25-26 WBES Parent Newsletter

Email: lisa.jones@hsv-k12.org
Website: https://www.huntsvillecityschools.org/schools/whitesburg-elementary
Location: 107 Sanders Road Southwest, Huntsville, AL, USA
Phone: 2564287780
Facebook: facebook.com/WhitesburgElem
Twitter: @whitesburgElem

September 22, 2025

• College and Career Week begins

September 23, 2025

• Take the Next Step Tuesday - Students dress up in what they want to be when they grow up.

September 24, 2025

• Walk the Walk Wednesday - Dress Your Best for Success

• Fall Photos

• Title 1 Parent Advisory Committee Meeting at 10:00

September 25, 2025

• Hop Into Habits Thursday - Wear Orange,Blue, and/or White, or a Whitesburg Shirt

September 26, 2025

• Career Day

• Shine Bright Friday - Wear colors of favorite college (or college they want to attend)

• Teacher Snack Cart

Sep 29 AR Point Cut-Off

Sep 30 Buddy-a-Thon stuffing in Lion’s Den

Oct 1 Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Oct 1 School Principal’s Month

Oct 1 Kindergarten BOY Numeracy Screener Window

Oct 1 AR Party

Oct 2 PBIS Party

Oct 2 Custodian Appreciation Day

Oct 3 Severe Weather Drill

Oct 6-10 Fall Break

Oct 13 PTA Board Meeting

Oct 13-24 ACAP Summative Practice Test Window

Oct 13-24 4th-5th BOY Forefront Fractional Screeners Window

Oct 16 Title 1 Parent Focus Meeting - Keys for Academic Success at 5:30

Oct 17 Report Cards go home

Oct 22 Title 1 Parent Advisory Committee Meeting at 10:00

Oct 22 Orange/Blue BBQ

Oct 23 Fall Photo Make-up

Oct 27-31 Red Ribbon Week

Oct 28 Spelling Bee

Oct 31 ½ Day Student

Nov 1 Native American Heritage Month

Nov 10 Veteran’s Day Program

Nov 10 PTA Board Meeting

Nov 11 Veteran’s Day Holiday – No School

Nov 13 Title 1 Parent Focus Meeting - Importance of Family Dinner at 5:30

Nov 13 Intruder Drill

Nov 19 Title 1 Parent Advisory Committee Meeting at 10:00

Nov 19 Progress Reports go home

Nov 20 Thanksgiving Meal

Nov 26-28 Thanksgiving Holiday

Dec 5 Hazardous Materials Drill

Dec 8 PTA Board Meeting

Dec 10 Winter Concert (K-2) – 5:30

Dec 10 Title 1 Parent Focus Meeting - Family Game Time - at 5:00

Dec 12 Lion Shop

Dec 15 AR Point Cut-off

Dec 17 Title 1 Parent Advisory Committee Meeting at 10:00

Dec 17 AR Party

Dec 18 PBIS Party

Dec 19 ½ Day Student

Dec 22-Jan 2 Winter Holiday

Jan 1 School Board Appreciation Month

Jan 6 Students Return

Jan 6-16 MOY IReady Window

Jan 6-Feb 6 K-2 MOY Numeracy Screener Window

Jan 6-16 4th Grade MOY Forefront Fractional Screeners Window

Jan 7-16 MOY DIBELS Window (K-3)

