November 2024 Newsletter
November 2024 Newsletter
Thank you for attending our parent-teacher conferences last week. I appreciate the time you took to discuss your child’s progress and the valuable insights you shared. Working together, we can make a positive impact on their learning journey. Goal setting is an integral part of our program here, and all students set SMART goals for the second quarter. Take a moment to ask your child about their goals and their plan to achieve them this quarter.
October 31st we bid Tiffany Mayasich farewell as she has officially finished her time at WHE as head secretary. We will miss you! Joni Wise will be returning to that full time role on December 2nd. In the meantime Liza Spencer and Gretchen McCulough will be subbing for the month of November. Please use this email (lspencer@kpbsd.k12.ak.us) for office related communication until December 2nd.
SNOW is here!
The snow is here and temperatures are dropping. Please make sure to send your child with proper outdoor gear as we go outside unless the temperature dips to -10 degrees F! (see more in the Nursing News below)
All communication regarding school closures or delays will come from KPBSD district office. In the future, we will NOT send out school closure information through our WHE Remind App to avoid repetition of the same messaging. It will be important to make sure all your contact information is accurate in PowerSchool to get these messages.
Also, our PTO is in the midst of planning a second semester parent educational series on parenting in a digital age. See the PTO section below for more information about the series and how to get involved in the planning if you have an interest.
Here is to another exciting quarter of learning!
Eric Waltenbaugh, Principal
Ms. Tiffany F. has been such a wonderful leader and example to the students she supports at West Homer. She is kind, patient, willing to help, and uses her unique ability of seeing the need of what cannot be spoken. She has been with us for three amazing years this December and we cannot imagine this school without her. She is what makes our Orca pod even stronger. Swimming ovation!
Winter is coming!
Cold weather is coming. To stay safe and warm, children need to wear proper winter gear. The school policy is to have the students go outside for recess unless the temperature goes below -10 degrees F. Your student should be coming to school prepared to spend 30 minutes outside.
As a general rule, children who are well enough to attend school benefit from outdoor recess time.
A variety of illnesses are making their way around town.
The district’s protocol is if your child has a fever, has diarrhea, or is vomiting, they need to stay home and rest.
If your child is on antibiotics, give it 12-24 hours and then they can come to school.
If your child has a spreading, “angry looking”, wet and untreated rash, please keep them home until they have seen a health care provider and have been cleared for school.
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach the nurse at
907-226-1232, lpeek@kpbsd.org, or on the Remind app.
Your School Nurse,
Nurse Laura
West Homer Elementary
Fireweed Academy 3rd-6th
West Homer PTO is for everyone!
You are invited to join us in being part of the PTO. We spend the year building community here at West by celebrating staff and students, fundraising, and hosting community events. All these activities remind us how much we can invest in our schools and the people who make West Homer a place to learn and building connections. Some of the things the PTO is involved with is The Penny Wars, Lunch and Play with Caregivers, Community Coffee once a quarter, the Talent Show, Staff Appreciation, End of Year BBQ, and much more!
We've been lucky to have several staff attend our PTO meetings so far this year. Please join us if you can! The PTO benefits greatly from the ideas and perspectives of staff. We will be meeting the first Tuesday of the month at 4:30 pm in the library. There will also be a Zoom option. The next meeting will be Nov. 5th.
Please reach out any time with ideas/feedback/questions.
Thanks,
Ahnie Litecky
For more information email us at: ptowesthomer@gmail.com
Fundraising
We aim to raise $5,000 to cover yearbooks for all students. Fundraising will include the fall appeal letter (in teacher mailboxes on Thursday), Penny Wars in December, the spring Talent Show, and some popcorn/spirit/bake sales at events like basketball games. If you have simple fundraising ideas that don’t require a lot of people power, please share!
Tech Education Series
In partnership with the Site Council, the PTO plans to host a spring technology education series for parents/caregivers of 3-6 graders. This series will aim to give families tools to help navigate tech/social media and foster healthier relationships with technology. It will start with a showing of the documentary Screenagers and include several talks by local experts on tech use, social media, physical and mental health, and digital safety. If you want to join the organizing committee or have speaker/topic ideas, let me know.
