Welcome Back!

July 5, 2013

Monday is almost here and we are very excited about kicking off a new school year.  We would like to welcome all new parents and students to our Baby Bengal family and encourage you to get involved in all things Willow Springs.  Most importantly, we want to ensure the safety of your child at all times.  Along those lines, I’d like to remind all returning parents that we have two new bus routes this year, so please check your child’s bus route on our new website, www.willowspringses.wcpss.net and be sure to let your child’s teacher know how he or she should be going home.  We don’t want you to assume that they will still ride the same bus and have us place him or her on the wrong route on Monday afternoon.  Parents of kindergarten and first grade students must have a responsible adult at the bus stop to receive students or the bus driver will not drop the student off.  Also, as a reminder, our car-rider line does not begin until 3:35, so please do not arrive on campus early, and you must have a car-rider sign to pick up your child in the carpool line.  Kindergarten parents will pick these signs up when you bring your child in for their screening day next week.

Remember to check your teacher’s supply list on teacherlist.com. Please note that on this list you may see a student supply list and a teacher wish list – there is a difference!

Garden Club will not meet this Tuesday during the first week of school, but will resume again on July 16 for students currently involved.

Our PTA is very active and an amazing group of people that support our school and our students at every turn.  Please join our PTA by completing the membership information that will come home with your child this week and returning it to your child’s teacher.

Tracks 1,2,and 3 – we will see you on Monday!!  Let’s make it a fun year J

June 25, 2013

I am so excited to announce that in conjunction with Wake County Parks, WCPSS and our PTA, Willow Springs will be receiving a new playground for the 2013-14 school year!  They began removing our old equipment today and will embark on the construction, which will include removal of the wall, the sand and development of new structures.  We are very excited about the prospect of having the first installation of the latest and greatest equipment.  Of course, it does mean that the playground will be closed during this time, but we hope to have everything ready before the end of the summer. Recess will continue, safely away from the building of the new playground during this time.

We hope to see tracks 2, 3, and 4 at Meet the Teacher tonight for grades 1-5.

Friday is the last day of school for the 2012-13 school year, and we hope it held great memories for you and your child.  You should receive your child’s report card in their Friday folder, along with other important information.  A new adventure will begin soon as school will start for tracks 1, 2 and 3 on July 8.

Parents, on June 18 we held an unannounced lock-down drill for our staff and students.  They are all to be congratulated on a wonderful job.  Our students followed procedures and behaved very maturely, even though they were not expecting the drill.  We had several Wake County Deputies here, as well as Wake County school personnel to monitor our lockdown procedures, ensuring that we will be prepared, if ever we need to secure our building.  Please thank your child for their participation and cooperating with staff.

As a reminder, we will have meet the teacher next Tuesday, June 25 for tracks 2,3, and 4.  We do have 2 teachers who are meeting their students on different days, so please check the assignment letter that went home with your child on Friday.

We look forward to a great last week of school next week!  Please remember the last day for this school year is June 28.

Winter, 2012

Dear Parents,

Happy  Holidays!  We have had such a great beginning to our year, it is hard to believe that it is time to start the holiday season.  As our students venture into the second semester, you will note that increased demands are placed upon thinking, as the students are working hard to apply the basic skills that they have learned – especially in the area of mathematics and problem solving.  When helping your child with these types of higher order thinking problems, try leading them with questions so that they can determine the answers, instead of showing them how to do it…. We want them to learn to think, which can be tough for them as they look at problems from different points of view.  In the long run, it is the most powerful way for them to truly understand the concepts!

As the school board is in the process of approving a student assignment plan for 13-14, it looks like all K-4 students who are currently enrolled at Willow Springs will be able to stay here next year.  On January 8 at 6:30, we will be having an information session for you regarding details if you would like to request to go back to your base school, or choose a different school for your child for next year.  In addition, we will also be holding an information session about the transition to Middle school for 5^th grade parents on two dates:  December 13 at 8:00 and January 8 immediately following the assignment information session. 

If you would like to make a track change request for your child, please call the office by January 25^th at 557-2770 and we will send home a request form!

If you have a rising Kindergarten student, 5 years old by August 31,  please come to school to register him or her on Monday, Janaury 7 between 8:15 and 4:00.  This prompt registration will help us to ensure there is room on the same track as their siblings.  Remember to bring the birth certificate, your proof of residence, and your photo id..

