Washington Woods Family Newsletter

Website: https://wwe.wws.k12.in.us

Location: 19750 Grassy Branch Road, Westfield, IN, USA
Phone: 317-867-7900
Facebook: Washington Woods Facebook

What a Fun Run!

Wow, Woods families! We raised $76,060.09! We absolutely blew past our fundraising goal, and we are so incredibly grateful for the support of our Washington Woods families.

A huge thank you to our PTO for all of the planning, organizing, and behind-the-scenes work that made Fun Run such an amazing event. Thank you to our parent volunteers who gave their time and energy to help make the day happen. And most of all, thank you to our families for continuing to support this special place and the staff and students who make up The Woods.

Fun Run is our only fundraiser of the school year, and your incredible generosity will make such a difference for our students and our school. We are so thankful for this community!

Rock Strong Award Nominations

We are so fortunate to have an amazing staff at Washington Woods, and we would love to help recognize the people who make a difference for our students and families.

Rock Strong Award nominations are now open! If there is a staff member you'd like to recognize for the impact they have made, please use the link below to submit a nomination. We can't wait to celebrate the amazing people who help make The Woods such a great place to be!

Rock Strong Award Nomination Form

Work on property

Beginning the week of September 21, SAK Construction and its subcontractors will be constructing a temporary access road through portions of the woods area near Washington Woods Elementary School. This road will support sanitary sewer improvement work being completed for Citizens Energy Group and will allow construction vehicles, equipment, and materials to safely reach the work area while minimizing impacts to the surrounding park property.

During construction, residents may notice increased truck traffic, equipment movement, and contractor personnel in the area. All construction traffic will follow designated access routes, and work areas will be clearly marked and secured.

SAK Construction and its subcontractors are aware of our school bus schedules and student arrival and dismissal times and will coordinate their activities around these restrictions to minimize disruptions. We ask parents, students, and neighborhood residents to remain alert and use caution around construction vehicles and equipment operating near the project area.

We appreciate your patience and cooperation as these important infrastructure improvements are completed safely for our community.

Let's have a great week!

Mrs. Baud

Parent drop off and parent pick up are going well! Thank you for your support in following the traffic flow, and dropping kids off at the correct doors. If you arrive after the doors or gate have closed, please walk your child into the office.

Parent pick up families, thank you for your patience while we delayed the use of our Fast Lane feature for pick up. We plan to do some training with staff this week in hopes to get it up and running soon. You will need your School Dismissal Manager ready. Don't forget, if you have a family or friend picking up, they need to be set up as a "view only parent" so they can also access the QR code in the line.

Clubs & Dismissal Plans

As our clubs and enrichment opportunities begin over the next couple of months, please remember that club participation is an exception to your child's regular dismissal plan.

If your child is registered for and attending a club such as Helping Hands, Choir, an academic team, or a PTO enrichment club, you will need to enter the appropriate exception in School Dismissal Manager so we know your child should go to their club instead of following their normal dismissal plan. Please only enter a club as an exception if your child is officially signed up for that club.

More information about these opportunities will be shared as clubs get closer. Thank you for helping us make sure every student gets where they need to go safely!

New Attendance Procedure

Please use our new School Dismissal Manager app to enter absences, late arrivals, and early dismissals. When you use the SDM app to enter your absence, please include the reason. Once the absence is entered in the SDM app, you will not need to email or call the attendance line.

Traveling for a family event?

If your child will be out for an elective absence—such as a vacation or sports event—those absences are considered Excused if:

• Your child has fewer than 7 total absences, and

• You notify our office at least 2 days in advance.

If you have any questions about your child’s attendance, please reach out to Becky Garver by email at garverr@wws.k12.in.us.

Monitoring Attendance

Please refer to the Elementary School Handbook on the District Webpage for details of attendance policies.

We will be monitoring attendance this year. Students who have missed five, nine, and/or fifteen total days or more during the school term will be informed in writing. As this is cumulative throughout the year and not within one single grading period, this may not require further action unless otherwise indicated.

We want to partner proactively with families this year to assure our students are at school as much as possible!

Voting is one of the most important ways we participate in our community and our democracy. As a school district, we believe in preparing students to be engaged, informed citizens, and we encourage every eligible member of our community to exercise that same civic responsibility.

The deadline to register to vote in Indiana for the November 3 General Election is October 5, 2026.

