the Orca Splash

Hello Viewlands Families!

On Thursday this week, we had our all-school Dia De Los Muertos assembly. It was a beautiful assembly to conclude our learning and celebration of Dia De Los Meurtos. Mr. Hector and student leaders led our assembly. This is another important tradition at Viewlands. This year, our Dia De Los Muertos assembly was dedicated to a loved member of our community, Kathleen Otteson. Ms. Otteson was a teacher at Viewlands from 2011 to 2024. Ms. Otteson's spirit will forever be part of our Viewlands community. She was a gifted educator that helped all students feel empowered to learn in a warm and welcoming classroom community. Even more importantly Ms. Otteson was a gentle, kind, and peaceful human that graced our school and the neighborhood community. Ms. Otteson was and will always be a cherished part of the "heart of Viewlands". Love never dies.

Tonight is the VEPTSA sponsored community event, fall movie night and a spiritwear exchange. The event is 5-7:30PM at the school. The movie, Lilo and Stitch, starts at 5:30 p.m. There is no charge for this event, all families are encouraged to attend. Please remember this is NOT a drop off event, students and siblings can attend WITH their families, an adult is required for all students in attendance. It is always a fun event, watching a movie, eating pizza, popcorn and snacks, at school with other friends and families. We hope many can attend. Thank you to VEPTSA for sponsoring this fun community event.

Next week, there is no school on Tuesday, November 11, in honor of Veterans Day. Thank you to the individuals and extended family members and friends of our Viewlands community that are Veterans or currently serving. We are grateful for your service.

A reminder to families to please make sure you have signed up for a family-teacher conference. If you have questions about how to sign up, please reach out to your child's classroom teacher. Our goal is always to host a conference with 100% of our students. There will be no school the week of November 24 for students. We will host conferences on Monday the 24 and Tuesday the 25 (in addition to Thursday the 20 in the afternoon). Then is no school during the conferences and no school during the holiday, Wednesday November 26 through Friday November 28.

The assembly Thursday was a big highlight this week. A few other highlights from my visits in classrooms and with students this week include: the incredible Living Voices presentation by a Navajo storyteller for 4th and 5th graders, which was funded by VEPTSA as part of the Orca Experiences; listening to 2nd graders in Christa's class explain their mathematical thinking through strategies used to solve math problems; and listening with kindergarteners during a read aloud and discussion about salmon.

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

Today at our assembly, guest artist Juan Salinas, opened up our assembly by honoring the space, the spirits of loved ones no longer with us, and welcoming our community into the Dia De Los Muertos celebration. Student leaders, and mentor and lead, Mr. Hector, shared with our community the traditions and the origins of Dia De Los Muertos.

• Thank you to 5th grade student leader, Antonella. She was the MC of our assembly, as well as a presenter. Her passion was clear and her voice strong. Thank you Antonella! We valeu your leadership!
• Thank you to our 4th grade student leaders, Dara, Sami, and Marianm. They all shared more about the traditions and symbolism of Dia De Los Muertos. Thank you! We value your leadership!
• Thank you to Mr. Hector for creating the Viewlands Ofrenda, honoring this tradition at Viewlands with shared learning and displays, and planning and leading this assembly. Your work and support of this at Viewlands is incredible. We appreciate your leadership and dedication to our school community. We feel very grateful you are part of our Viewlands community.
• Thank you to Ms. B for your work to integrate this into learning during art with our students in October.
• Thank you to the families that supported our student leaders at the assembly today.

Our Viewlands community thrives when we lift each other up, support one another, and champion the many different voices of our school community. Creating community means stepping up for others and stepping back to give voice to those that may not have the same resources and access.

Neighbors of the school and school community members have reached out to school staff and VEPTSA to ask how we can support our community members given the changes to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Thank you for stepping up and out in support of others and for advocating for our community. There are many ways you can support our community. We are partnering with VEPTSA in direct supports and ongoing commitment to our partnerships with other community organizations.

1. Donate to the Gift Card Drive Now through Friday, December 12th

VEPTSA is partnering with us in a Kroger gift card drive. VEPTSA is collecting $25 Kroger gift cards. The gift cards will support Viewlands families during Winter Break.

How to Support?

• You can purchase $25 Kroger gift cards (e-gift cards) to donate to this gift card drive. You can do this online. The link is below to purchase online.
• Once you log on, you can select e-gift.
• Next, you will enter the $25 amount, select for a friend, put Viewlands as the recipient name, and this e-mail for the recipient e-mail: president@viewlandsptsa.org
• VEPTSA will print all e-gift cards donated.
• E-gift cards are preferred. If for some reason you are not able to do the e-gift card and have a physical gift card, please bring them to the office, so they can be added to the gift card drive.

