Windermere Weekly Parent Update
12.17.21
Happy Friday and Happy Holidays! From our entire Windermere staff, we wish you and your family a healthy, safe and wonderful two week winter holiday.
We can’t wait to see our students back to begin a new year in 2022 on Tuesday, January 4th. We have been planning so that our start back is a great one after the break. As we always do, we will continue to build on the foundation that has already been built to date, in addition we will take time to revisit expectations and what the Windermere Way looks like, sounds like and feels like in all parts of our day.
A very special thank you to our amazing PTO! Sarah Henderson and Debbie Angelos always know how to please our bellies and hearts with delicious treats. Today’s luncheon was just perfect. We appreciate PTO’s kindness very much.
Happy Holidays!
The Windermere Staff
Upcoming Dates:
12/20/21 through 1/3/22: Winter Break
Monday, 1.3.22: Staff Workday
Tuesday, 1.4.21: Students First Day after Winter Break
Thursday, 1.6.21: Lunch and Learn Zones of Regulation from 12-1 p.m. (see below)
Tuesday, 1.11.22: Windermere Family Cultures and Traditions Night from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Monday, 1.17.22: Martin Luther King Jr. Day: No School for Students/Staff
Thursday, 1.27.22: 11:05 early release for Parent/Teacher Conferences
Thursday, 1.27.22: Windermere Family Wellness Night from 6-8 p.m.
Thursday, 2.3.22: Windermere Kindergarten Information Night for Parents 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Thursday, 2.10.22: Third Grade Musical at 7 p.m. (as of now this is still on the schedule)
Wednesday, 2.16.22: Early Dismissal at 1 p.m.
Monday, 2.21.22: Presidents’ Day, No School for Students/Staff
Thursday, 3.3.22: Global Education Open House, 7-8 p.m. (as of now this is still on the schedule)
Friday, 3.11.22: End of Second Trimester
3.14.22 through 3.21.22: Spring Break
Monday, 3.21.22: Teacher Workday
Learn about helping children regulate their feelings - save the date!
The Zones of Regulation is an evidenced-based curriculum that helps children learn to regulate their emotions. It is used in elementary schools across the country, including all five Upper Arlington elementary schools. Learn more about this curriculum by joining Kathy Lawton, Ph.D., the director of Burbank Early Childhood School, for a special parent zoom on Thursday, January 6 from noon until 1 p.m. The Zoom link will be emailed to all elementary parents prior to the event. It will also be recorded and posted on the district’s YouTube channel.
Mindful Movement sign up opportunity:
We are wrapping up this first round of Mindful Movement next week. Our next session will begin after winter break in January. If your child would like to participate, please use THIS FORM to sign them up. More details can be found on the form. Please reach out to Jen Whitt ([email protected]) or Katie O'Keefe ([email protected]) with any questions.
SAVE THE DATE!!!! Windermere Families Cultures and Traditions Night on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.:
The annual Family Culture Night helps our students follow the Windermere Way by being respectful and ready to learn about different families in our community.
Families will host tables that creatively reflect an aspect of their culture defined as "the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation or people." Some ideas include featuring books, art, history, clothing and/or recipes from your culture. We hope this will be a fun family activity and we want to include as many cultures and traditions as possible. Please feel free to make this a student led activity that reflects their abilities.
Sign up for a table below. If you have already reached out to Julie Nolan about participating it should be included in the list. Please keep in mind that tables should not include any political or religious messages. However, it is okay to include religious background in the context of your culture and traditions.
SIGN UP
Feel free to contact Julie Coffman ([email protected]) or Jodi Baxter ([email protected]) with any questions.
Empowering our Parents/Guardians as Partners in their Students' Learning: Please use this link to learn more about our Lightspeed Parent Portal.
Zoom App Removal: During the week of December 20th K-8 students will have the Zoom app removed from their iPads with the exception of students who may have a specific need to retain the app. Those needs may include enrollment in the online academy, remote counseling, quarantine, other unique educational circumstances as decided by families and building principals.
PTO UPDATE
Happy Holidays to all of our Hawk families! It is hard to believe that the first half of the school year is over. Thank you to all of our amazing parent volunteers & room parents for all of their hard work planning classroom winter parties, volunteering in the classrooms, and coordinating service activities this week. This is an especially busy time of year and we are all so appreciative of all the time that went into making this such a special time of year for our Hawks and staff! A very special thank you to Sarah Henderson and Debbie Angelos for their help in providing the Windermere staff a holiday luncheon this week on behalf of a very grateful PTO.
FIELD TRIP FEE REMINDER - Field Trips will likely ramp up the second half of the school year. You can pay your PTO membership and field trip fees here. The PTO covers all field trip fees throughout the year, so it’s important to sign up if you haven’t already done so.
SQUARE1 ART - It was a nailbiter, but the shipment arrived in time for distribution to classrooms this week! If you have any questions or are missing pieces of art, please contact Abbey Short [email protected].
WINTER AFTERSCHOOL ENRICHMENT - Registration will begin soon after school resumes in January. The session will run from January 24th through March 4th. Be on the lookout for more information after the New Year!
END OF YEAR OUTREACH - This is a great time of year to give back to our school community. If you would like to join the PTO in assisting members of our Windermere community through outreach, please visit http://uawindermerepto.org to donate, or email [email protected]. If your family is experiencing financial hardship, the PTO outreach fund is available to assist. Just contact our school’s counselor, Katie O’Keefe, at [email protected]. ***All information will remain confidential*** Also, donations to this fund are ALWAYS welcome, especially this time of year if your family is looking to specifically help others in our Windermere community!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Stephanie Tozbikian & Jen Mascho
PTO Co-Presidents