop Off/Pick Up
Morning Drop Off
No Passing Zone
Lunch Box Bringers
Change of Plans--DISMISSAL CHANGES
Emailing teachers, texting, or other means of communication are not reliable, and we request that no transportation changes be given to the teachers during the day. Too many times teachers are called out of the building, go home ill, have a substitute, are in meetings, etcetera and the changes aren't received. We also want teachers to be teaching, not worrying that they missed an important email or text during the day. Finally, we keep record of last minute changes in the office so that we can be sure the communications are given and children are delivered safely, so please, please call the office.
Changes cannot be guaranteed after 2:00 p.m. PLEASE call before 2:00.
JOIN THE WEST TERRACE PTA!
President: Jenny Fuquay
Vice-President: Sandi Davis
Secretary: Tera Babb
Treasurer: April Coughlin
2016-17 Meetings
August 29 5:30 p.m. (All meetings in the Media Center)
September 20 4:30 p.m.
October 18 4:30 p.m.
November 7 5:30 p.m. (Area Council PTA)
February 13 5:30 p.m.
April 10 5:30 p.m.
4K4Kids
Family Fun and Color Run!
If you know of a business that would like to help sponsor this event please e-mail Becky Massie at rmassie222@yahoo.com
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/4K4Kids for all the latest updates!
Extended Care
We are all getting Spring Fever in the ED Center and enjoying the great outdoors as often as possible. The children enjoy running off their pent up energy from a long day of learning with friendly competition on our outdoor basketball court and fun on the play-ground.
If you’re looking for summer care for your child/children, we still have a few openings in our EVSC Summer Camp being hosted at Vogel Elementary School. (Breakfast, lunch, t-shirt and field trips are included) The center will be open from 6:30 am – 5:30 pm daily May 22 – July 28th. For more information, please visit www.evscschools.com/family_services.
Looking ahead: Registration for Extended Care for the 2017-2018 school year will begin on April 4th. The forms will be available at that time in the ED Center and/or sent home with your child at your request.
Have a safe and enjoyable Spring Break from the ED Center!
Barbara Grant
ED Center Coordinator
Community Outreach
Jenna Hancock-Wargel Berkshire Hathaway Home Services (Click here for more information)
THIS YEAR'S STAFF
Please help us welcome the following staff members to our teams.
Here are the specific grade level assignments:
Kindergarten:
Tara Kolb, rm 32
Wendy Brunson, rm 30
Lisa Gooch, rm 33
Angela Hayes, rm 34
First Grade
Amanda Woods, rm 1
Brooke Corressell, rm 3
Mallorie Roberts, rm 6
Cindy Hamon, rm 5
Second Grade
Vera Emmons, rm 9
Carie Kingery, rm 10
Trisha Kavanaugh, rm 15
Amy Nau, rm 12
Third Grade
Janette Allen, rm 16/ Stephanie Scheu, rm 16
Robin Bass, rm 19/ Denise Strawn, rm 18
Megan Murphy, rm 23
Fourth Grade
Shelly DeWeese, rm 22/ Lindsey Stine, rm 29
Audrey Gower, rm 24/Sarah Stoltz, rm 17
Fifth Grade
Trish Toelle, rm 26/Renee Schefer, rm 27
Cassie Curl, rm 28/Simone Nance, rm 25
Special Ed
LIfeskills:
Jennifer Bennett, rm 4
Sarah Walls, rm 2
Resource:
Renae Jackson, rm 14
Shelley Patton, rm 21
Amanda Ritzert, media center
Rotation
Susan Kemper, Art, rm 8
Anne Woodruff, Music, rm 7
Peggy Belanger, Gym
Nadine Risley, Technology
Office
Katie White, Principal
Bethany Lynch, Principal Intern
April Coughlin, Counselor
Sheri Moore, Principal's Secretary
Nicole Smith, Secretary/Receptionist
Christine Hamilton, Nurse
Peggy Jewell, Media Aide
West Terrace Elementary School
8000 West Terrace Drive
Evansville, IN 47712
FAX (812) 435-8869
Email: katie.white@evsc.k12.in.us
Website: evscschools.com/westterrace
Location: West Terrace Elementary School, West Terrace Drive, Evansville, IN, United States
Phone: (812) 435-8733
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Terrace-Elementary-School/333852756647518