Yake Gator Bites

• September 23 - October 14 - Fall PTO Fundraiser - Achatz Pie Sales!

• October 14 - PTO meeting held at 6:00 p.m. in our media center.
• October 15 - Yake Family Dinner Night at Buddy's from 11:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.

• October 19 - Woodhaven Elementary Cross Country Championships starting at 4:45 p.m. at the Hall Rd Park

• October 21 - Wipe Out Bullying day! - Details coming soon.
• October 23 - Joyful Friday - Pajama Day!
• October 23 - Monster Mash Bash from 5:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. at Yake! Trunk or Treat - from 5:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. with car setup beginning at 4:30 p.m. Trunk or Treat is a part of our Monster Mash Bash! Always fun for our Gators!

• October 30 - Halloween Parade starting at 9:30 a.m. - Half-Day of School - 12:00 p.m. dismissal.

For those who know, Ms. McMahan, Mrs. Taylor, & Mrs. Childers form the room 1 Dream Team and they come up with the most creative door decorations every year. Going into year three, you would wonder if they are running out of ideas...then this!

This past week, we had 268 (significantly down from 353 a few weeks ago) Gators who had perfect attendance! Through our raffle, $10.00 Rev'D Up Fun arcade gift cards were awarded to Liam & Ethan! Our next raffle will take place on Monday morning where two more gift cards will be awarded to Gators who had perfect attendance this week. Big "Thank you!" to Rev'D Up Fun for supporting our attendance incentives once again this year. Such a great community partner with Yake Elementary School.

This is a reminder about the importance to children attending school on time, for the full day, every day. At Yake Elementary School, we follow a rigorous curriculum which is reflected in our high performing school. Every day and every minute counts. As a reminder, we will be starting a rewards program that will include weekly raffles (perfect weekly attendance), monthly prizes (1 or fewer absences or tardies each month) and a family celebration BBR/Event for any Gator with over a 95% attendance rate (9 or fewer absences for the year). Please remember that our attendance incentives are for perfect attendance. Doctors appointments, dentist appointments, Friday sporting events, etc. even with excuses would result in a child missing out on the perfect attendance incentives.

We appreciate your help in getting Yake back to a 90%+ attendance rate for the 2026/27 school year. We made significant improvements last year and were over the 85% attendance rate, which was the highest in the district. Let's keep those Gators growing and striving towards reaching their highest potential this year!

As noted above, we are continuing with our perfect attendance raffles for Rev'D Up Fun gift cards every Monday morning. Please note that perfect attendance means no absences, tardies or ealy pick-ups from school for the week. If you Gator is not eligible for the raffle on Monday morning, no worries as Monday begins a new week and a fresh chance at perfect attendance.

Please note that late bus arrivals are not recorded as tardies. As a reminder, we will have monthly prizes for any Gator who has one or fewer absences (excused or unexcused) during the month of September and we will have an end of the the year Foam Party & BBQ for any Gators and their families who have maintained a 95% attendance rate or higher for the year. This BBQ was a lot of fun last June.

Please know that we know that our kindergarten and young fives Gators are building up their immune systems and they will more than likely get sick at some point this year. Hopefully, as the year goes on their immune systems will build up and they will be less likely to miss school due to being sick.

Thank you for your efforts in getting our Gators to school on time each and every day!

Take a peek at pictures of our Watch D.O.G.S. who joined us this past week!

• I-Chats must be on file before volunteering

• EACH VISITOR MUST REPORT TO THE OFFICE upon entering school to obtain a pass.

• Visitors and volunteers will be required to bring in a state ID that will be digitally scanned to create visitor passes.

• If a person wishes to confer with a member of the staff, she/he should call for an appointment before coming to the school, to schedule a mutually convenient time.

Panorama School Social Emotional Learning Survey:

In order to learn more about student experiences at school, we will be asking for your

child’s feedback via an online survey they will be completing at school. The survey

shouldn’t take more than 20-30 minutes to complete. This survey will take place

beginning October 10th. The survey will run through the end of the day on October 31st.

We are asking that all of our students in grades 3-12 participate in the surveys, as their

feedback will provide invaluable insights into their experiences and how we can improve

and adapt our district to their needs. If a student doesn’t feel like they have enough

information to answer a question, they will be able to skip the item altogether. The

responses to these surveys will be completely confidential. We are partnering with a

third-party vendor (Panorama Education) to support us in administering these surveys.

The survey content will ask students to self-reflect on Growth Mindset, Self-Efficacy,

Self-Management, and Supportive Relationships.

If you would like your child to opt out of this survey please feel free to contact Mr. Podlewski who will provide you with the opt out form. Click here to access the opt-out form.

Thank you, former PTO Board Member, Jennifer Harold

for putting together a series of quotes for us!

Once a Gator...Always a Gator!

Just a reminder about our Watch D.O.G.S. expectations. Our current Watch D.O.G.S. calendar will be shared soon. We will make sure the Watch D.O.G.S. program continues to improve for students, Watch D.O.G.S. and staff members as we move into year 17 with the program.

Click on the link below to see the current Watch D.O.G.S. calendar.

*The news below is not new, but I want families to know that Yake continues to be committed to excellence. Welcome to the top performing elementary school Downriver.

Yake Elementary School’s new U.S. News Award!

