• September 22nd - Fall Festival from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. on the Yake grounds!
• September 23rd - 27th - Inclusion Week!
• September 24th - Yake Family Dinner Night at Texas Roadhouse from 3:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.!
• September 25th - Our first PTO meeting of the year staring at 6:00 p.m.! - details coming soon!
• October 3rd - Picture Day!
• September 27th - ThinkStretch Awards Luncheon with Mr. Podlewski - Lunch will be provided and medals will be given to any Gator who turned in the ThinkStretch workbooks from this summer.
• October 10th - "Safe House" walking field trip to the Woodhaven Bible Church - this is our safe location in the case of a building evacuation.
• October 16th - PTO meeting held at 6:00 p.m. in our media center.
• October 21st - October 25th - Wipe Out Bullying week! - Details coming soon.
• October 24th - Woodhaven Elementary School Cross Country Championships starting at 5:00 p.m.at the Hall Road Park - by invitation only.
• October 25th - 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 now a part of our Monster Mash Bash! Extra fun for our Gators!
• October 31st - Halloween Parade starting at 9:30 a.m. - weather permitting, the parade will be held outside around our walking path. If weather is poor, the parade will be held inside and families will be welcome to join us inside to watch for the first time since 2019. Half-Day of School - 12:00 p.m. dismissal.

Take a peek at our Student Council representatives! Thank you, Mrs. O'Connor for continuing our outstanding Student Council at Yake Elementary School! This team will do some great work this year!

Please mark your calendars to join us for the first Yake Family Dinner Night at Texas Roadhouse on Tuesday, September 24th from 3:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. Enjoy some good food with some great Yake families! Even better as 10% of sales will go back to the our own Yake PTO!

For the week of September 9th, we had 288 Gators who had perfect attendance! Through our raffle, $10.00 Rev'D Up Fun arcade gift cards were awarded to Brett Caristo & Belkiz (Bella) Zeneli! 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.

Every Monday there will be a drawing based on attendance from the prior week. Two Gators with perfect attendance will receive $10 Rev'D Up Fun Arcade cards each week.

We are continuing to use SchoolPictures.com for our school pictures and yearboks.

Visit schoolpictures.com and enter our access code, which is: AA7808Fall24 to order your picture packages.

We have Watch D.O.G.S. t-shirts in stock to purchase! You can also click here or on the link below to check out a wider variety of items to order online.

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

The Worlds of Music Tours with Guy Louis returns to Yake Elementary School this year with his "Positively Rockin'" show on September 27th. Thank you to our PTO for bringing Mr. Louis back to Yake for a fun, character education show to help kick-off the new school year! Or a celebration of making it through the first month of school.

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 September 23, 2024.

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.

We are excited to announce that our partners at Rev'D Up Fun are donating enough $10.00 arcade cards so that we can raffle off two each week for any Gator who has had a week of perfect attendance. We will have our first raffle on Monday morning for any Gator who had perfect attendance during the week of September 9th. 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 BBQ for any Gators and their families who have maintained a 95% attendance rate or higher for the year.

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!

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 95%+ attendance rate for the 2024/25 school year. Let's keep those Gators growing and striving towards reaching their highest potential this year!

Please read the letter below for more information. Incentive reward information will be shared soon.

Sun, Sep 15, 2024 – Tue, Oct 15, 2024

Thank you, PTO Board Member, Jennifer Harold

for putting together a series of quotes for us!

When dropping off and picking up students, we ask you observe the following safety procedures:

Drop Off:

• The drop-off lane is open.

• This is our KISS & GO ZONE. Pull up next to the sidewalk to let your student out of your vehicle from the passenger side ONLY.

• Please do not drop off your students in the parking lot or in the second lane of traffic.

• If your student needs assistance exiting the car, you MUST park your car in the lot and walk your student to the front of the school to ensure a safe crossing from the parking lot.

• Students should not be permitted to walk past parked or moving cars unescorted.

• All students will line up outside at their classroom doors.

Pick Up:

• 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.

• Do not call your student to your car if you are parked in the main lot

Parents and visitors are asked to park in the Visitor's Parking lot, especially before 8:50 a.m. Staff members need to be able to park in order to get to their classrooms. Please assist us in keeping the spots in the staff parking lot open for staff, at least until 8:50 a.m. each morning.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Please click here or on the image below to see this year's bus routes. They should be the same as last year.

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

Birthday Celebrations!

Every child’s birthday is important. However, we must take more care when sending birthday treats to school. In addition to pandemic related precautions, we must also consider student food allergies, student diabetes, and our national push for healthy eating. If you wish to send a prepackaged birthday treat, you will need to either send the treats in with your child in the morning or pull into one of the parent parking spots and call the office to have us come out and pick up the treats from you. Please make sure that the pre-packaged treats have the ingredients listed on the packages. Please label the treats with your child’s name and classroom teacher. Parents will not be allowed to deliver treats into their child’s classroom.

As a reminder, no outside visitors will be allowed in our school unless they are volunteering or have an appointment. Any parent or visitor wishing to drop off or pick up a child, drop off a backpack or a lunch, etc. will need to call our office at (734)692-2230 for assistance. Staff members will welcome student in, escort students out and/or pick up backpacks, lunches and/or similar items as needed.

Yes, volunteers are welcome. However, they must be i-chat approved and the application is due one week prior to volunteering. To assess an IChat form, (Click here) and then click on the IChat form.

If parents wish to pick students up prior to dismissal, our office must be called before 3:20 p.m. Children will not be walked out to parents after 3:20 p.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.

The Woodhaven-Brownstown School District is excited to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students once again this year thanks to the Michigan Healthy School Meals Program!

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. All other Gators in grades 1-4 will enter their classes through the exterior classroom doors at 9:00 a.m. Young Fives & kindergarten Gators will be allowed to enter through the main doors at 8:50 a.m. and line up outside of their classrooms.

A flyer and a link to book your room can be found below! 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 17, 2025! The rooms sell out every year. Be sure to book early to reserve your room.

All about i-Ready for parents! Please see the videos below for information about the i-Ready diagnostic and the i-Ready program.

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.

Click here to access a FAQ parent guide which will be updated throughout the year.

Your one stop quick reference!

Home of the Gators!

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