Our second annual Boosterthon will be coming up soon – Feb. 25-March 8.  Based on parent feedback, we have extended it to two full weeks in order to ensure that all tracks have a chance to participate.  We are so excited about what the Boosterthon team has in store for us this year, so mark your calendars!

We look forward to seeing you around the Springs!

Sincerely,

      Camille Miller

May

What an amazing school year!  This year we have seen so much growth with the students, particularly with their reading and fluency skills!  Thank you for reading with your child at home and helping him or her select books that are increasing their endurance.  There is no better way to increase a student's reading skills than to read with them!  We hope you have enjoyed this year and were able to participate in many of our family events.  In the fall, we held our annual Math and Science Night.  In the winter, the grade levels invited you in for a literacy event and we had our Boosterthon, which was a phenomenal event!  In the spring, we have had our first ever movie night, our field days and our Spring Festival.  In addition, we have had student performances, Fairy Tale Tea Parties, Jumping Joeys, our winter program and on June 7, we will have our final program of the year, presented by our 2^nd grade students.  These are all events that we encourage you to participate in and hope to see you at some of them again next year!

Our PTA has been hard at work supporting our students with Cultural Arts programming, like the Tarradiddle Players and our Writer in Residence.  Did you know that they also provide a $10 payment for each child towards their field trip – which reduces the cost for every parent and allows us to take some great trips!  With the success of our Boosterthon, they have been able to provide great support for us in our Media Center and in classroom libraries and they are working on plans to fund some serious technology for our classrooms next year.  We also have a very active Dad’s Club, and if you are looking for a fun group – then you should find out how to engage with these guys!  They meet once a month and have really been supportive of our students this year with Dad’s Reading Day, Morning Greetings in Car-Lines,  Lunch with Dads, and taking care of our grounds!  If you would like to get involved with the PTA, they would love to have your help – they are a great group of inviting parents who work great together, so come on out for a meeting!  Our first general meeting for the 2012-13 school year will be July 16 at 7:00.

As we wind down, I’d like to share that our test scores so far indicate phenomenal growth with our students – you should be very proud of their efforts!  Thank you for your continued support of this amazing school, and incredible community.  We are indeed blessed!

November

Brrr, it is certainly getting chilly out there!  As our weather gets colder, our students are working harder than ever.  So far, our students have read over 21,100 books and  95% of our 2^nd-5^th graders are participating in our Accelerated Reader program.   The writing in kindergarten and first grade has improved so much – what fun it is to read the stories in the hallway!  After reviewing recent assessments at every grade level, it is clear that the students are really working on increasing their fluency and accuracy as they read.  I am proud of the work in the classrooms, as students focus on CAFÉ skills in reading (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding vocabulary.)

Our students have also been making great progress with their technology skills and they are applying academic skills through our I-Touches, Smartboards, mini-laptops and our computer lab.  Ask your child what they like best about our technology!

I want to thank our Dad’s Club for their leadership in setting up our Lunch with Dad’s week – it was so great to see so many men on our campus supporting their children!  The Dad’s Club also greeted students as they arrived to school during Spirit Week!  Next, they will be encouraging Dads to come out and read to a class on Dad’s reading day, December 2.

Thanks to all of our parents for their support on our Fall Fundraiser! It has been a huge success and allows us to provide so many programs to our students throughout the year.

Please remember the new Student Assignment Plan Information Session will be held at school on November 28 at 7:00. If you have any questions about the plan, we’ll be here to help!

September

It has been a super start at Willow Springs.  Track one has almost finished their first quarter and will be tracking out and receiving report cards on September 13^th, so please look out for those in grades 2-5.  Teacher conferences have begun, and we encourage you to attend so that you can have an opportunity to find out where your child is excelling and how they can improve in their quest for excellence.  Our teachers will also provide suggestions for ways you can help your child be even more successful.

We have seen some fantastic growth already in our students’ reading.  The Daily 5 activities in many of our classrooms engage our readers in opportunities to read to themselves, read to others, free-write and work with words and expand vocabularies.  I have been very impressed with the students and their determination to work as a team to ensure that the learning environments during reading are optimal for every learner.  Remember, Keep Reading, Keep Growing!!!!