We are proud to announce that Yake Elementary School is ranked #127 (up from #131 last year) out of 2,601 (Top 5%) elementary schools in the state of Michigan. For the second year in a row, we are the top ranked school in the district and in the Downriver area. Click here (https://www.usnews.com/.../yake-elementary-school-249626) for Yake’s full report.

I want to offer a shout out to the staff, PTO, families and Gators who continue to make Yake a destination school Downriver. We are Gator Strong!

Getting your child to and from school just got a little easier! The BusRight Parent App is now available for Woodhaven-Brownstown families.

With BusRight, parents can:

View their child’s morning and afternoon bus routes

See the real-time ETA to their child’s bus stop

Receive notifications when the bus begins its trip and arrives at the stop

Easily switch between routes when multiple children ride the bus

Ready to get started? Download the BusRight Parent App from your smartphone’s app store and sign in using the email address associated with your child in the district’s student information system.

Keep track of your child’s journey to and from school—right from your phone!

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*Bus routes may be updated, as there are always adjustments to be made and bugs to work out each year.

Please click here for more information about our Transportation Department as listed on our District website.

• Using the drop-off lane – KISS AND GO ZONE
• SINGLE LANE OF TRAFFIC along the curb!
• Use the whole curb to drop off.
• Pull up next to the curb to let your student out of the PASSENGER SIDE ONLY!
• Students are not permitted to walk past parked or moving cars unescorted.
• Escorting your student from the parking lot
• Park your car in a legal spot in the parking lot IN THE VISITORS LOT, ONLY!
• Walk your student to their line up location:
• Grades 1-4 - Exterior classroom doors
• Young fives & Kindergarten - main entrance

• Using the pick-up lane
• Single Lane of traffic – Using the outside lane by the curb
• Use the whole lane for pick-up
• Pull up next the curb so that your student enters your vehicle on the PASSENGER SIDE ONLY
• Pull forward when able.
• If needed, drive back around to allow for traffic flow
• Escorting your student to your car
• Park your vehicle in a legal spot in the visitor’s parking lot
• Exit your vehicle and walk to your child’s exterior classroom door (rain or shine)
• Assist your student(s) as they cross through the lot.

Pick Up Times:

• Y5 & K car rider parents will pick up their child from their classroom’s exterior doors at 3:25pm.

• 1st grade car rider parents will pick up their child from their classroom’s exterior doors at 3:30pm

• 2 - 4 grade walkers / car riders will be released from their classroom exterior doors at 3:45pm

• You may meet your child at their classroom doors and escort them to your car.

A flyer and a link to book your room will be coming soon! You don't want to miss out on a great deal for a room and a few days of waterpark fun with some great Yake families at Kalahari on President's Day, which will be on Monday, February 15, 2027! The rooms sell out every year. Be sure to book early to reserve your room.

Yake is under construction! Please see the image below for the current logistics for equipment, fall zone, etc. As a result, we will be losing our entire first row of parking in the staff lot for a temporary bus loop (see image 2). Due to this, we will be extra diligent in making sure that only buses, staff members, or parents with children in rooms 1 & 2 will be allowed into the staff lot/bus loop before school and at the end of the day. We will have hand tags for staff members and families in rooms 1 & 2 to be allowed into the staff lot/bus loop. I wanted to share so that parents can plan ahead.

As a note, we will position safeties along the gap in the fence on Tiffany and along the sidewalk as families, with older children will be able to drop their children off along Tiffany and enter through the fence to avoid the parent parking lot/loop all together. More details will be coming over the summer.

A few years of dust and headache will be worth it once the renovations are complete!

New this year, all breakfast and lunch menus are available for families to view through the Nutrislice app. View menus online or with the Nutrislice app.

mywbsd.nutrislice.com

Children who are coming in for breakfast will be allowed to enter Yake through the maind doors at 8:40 a.m. and head to the cafeteria for breakfast. Kindergarten & Young Fives Gators will be allowed to enter through the front doors and line-up outside of their classrooms starting at 8:50 a.m. All other Gators in grades 1-4 will enter their classes through the exterior classroom doors at 9:00 a.m.

Every Gator in grades 1-4 will be issued touch-screen Chromebooks. The Chromebooks will usually remain in the classrooms, but damages can occur and repair charges can range from $25 to $200 or $300 for a full replacement. For an annual cost of $20, your Gator's Chromebook will be protected!

To enroll in the protection plan for 2024-2025, you can enroll by submitting payment through Parent Connect, available within the WBSD app. Here are the step-by-step instructions at bit.ly/WBSDhelp on how to make payment via Parent Connection. Alternatively, if online payment is not possible please print and complete the form from bit.ly/protectplan and send it with a check made payable to WBSD to the address below. Contact the WBSD Central Office at 734-783-3300 for any questions or concerns.

*Please address checks/cash to the Technology Department, 24821 Hall Road, Woodhaven, MI, 48183.

The Technology Protection Plan must be paid by September 30th of each school year or two weeks after your student(s) enrolls at WBSD Schools.

Additional information will be coming throughout the year. i-Ready is a great resource for tracking your Gator's academic growth in Reading and Math, particularly when reviewing initial (September), mid-year (January) and end of the year (May) data.

We will all work diligently to help our Gators demonstrate academic growth throughout the year.

Your one stop quick reference!

Where our Gators "Give and Expect the Best!" everyday!

Email: podlewt@wbsdweb.com
Website: https://www.mywbsd.org/yes
Phone: (734)692-2230
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yakepto
Twitter: @YakeGators