NEWS from the NEST

Woodland Families:

BIG WEEK AHEAD: The WInter Diagnostic (iReady Test) will be given this week starting on Tuesday. Each day this week students will be tested in either Reading or Math. Please make sure that your student gets a good night sleep, eats a good breakfast (at home or school), and gives their best effort. This is where we need our families' support. There are a lot of things we are doing at school to support, encourage, and incentivize growth and effort on the iReady test. I'm attaching a slideshow that can help you walk through our expectations at home as well as the Good Faith Effort Checklist each student will have on their desk during testing.

Students need to know that you care about how well they perform. They need to know that you expect their best. Talk to them about what that means. We know our Eagles have the ability to move mountains, but we must see it in order to continue moving them forward.

Girls Basketball Champions: Congratulations to our 5th grade girls basketball team for winning their Championship game! We are extremely proud of both of our teams. The 4th grade team played a great game and was named Runner Ups for their grade level league.

There is a LOT of information below.

Holiday Meal RSVP for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades closes on Wednesday (December 10th), Woodland Wonderland Family Night RSVP is below and takes place on Tuesday (December 9th), Winter Wear Palooza information, Holiday Candle Fundraiser closes on Friday (December 12th), etc. Please make sure to pass this information along to any Eagle family that may or may not receive this newsletter.

PTO Candle Gift Box Fundraiser: Please see below. Proceeds go directly back into the Woodland PTO's account to help the school community at Woodland. The online gift shop has an option for you to have your gift box brought to Woodland to eliminate shipping costs. Click here for the ONLINE shop.

Here's to ANOTHER great week in the NEST!

Eagles Fly Because They Try!

Mr. Thompson

Principal - Woodland Elementary

brandon.thompson@hardin.kyschools.us

Families, thank you for the incredible support you continue to provide at home. Your encouragement helps our Eagles discover their voices as personal champions, active collaborators, and engaged learners. We are proud to see their growth and the confidence they bring into the classroom each day.

As we move into the next three weeks, please remind your student that learning happens daily and that every moment in class matters. Our shared goal is to maintain a safe, disruption-free environment where all students can thrive. Encourage your Eagle to stay engaged, respectful, and productive, giving their very best effort.

Together, we are building a community of learners who soar with pride and purpose!

Mrs. Aubrey

Assistant Principal - Woodland Elementary

precious.aubrey@hardin.kyschools.us

Holiday Candle Fundraiser Closes on Decmber 12th! (see link to the online store)

Winter Wear Palooza (through December 30th - see flyer below)

12/8/25 iReady Winter Diagnostic Assembly

(Good Faith Effort Reward announced)

12/9/25 Woodland Wonderland (see flyer below)

12/10/25 LAST DAY to RSVP for the Holiday Meal

12/9 - 12/12 Winter iReady Diagnostic Testing for all GRADES

(attendance is EXTREMELY important)

12/15-12/19 Holiday Dress Up Days

12/17/2025 Holiday Meal (3rd, 4th & 5th grades)

12/17/25 Assembly to celebrate the HIGHEST growth school-wide

12/18/25 2nd grade Community performace @ 6pm

12/19/25 GOOD FAITH EFFORT REWARD for iReady Winter Diagnostic

12/19/25 Holiday Classroom Parties

12/20/25 - January 5th Winter Break (school dismissed)

1/6/2026 SCHOOL RETURNS for 2026

Looking for an easy gift idea? The Woodland PTO in partnership with the Candle Barn Company will offer two differnt options for a holiday candle gift box. Order forms will be sent home with students on Monday, but you can order directly through a private online link below. 40% of the proceeds go directly back into the Woodland PTO. The PTO helps to ensure that we continue to provide experiences for our students and staff members. This is a great way to help our school, support a local business, and get an actual usable gift for the holidays. Thanks in advance for your support!

The Competency for the Month of December will be Engaged Learner. Each teacher will choose a student from their classroom and throughout the month of December, we will recognize those Eagles for exhibiting characteristics of being an Engaged Learner on our LIVE Google Meets Friday mornings. Please look below at what it takes to be an Engaged Learner.

