Woods Lake Family Weekly

Dear Woods Lake Elementary Families,

Good morning — I hope you and your children are doing well. We are grateful for your continued partnership and want to share important updates and joyful moments from our school.

Important Announcements

• PEEP program begins on Monday, September 14. Please make sure your child is ready to attend on that date.
• First-grade field trip: Our first graders will visit the Kalamazoo Public Library (Central Branch).
• Open House: Thursday, September 17, 2026 — 4:30–6:00 PM. Come meet your child’s teacher, see the classroom, and learn about the year ahead.
• Bus Expectation Stations: Students will participate in Bus Expectation Stations with our bus drivers on September 15 and 16. These sessions teach safe, respectful conduct on school buses. Please remind your child to listen and follow bus expectations.

Celebrations from the Week We had an extraordinary week at school. We were honored to welcome Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Senator Sean McCann, and State Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko.

Highlights included:

• Governor Whitmer, Senator McCann, and Dr. Maleyko served lunch to our second graders and spent time mingling with students.
• Governor Whitmer joined a fifth-grade English Language Arts lesson in Ms. Lockett’s class — students were excited to participate and share their learning.
• The visit concluded with a press conference in our school library.

These events showcased our students’ poise and enthusiasm and highlighted the strong community support for our school. We are grateful for the respectful way our students represented our school and for the community leaders who took time to visit.

Attendance and Communication Attendance is essential to student success. Please help us by ensuring your child comes to school consistently and by avoiding early pickups when possible. We understand that illness requires keeping children home; in those cases, please call and report the absence.

Important attendance reminders:

• Report all absences to our child accountant secretary, Ms. Ashley Diget.
• We will continue outreach when students accumulate 3, 5, 10, and 15 days of unexcused absences as part of our effort to improve chronic attendance rates.

Thank you for your cooperation in supporting regular attendance — your efforts make a real difference in your child’s learning.

We are grateful for your ongoing support in making our school a welcoming, safe, and inspiring place to learn. Thank you for partnering with us — we look forward to seeing many of you at Open House on September 17 and to a wonderful year ahead.

Warmly,

Principal Prather

prathersm@kalamazoopublicschools.net

269-337-0790

Hello Woods Lake families,

My name is David Cicha and I teach 4th and 5th Grade Orchestra at Kalamazoo Public Schools. It is my 6th year in the district and I am thrilled to be at my four buildings this year! I love playing all kinds of instruments; outside of strings I also play percussion, piano, clarinet, and many more! Outside of school, I enjoy cycling and running, playing video games, photography, yoyoing, and spending time with family and friends. I live in Kalamazoo with my wife and cat (you'll have to come to orchestra to see pictures of him).

Please follow the links below, or navigate to the tab you need in the top right! All students who want to be in orchestra must have a parent or guardian fill out the enrollment form. If you need a KPS instrument, you must fill out the forms in Revtrak.

*Please fill out both forms, Thanks! BOTH DUE SEPTEMBER 16th*

Our goal is to ensure all students leave safely and are accounted for. If you need to change your child's dismissal plan, you must call the front office by 3:00 PM—we cannot accept any dismissal changes after this time under any circumstances. This deadline allows us to efficiently communicate all changes to teachers in time and prevents students from waiting in the office. If a student tells us they need a different bus or pickup arrangement, we cannot make the change until we receive a phone call from an authorized parent or guardian. Note that bus changes must also be approved and documented by the transportation department.

Our office closes temporarily at 3:30 PM for dismissal daily. Secretaries will not be available to answer phones, the intercom, or open doors until the final bus leaves, typically around 4:10 PM. We appreciate your understanding as we work together to ensure all students have a safe, efficient transition to their after-school destination.

09/14: PEEP first day of school, 1st graders take a field trip to Kalamazoo Public Library (Central Branch) 9:30 and 10:30 AM

09/15: Students participate in bus expectation drill with bus drivers

09/16: Students participate in bus expectation drill with bus drivers

09/17: Open House, 4:30-6:00 PM

09/22: A/T Students first day @ Lincoln, PTO Mum pick up Day 2

09/24: Fire Drill

09/25: Lockdown Drill

09/28: First day of KKIT

09/30: First Day Shoe Fund Fitting Day

10/01: September School Assembly Celebration

10/02: Positive Behavior for September Celebrations (No school/bus referrals)

Email Me: prathersm@kalamazoopublicschools.net
Website: https://woodslake.kalamazoopublicschools.com/
Location: 3215 Oakland Dr, Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Phone: (269) 337-0790
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoodsLakeElementary/