the Orca Splash

Hello Viewlands Families!

Next week is our last week of school in 2025. Friday, December 19 is an early dismissal. School ends next Friday at 1:25 p.m.. Please make sure you have a plan for the early dismissal time. Busses will be an hour earlier than normal in the afternoon routes. Family pick up time is an hour earlier. After next week, there will be no school for two weeks for Winter Break. School will resume on Monday, January 5.

This week our 3rd grade students interviewed Ms. Shafaq, our Viewlands Kitchen Manager, to learn more about her and an event that shaped her as a person. Learning about Ms. Shafaq, through conversations with the 3rd graders and reading their notes, was the big highlight of the week. You can read more about what the 3rd graders learned about Ms. Shafaq in a feature in this newsletter.

A few other highlights from my visits in classrooms and with students this week include: talking about problems and solutions with 1st graders during science; learning about gravity and grappling with our understanding of gravity with 4th and 5th graders; talking about character traits and character feelings to help us infer what a character might do in a story using text evidence with 3rd graders; and talking with kindergarteners about heart words, what they are and why we learn them.

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

The 3rd graders interviewed Ms. Shafaq this week to learn more about her and an event that helped shaped her as a person. The 3rd graders shared some of what they learned with me. It was wonderful for the students to learn more about a person in our community, asking questions, listening to the answers, asking follow up questions, and taking notes. In my conversations with some of the 3rd graders, I was inspired by their engagement in this learning experience and enthusiasm for learning about a member of our community. Ms. Shafaq and her daughter Kaniz, answered questions from the 3rd graders. This is what I learned from the 3rd graders.

Getting to Know Ms. Shafaq:

• Ms. Shafaq is from Pakistan. She lived in Pakistan with her family until she was 22 years old.
• An event that shaped her as a person, was spending time with her dad and taking care of a tiger.
• They raised an albino tiger. His name was Bush. Bush eventually went to live in the zoo in Pakistan.
• This is a big part of her identity. That experience inspired her creativity and made her feel proud.
• Her dad was a taxidermist. One of her brother's is also a taxidermist.
• When she was 22 the family moved to the United States. Her parents live in Canada now.
• She loved school.
• She went to college art school and loves to create.
• The lunchroom food posters in our Viewlands kitchen were designed and made by Ms. Shafaq.

Save the Date! Blockbuster-Themed PTSA Spring Auction

Get ready for a night of fun and community at Old Stove Brewing Co – Gardens in Ballard on March 28 for an unforgettable evening supporting our school. More details coming soon—stay tuned!

Join Viewlands PTSA!

• December 19 - Friday before Winter Break, early dismissal at 1:25 p.m.
• Dec 22-Jan 2 No School - Winter Break
• January 5 - First day back to school after winter break
• January 19 - No School, MLK Day
• February 16- February 20 - No School, Mid-Winter Break