2. Support Current Partnerships

A school community will always do what we can to support families. This is important. However, schools will never be able to fully meet all of the needs of our families. Housing instability, food insecurity, and other socioeconomic barriers are significant challenges for many families. While schools want to support this as best as possible, the limited resources at schools will always only supplement. Schools are not a long term solution for these challenges. It is critical we provide information for families about community resources that can provide more long term support. Supporting community organizations that are critical resources is another way to support members of our community.

Viewlands partners with the Hunger Intervention Program (HIP). We send food bags home with students that need them every Friday. Before longer breaks, we send double bags home with students. HIP is a great program. We have partnered with them for many years. The HIP organization, like other non-profits, have also had struggles with recent changes. Their organization, like other non-profits serving the community, relied on AmeriCORPS. In the spring some of their AmeriCORPS staff members were terminated given changes in federal allocations. We are relieved that the HIP organization continue to serve despite those challenges, as that partnership is critical to us.

We also partner with FamilyWorks, referring families to this organization for support and access to other resources. This is a critical resource for families especially as a school with limited resources and no family support worker. FamilyWorks is a non-profit organization that supports food access and family support programming in North Seattle. They have various locations, including a family resource center at Broadview Thompson K-8.

Supporting non-profit organizations like HIP and FamilyWorks are great ways to extend their reach and support of families in need, including Viewlands families.

3. Food Boxes

The City of Seattle has partnered with Seattle Public Schools to provide temporary direct food support for the next 6 weeks given changes to SNAP. Food boxes with non perishable foods will be provided weekly starting next week to schools through the week before winter break. Each school will receive a set amount of boxes based on a percentage of families that qualify for SNAP at the school. Viewlands will receive 40 food boxes a week. Our school team will communicate directly with families that currently receive food supports about this new resource. This is new, so our school team is still figuring out logistics and have not yet seen what the food boxes will have in them. Once we have more information, it is possible that we will need volunteers to help with distribution. We will work with VEPTSA about any volunteer needs once have more details and determined logistics.

Viewlands will host family-teacher fall conferences in November. The teachers have shared sign-ups via Konstella with families. Some families already have conferences scheduled by our multilingual team or Ms. McVay. Conferences will be hosted:

• Thursday, November 20th after school
• Monday November 24th all day and in the evening
• Tuesday November 25th during the day

We prefer and highly encourage in-person conferences at the school, but if in-person doesn't work, you can reach out to the classroom teacher and request a virtual meeting.

We want to host a conference for every student. Please schedule a time. If you need help scheduling, reach out to the classroom teacher for support. These conferences are an important part of our partnership with families. This is when we can share more about your child's learning profile, where their learning is on the continuum of learning standards, and their strengths and needs at school. This is also a time for you to share more about your child, ask questions, and create a shared plan of supporting their learning at home and school.

Elementary school progress reports are provided 3 times each school year. You will receive the first progress report before these conferences. The teacher can answer questions about the progress report at your conference. The next progress report will be in March. The end of year progress report will be in June. Elementary school in Seattle Public Schools uses a number system (1 to 4), not traditional letter grades. In secondary school (middle and high school), students will receive traditional letter grades. Please review the attached documents (English or Spanish) that explains the number system on elementary progress reports.

Reminder! Movie Night is tonight at 5 p.m.! We will be showing Lilo & Stitch (live action version) starting at 5:30pm. Pizza, snacks, popcorn and lemonade will be available starting at 5pm. Don’t forget to bring your outgrown Spirit Wear for the exchange; and blankets, stuffies, or pillows to sit on. Non-Viewlands siblings are welcome to join!

Note: this is not a drop off event. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Salmon Celebration - Saturday, November 22 | 11 a.m.–2 p.m., Carkeek Park

Bring the whole family and join our annual Salmon Celebration at Pipers Creek! Look for spawning salmon and learn new things from the Carkeek Salmon Stewards and other park friends. 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. This is a popular community event and parking will be limited. A walking group will gather at Viewlands at 10:30 a.m. to walk to the event. If you drive, we recommend arriving 30 minutes earlier and try to carpool. Volunteers are needed - signup to volunteer for Salmon Celebration.

Join Viewlands PTSA!

Have a voice, a vote, and access to perks—like ticket and retail discounts. Your membership supports playground supervision, literacy tools, field trips, teacher grants, and the events that make Viewlands shine. There is no time commitment required.

• November 7 VEPTSA Sponsored Fall Movie Night, 5-7 p.m.
• November 11 No School – Veterans Day holiday
• Nov 24-Nov 25 No School, Family-Teacher Conferences
• Nov 26-Nov 28 No School - Holiday
• December 4 Picture Retake/Make Up Day
• December 10 - VEPTSA Winter Fundraiser, Give BIG for Viewlands at Chucks
• Dec 22-Jan 2 No School - Winter Break