Whitewood Elementary

Thank you to all of our dads and father figures who attended Donuts with Dad. We truly appreciate all you do in our students’ lives—your time, support, and dedication do not go unnoticed. It was a great turnout! 🍩💙

Congratulations to our January Wrangler's of the Month:

K: Maysa

1st: Scarlett

2nd: James

3rd: Maime

4th: Carter

5th: Jozi

To celebrate their hard work, students get Pizza Ranch for lunch with Mr. Porterfield! Way to go Wranglers!

This year, the United States will be celebrating its 250th birthday!

To help celebrate, a historical timeline will be displayed on the wall by the gym. Students are invited to contribute to the timeline by adding pictures, drawings, written information, or anything they learn or already know about U.S. history. The timeline will remain up through the end of the school year and can be added to at any time. This is a great way for students to visually see when important events occurred and how history connects across time. We are excited to kick off this upcoming project, it will be updated in the newsletter as the school year continues. Be sure to come take a look if you are in the building!

We are trying something new to help students and parents know whether recess will be indoors or outdoors at morning drop off. A red sign will be posted on the front door if recess is indoors, and a green sign will be posted if recess is outdoors. We hope this helps parents know where to direct their child when arriving at school if there is inclement weather. Students will stay inside for recess if the wind chill is below 0° or if there is heavy rain.

Please remember that it is winter and we live in the great state of South Dakota—be sure to dress your child warmly and consider extra layers as needed. We also encourage you to label your child’s belongings in some way to help prevent mix-ups that may send items to our lost and found (👇).

Our school has a large number of lost items that need to find their way home! If your child is missing something, please stop by the office to check in, then feel free to look through our lost and found table.

We’ve added brand new soccer balls, basketballs, footballs and chalk for students to enjoy during recess! ⚽🏀🏈

A special thank you to the Range Riders 4-H Club in St. Onge for generously donating hats and gloves to our school! Members also learned valuable life skills by sewing buttons onto clothing. We appreciate their kindness and hard work.

The Meade School District is now accepting nominations for the 2026–27 Teacher of the Year and Support Staff of the Year. These honors recognize individuals who demonstrate exceptional dedication, professionalism, and commitment to supporting student success.

Teachers and support staff play a vital role in shaping our schools and positively impacting students, families, and colleagues. We encourage staff, parents, students, and community members to take this opportunity to recognize those who go above and beyond in service to the district.

• Teacher of the Year Nomination Form

• Support Staff of the Year Nomination Form

All completed nomination forms must be submitted to the nominee’s building principal no later than Friday, February 27, 2026.

Thank you for helping us celebrate the outstanding individuals who make a difference every day in Meade School District.

Petitions for school board vacancies for the 2026-27 school year can start being circulated on February 2, 2026 for the June 2, 2026 election.

Available Vacancies:
4-year term
4-year term
2-year term

The terms of two Board members, Megan Snyder and Brian Voight, currently serving three-year terms, and one Board member, Thomas Schneller, currently serving a two-year term, are expiring. The two seats previously designated as three-year terms will be elected to four-year terms, as approved by the Board at its December meeting.

To serve as a member of the Meade School District 46-1 Board of Education, a candidate must reside within the boundaries of the Meade School District 46-1. The school board election will be held in conjunction with the regular June primary election.

School board election information is located on the district website.

A special thank you to Jerity for generously donating her time and materials to our first graders. Each student had the opportunity to design their very own hat, and Jerity brought their ideas to life—crocheting each one by hand!

It’s that time of year again—parent-teacher conferences! Conferences will be held Monday, February 23rd, and Thursday, February 26th, from 4:00–7:00 PM both evenings. Teachers will be sending home conference schedules in the coming weeks. We look forward to seeing you there!

Is your little one ready for their preschool or kindergarten journey? We’d love to meet them!

Preschool and kindergarten screening for the 2026–2027 school year is coming up!

Thursday, March 26 | 3:00–5:30 PM

Friday, March 27 | 8:00 AM–12:00 PM

Each screening time slot is 30 minutes.

