Woods Lake Family Weekly

Vision: Woods Lake Elementary: A Magnet Center of the Arts will educate every child, every opportunity, every time!

Mission: Woods Lake Elementary: A Magnet Center of the Arts, is a place where academics and the arts create opportunies in a safe, collaborative environment.

Dear Families,

Dear Woods Lake Families,

Happy holidays! We hope this message finds you and your loved ones well. We are grateful for the partnership we share with each of you and for the many ways you support our students and school community.

Important Announcements

• Popcorn and Pickles sales are canceled this week.
  • No action needed now; we will add a new date to our calendar in January and share it as soon as it’s confirmed.
• Upcoming dates to note: we will return to school on January 5, 2026 after winter break. Please mark your calendars.
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Celebrations from the Week

We have so much to celebrate!

• Winter Spirit Week will take place the last week of school before winter break. Students are invited to participate in daily themes (details sent separately). Participation is optional and designed to be fun and inclusive.
• Our Winter Dance Concert is this Wednesday:
  • 9:30 AM — performance for the school body
  • 2:30 PM — performance for families
    Come watch our students show the hard work they’ve put into perfecting their movements.
• A very special thank you to the parent volunteers who dedicated their time and effort to our Book Fair last week. We are grateful for your support — your help made the event a success for our students.
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Additional Information

As we approach the end of December and the close of 2025, we want to take a moment to reflect on the positive moments this year. We will have two weeks off for winter break and return to school on January 5, 2026. We are thrilled with the academic, social, and emotional progress our students have made this year. Enjoy this time with your families — we hope it is restful, joyful, and filled with special memories. See you in 2026!

Thank you for your ongoing support in helping our students grow and thrive. We are grateful for your partnership and look forward to continuing our work together in the new year.

Warmly,

Ms. Prather

Kindergarten provides students an opportunity to grow academically and socially as a student. The start of kindergarten is set up to build upon expected previous experiences in a school setting. Students are expected to be able to enter the classroom each day, use the bathroom independently, be ready to learn, sit and participate in class discussions, activities and experiments. With a 26:1 student to teacher ratio, students will work in whole group, small group and independently. Students will participate in 90 minutes of reading instruction and 75 minutes of math instruction daily. Students learn letters make sounds, sounds make words and words make sentences. The end of year expectation is that students will be able to read and decode new words as well as write a complete sentence on a given topic. Students will explore numbers through counting, patterns and solving basic addition and subtraction problems. The goal is students will be able to count to 100 by the end of the year.

Students will be given opportunities to explore concepts using hands-on activities. Students will use magnetic letters, numbers, white boards, play games, complete pencil paper activities and use scissors and glue to show what they know.

Students will participate in music class 2x a week, dance class 1x a week, PE 2x a week and art 1x a week. Students have a 25 minute lunch and 25 minute recess with their peers.

Kindergarten is fun with a strong focus on academics and social skills. In kindergarten, play is used for academic practice to review concepts previously taught.

Kindergarten is a year of opportunities for students to develop a love of learning and become life long learners.

Mrs. Hosler, Mrs. Curry, and Mrs. Brown (pictured from left to right)

At Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo, we’re excited to kick off our seventh annual #GivingBack on #GivingTuesday tradition! Each year, we mark the day by nominating someone in our building to receive a special gift. We are excited to announce that our CIS coordinator selected two amazing staff members from our school community, Mrs. Garica and Mrs. Orbe!

Woods Lake students earned hot chocolate for displaying the ARTS for the month of December!

12/8-12/12: Scholastic Book Fair12/15: Wear Red and Green Day

12/16: Wear Winter colors day

12/17: Wear a winter hat, scarf and sock day, Winter Dance Concert at 9:30 AM and 2:30 PM

12:18: Candy Cane Day (Wear Red and White), Kids Are Special Program Sessions for Kindergarten/First Grade Students

12/19: Pajama Day, Popcorn and Pickle Sale ($1.00 each), Last day of school before winter break

12/22 - 1/2: Winter Break

1/5: First day back from winter break

Winter Gear Reminder

As we head into winter, please remember to send your child with their winter gear! 🧣🧤🥾⛄🧥

All students will go outside even if it's snowing, as long as the real feel temperature is above 10 degrees. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

- Winter Layers: It's best to send your child with winter layers and gear just in case!

- Labeling: Please label all of your child's winter wear with their name. This helps us return lost items to the correct students.

- Independence Practice: Encourage your child to practice getting ready independently for the winter weather.

-Families may not request an alternative recess plan unless they have a doctor's note identifying a medical reason a student cannot go outside.

Email: prathersm@kalamazoopublicschools.net
Website: https://woodslake.kalamazoopublicschools.com/
Location: 3215 Oakland Dr, Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Phone: (269) 337-0790
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoodsLakeElementary/