Upcoming Events:

• October 30 - November 2 – Spirit Week
• November 2 – Middle School Dance – 6 pm to 8 pm
• November 3 – Teacher Planning Day – No School
• November 8 & 9 – Parent/Teacher Conferences -No School
• November 10 – Veteran’s Day - No School

Spirit Week – October 30-November 2

Monday, Oct. 30 is Pajama Day

Tuesday, Oct. 31 is Costume Day

Wednesday, Nov. 1 is Crazy Hair/Hat Day, and

Thursday, Nov. 2 is Color Day. Students in the following grades wear the following colors - Kinder – yellow, 1st – orange, 2nd – pink, 3rd – purple, 4th – red, 5th – green, 6th – blue, 7th – black, 8th – tie dye or rainbow.

Principal’s message – A reminder that next week is Spirit Week for our students!  It is to be a fun week, with different themes each day.  Please remember that students must still adhere to the PPS dress code.  We then conclude the week with the middle school dance onThursday, Nov. 2 from 6 pm to 8 pm. 

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out with the Fall Frolic!  Everything ran very smoothly and families had a great time! 

And finally, we have conferences coming up soon.  Conferences are scheduled for November 8 and 9 from 8 am to 8 pm.  If you have not signed up yet, you may contact our main office to set up a time to come in and discuss your child’s progress so far this school year.  We hope to see you here!

Counselor’s Corner - Hey all,

Here’s what’s going on in the counseling world at Winterhaven.  

Last week in the K-6 classrooms we did the Marshmallow Test. I had to attend to some crises and had to miss 2nd and 5th, so we will get them this week. For the rest of the classes, we will move into mindfulness training using some basic lessons from Mindful Schools and Mind Up! Together, we will watch this introduction video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqoxYKtEWEc&index=18&list=PL6EGjn1pgiWKg5rZL3YAYT0OEa-CW14X4

The older grades may also watch this TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yJPcdiLEkI&index=10&list=PL6EGjn1pgiWKg5rZL3YAYT0OEa-CW14X4&t=23s

6th grade will also get our district Pocket Directory handed out and explained to them.  It is a small pamphlet with resources for them that every middle school student in the district gets.  I’ll go over it quickly with them as well. 7th and 8th had them handed out in their core classes already.

Be sure to hug your kids this week.  There is a lot of depression, stress and anxiety in the building.  I keep encouraging our kids towards the trinity of relaxation: exercise, art and mindfulness.  Together they work exponentially and best if done daily and together as a family.  Don’t we all need a little help with letting go of the stresses in our lives?  In a few weeks, you can ask your students to teach you about mindfulness, which will help you talk together as well as solidify their learning.

8th graders heard from Benson Tech last Friday.  Many of them sound interested. Benson also has a shadow day on November 17th if your student is thinking of going there, permission slips should have already gone home.  If they didn’t, replacements are hanging outside my door or on Benson’s website.  They need to be back to me by November 1st so we can have the details figured out.  Speaking of high schools, here is the district page with all of the high school open houses and other activities each high school puts on.  https://www.pps.net/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=75&ModuleInstanceID=1492&PageModuleInstanceID=6574&ViewID=ad4d6d9d-7046-48e7-a548-a6a23a68d076&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=97245&PageID=1564&IsMoreExpandedView=True

Every year there is a family or two who are surprised by what high school neighborhood they are really in.  The west side changed pretty drastically recently with a few subtle changes on the east side as well.  Double check your neighborhood schools here:  https://www.pps.net/Page/2379.  The lottery for the high school choice system is super early this year, November 13th - December 1st.  Fair warning: it will be extremely difficult to transfer somewhere other than Benson, MLC or Jefferson.  

Our question of the week:  What makes talking about race difficult?  What can we do to overcome this?

Thanks again!  Cliff Shaw, cshaw1@pps.net

Wanted: An individual volunteer to take on the PTSA taxes! If you have accounting or tax experience, this is a great one time or once a year way to give support to your school community. Or, if you work for a larger firm, please consider asking if your company would be willing to provide this service to your school. Send replies or leads to helgafuller@gmail.com. 

Winterhaven Yearbook - If you have any pictures from school events, classroom activities or field trips that you would like to share for the yearbook, please email them to winterhavenyearbookstaff@gmail.com.  

Chinook Books – Available for one more week, buy your Chinook Book or app through us and benefit the PTSA! Books are $25 and apps are $15. Make checks out to “Winterhaven PTSA,” leave your money in the PTSA mail box in the school office, and I’ll leave your books/apps in the office for you to pick up. Email questions to margo.dobbertin@winterhavenschool.org.

Late arrivals/tardies – Please be sure that your students arrive on time to school.  Our school day starts at 8:45 am and we want to ensure that their classes are able to start on time without any disruption.  Thanks!

Weekly Information must be submitted by the end of the work day on the Tuesday before you wish to have it included in the newsletter.  We only publish information that directly relates to our school and our students.  If you wish to place something in the weekly, please email it to Nancy Cooper at ncooper1@pps.net.