Wade King Elementary
October 2020
A Note from the Principal
Hello Wade King Families,
As we end our fourth week of school, it's amazing to watch our students alongside their classmates and classroom teachers. Routines are being established and students (and teachers) are learning a lot.
The Bellingham Promise calls out the importance of developing the 'whole child.' We want to develop our students to be strong readers, writers, and mathematicians... but also artists, performers, multilingual speakers and readers, and healthy, active individuals. That's where our Wade King Specialist Team comes in. Our specialists truly wish they could be with your students, teaching music, Mandarin Chinese, and PE in person, and they are developing some amazing learning engagements for your child to make the best of the situation we are in. Every Monday, your child will have an activity from each specialist posted on Seesaw. They are intentionally posted on Monday so that your family can choose the day/time during the week that will be best for completing it. If you have an opportunity to do these activities alongside your child, you'll have insight into the music, Mandarin Chinese, and PE content your child would be learning if we were learning together at school. Just like we have state standards for literacy, math, social studies, and science, we have state standards for music, language learning, and PE. Our specialists base their lessons on the state standards for their content area. This learning is an important part of your child's week. If you have questions for our specialists, they would love to connect with you! They will also be reaching out to you if they notice that your child is not engaging in their activities to see what they can do to support your child. If your child is having a difficult time posting their work and/or response within Seesaw, Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Hunter are always ready to provide support. Their contact information is below.
As we are settling into our new school routines, several teachers have been able to start adding opportunities for students to connect with their friends within our virtual school. We are finding ways to facilitate 'Friend Time' during breaks and after synchronous learning. Looking ahead, by mid-October our hope is to be able to facilitate times for students to connect across classrooms and grade levels on Zoom outside of their synchronous learning times. Our Student Leadership Team will also start meeting soon to plan ways for our school community to have fun together, even if we can not be together in person. Many of you have already shared creative ideas with me and I encourage you to keep sharing! Your ideas could lead to great opportunities for our kids. Supporting our students learning is truly a collaborative effort!
With Gratitude,
Stephanie Johnson, Principal
Mrs. Trisha Norman
(360) 296-7644
Wang Laoshi (Mrs. Wendy Hagin)
360-255-6769
Coach Tim Carlson
360-255-2476
Important Dates For Fall
Every Wednesday...
- 4:00-5:30pm - Food Pick-Up
- 4:00-6:30pm - Library Book Pick-Up
Thursday, October 15th - Kindergarten & 1st Grade Supply and Ipad Pick Up any time between 7:30am and 6:30pm.
Contact Information
Stephanie Johnson (Principal) - Stephanie.Johnson@bellinghamschools.org
(360) 201-7801
Greg Holmgren (Assistant Principal) - Gregory.Holmgren@bellinghamschools.org
(360) 961-8539
Jaymie Wakefield (Counselor) - Jaymie.Wakefield@bellinghamschools.org
(360) 746-5319
SKYLERT: Managing your preferences for for how we contact you
UPDATE Your Contact Information
If you have not yet updated your family contact information online, please do! This ensures that we have the most recent information on your child and can easily reach you.
If you have not yet done this, please log into the Family Access system. Go to Skyward Family Access to update any changes in your personal information (such as address, primary phone, work phone, and emergency contacts).
WK Student Directory for 2020-21
Health Update
School Office
Do You Need Tech Support?
Mrs. Hunter and Mrs. Anderson have been helping many students and families solve technology challenges this week. If you need help, they are here to support you! You can email or call them. You can also call our school office at 360-647-6840. Tell them your child's name, teacher's name, the best number to call you at, and as much detail as you can about the problem you are having.
Mrs. Hunter - Julie.Hunter@bellinghamschools.org
360-255-6972
Mrs. Anderson - Hana.Anderson@bellinghamschools.org
360-255-2335
We are all here to help!
Message from our Counselor, Mrs. Wakefield... We Can Do Hard Things!
Hello Wade King Families!
