TONIGHT 9/11 – Whittier Curriculum Night
Wed 9/12
Fri 9/14
Sat 9/15 – Band & Orchestra Open House Sign-Up 9am-12pm @ O’Neill (or attend on 9/18)
Sun 9/16
9/17 – Board of Education Meeting 7pm @ Village Hall
9/18 – Band & Orchestra Open House Sign-Up 5-8pm @ Herrick (or attend on 9/15)
9/19 – Mom’s Night Out Shopping Event @ Evereve 6-9pm
9/20 – Early Dismissal (11:40am)
9/24- 9/26 – Camp Edwards 6th Grade Outdoor Education Trip
10/1 – School Picture Day
10/8 – NO SCHOOL Columbus Day
10/9 – NO SCHOOL (P/T Conferences)
The Jaguar Jog is THIS SUNDAY September 16th!!
Event opens at 8am. See the calendar above for race times. Race packet pick up will be Friday, September 14th from 2:30-4pm at Whittier, or you can pick up your items at 8am on Sunday morning before the race. Stay after the races for the POST-RACE PARTY! Food vendors will be on site for food and beverage purchase.
Reminder: Please leave your pets at home, there are no dogs allowed on race day.
Questions? Email jeffpaul@hotmail.com
The Reading Games return to O’Neill Middle School on March 16, 2019!
The Reading Games provides a fun opportunity for students to work together as a team to read and study books from one of two lists, with the goal of increasing the quantity and quality of books that our children read. In addition, The Games facilitates friends coming together to discuss books while working as a team.
On March 16, 2019, registered teams of DG58 children in grades 3-8 will participate in a friendly competition of trivia style questions at O’Neill Middle School. The “WIN” is getting our children to read more and to enjoy reading.
Three books from each list were released at the end of the 2017-18 school year. The remaining 9 books from each list will be released on Friday, September 21st. Registration will occur online October 1 – October 7.
What can students and parents do now? Begin to form teams of 5-8 students and find a parent or two to keep the team organized and get the team to the games on time. Read the early release titles – this will help the team decide which list to read and compete from.
We will be introducing a few fun additions this year – including an email subscription service so all parents can receive updates directly if they would like.
Please check out our website and email with any questions.
website:
www.readinggamesdg58@gmail.com
email:
Summer LIST ONE: (Suggested for Grades 3 – 5)
The Losers Club by Andrew Clements NOTE: *Double check author.”
Wild Robot by Peter Brown NOTE: *Wild Robot is the beginning of the sequel title as well; be sure to get the first one.*
Word of Mouse by James Patterson NOTE: *Use author to narrow your search.*
Summer LIST TWO: (Suggested for Grades 5 – 8)
Ghost by Jason Reynolds, Book 1 in the Track series NOTE: *Use author or series to narrow your search.*
It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
Me and Marvin Gardens by Amy Sarig King
Calling all Art lovers! We need volunteers for Masterpiece of the Month
What is Masterpiece of the Month? A monthly art program for Grades 1-5 where the kids are introduced to an Artist and a famous masterpiece through discussion, crafts and reading.
Can you help out? YES!! We need parent volunteers for each classroom to continue to make this program a success.
Is it a huge time commitment? NO! Maybe 1-2 hours for the month you are presenting and we try to have at least two parents for each classroom so you only have to present every other month. But I know nothing about Art? THAT’s OK! We have lots of resources and very experienced parents that have done this for years and can help out.
Will my kid think I am a Rock Star? YES! In fact, every kid in the class will think you are a Rock Star! The smiles we get when we walk into the classroom each month are priceless not to mention the imagination and creativity we are fostering.
Masterpiece of the Month starts in October and goes through May.
Please contact Kristi Maher kmaher@ftportfolios.com if you are interested!
You shop, Amazon gives! For any eligible purchase you make from the Amazon Smile full site (mobile site not supported), Amazon will donate 0.5% back to Whittier! It’s easy – go to https://smile.amazon.com/ and type in Whittier Elementary School PTA under “pick your own charitable organization.” Follow the prompts to choose our PTA. There is also an option to save this on your Amazon Assistant through your browser so you’re one click away from giving back to our school! Thank you for taking the time to complete this process if you are an Amazon shopper! The PTA will provide an update on Amazon’s donation!
Registration is OPEN for both after-school Spanish and **NEW THIS YEAR** French!
Learning a new language has been shown to be extremely beneficial for the brain and self confidence. This includes higher math, verbal, social studies and test scores. The Language Labs has offered after-school Spanish for the past two years and are excited to be able to offer French this year as well!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: For Language Labs to offer these classes @ Whittier, is it required by our school to have a Whittier parent present at each class. Knowledge of the language is NOT mandatory, your presence is only needed for supervision and attendance check. For your time your child will receive a tuition discount (up to 50% if you choose to volunteer for every class). This can also be split up among multiple parents and the discount will be adjusted accordingly. If interested in volunteering contact Chinni Mancilla at Language Labs (chinni@thelanguagelabs.net) prior to registration. For any other questions contact rachel.carrero@gmail.com
For the NEWSLETTER CLICK HERE
For the SPANISH flier CLICK HERE
For the FRENCH flier CLICK HERE
The Whittier Walking Club is in need of volunteers! Every Tuesday (from 11:30-12:30) during the fall and spring seasons, students are challenged to walk or run laps around the school building during recess. With every lap completed, students earn “Cat Cash” to spend at the Walking Club Store. Parent volunteers help keep track of the students, hand out “Cat Cash”, and manage the Walking Club Store. It is a great way to see your kids in action! Visit the PTA’s Walking Club page for more information and to sign up to volunteer: http://
Questions? Email Katy Anderman at katy.anderman@gmail.com.
WRECK (Whittier Robotics and Engineering Club for Kids) is an amazing amount of fun and also a great way to learn interesting engineering and robotics concepts (without even realizing it!). For those not familiar, WRECK is a PTA run program and is offered to 3rd through 6th graders. Utilizing Lego WeDo kits (3rd and 4th) and new Lego EV3 Mindstorms kits (5th and 6th), we will give interested boys and girls an introduction to robotics and programming. The classes will start with learning basic principles and will culminate in a final project that should be challenging and rewarding.
The fall session of after-school chess starts Monday, September 24! Classes are held immediately after school at Whittier. For all the information to sign up CLICK HERE for the flier. Please register by September 14 for the early bird price of $122.75!
There’s a lot coming at you in the beginning of the year, but don’t forget to join the PTA for 2018-2019. You will get access to our NEW online directory with your paid membership. This year we will be using DirectorySpot which includes a website with various features and download/search capabilities, as well as an app for your iPhone or Andriod device. Your login should also help you access Herrick Middle School’s directory as well. Feel free to contact Ann Russell @ AnnKHerrick@yahoo.com with any comments, questions or issues. Once logged in, please validate your directory information. You can make any necessary changes by logging in to your DirectorySpot account online.
***PLEASE NOTE***
The information from the old directory was copied over to Directory Spot. However phone numbers and emails weren’t always specified with an owner in the old directory yet they are in DirectorySpot so things may be a bit off at first. Its important that you VERIFY YOUR DIRECTORY INFORMATION! Any updates do need to be made via the website, not on the app. While any changes made will appear immediately in the app and online, the deadline for any corrections to be included in the printed directory is SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2018