A trip to the Office is not always a BAD thing. These Eagles were shouted out by going above and beyond and received a Positive Office Referral. Just another way of positively promoting our Eagles!

TRUANCY

KY Legal Statute on Truancy

Our truancy officer may contact parents/guardians of students who have more than 6 unexcused absences and/or tardies. Parents/Guardians are permitted to use 6 parent notes to excuse absences. Please reference the 2025-2026 Hardin County Schools Code of Acceptable Behavior and Discipline for additional information. In order to receive an education, students must attend school.

HOW WOODLAND WILL COMBAT AGAINST TRUANCY & CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM

Starting in the 25-26 school year at Woodland we will begin a process when a student reaches 9 unexcused absences or a total of 15 absences either excused or unexcused you will receive a letter with a scheduled Parent Engagement Meeting or (PEM). The meeting will be a mandatory meeting and a response will be required. We are partnering with the Central Kentucky Community Action Council to help find solutions to chronic absenteeism by supporting families in a variety of ways.

Please make sure to RSVP for the Holiday Meal for your 3rd, 4th or 5th grader(s). We are trying to share it as many ways as possible. Please make sure to pass this information along to anyone else you know that might have a student in these grade levels. We do not want to turn anyone away, but the cafeteria can only hold so many people and we have to pre-order food as well. The cutoff for the RSVP will be Wednesday, December 10th. Thanks in advance!

Essay Contest

The Essay Contest is open to 4th through 12th-grade students. Submissions are accepted via the 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest Google Form.

• Essay should be inspired by this year's theme.
• Essay must be 500 words or less.
• All writing entries will be judged on the criteria listed in the Kentucky Writing Scoring Rubric: purpose, awareness of audience, idea development, organization (sentence structure and transitions), language, and correctness.
  

Visual Arts Contest

The Visual Arts Contest is open to Kindergarten through 12th-grade students. Submissions are accepted via the 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Visual Arts Contest Google Form.

• ​All visual art and media entries will be judged on the following criteria:
• ​Creativity and originality: artwork reflects a unique style or expression.
• Theme: artwork addresses the theme of the contest.
• The selection will be based solely on the artwork; no written essay is required.

We cannot do this without the support of our families! Our attendance this year has been SO much better than last year. Thank you! Our Eagles are soaring because of support from home!

Each day a homeroom class has the opportunity to earn a Tardy Tater piece. How do they earn it? It's all tied into Attendance. Students must be present (not tardy) in order for the class to add a piece. After 10 day of only have one student missing from their class, the class receives a Tater Chip Party. We are wanting our Eagles to be at school each and everyday. We miss them when they are not here!

Students will once again be eligible to earn EGGcellent Eagle Tickets for work they do from the Reading Passages and Math Fluency sheets posted on the Family Newsletter. Students can simply get a note from a family member stating that they read the reading passage for the week. Students can also complete the math problems (show your work) on a blank sheet of paper and send those in as well. Please do not keep the printing from allowing your student to complete the work.

Students needs their first and last name and their homeroom teacher's name on their paper when turning these in. Can students complete work outside of their grade level? YES!

I will award students for grade level work that is either 1 grade level above or below the grade level that they are currently in.

For every Reading Passage a student reads = 2 EGGcellent Eagle Tickets

For every 10 math problems a student completes = 1 EGGcellent Eagle ticket

EGGcellent Eagle tickets will be drawn on Monday mornings this school year for a snack and prize.

1st Grade Reading Passage (Different Ways to Write)

2nd Grade Reading Passage (Grandfather Joe's Treasure)

3rd Grade Reading Passage (The Cricket)

4th Grade Reading Passage (Parts of An Airplane)

5th Grade Reading Passage (Minerals at the Museum)

All grades levels have a fluency standard.

