Whitewood Elementary

Congratulations to the September Wranglers!! 🎉

Kindergarten: Porter

First Grade: Calin

Second Grade: Harper

Third Grade: Grayson

Fourth Grade: Cass

Our teachers use ClassDojo as a form of communication with parents. It is a great way to get in contact with teachers for any questions relating to your child in the classroom. Please call the school with questions about how to get the ClassDojo App. It is free!

Grandparents joined students for Whitewood Elementary’s Breakfast with Grandparents on Monday, September 14th. We love seeing our families come together and having our students share these special moments with the people who mean so much to them. We also had some great "fill in" grandparents from the Whitewood community for students who's grandparents were unable to attend.

The Whitewood Elementary Choir and Mrs. Hill serenaded guests.

This year’s Sturgis Homecoming Royalty stopped by Whitewood Elementary to spread some Homecoming spirit. Our preschool - 2nd grade students enjoyed meeting the royalty as they sang the school song and led some cheers. Congratulations to this year’s Homecoming King, Zhoel Irion, and Queen, Leigha Long! Thank you for stopping by and bringing some Scooper spirit!

Thanks to the Whitewood Elementary PTO, the 3rd and 4th grade students had the opportunity to visit the Vore Buffalo Jump near Beulah, Wyoming, on September 23rd. It was a great opportunity for students to learn about the history and culture surrounding this unique archaeological site and experience a little hands-on learning outside the classroom. Be sure to ask your 3rd or 4th grade student what they got as a souvenir!

A note from our Student and Family Advocate:

Ms. Dena will have confetti sugar cookies for sale on Friday, October 16th from 7:30 AM–1:30 PM for $1.00 each!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Rice Krispy Bar sale in September!

Parents, we need your help! Please take a few minutes to complete a free/reduced lunch application. Even if you don’t qualify, every application helps our school receive important funding for programs that support all students.

https://www.meade.k12.sd.us/page/freereduced-meals or

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vNb5oOsJGisj3GBkc8tlaFe2YOYoXYqb/view?usp=sharing

Teachers will be scheduling parent-teacher conferences soon. Please be sure to check ClassDojo and your child’s backpack for your scheduled conference time. Teachers will do their best to schedule siblings’ conferences close together when possible.

📅 October 20 & 22 ⏰ 3:00–7:00 PM

This form will be sent home with students on Friday. Please check your student’s backpack over the weekend. If you would like a Patient Information and Permission Form, please return the form to the school. You may also call the school at 605-269-2264 with any questions or for more information.

Each month, we’ll highlight one of our amazing staff members! This month, we’re featuring our Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Heilman!

Mrs. Heilman and her husband, Tom, both grew up on farms in eastern South Dakota. They have lived near Whitewood for the past six years. Before that, the Heilman family lived in Pierre for 13 years, where both of their sons graduated from school.

Mrs. Heilman is also a proud grandma! Her son, Spencer, is married to Shantell, and they have two adorable little boys, Tommy (24 months) and Theo (6 months). Her son Matthew is married to Adisyn, and they are expecting a baby boy, Henry, the last week of September!

And here’s a fun family accomplishment—both of Mrs. Heilman’s sons graduated from college with engineering degrees on the exact same day and at the exact same time, but on opposite ends of the state! Spencer graduated from South Dakota State University in Brookings, while Matthew graduated from South Dakota Mines in Rapid City.

We’re excited to have Mrs. Heilman leading our students and helping them learn, grow, and have plenty of fun along the way!

To get to know Mrs. Heilman a little better, we asked her four questions:

Favorite Food? Pizza

What is your favorite thing about your job at Whitewood Elementary? All of it! The students and the staff are all great to work with!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Home is my favorite place! But if I was forced to go somewhere other than a place where I would visit family, it would be Hawaii.

What would be your super power? To have our country exist without video games, YouTube and social media being available to children. The addiction to screen time is so destructive to the emotional, mental, social, and physical health of kids. As a teacher, it is so sad and frightening to see what effects screen time has had on children.

Congratulations to our 2026–2027 Whitewood Elementary Student Council members!

We are excited to announce this year’s student leaders:

⭐ 3rd Grade: Ilea & Rosemary
⭐ 4th Grade: Jenaya & Ayva

Be on the lookout for flyers coming home with students about an upcoming popcorn sale!

The next PTO meeting will be Monday, October 5th at 3:30 in the staff lounge. We hope to see you there!!! If your child is a student at Whitewood Elementary they will have free access to the after school program during the meeting.

This year, we’ll be continuing our Whitewood School History Series! Throughout the school year last year, we took a look back at Whitewood’s school history, starting with the Whitewood Public School being built in 1888 and following its history through the annexation of Whitewood into the Meade School District in 1961. We’ll be picking up where we left off and continuing to share more stories, milestones, and history from Whitewood School throughout the school year. Stay tuned for the next chapter!

Email: meadewhwoffice@k12.sd.us

Website: https://www.meade.k12.sd.us/whitewood-elementary/
Location: 603 Garfield Street, Whitewood, SD, USA
Phone: 605-269-2264