Whitewood Elementary

As the weather gets colder, please be sure to send your child dressed appropriately for outdoor play. Coats, hats, and gloves are a must on chilly days. We also recommend labeling all of your child’s belongings to help prevent mix-ups.

When snow arrives, students may play on the hill only if they are wearing snow pants and are dressed appropriately for the conditions. Thank you for helping keep our students warm and safe!

If school is delayed or cancelled due to bad weather, parents will receive a district-wide message directly to cell phone numbers and emails. Updates will also be shared with local radio, news stations, and on the Whitewood Elementary Facebook page! Follow https://www.facebook.com/WhitewoodElemSchool461official to stay up to date!

With cold and flu season upon us, please keep your child home from school if:

• They have a fever of 100.0*F or greater
• Students must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicine
• It is recommended that your child stay home with vomiting/diarrhea if it occurs two or more times in 12 hours
• Please notify the school if your child has any known allergies or medical conditions

Congratulations to our October Wrangler's of the Month:

K: Eiley

1st: Theo

2nd: Luna

3rd: Cooper

4th: Tillie

5th: Lydia

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

Thank you to everyone who attended conferences! We love seeing our students’ parents and connecting in person.

Also, we’d like to thank our PTO for providing meals for teachers on conference nights—the tacos were a hit! ¡Olé!

Emotions are running high as potential changes to our beloved school are discussed, but please remember—we are all human. Let’s be kind and thoughtful in both our words and actions.

👻🎃 Oh, BOO! Three spooky spirits dropped by today,
They crept through the halls in a ghostly way!

They snuck in the library reading some booooooks,
But ghosted when students tried to look.

They lurked on the playground, oh how they dare.
But found nothing but giggles and laughter to share!

They helped Mr. Bruce tidy without a fuss,
Floating through the halls without much of a muss.

Last but not least, they spooooked the front office crew,
Adding more mischief before they said, “Boo!”

They were dying to join in the wicked fun,
At Whitewood Elementary, the haunt has begun! 🕷️🕸️

Students participated in National Walk to School Day on October 8th! A big thank you to the Whitewood 8-10 Club for sponsoring this event and providing crossing guards to keep our students safe. Students also received a fun goodie bag to celebrate the day!

October 8th we celebrated Fire Prevention Week at the Whitewood Firehall! A special thank you to the Whitewood Volunteer Fire Department for hosting our students and sharing an awesome presentation on fire safety. Students got an up-close look at a firetruck, learned important fire safety tips, and even had the chance to explore some of the equipment firefighters use to keep our community safe.

On October 9th, we had a special guest appearance—Science Steve! Also known as SDPB Education Specialist Steven Rokusek, Science Steve put on a captivating show for Whitewood Elementary. He brought science to life with exciting demonstrations exploring physics, chemistry, and anatomy. Solo cups were flying, balls were hovering, and toilet paper was soaring over students as they laughed and learned throughout the show!

On October 16th, the Angel Fund sponsored a free breakfast for our students. Biscuits and gravy, banana bread, and applesauce were just a few of the delicious items on the menu. A total of 39 students enjoyed this special event. A big thank you to the Angel Fund and everyone who helped make it possible!

Students had a SPOOKTACULAR time at the Fall Festival on Halloween! Games, face painting, and so much fun filled the day. A special thank you to our PTO for sponsoring this event and to Mrs. Van Zee’s class from the Sturgis High School for helping make it a success!

We will have a 2-hour early release for students to give our staff time to practice district safety drills and reunification procedures. These drills are an important part of our safety planning and help us stay prepared to protect our students and reunite families quickly in the event of an emergency.

THERE WILL BE NO AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM OR AFTER SCHOOL READING GROUPS WITH MISS MARISSA

Please join us at Whitewood Elementary for our Veterans Day Program on Monday, November 10th at 10:30 AM. Our students will share songs and tributes in honor of the brave men and women who have served our country. All are welcome!

Mrs. Zacher's 4th grade class have been exploring the fascinating world of volcanoes! They’ve learned about the different types of volcanoes, the kinds of lava they produce, and the various types of eruptions. They had a blast learning what happens when you mix an acid (vinegar) with a base (baking soda)! They started by gutting their pumpkins and then took the experiment outside for some explosive fun!

PreK had so much fun with our Pumpkin Investigation. We counted the lines, weighed them, figured out how many inches around they were, and hypothesized if they would sink or float. We then tested each pumpkin in water and found out that pumpkins float, even the big ones!

We would like to extend a special thank you to our families who donated pumpkins!

Each month, we highlight one of our amazing staff members, and this month we are excited to feature Ms. Heather, one of our great paraprofessionals!

Ms. Heather is no stranger to Whitewood Elementary—it’s where she attended elementary school herself! She joined the Whitewood Elementary staff four years ago, starting as a helper in the after-school program. Today, she works as a paraprofessional, spending most of her day supporting our kindergarten and first-grade students. Ms. Heather is always ready to lend a helping hand wherever she’s needed! We are so thankful for her hard work at our school. To help everyone get to know her better, we asked her a few questions:

Favorite Food? Anything from my mom's kitchen, especially homemade caramel rolls!

What is your favorite thing about your job at Whitewood Elementary? I have wonderful coworkers that make me feel so appreciated and the students make me so happy.

What fills your free time? Things you enjoy doing? I enjoy art, especially painting, and anything outdoors, hiking, biking, kayaking, stargazing, drawing, sledding, all the things! :)

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Either Sweden (I was there a year and a half ago) or Alaska.

What would be your super power? Definitely flying, I love the bird's eye perspective!

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” —A.A. Milne

Student Council members will be helping pass out programs and cookies to spectators of our Veteran's Day program on Monday, November 10th. Council members will also be helping with Turkey Bingo set up and cleanup on Friday, November 21st.

Student Council members sold baked goods during conferences on October 20th and 23rd. Thank you to everyone who supported them by purchasing treats!

The next PTO meeting will be November 3rd 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.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Scholastic Book Fair! We’d also like to give a special thank you to our PTO members who set up, worked at, and took down the books—your hard work made it all possible!

Mark your calendars! Turkey Bingo is happening Friday, November 21st — you won’t want to miss it!

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