Whether you need to register, update your registration, or simply check your voter registration status, visit IndianaVoters.in.gov.

Be informed. Be engaged. Make your voice heard.

Hello Washington Woods Families!

We still have two resources open if you are needing weekend food assistance or a one-time home supplies kit!

Our Shamrock Care Kits provide basic household and hygiene essentials, including laundry detergent, dish soap, deodorant, bath soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and more. Please note, Shamrock Care Kits are a one-time resource, with one kit available per family.

If you are interested in this resource, please do not hesitate to reach out to me either by phone or email.

johnsonsa@wws.k12.in.us

317-867-7900 ex. 19006

______________________________________________

Weekend Food Program Beginning Soon!

The Weekend Food program will begin in September! This program allows students to bring home a bag of food each Friday, containing non-perishable breakfast and lunch/dinner meals for the weekend. For a little more information about the BackSack program, click HERE.

If you would like your child to participate in this program, please click on the link below to complete the Google Form.

Weekend Food Sign Up Form

Interested in supporting the Weekend Food program?

Open Doors of Westfield partners with our schools to support our students and families. Approximately 800 bags of food are distributed district-wide each month, so that's a whole lot of applesauce, ravioli, and granola bars (among other items)!! To make this happen, they rely heavily on the support and generosity of our community. Want to pitch in? Go to https://opendoorswestfield.org/ to find out how. Putting together everyone's "little bit" makes a BIG difference!

We are now welcoming Lunch Visitors!

Please sign up for only ONE visit per month and only one family member may visit at a time. *If you have a special need to have multiple visitors, please reach out to the office so we can check available space. Visitors MUST have a SafeVisitor registration on file.

Please do not bring outside food to share with anyone other than your child. We do not allow sharing food in the cafeteria.

We allow 4 visitors per grade level, per day for lunch. Due to limited space and some overlapping lunch times, visitors might be sitting at their child's table. All visitors must enter through Door 1 and check in and check out at the main office prior to going to the cafeteria. Visitors must stay in the cafeteria during their visit; they are not allowed to go back to the classroom or recess with the student. Use the link below to make your lunch reservation.

Sign Up on the Sign Up Genius below:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0545A9AA28A5F4C34-65506711-wwes

Lunch time portal is the place you can manage your child's lunch account, including putting money in the account and marking restrictions to your child's lunch choices. Please make sure you also check your child's transactions. If they take two entrees, they will be charged for both.

You can find the monthly lunch menus on our school website. A La Carte will begin September 1.

The Powerschool Parent Portal is an essential part of every WWS student's journey. Please visit and bookmark the link below for easy access. New families should have received a Parent Portal Letter via email, so please check for that (check Spam too!). You can alwaus email our Secretary at garverr@wws.k12.in.us for help. Also, you can now find your student's ID number in the upper right hand corner of Powerschool!

Log into Your PowerSchool Parent Portal Here

Do you know your A,B,C's? Do you know your 1,2,3's? Do you like to create bulletin boards? Come help in the library! Looking for help with shelving books, shelf reading (making sure books are in the right place), and keeping bulletin boards current. Please reach out to Ms. Ottinger. ottingers@wws.k12.in.us

If your child is participating in a club, please remember to enter an Exception in School Dismissal Manager for each day they will be attending. This helps ensure they are dismissed to their club as planned.

If an Exception is not entered, your child will be dismissed according to their usual dismissal plan. Thank you for helping us make dismissal run smoothly!

Together, we raised $76,060.09, passing our $55,000 goal and bringing us closer to a shade structure near the playground!

Thank you to our families, sponsors, staff, volunteers, and PTO for everything that went into these last few weeks. From popsicles and principals on the roof to silly string and the dunk tank, our kids had so much to celebrate. Friday was such a fun way to wrap it all up!

And we have one more celebration to come! Mark your calendars for our Family Luau Foam Party on October 9 from 5–7 p.m. at WWES, earned by passing our fundraising goal.

Prize celebrations are being coordinated, and winning families and classrooms are being contacted with details. Thank you for making this year’s Fun Run such a success!

Stay in the know and up-to-date on school events and activities without ever lifting a finger. You can now subscribe to the PTO calendar on either Google or Apple! Just click the link for the format you want, and you'll always see what's ahead! Don't want to subscribe? The calendar is always viewable from the PTO website under the Calendar tab.

Subscribe to Google Calendar

Subscribe to iCal for Apple