Washington Woods Family Newsletter

Website: https://wwe.wws.k12.in.us

Location: 19750 Grassy Branch Road, Westfield, IN, USA
Phone: 317-867-7900
Facebook: Washington Woods Facebook

Thank you, families, for all of your support and excitement surrounding our Fun Run! We have loved watching our students reach milestone after milestone, and your encouragement and generosity have made it such a fun experience for everyone.

Last Friday, those milestones led to a pretty special day for Mrs. Agee, Miss Johnson, and me—we got to spend some time on the roof! We had so much fun welcoming students to school from above and celebrating with recess dance parties throughout the day. Seeing the excitement on our students’ faces made it all worth it!

And the fun isn’t over yet! We have more excitement planned throughout the week as we count down to the main event this Friday. We can’t wait to celebrate with our students and finish our Fun Run week together!

Be sure to check out the PTO information later in this newsletter for more details about Friday’s big event. We can’t wait!

Thursday evening is the Homecoming Parade! We hope to see you there!

Mrs. Libby Baud

Principal, Washington Woods Elementary

New Attendance Procedure

Please use our new School Dismissal Manager app to enter absences, late arrivals, and early dismissals. When you use the SDM app to enter your absence, please include the reason. Once the absence is entered in the SDM app, you will not need to email or call the attendance line.

Traveling for a family event?

If your child will be out for an elective absence—such as a vacation or sports event—those absences are considered Excused if:

• Your child has fewer than 7 total absences, and

• You notify our office at least 2 days in advance.

If you have any questions about your child’s attendance, please reach out to Becky Garver by email at garverr@wws.k12.in.us.

Monitoring Attendance

Please refer to the Elementary School Handbook on the District Webpage for details of attendance policies.

We will be monitoring attendance this year. Students who have missed five, nine, and/or fifteen total days or more during the school term will be informed in writing. As this is cumulative throughout the year and not within one single grading period, this may not require further action unless otherwise indicated.

We want to partner proactively with families this year to assure our students are at school as much as possible!

Parent drop off and parent pick up are going well! Thank you for your support in following the traffic flow, and dropping kids off at the correct doors. If you arrive after the doors or gate have closed, please walk your child into the office.

Parent pick up families, thank you for your patience while we delayed the use of our Fast Lane feature for pick up. We plan to do some training with staff this week in hopes to get it up and running soon. You will need your School Dismissal Manager ready. Don't forget, if you have a family or friend picking up, they need to be set up as a "view only parent" so they can also access the QR code in the line.

Clubs & Dismissal Plans

As our clubs and enrichment opportunities begin over the next couple of months, please remember that club participation is an exception to your child's regular dismissal plan.

If your child is registered for and attending a club such as Helping Hands, Choir, an academic team, or a PTO enrichment club, you will need to enter the appropriate exception in School Dismissal Manager so we know your child should go to their club instead of following their normal dismissal plan. Please only enter a club as an exception if your child is officially signed up for that club.

More information about these opportunities will be shared as clubs get closer. Thank you for helping us make sure every student gets where they need to go safely!

Voting is one of the most important ways we participate in our community and our democracy. As a school district, we believe in preparing students to be engaged, informed citizens, and we encourage every eligible member of our community to exercise that same civic responsibility.

The deadline to register to vote in Indiana for the November 3 General Election is October 5, 2026.

Whether you need to register, update your registration, or simply check your voter registration status, visit IndianaVoters.in.gov.

Be informed. Be engaged. Make your voice heard.

Hello Washington Woods Families!

We still have two resources open if you are needing weekend food assistance or a one-time home supplies kit!

Our Shamrock Care Kits provide basic household and hygiene essentials, including laundry detergent, dish soap, deodorant, bath soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and more. Please note, Shamrock Care Kits are a one-time resource, with one kit available per family.

If you are interested in this resource, please do not hesitate to reach out to me either by phone or email.

johnsonsa@wws.k12.in.us

317-867-7900 ex. 19006

______________________________________________

Weekend Food Program Beginning Soon!

The Weekend Food program will begin in September! This program allows students to bring home a bag of food each Friday, containing non-perishable breakfast and lunch/dinner meals for the weekend. For a little more information about the BackSack program, click HERE.

