the Orca Splash

Hello Viewlands Families!

Last Friday, VEPTSA hosted movie night at school. This annual fall movie night event is a fun night. Many families were able to attend. Thank you to VEPTSA for supporting this community building event. Thank you to the volunteers who supported this event!

This week Viewlands was the host site for a group of NW principals. On Thursday morning, we visited 4 classrooms. After this learning walk to visit classrooms, the principals shared feedback about what they observed. Two common themes they shared was joy and academic language. They observed joy from students and teachers in their learning communities while they engaged in math (2 of the classrooms) and science (2 of the classrooms). This filled me up as we want learning to be joyful. Learning takes perseverance, resilience, and investment of energy and focus. This means it won't always feel joyful, but we want there to be as much joy as possible. A way families can also support at home is modeling your own continued learning at home, showing joy when you are learning something new, and praising your child's effort, perseverance, and productive struggle when learning something new, rather than an end outcome or only accomplishments. The other theme the principal group observed was strong use of academic language and intentional use and modeling of academic vocabulary. This has been one area of focus for our staff community as we reviewed our student learning outcomes from the end of last school year and baseline data from this fall. This was an exciting observation as it shows our work together as a staff. I am always proud of the work and learning our students and staff are doing at Viewlands! It was see others appreciate the learning happening here at Viewlands!

A few highlights from my visits in classrooms and with students this week include: learning about salmon with kindergarteners; watching 5th graders share their thinking and support peers around math problems, navigating calculation accuracy while modeling their conceptual understanding; 1st graders sharing how they can use addition as a way to problem solve or check their work with subtraction problems; and connecting with a couple families this week individually to share highlights of learning and deepen a school-home partnership.

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

School staff and VEPTSA partner together to plan a Viewlands Salmon Gathering during the Pipers Creek Salmon Celebration. This is a fun outdoor event at Carkeek Park. Viewlands own Ollie the Orca will be there. Seattle famous Bert the Salmon will also be there. Viewlands will host a booth led by volunteers and student leaders. Our Viewlands booth will highlight student-led salmon learning and information about the salmon in schools program, and salmon art. There will also be other booths with scavenger hunts, art projects, treats, and other family-friendly educational activities.

This is a really fun event! Your family can visit anytime between 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Ollie the Orca will likely be there sometime between 11:30-1 p.m..

This is a community event so parking at the park is limited. A walking group will gather at Viewlands at 10:30am to walk to the event. If you drive, we recommend carpooling or parking at Viewlands and walking down on the trail.

Ms. Misner is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair in the library! The book fair will be open 3 days after school next week and during conferences on Monday and Tuesday the following week. Parent volunteers are needed to support the book fair. You can sign up to volunteer on Konstella.

The book fair will be open to families on:

• Wednesday 11/19 after school 1:10-2 p.m. (will enter at outer library door by bike locker)
• Thursday 11/20 after school 2:25-3 p.m. (will enter at outer library door by bike locker)
• Friday 11/21 after school 2:25-3 p.m. (will enter at outer library door by bike locker)
• Monday 11/24 during conferences (will enter through inside library doors)
• Tuesday 11/23 during conferences (will enter through inside library doors)

Our Viewlands community thrives when we lift each other up, support one another, and champion the many different voices of our school community. Creating community means stepping up for others and stepping back to give voice to those that may not have the same resources and access.

Neighbors of the school and school community members have reached out to school staff and VEPTSA to ask how we can support our community members given the changes to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Thank you for stepping up and out in support of others and for advocating for our community. There are many ways you can support our community. We are partnering with VEPTSA in direct supports and ongoing commitment to our partnerships with other community organizations.

1. Donate to the Gift Card Drive Now through Friday, December 12

VEPTSA is partnering with us in a Kroger gift card drive. VEPTSA is collecting $25 Kroger gift cards. The gift cards will support Viewlands families during Winter Break.

How to Support?

• You can purchase $25 Kroger gift cards (e-gift cards) to donate to this gift card drive. You can do this online. The link is below to purchase online.
• Once you log on, you can select e-gift.
• Next, you will enter the $25 amount, select for a friend, put Viewlands as the recipient name, and this e-mail for the recipient e-mail: president@viewlandsptsa.org
• VEPTSA will print all e-gift cards donated.
• E-gift cards are preferred. If for some reason you are not able to do the e-gift card and have a physical gift card, please bring them to the office, so they can be added to the gift card drive.

2. Support Current Partnerships

A school community will always do what we can to support families. This is important. However, schools will never be able to fully meet all of the needs of our families. Housing instability, food insecurity, and other socioeconomic barriers are significant challenges for many families. While schools want to support this as best as possible, the limited resources at schools will always only supplement. Schools are not a long term solution for these challenges. It is critical we provide information for families about community resources that can provide more long term support. Supporting community organizations that are critical resources is another way to support members of our community.

Viewlands partners with the Hunger Intervention Program (HIP). We send food bags home with students that need them every Friday. Before longer breaks, we send double bags home with students. HIP is a great program. We have partnered with them for many years. The HIP organization, like other non-profits, have also had struggles with recent changes. Their organization, like other non-profits serving the community, relied on AmeriCORPS. In the spring some of their AmeriCORPS staff members were terminated given changes in federal allocations. We are relieved that the HIP organization continue to serve despite those challenges, as that partnership is critical to us.

We also partner with FamilyWorks, referring families to this organization for support and access to other resources. This is a critical resource for families especially as a school with limited resources and no family support worker. FamilyWorks is a non-profit organization that supports food access and family support programming in North Seattle. They have various locations, including a family resource center at Broadview Thompson K-8.

Supporting non-profit organizations like HIP and FamilyWorks are great ways to extend their reach and support of families in need, including Viewlands families.

3. Food Boxes

The City of Seattle has partnered with Seattle Public Schools to provide temporary direct food support given changes to SNAP. This was our second round of receiving food boxes. We will receive one more round of food boxes to distribute to families. Our school team has been communicating directly with families that currently receive food supports about this resource. The food box program will end after the 3rd round as SNAP benefits have been reinstated.

Salmon Celebration - Saturday, November 22 | 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Carkeek Park

Bring the whole family and join our annual Salmon Celebration at Pipers Creek! Look for spawning salmon and learn new things from the Carkeek Salmon Stewards and other park friends. Viewlands will have an event table showcasing student salmon artwork and 5th grade student leaders will provide information about the salmon in schools program. Ollie the Viewlands Orca is set to make an appearance, too. This is a popular community event and parking will be limited. A walking group will gather at Viewlands at 10:30am to walk to the event. If you drive, we recommend arriving 30 minutes earlier and try to carpool. Volunteers are needed - signup to volunteer at the salmon Celebration.

Join Viewlands PTSA!

Have a voice, a vote, and access to perks—like ticket and retail discounts. Your membership supports playground supervision, literacy tools, field trips, teacher grants, and the events that make Viewlands shine. There is no time commitment required.

• Nov 24-Nov 25 No School, Family-Teacher Conferences
• Nov 26-Nov 28 No School - Holiday
• December 4 Picture Retake/Make Up Day
• December 10 - VEPTSA Winter Fundraiser, Give BIG for Viewlands at Chucks
• Dec 22-Jan 2 No School - Winter Break