Upcoming Events:

• June 7 – All School Picnic – School ends for all students at 3 pm
• June 7 – 8^th grade Promotion – 6 pm to 7 pm
• June 8 – Last Day of School – School ends for all students at 3 pm
• August 22 – Orientation Night – 4 pm to 6 pm
• August 27 – First Day of School Grades 1 – 8
• August 30 – First Day of School Kinder

Principal’s message – I want to first start off by thanking our staff and families.  It amazes me every time the effort and energy our staff and families put into the events and goings on around our school.  From the Carnival, to the concerts and plays, to the field trips, it truly is amazing.  Thank you for making Winterhaven such a wonderful place to be.

I want to also take this opportunity to have you join me in welcoming our new K-5 art teacher for next year, Alodie Lopez.  Ms. Lopez comes to us from Chapman Elementary, where she was previously a classroom teacher.  She earned her art endorsement a few years ago and now she is joining us to teach art.  We are excited to have her join our community!

Lastly, we received information from the Office and Teaching and Learning in PPS that starting next year, all schools in PPS must offer 9 weeks of health to all middle school students and that elementary students must take PE a minimum of 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes (a total of 90 minutes of PE a week).

Due to these changes, we will no longer be able to offer the Friday Interest classes to our students.  The increased middle school health requires that we teach approximately 44-46 days of health.  Without removing Friday interest classes, students would only receive approximately 39-41 days of health.  This also increases the number of days middle schools students will receive PE during the year.  For elementary students, by increasing the number of days of PE, it means that the students will need to be back in their core classes to meet the minimum number of required minutes for core subjects (literacy, math, science and social studies).

Counselor’s Corner - Hi everyone,

The end is in sight.  Here’s what that means for counseling at Winterhaven.  

I’m not going to be teaching in any of the classrooms for the rest of the year.  This is partly due to various events being on the days I’m scheduled in there as well as my own schedule shifting up one more gear before the end.  We have mostly finished the state Health lessons. It has been a growing year for me/us around that and the big lessons learned are that those lessons should be taught earlier in the year to make sure we have time to finish and that the content varies hugely by grade.  Instead of the class lessons, I’ll be focusing on getting all the state testing done and doing individual work with students getting them ready for summer.

Since this is our last email home this school year, perhaps it is a good idea to spend the time reflecting on how your family has looked into race this year.  What gains have you made? Where have you struggled? What were some awkward moments? Were there any sources of humor? What was the biggest learning moment for each of you?

Cliff Shaw

School Counselor
Winterhaven School

Yearbooks – Yearbooks are here and will be handed out next week. Price is $17.00 and can be paid with cash, or a check made out to Winterhaven, or with a debit/credit card on Schoolpay.  If you would like to confirm if you have already purchased one for your student, please contact Nancy in the office. If your family is in need of a scholarship for a yearbook, please let Nancy know.

8^th Grade Promotion Event - 8^th Graders!  - Grab your Skates and Celebrate!!

Roll out the end of 8^th grade by meeting up with friends and family at Oaks Park Skating Rink’s “Schools-out Skate”, open skate session.

When:  Last day of school – June 8^th -- 3:30 - 5:30pm

Where: Oaks Park Skating Rink

Cost: $7 skate admission (or buy one, get one half off with online coupon), $2 skate rental (separate from admission).  No skate rental fee if you bring your own skates. Concessions and arcade games are available for an additional cost. No cost for non-skaters.

Fine print:  This is NOT a school-sponsored event, and parents are responsible for arranging transportation to and from Oaks Park.  The event will have Oaks Park staff supervision only -- we are not providing parent supervision, so parents are welcome (and encouraged) to come hang out, too!

Questions?  Contact Shelley (tasar541@msn.com), Gabrielle (gabrielle.ackerman@comcast.net), or Lisa (lgirard@kgw.com)

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