Jan 9 Report Cards go home

Jan 12- Mar 13 ACCESS and Alt ACCESS Window

Jan 12 PTA Board Meeting

Jan 14 Lock Down Drill

Jan 19 MLK Jr Day – No School

Jan 30 100th Day of School

Jan 20-30 5th Grade MOY Forefront Fractional Screeners Window

Jan 22 Class Portraits

Feb 1 Black History Month

Feb 6 Severe Weather Drill

Feb 9-13 Bookfair

Feb 9 PTA Board Meeting

Feb 10 Tall/Small Ball

Feb 11 Progress Reports go home

Feb 11 Kindergarten Cap and Gown Photos

Feb 13 Half Day Students

Feb 26 Black History Program

Mar 1 Women’s History Month

Mar 2-6 Read Across America Week

Mar 2-Apr 3 ACAP Alt. Window

Mar 9 AR Cut-off

Mar 9 PTA Board Meeting

Mar 11 AR Party

Mar 12 Spring Photos

Mar 13 PBIS Party

Mar 16-20 Spring Break

Mar 16-Apr 24 ACAP Summative Window

Mar 21 Down Syndrome Awareness Day

Mar 24 Fire Evacuation Drill

Mar 26 Color Run

Mar 27 Report Cards go home

Mar 27 Color Run Make-up

Mar 30 ELA ACAP Week

Apr 1 Month of the Military Child

Apr 1 Paraprofessional Appreciation Day

Apr 2 Autism Awareness Day – Wear Blue

Apr 3 ½ Day Student

Apr 3 School Librarian Appreciation Day

Apr 6 Math ACAP Week

Apr 13 Science ACAP Week

Apr 13 PTA Board Meeting

Apr 15 Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast

Apr 15 Purple Up Day

Apr 22 Field Day – PK – 2nd

Apr 22 Administrative Professional Appreciation Day

Apr 22 Weather Drill

Apr 23 Field Day – 3rd-5th

Apr 24 Weather Day

Apr 27-May 8 EOY iReady Window

Apr 27-May 6 EOY DIBELS Window

Apr 27 Field Day Make-Up

Apr 28 School Bus Appreciation Day

Apr 29 Progress Reports go home

May 1 Asian Pacific Islander Month

May 1 Mental Health Month

May 1 Principal Appreciation Day

May 1 Parent Coordinator Appreciation Day

May 4-8 Teacher Appreciation Week

May 8 Teacher Duty Free Lunch

May 6 Bomb Evacuation Drill

May 11 PTA Board Meeting

May 13 AR Cut-off

May 14 Awards Day

May 15 5th Grade Clap Out

May 15 Grissom Clap Out

May 18 AR Party

May 19 PBIS Party

May 21 ½ Day Student – Student Last Day

May 21 Report Cards go home

Whitesburg Parents and Guardians,

It has been a great week of teaching and learning at the Burg!

Our Grandparents Breakfast was a success! Thanks to PTA for all of your hard work. This is one of my favorite days of the year. The students are so excited for everyone to meet their grandparents. There was a mass amount of food, but the amount of grandparents that showed up was much more than expected. PTA pivoted well and when the food got scarce, they quickly supplied more. Thank you for everyone's patience. We will probably go to pre-orders only next year to prevent this from happening again.

I want to ask you all for a favor. If you ever have a problem or concern, please reach out to me instead of putting the problem or concern on social media. I promise if I get a call or email from you, I will get back to you (and usually very timely). I do not want Whitesburg Elementary to ever look negatively to the community.

Let's continue to strive for excellence in everything that we do.

Thank you for your support! I am blessed to serve with you at the BURG!

Shine Bright Whitesburg!

Thanks,

Mrs. Jones

WBES Purpose of Whitesburg Elementary is to inspire, engage, and empower all students to a successful future.

WBES Vision of Whitesburg Elementary School is to be recognized globally as a model school offering transformative opportunities for students.

WBES Mission of Whitesburg Elementary is to provide a safe and supportive learning environment characterized by quality staff, rigorous academic instruction, innovative programs, outstanding extracurricular opportunities, and exceptional resources.

Ms. Clifton's class received the Sparkly Spoon Award this week. Thanks to her class for being a part of making our cafeteria "SPARKLE and SHINE BRIGHT!"

Please click on the link below to help celebrate and encourage our teachers for all of the hard work they do daily.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084BACAB2EABFEC16-58720988-teacher#/

Our Outdoor Classroom is now officially open! This is such exciting news and you guys played a big roll in making sure that we had curriculum available to our students and also had picnic tables to sit as a class and enjoy wildlife.

• Use letter cards to name letters/sounds

• Flyleaf Publishing – free online library of phonics-based books

• Whole Phonics and Half-Pint Readers – easy-to-follow beginner sets

• Dog on a Log series – fun stories designed for struggling readers

• Learning Ally – audiobooks (subscription, sometimes free through schools)

• Epic! – large digital library with read-to-me options

• Storyline Online – free site where actors read books aloud

Helpful Apps & Games

• Nessy Reading & Spelling – fun, interactive games for phonics

• OGStar Reading – Orton-Gillingham–based reading practice

• Starfall – phonics games, songs, and stories

Everyday Tips

• Read aloud to your child daily (pick books they enjoy, even if above grade

level). You can use the orange book of readers I sent home last week.

• Use multi-sensory activities: write letters in sand, use playdough or magnetic

letters.

• Keep reading time short and positive with lots of encouragement.

• Focus on effort, not perfection—celebrating small wins builds confidence

I know a lot of you want to help your teachers, but just do not know how. Please see the link below to see all of the teacher's favorites things and also their Classroom Wishlists. Please encourage your teacher throughout the year. Little "happy's" can make their day!

Please know that we cannot use school funds for certain items. Please see the below list for items we are constantly needing. It would be appreciated if you could donate these items.

Paper towels

Clorox Wipes

Kleenex

All Purpose Cleaning Spray

We will sell slushies each Friday afternoon.

· $1 for 5oz cup

· $5 for souvenir Whitesburg Elementary Plastic Cup. This cup can be reused each Friday for a $2 refill.

(Slushie Friday's intention is not a fundraiser. It is for student encouragement and celebration. However, we do make a little money off of the sales, and that money goes into WBES's General Budget and is used for student incentives.)

The official State of Alabama School Report Card grade for Whitesburg was released today. Our official score is an 82, which is a "B." While we are excited to have a "B," let's continue to strive to increase that score with a goal of raising our "B" to an "A." We will continue to work with our students to be grade level proficient. Parents can help us by working closely with the teachers to get ideas of how you can help you child at home, encouraging them to do their very best every day, and to make sure they are in attendance each day.

Any intentional and repeated act of unwanted aggressive or demeaning behavior involving a real or perceived power imbalance, in which one or more people intentionally and repeatedly cause physical or psychological harm to another person. To be considered bullying, the conduct must also place a student in reasonable fear of harm or of damage to property, have the effect of substantially interfering with educational performance or school operations, or create a hostile, intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income.

Please use the link below to sign you child(ren) up. It is no charge and the child will receive a free book each month.

https://imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability/?#selectedCountry=US

We also have our "Goodnight with Dolly" video series you can share with your child in the meantime. Happy reading!