Center Stage
News from WCS | January 11, 2019
Principal's Message
We hope that you had a safe and restful holiday season with your families and are excited to start the new year. Our students adjusted nicely with the return to Center and quickly resumed normal routines. Students and staff were excited today as we celebrated "Patriots Day" here at WCS. We were thrilled to see such wonderful school spirit!
Over the next couple of weeks, students will be participating in a NH Statewide Assessment System (SAS) Interim assessment in English language arts, mathematics, and science (grade 5 only). This is only practice for students and affords them the opportunity to realize progress and set goals for the next few months of school. January is a remarkable time in the school year when we see marked improvement in students. This performance data that we gather helps to chart our students' progress and make plans to support their growth in the next several months.
Setting high academic expectations is coupled with our continued thirst to explore methods that foster students' social emotional learning (SEL). At one of our future staff meetings, our school counselors will be presenting staff with strategies that enhance SEL to expand upon the best practices that are already in place. A cohort of classroom teachers also attended a professional learning seminar at UNH with consultant Mike Anderson (video below) on how to "Teach Social Emotional Skills through Academics." We are passionate about developing "the whole child" and work hard to support the equity and inclusion of all students.
At our staff meeting this past Wednesday, we worked in concert with the Windham Police Department and Windham Fire Department on our mission to support the "Avoid, Deny, Defend" emergency response protocol. The training was excellent, and we are fortunate to have such a strong partnership with our emergency responders in Windham. We are very proud to be leaders in the State of New Hampshire with this type of training. As you know, we will also be working with students next Monday and Wednesday to practice the "Avoid" and "Deny" portions of the protocol in conjunction with the WPD after reading the text, I'm Not Scared, I'm Prepared.
With the winter season in full swing, students who participate in Ski Club will have five separate trips beginning on February 14. On the morning of each trip, we have an equipment drop-off that has presented some issues with traffic in the past. We are working to refine our drop-off procedure and believe that we have identified a way to substantially improve the process. Stay tuned!
In closing, I would also like to encourage you to review the insert that we have included below which highlights the proposal to establish All-Day Kindergarten at Golden Brook School for the 2019-20 school year. A decision for this warrant article will be made by Windham voters on March 12, 2019, and the information we have included may help to inform you as a voter.
Enjoy your weekend!
Kind regards,
Rory O'Connor
Teaching SEL Skills Through Academics
Three Ways to Raise a Kid That Won't Quit
got grit?
keeping our building clean
Thank you, Tom, Fernando, Nathan, and Luis!
Avoid, Deny, Defend Practice
all day kindergarten warrant article
Important Dates
Tuesday, January 15 | WCS School Spelling Bee (9:00 a.m. in Cafe)
Thursday, January 17 | Grade 4 Choral/Recorder Concert (9:30-10:30 a.m. in Gym)
Monday, January 21 | NO SCHOOL- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tuesday, January 22 | Grade 5 Band/Violin Concert (7:00 p.m. at WHS)
Wednesday, January 23 | Grade 4 Band/Violin Concert (7:00 p.m. at WHS)
Thursday, January 24 | Geography Bee
Friday, January 25 | Trimester 2 Progress Reports Sent Home
Friday, January 25 | Principal Coffee Hour (9:15 a.m. in Learning Commons)
Thursday, January 31 | Early Release Day (Students Dismissed at 12:00 p.m.)
Windham Center School
Website: www.windhamsd.org
Location: 2 Lowell Road, Windham, NH, USA
Phone: 603-845-1554
Facebook: facebook.com/WindhamCenterSchool
Twitter: @centerwindham