Sheiko's Family Update

Dear Sheiko Families,

What an amazing opening week at Sheiko! Thank you to our students, staff, and families for your patience, positivity, and support as we settled into our beautiful new building. It has been wonderful seeing our students learning, exploring, and making Sheiko feel like home!

📣 This Week’s BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

Our first FunD Run prize is here! 🎉

The classroom that raises the MOST money by September 8th will win a special classroom experience with Tru Martial Arts! 🥋

Every donation helps support our students and school—and gives your child’s class a chance to earn this exciting experience!

Thank you again for such a fantastic first week. We are so excited for everything ahead!

Great Lakes, Great Minds! 💙

Warmly,

Blaine McDowell
Principal

• September 9th at 7 p.m. - Sheiko PTO Meeting, cafeteria
• September 16th, 6:30 p.m - Ribbon cutting at Sheiko!
• September 17th Curriculum Night:

- 6:45-7:15 - 2nd & 3rd

- 7:30-8:00 -4th & 5th

• September 18th, 5 p.m. - Family Fun Night, WBHS, football game to follow!
• September 25th - PTO FunD Run - Schedule to Come, Parents/Guardians Invited!

Sheiko’s summer IXL winners had a blast at their pizza party lunch with Mrs. McDowell! These students were at the top of the leaderboard during the summer, some of them even more than once! They even got to pick a friend to come to the lunch with them! Thank you to Mrs. Bairski and Mrs. Quinn for helping to organize our special lunch! Way to go Sheiko leaders!

If a student will not be attending school for part or all of the day, parents/guardians must call the safeline: (248) 865-6370.

If your student arrives at 9:01 or after, please park and walk your student into the main office. You will need to sign them in. If your student arrives at 10:01 or after, it is marked as a 1/2 day a.m. absence.

Parents are strongly encouraged to schedule medical, dental, legal, and other necessary appointments outside of the school day.

If this in unavoidable, parents should bring in documentation after the absence. This may include documentation regarding:

• Medical appointments/illness or injury that requires the student's presence at home
• Death in the family
• Court appearances
• Religious observvance MCL 380.1561(3)

Other things to know:

• Excused absences DO count towards truancy. "Excused" means we know that your child is safe.
• Vacations/travel DO count towards truancy.
• "DA" is a "documented absence. This means that you have turned in documentation (a doctor's note, ortho note, funeral pamphlet), and this does NOT count towards truancy.

1. Academic Performance & Learning Momentum
   Arriving on time allows students to participate fully in lessons, engage with discussions, and avoid missing crucial instruction—factors closely tied to stronger academic success.

2. Reduced Stress & Anxiety
   Tardiness can cause students to enter class feeling rushed, anxious, or embarrassed. Starting the day punctually fosters a sense of calm and belonging.
   

3. Better Social and Emotional Start
   Students who arrive on time benefit from morning social interactions—small but meaningful routines that help build peer and teacher relationships.
   

4. Long-Term Habit Formation
   Punctuality cultivates discipline, reliability, and respect—career-ready traits that serve students well beyond the classroom.

This week in choir we will review and read rhythms with half notes, quarter notes/rests and eight notes/rests. We will also start using solfege (DoReMiFaSolLaTiDo) with hand signs to accurately sing on pitch and to be aware of melodic movement. Learning to read music is our top priority this year.

Jolene M. Plotzke

West Bloomfield High School

Vocal Music Director

jolene.plotzke@wbsd.org

Hello, Sheiko parents and Welcome to the new STEAM Lab @ Sheiko!

Learning is 'steaming' hot in the lab this first week of school! Students are learning about the 4 Cs of STEAM: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity, as they engage in mini-challenges with their table teams. This week, using the EDP, the engineering design process, students collaborated to either make the tallest tower using only two materials OR worked independently to make a paper airplane that could fly a specified distance! They are learning that there are no 'wrong' answers and that whatever they design and create can always be modified! Students also had an opportunity to 'play' with a circuitry lamp that illuminates when the correct connectors are aligned! We are having a blast in STEAM and already learning so much!..."

This is when students come to work with a 5th grade "branch manager" to see how their account is doing. It's great if students can make a deposit before these days so that they can watch their money grow!

Our new playground is outstanding! I am asking that you please watch the "recess video" with your kids. It will really help our "Popsicle with the Principal" event and the start of school get off to a great start! Please emphasize safety and that we use our words to solve our problems. Safety is our number one priority! :)

We are going to print a PTO directory for all of our families with names, phone numbers, and emails. If you DO NOT want to be included in the directory, please fill this form out by Wednesday, September 30th. If you WANT to be in the directory, do not fill out this form.

Thank you so much!

Check out my car line video! https://youtube.com/shorts/qdvGf5kEhuE?si=wVjeG6xnYh_6TdPL

There is an option to turn left or right out of the parking lot at this building! Woo! Hoo! Be sure your students exit from the passenger side of the back seat, both for safety and efficiency. Each family will have a "family number" and a little sign to hang from your mirror with that number on it. More to come on that!

Students that ride the bus will be dropped off and picked up in the front of the building. Students that ride their bike or walk will go down the sidewalk in the middle of the parking lot to the light. We will have a crossing guard at the light. Students would go down that same sidewalk and continue to Prince of Peace if you are picking up from there. They have graciously given us permission to do this, but be sure that you pull in the parking lot and have your car facing the road so that you are ready to exit when your student arrives.

If you have a 5th grade student that would like to run our student-run credit union with Orsa Credit Union, please have them check their email and fill out the application. Applications are due Friday, September 11th. These were sent to the students' emails because they need to log into their email to fill them out. :)

Please be sure to fill out your back-to-school forms before the first day of school. Families can to login to PowerSchool and complete the Back to School Update Packet. This process needs to be completed before the first day of school. Complete the Back to School Update

*Newly enrolled families and kindergarten families do not have to do this once you finish the enrollment process. You are done! :)

Families are required to do this for each child enrolled with WBSD. If you do not know your login and/or password for PowerSchool, please visit https://www.wbsd.org/parents/powerschool for more information.

Our doors will open at 8:45 a.m. Students can get a free breakfast until 8:55. If you are utlizing car line, please be in car line by 3:52. This will help make sure that everyone is dismissed safely. Thank you so much!