The KY Math Standards state that students should be fluent in the following areas:

1st Grade Math Fluency Sheet

2nd Grade Math Fluency Sheet

3rd Grade Math Fluency Sheet

4th Grade Math Fluency Sheet

5th Grade Math Fluency Sheet

Please look above at the APP that you will need to download in order to stay in contact with Woodland via Rooms. Rooms is inside the HCS app. The only people that will be automatically entered into Rooms will be a student's guardian(s) that are listed in Parent Portal. All family members can still download the app and see all things Woodland. If you find yourself having trouble with Rooms and need assistance, please reach out to us so we can help you. Please also make sure that your correct phone number is listed in Parent Portal so you receive the text messages that the district and Woodland sends out.

Follow the directions in the link to obtain a Parent Portal. All families are encouraged to make sure that they have access to their student's Parent Portal. This is where all attendance and grades are housed for your student.

https://www.hardin.kyschools.us/parents/parent-portal-account-how-do-i-get-one

All educators in the state of KY in the public school systems must use the Kentucky Academic Standards. All of the programs that we use at Woodland align to these standards. If you are ever wondering why your student is learning a specific skill or concept in their grade level, you can look to these for guidance.

Do you want to help, but you don't want to go out and buy and drop it off at the school? Click here to help send supplies directly to the school. Thanks in advance!

https://a.co/6QhXhhx

Woodland does have a Wellness policy that is a SBDM (Site Base Decision Making) policy about no outside food coming in for birthday celebrations. We do celebrate every student in a monthly celebration on the last Thursday of the month. Students are given a treat provided by the cafeteria, we sing Happy Birthday, and each child gets a Happy Birthday pencil. If you would like to do something additional, please reach out to your student's homeroom teacher. You are always welcome to send in a trinket/prize/pencil for the students in the class. You can also contact the school and come and eat lunch with your student if you are able to do that. With the ever growing number of students with known and unknown allergies, we do not allow large batches of food (cupcakes, brownies, etc.).

Some suggestions in lieu of food:

• Stickers
• Glow bracelets
• temporary tattoos
• Bubbles
• Play-doh
• Side walk chalk

Thank you for your understanding and support.

If there is a change in your student's transportation, please fill our the form linked here. We must have transportation changes in writing for documentation purposes.

The link is https://forms.gle/39qw9qqqjnXccMtR9

Here is the important information regarding how parents can view and pay for field trips and complete permission slips for their students.

To get started, parents need to complete a two-step sign-up process:

1. Create a free SchoolCash Online account.

   • Visit https://hardin.schoolcashonline.com and click on "Register."
   • Fill in your first name, last name, email address, and create a password.
   • Choose a security question.
   • Select "Yes" to receive email notifications (no promotional emails will be sent).
   • Check your email for a confirmation message (remember to look in the Spam folder if it doesn’t appear).
   • Use your email and password to log in.

2. Add your student(s) to your account profile and make a payment.

• Sign in at https://hardin.schoolcashonline.com.
• Navigate to "My Account" at the top of the page.
• From the dropdown menu, select "My Students."
• Click to add a child:
  • Type your school board name and choose your school from the list.
  • Enter your child's details (up to 8 students can be added).
  • Click "Confirm."
• Select the item you wish to purchase and click "Add to Cart."
• Once finished adding items, click "Continue" to make a payment.

Are you looking for child care after school? The district provides child care, at a low cost, to families. Please visit the link to check it out and fill out the application or you can call 270-769-8800 and ask to speak to Amy Wood. If you are interested please act quickly. Spots do fill up. Thank you!

https://www.hardin.kyschools.us/school-aged-child-care-sacc-1

If you are interested in being a volunteer, this video explains how volunteers can complete a background check (which they need per law and policy).

https://youtu.be/jd8mltg9bmM

Some points of note:

• HCS will send a request for a background check to the Administrative Office of the Courts EVERY FIVE YEARS. The AOC charges the district a $10 fee for each check administered. We ask the volunteer to pay for that background check processing fee.
• We will only ask for a processing fee every five years instead of every year. We ask for the background check form to be completed each year in order to maintain a clear record of the current school year's volunteers.
• The background check will not be processed until the Superintendent’s office has received $10 for the background check and a copy of the receipt issued by the school. For instance, if an adult who has never volunteered becomes a volunteer in 2024, they will not have to pay for another background check until 2029.