Let me start by saying, “We Can Do Hard Things!”
I am so thankful for all of the caring and creative ways we are navigating these unique times. I am learning more tech than I ever knew I was capable of learning. When it was decided that it would be helpful to families for each school counselor to create a “virtual office” to house
activities for students and resources for caregivers, I might have panicked a tad. I found myself procrastinating, believing it was more than I could learn. And when I finally got to it, deadline looming, well I found not only that I COULD learn how to create this, I realized I also
knew how to search for answers when I had a hiccup. I consulted online tutorials for and
asked colleagues who had done this before me. I even began to have fun! When faced with
procrastination, it is helpful to recognize the root is often intimidation. What if I get it
wrong? Knowing I have a lot more new tech learning to do, I need to capture this feeling of
accomplishment. That is how I came to create my “Motivational Memo.”
For your student :
We are all learning new things. We all get stuck sometimes. Think back to a time you were successful in learning something new. What a great feeling! What would your Motivational Memo say?
What new things have you been creating Ms. Wakefield, you ask…. Click the links to find my new Virtual Counseling Office and a confidential connection form for students and caregivers!
Mrs. Wakefield's ZOOM Office Hours - Wednesdays from 10-11am
Join with this link!
Mrs. Wakefield's Virtual Counseling Office
Confidential Counseling Connection Form
A Great Article... How To Motivate Students Who Are Distance Learning During COVID
Wednesday Food Pick-Up
We encourage all families to pick up a free box of 14 meals and support our food services program and the Good Food Project in Bellingham Public Schools, as well as our local community. In every week’s box, we will provide a scratch-made entrée out of our Central Kitchen with ingredients sourced from local farms when available. Now is a great time to bring the school cafeteria into your home with these meals. By picking up a box, you will keep farmers in business, district staff employed and families fed.
Food can be picked up every WEDNESDAY between 4:00-5:30 p.m. at many different school and community locations.
This service is possible with the incredible efforts of our food services team and the generosity of Bellingham Public Schools Foundation.
If you have questions related to our meal service, please fill out this online form, click “school meals” and submit the form; someone will respond soon.
Join our Wade King PTA
The Wade King PTA, or Parent-Teacher Association, is going strong even though we are not together in the school building. Our school community is supported by our PTA in many ways. Please consider checking out our PTA website and/or becoming a member. There are lots of ways to volunteer but becoming a member does not commit you to volunteering. Just being a member of our PTA is a way to show your support!
ATTENDANCE: 360-647-6840 ext.1
Teachers are taking attendance at the beginning of every day in elementary school. We do this for both safety and accountability reasons. If a student is unable to attend their synchronous learning for any reason, they should get in touch with their teacher, and engage as best they can in the teacher-directed learning, activities and lessons for the day. On Wednesdays, teachers take attendance in the class meeting, and students are expected to engage in teacher-directed learning throughout the day.
Our SchoolMessenger system will begin sending out attendance calls/texts for those with unexcused absences. Starting Oct. 5, these calls will go out at 4 p.m. for all schools and ages of students. To avoid receiving these attendance calls, please call the school at 360-647-6840 ext. 1, and excuse an absence as early in the day as possible in advance of these call-out times.
Follow these basic tips to help your student maintain good attendance:
- Help your child get into the habit of regular routines for both sleeping and eating.
- Teach your child that attending school is non-negotiable, even during the pandemic, unless they are truly sick.
- Reach out for additional support if needed. Your child's teachers, principals, and counselors are there to help!
Safe Schools Reporting and Tip Line
Students, parents or community members who have information, tips, or concerns regarding a safety issue in our schools are encouraged to text or call 844-310-9560 or visit bellinghamschools.org/safe for confidential, anonymous, two-way communication with our safety staff.
Stay In Touch... LIKE US... FOLLOW US...
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On Instagram, FOLLOW US at wade_king_elementary and @wade_king_pta
On Twitter, FOLLOW US at WadeKingEl
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