If you would like your child to participate in this program, please click on the link below to complete the Google Form.

Weekend Food Sign Up Form

Interested in supporting the Weekend Food program?

Open Doors of Westfield partners with our schools to support our students and families. Approximately 800 bags of food are distributed district-wide each month, so that's a whole lot of applesauce, ravioli, and granola bars (among other items)!! To make this happen, they rely heavily on the support and generosity of our community. Want to pitch in? Go to https://opendoorswestfield.org/ to find out how. Putting together everyone's "little bit" makes a BIG difference!

Go to Lifetouch.com and use the code below!

Vision Screening Notification

In accordance with Indiana Code (I.C. 20-34-3-12), all students in Kindergarten, 3rd and 5th grade are required to receive a near and far visual acuity screening at school. These are not comprehensive eye exams, after the screening you will be notified if it is recommended your child follow up with an eye doctor. Vision screenings at Washington Woods will occur on the following dates:

• Kindergarten -Tuesday 9/15/2026- screenings done by Dr. Kevin Worth and his staff

• 3rd Grade- Tuesday 10/6/2026- screenings done by Lions Club trained volunteers

• 5th Grade- Thursday 11/19/2026- screenings done by Ball State Nursing students

If you do not want your child to participate in the vision screening, please send a written note or email to southworthk@wws.k12.in.us that includes the following

• Your child’s full name

• Date of birth

• A statement that you do not wish for them to participate in the screening

** Please note if your child wears contacts or glasses please ensure they wear them the day of their screening.**

We are now welcoming Lunch Visitors!

Please sign up for only ONE visit per month and only one family member may visit at a time. *If you have a special need to have multiple visitors, please reach out to the office so we can check available space. Visitors MUST have a SafeVisitor registration on file.

Please do not bring outside food to share with anyone other than your child. We do not allow sharing food in the cafeteria.

We allow 4 visitors per grade level, per day for lunch. Due to limited space and some overlapping lunch times, visitors might be sitting at their child's table. All visitors must enter through Door 1 and check in and check out at the main office prior to going to the cafeteria. Visitors must stay in the cafeteria during their visit; they are not allowed to go back to the classroom or recess with the student. Use the link below to make your lunch reservation.

Sign Up on the Sign Up Genius below:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0545A9AA28A5F4C34-65506711-wwes

Lunch time portal is the place you can manage your child's lunch account, including putting money in the account and marking restrictions to your child's lunch choices. Please make sure you also check your child's transactions. If they take two entrees, they will be charged for both.

You can find the monthly lunch menus on our school website. A La Carte will begin September 1.

The Powerschool Parent Portal is an essential part of every WWS student's journey. Please visit and bookmark the link below for easy access. New families should have received a Parent Portal Letter via email, so please check for that (check Spam too!). You can alwaus email our Secretary at garverr@wws.k12.in.us for help. Also, you can now find your student's ID number in the upper right hand corner of Powerschool!

Log into Your PowerSchool Parent Portal Here

Do you know your A,B,C's? Do you know your 1,2,3's? Do you like to create bulletin boards? Come help in the library! Looking for help with shelving books, shelf reading (making sure books are in the right place), and keeping bulletin boards current. Please reach out to Ms. Ottinger. ottingers@wws.k12.in.us

As of Friday, we’ve hit $35,000! Our big goal is $55,000 so we can make the new playground shade structure happen.

Check out the flyers below to see what PTO fundraising supports, the prizes students can earn, and why this goal matters. Can't make it to Fun Run but want to show your support? You can also order a $6 Student Shout-Out Sign to show your student some extra Fun Run support:https://wwespto.membershiptoolkit.com/store/24871

Register, donate, and share: https://wwes.pledgestar.com

Every donation gets us closer. Thank you, Washington Woods!

Stay in the know and up-to-date on school events and activities without ever lifting a finger. You can now subscribe to the PTO calendar on either Google or Apple! Just click the link for the format you want, and you'll always see what's ahead! Don't want to subscribe? The calendar is always viewable from the PTO website under the Calendar tab.

Subscribe to Google Calendar

Subscribe to iCal for Apple