October 3, 2013 Do you have questions about the School Bond that will be voted on next week? We thought it would be a good idea to provide you some information about that and a venue where you could ask some questions, so we have some representatives coming out on Monday night at our next PTA meeting to help us better understand what this bond will and will not fund, how it will affect our school, our kids and our wallets. Please join us at 6:30 Monday night in our Media Center. Similarly, Willow Springs is a voting site on Tuesday, Oct. 8, so please be extra careful in our parking lot and watch for pedestrians. Remember to cast your vote for your school board member and the bond! We want to thank everyone who voted in the Moe’s Garden Grant… We won!!! Our garden will be awarded $500! Also, congratulations to Mrs. McClure and all of our students who helped us in our art project for the American Girl Grant… our art program was recognized nationally and we received an award of $2500 for the art program. We are so proud! Finally, the Fall Festival is here!! We look forward to seeing you tomorrow between 5:30-7:30. You can purchase armbands for $10 at the front of the school and in the bus loading zone. We hope to see you here!!

Hey everyone! We hope you have had a great week and are loving life at Willow Springs. We have so much going on and are looking forward to a fabulous fall. I wanted you to know about three ways you can help us raise some money for our school with just a click of your mouse. First of all, Target is running a contest and we will earn $1 with every vote up to $10,000.. just go to givewith.target.com (no www and remember the dot after with) and select Willow Springs Elementary. You can vote as many times as you want! The contest ends next Saturday, Sept. 21. Secondly, you can order your discounted fair tickets through our Willow Springs website portal, and we will get back $2 for every adult ticket and $1 for every student ticket at no extra cost to you. Finally, you can go to Moe’s Facebook page and vote for our garden, as we are a finalist in a grant for $500 to support our school garden. Each of these will take just a little time and could make a big difference. Take a moment if you will!

Sept. 9 Reminders

Great Job on the Raffle!! The results have exceeded the expectations of our PTA and helped us to provide great programs and field trips for our students this year. Remember, track 1 will be tracking out on Tuesday and will not come to school on Wednesday. Track 2 tracks back in on Wednesday!

August 30

Our annual raffle is winding down and we still have many tickets out. Please remember that this is one way our PTA provides supplemental funding for your child’s field trips, and all of the programs for our students during their town meetings. You can turn in the stubs and the money until Tuesday, Sept. 3, so please help us support Willow Springs!! Also, remember that we are out of school on Monday, Sept. 2 for Labor Day, but we will see you back here on Tuesday! Enjoy your holiday.

Transportation Update

Remember that traditional school will begin on Monday, so we expect that some delays with the buses may occur. Please be patient with any delays while the drivers take a little longer with routes that will occur for the school starting earlier than ours, at least for the first few days. The transportation website http://www.wcpss.net/transportation has been updated, and is an excellent source of information for parents and staff. It includes bus routes, bus updates, FAQs and transportation policy and guidelines. You can check online for any delays at this site, then click on "contact us" and click on Willow Springs. Of course, we will continue to note delays for the afternoon on our twitter site: @wsesbus Also, the new contact number for transportation is: 805-3030. Please call them with concerns about your child's transportation. Thanks for your patience!

August 22, 2013

If you have not already, then by Monday, you will be receiving a mCLASS Literacy Progress Report in your child’s folder. (Track 1 and 2 sent their letters a couple of weeks ago.) This progress report will let you know where your child is on important reading skills assessed over the last few weeks as indicated by the running person on the charts. You will also find activities that you can do at home to help support your child’s reading development. Your child’s teacher will also be reviewing this progress with you at your first quarter conference, but please contact your teacher if you have any questions. Thank you for your help in supporting your child’s reading growth!

August 11, 2013

• Please remember to come and register to be a volunteer. Remember, you must be approved each year so our database stays current. Our volunteer registry is available daily from 8:30-4:00 in our Media Center. • Please remember that when coming to our campus during car-rider times, you should not turn left into our parking lot. Any other time it’s fine, but please make a right turn only into our school lot between 8:45-9:15 and 3:35-4:15. This will help keep the lines moving in both directions. Thanks for your cooperation. • Our Back to School Raffle is in progress and you have the chance of winning cash and classroom prizes!! Twenty-five tickets were sent home in your child's folder. Please sell to friends, family, co-workers or neighbors and return ticket stubs and cash or check to school no later than September 3rd. • Buffaloe Lanes Spirit Weekend is August 16th-18th anytime! Just bring your 50/50 card (sent home last week) to Buffaloe Lanes South on 401 and our PTA will receive 50% of your sale! Extra cards are available in school office for family, friends and neighbors!