Call the school at 605-269-2264 to sign your child up today!

Preschool is learning all about the five senses in STEM and in the classroom! Students put their senses to the test by playing “Pin the Nose on the Reindeer.” Could they do it without being able to see? What a fun way to learn through hands-on exploration

Preschool has mastered the Pledge of Allegiance as we celebrate the 250th birthday of the USA! We are proud of our youngest learners for showing respect, confidence, and patriotism during this special milestone year!

Mrs. Herweh’s preschool STEM class took on a fun challenge by using cups to stack the tallest and widest Christmas trees possible. They worked hard, practicing patience, teamwork, and calm skills throughout the activity. They even learned how to measure things using a tape measure!

Second grade students wrote about what it would be like to live inside a snow globe. They then posed for their pictures to be placed inside their own snow globes and decorated them to match their stories. It was snow amazing!

The D.A.R.E. program has officially started for our 5th grade class! We would like to extend a special thank you to Josh and the Whitewood Police Department for taking the time to teach and support our students.

Students in Mrs. Meredith’s class participated in the Junior Achievement program, where they learned important money skills, teamwork, and problem-solving. With help from Pioneer Bank volunteer Lindsey, students explored how businesses get started, the basics of checking and savings accounts, and more—building a strong foundation for smart financial choices.

The Sturgis Legion Auxiliary, assisted by the Legion Riders, visited our 3rd and 4th grade classes to teach flag etiquette and education. Students learned about different types of American flags and what they represent, proper treatment of the flag, and how to fold a flag correctly.

This month we highlight Ms. Myla Budmayr. This is Ms. Myla’s second year at Whitewood Elementary. Ms. Myla helps in our special education room, supporting students with patience, kindness, and encouragement each day. She works one-on-one and in small groups to help students build confidence, develop skills, and achieve their goals. Ms. Myla’s positive attitude and caring nature make a meaningful difference for our students and staff, and we are thankful to have her at Whitewood Elementary.

Ms. Myla and her husband live in Wyoming, just outside the South Dakota border, which is their favorite place to be! She loves having her grandkids come to visit, where they enjoy riding horses, driving their old pickup, and spending quality time together.

To get to know Ms. Myla a little better, we asked her a few questions:

Favorite Food? Mexican! I lived in San Antonio, Texas, and the Mexican food was unbelievable. I miss it.

What is your favorite thing about your job? Besides the staff, that I am luck enough to work with. I love that our students really have the advantage of more individualized attention because of being a smaller school with a supportive staff and community.

What fill your free time? Things you enjoy doing? During my free time I enjoy watching mindless TV, gardening during the spring and summer, and my horses.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? I'm not a big traveler, but I would love to go to Greece, or anyplace with beautiful beaches.

What would be your super power? My super power would be teleportation, so I can teleport myself out of brutal winters to a tropical island.

Jill Eymer’s sixth grade class wrote a book titled A Journey Through Time: Whitewood Schools in 2012–2013. The book is filled with fascinating information about the town of Whitewood, Whitewood Elementary, and the people who helped bring our school to fruition. Stay tuned each month as we share an informational tidbit from the book highlighting the history of Whitewood Elementary!

Fact of the month: In 1888, Whitewood was incorporated as a town of 300 people. The first school in town was built for $3,000 the same year, and had 31 students in attendance. By 1896, the school had 117 students in attendance and was elementary, middle, and high school. Pictured is the first school, a two story block building with a bell tower.

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." – Maya Angelou.

Heart Health Week

Student Council is sponsoring Heart Health Week, February 2–6, with fun activities and informational health-awareness groups planned throughout the week. Student Council members will be selling Heart Health Goodie Bags for $1.50 on Tuesday. Each bag includes a Capri Sun drink pouch, a heart keychain, stickers, and cheeseballs or pretzels. All proceeds from the goodie bags will be donated to Heart Heroes!

The next PTO meeting will be February 2nd at 3:10 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.

Below is the PTO January Newsletter—please take a look and consider joining!

Brit Porterfield, Principal

Email: lexi.ridley@k12.sd.us

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