the Orca Splash

October 23rd....36 days of learning together this school year

Hello Viewlands Families!

Picture day was yesterday on Thursday at Viewlands. I love picture day! While I don't love taking my own picture and often need to highly encourage some staff to get their picture day, in contrast most students love picture day. The vibes are enthusiastic and jovial on picture day! I love seeing how students choose to present themselves on picture day. Some students show up in the way they typically come to school, proudly sporting their every day school wear. Some students come fully accessorized with favorite hats, fun vests, jewelry, and fancy hair accessories. Some students sport their favorite sports team jerseys and others come all dapper in their fancy duds! I also love seeing how this changes through the years as they grow from grade to grade. During picture day Nurse Heather also completed vision screening. Thank you to Nurse Heather and the volunteers that supported vision screening. Thank you to the volunteers that supported picture day! We appreciate your support to help make the day go smoothly! If your child was absent on picture day, there is a scheduled make-up day in December!

Visiting with students during picture day and vision screening on Thursday was a big highlight. I was able to be there frequently through the day. I loved connecting with students at this time. A few other highlights from my visits in classrooms and with students this week include: listening to 1st graders discuss animal defenses and which defense they wish humans had during science; listening to 3rd graders share their background knowledge of our 3 branches of government during literacy; and 2nd graders sharing their understanding of arrays and working in mathematician partnerships during math.

Your children are bright, inquisitive, and creative thinkers. We will continue to seek ways to make every student feel known, valued, and empowered through the year.

In Partnership,

Carrie Wheeler | Viewlands Principal

Viewlands Annual K-5 Zoo Fieldtrip - Next Friday!

Friday, October 30th

Important Information for Families:
- We go to the zoo rain or shine. This means it will be important for students to wear appropriate clothing if it is rainy. We are outside while at the zoo. If your child needs a coat, we have a limited number of sizes at school. Please e-mail Ms. Lin in the office at lkmccormick@seattleschools.org
- We will be outside and walking around and playing while at the zoo. Please make sure your child wears comfortable shoes that are suitable for being outside on our zoo adventure all day. Please do not wear shows that slip off easily or are not comfortable for lots of walking!
- Students that bring home lunches, please remember we will be eating outside and will NOT have access to silverware or napkins, so they need to have everything they need for a picnic style lunch.
- Student that requested a school lunch, will have a brown bag style lunch from the school.
- If your child is feeling sick or has any even light illness symptoms, they should stay home. All students are going to the zoo and will be outside and walking most of the day.
- Students need to arrive on time to school. We request students arrive by 8:30AM so they can prepare for the fieldtrip. Please be on time!
- We will not return to school until around 1:30PM. We won’t be able to accommodate early pick-ups until after 1:45.
- Parents/guardians that are chaperoning, can sign their children out at the end of the zoo fieldtrip. There will be a sign out at our bus pick up zone at the zoo if you want to leave with your child from the zoo. There will be a sign out at the school if you return on the bus but want to leave with your child at that time.
Reminders for Approved Chaperones Confirmed for our Zoo Fieldtrip:
- If you are one of the approved chaperones, please make sure the teacher knows if you plan to ride one the bus with the class to and from the zoo with students and teachers OR meet us at the zoo.
- Chaperones meeting us at the zoo, we will be arriving at the south entrance by the zoo store parking lot. This is the lion lot on North 50th Street. We will arrive and leave from the south entrance. If you are meeting us at the zoo, please meet us at the south entrance (lion lot). Please arrive to the south entrance lion lot area between 9:15 and 9:25. You will sign in with Ms. Leandra at the entrance while we wait for the busses to arrive.
- Chaperones riding the bus, should arrive to school around 8:45AM. You will sign in at the office and then head to the classroom to pick up student lunches from your group and support the class in getting ready.
- A packet will be provided to you with a zoo map, chaperone details, your student group, and specific times. This will be provided by the classroom teacher either in the classroom before we leave or at the zoo entrance when they arrive.
- Please dress to be outside all day, you will be chaperoning a small group of kids exploring the zoo, so be prepared to be outside and for the weather. Younger siblings should not attend with you as a chaperone. That is a requirement of being a fieldtrip chaperone.
- Please bring a backpack as you will be carrying a small bag of first aide (band aids) and the student lunches from your group.
- Ms. Wheeler and Ms. Leandra will be there at the zoo entrance with the sign-in for chaperones meeting us at the zoo and to provide the chaperone stickers.

Communications: School and VEPTSA

School Communications:

Our school staff use Talking Points texting app and e-mail as the primary communication tools for sharing information with families. Talking Points and e-mail are the ways the office/admin team, classroom teachers, and support staff will communicate with families about your child's learning and individual needs. This is the way for families to communicate directly with school staff and to set up any in-person conferences or phone calls to discuss your child's learning needs.

I send a weekly Friday update through Smore (like this one) every Friday during school year to share weekly updates from Viewlands. This newsletter will include information about upcoming events, school information, and important dates. Smore provides translation so all families can select their preferred home language when viewing the newsletter.

If you have questions or need support with accessing and using communications, please reach out to your child's classroom teacher or Ms. Lin in the office.

VEPTSA Communications:

VEPTSA uses the Konstella app to share infromation with families, for sign-ups for events, for classroom communications from family ambassadors in support of the teacher and classroom, and upcoming VEPTSA events. Konstella is a great way to be involved with VEPTSA and support the school. This can also help families connect with other families from their child's classroom.

Please note Konstella is not the way to communicate with your child's classroom teacher about your child. Please use Talking Points and e-mail to communicate with your child's teachers about their individual needs, changes to dismissal plans, and other important information.

If you need support with Konstella, please reach out to VEPTSA or your classroom's family ambassador.

VEPTSA Updates

EVENTS:

All School Zoo Field Trip - Friday October 30th - Volunteers should be confirmed for every

class. Check-in with your Family Ambassador for any final confirmations. We’re excited for

fun and festive day at the Zoo!

Fall Family Movie Night - Friday, November 13, 5:00-7:30pm, movie start time at 5:30pm - movie is The Sheep Detectives - Volunteers help us make this night a success, sign up through Konstella

Salmon Celebration at Carkeek Park - Saturday, Nov 21 10:30am - 3:30pm - Bring the whole family and join our annual Salmon Celebration at Pipers Creek! Seattle Parks & Rec will be providing snacks and hot drinks, there will be music and a dance performance, a salmon scavenger hunt for kids, activity booths, and “Bert the Salmon”. Viewlands will have an event table showcasing student salmon artwork and 5th grade student leaders will provide information about the salmon in schools program. Ollie the Viewlands Orca is set to make an appearance, too.