Whispers Oct

Wekiva Whispers Wekiva Elementary School 1450 East Wekiva Trail Longwood, Florida 32779 Phone: 746-3150 Fax: 746-3163 October 2009 Principal: Michael Pfeiffer Assistant Principal: Michelle Robinson Principal’s Message I regret to inform parents that Wekiva students are placed in very dangerous situations on a daily basis at Wekiva Elementary School. Surprisingly and of grave concern, it is the parents of these students who are creating these dangerous situations. The Wekiva staff and I, along with your children, passionately ask that you strictly adhere to the below rules to ensure the safety of your children. School Hours School hours are 8:35 a.m. to 3:05 p.m. Students should not arrive on campus before 8:05 a.m. unless they are taking part in a supervised activity (ex. Extended Day, AR Club, MusicKidz, etc.). Prior to 8:05 a.m., students are unsupervised on campus. Revisiting Car Rider Procedures Please note the r ules below fro m ou r p r ocedu res that addre ss t he m ost danger ou s of violation s an d whic h are regrettabl y violate d on a dail y basi s: • Cars are not permitted to make a left from Wekiva Trail onto Holderness. This cuts people in line, causes a traffic jam, but most alarming, blocks line of sight creating a substantial hazardous situation. • Never use cell phones while in Car Line. Your full attention is required at all times for a safe dismissal. • Never stop your car on Wekiva Trail and let your children out or pick your children up.

Perfect FCAT Scores Wekiva is proud of the following 5th grade students who scored PERFECT scores as 4th grade students on the 2008-09 FCAT! Math: Courtney Crenshaw, Natalie Evelev, Mujahid Jaffer, Jordan Katz, Mark Laurie 2009 Fall Festival and Book Fair Mark your calendar for our annual Fall Festival on Saturday, October 17 from 11 am to 3 pm. This year promises to be more fun than ever with all the great activities you’ve come to expect, plus a host of new things to add to the fun. This year, Gatorland will entertain everyone with wild and exotic alligators, snakes and tarantulas. Students will enjoy Bounce House fun, DJ music, games, cake walk and miniature golf. The whole family will love the Chili Cookoff, Science Lab and free popcorn and slushies. If that isn’t enough, the much anticipated sliming of Mr. Pfeiffer is always the highlight of the day by the top selling Entertainment Book students. Plus your whole family can relax and enjoy hamburgers, hot dogs or a Subway lunch in the picnic area near the pavilion. And don’t forget, you can complete the day with a visit to the Book Fair in the Media Center. Tickets are $7 for students and $4 for pre-school age kids. Parents are free. Wekiva School Store The School Store is now open from 8:05-8:35 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Feel free to swing by and purchase school supplies. Thank you to our 5th grade parents for volunteering to work in the school store.

Thank you for putting the safety of our children first! Mike Pfeiffer, Principal Seminole County Public Schools www.scps.k12.fl.us or www.wekivaelementary.com

Recycling Contest Cartridges for Kids is sponsoring a Recycling Contest! The contest will run from October 1-30 to promote the recycling of empty inkjet, laser, fax and copier cartridges, laptops, used cell phones, digital cameras, PDAs/Palm Pilots, iPods, GPS devices, Video Game Consoles, Video Games, DVD Movies…and best of all, our school earns cash to buy ink for our laser printers. The class that earns the most points during this time period for collecting these items will be awarded a check for $50 to spend on their class. Help us RECYCLE & REUSE! If your business would like to participate in our recycling program throughout the year, please contact Mrs. Cook at 407-746-3151. New Wekiva Web Site Just in case you haven’t noticed, Wekiva has a newly designed school web site created by Mrs. Cook, our Educational Technology Facilitator. You can find it at the same address: http://www.wekivaelementary.com There is much to see, so spend some time and visit. There’s a Parent Page with lots of useful information. On the Student Page you’ll find the AR list and links to other sites. Be sure to click on Mrs. Cook’s Technology Page where you can find wonderful educational web sites for students to use at school and at home…they’re arranged by subject and category. The best part is being able to see each site’s homepage in a slideshow view and if it looks interesting, you can click on the link to go there. Be sure to visit the Computer Lab Page where several class projects are featured. We hope you enjoy it!

Homework Tips for Success 1. Set up a regular time and quiet place for your child to work. 2. Prior to starting homework, go over the assignment with your child. 3. Always check your child’s homework and remember neatness does count. 4. Read with your child every chance you get, and turn the TV off when you do so. 5. Set the example. Be sure your children see you reading. Television Tips for Success 1. Determine how many hours your child watches TV each day and monitor what your child watches. 2. Plan activities other than TV. Avoid using TV as a “babysitter”. 3. Look for programs that will stimulate your child’s interests and encourage reading (wildlife, history, science). 4. Avoid using TV as a reward or punishment. It gives TV too much importance. 5. Turn off the TV during meals and homework time. 6. Help your child understand the difference between make believe and the real world, especially with younger children. 7. Remember, you are a model and your child is watching what you watch and how much time you spend doing it. Koala MusicKidz The Koala MusicKidz (aka Music Makers) is off and running! We are excited to see our students preparing for Wekiva’s annual performances at Publix, Santa in the Park, and our school concert here at Wekiva. If your child is in 4th or 5th grade and would like to participate, please contact Mrs. Kranz. Sign up sheets are available in the music room.

Ice Cream Social a Smashing Hit Wekiva would like to thank everyone, especially the PTA and teacher scoopers, for supporting Wekiva’s hugely successful annual Ice Cream Social and gently used Book Sale. After general business, parents, students, and teachers enjoyed some yummy sundaes and purchased hundreds of donated books. Not only did we get to enjoy some tasty treats, Wekiva’s reading program received almost $200 in donations for gently used books. Wekiva Walks for Autism In support of our students and community members who have been affected by autism, Wekiva will be participating in the "Walk now for Autism" program, designed to raise awareness and support research regarding autism. Wekiva’s team, "Wekiva Walks for Autism", will be supported by team captain, Ms. Clodfelter, who will organize different events to help raise money for the cause. She will also be recruiting staff and parents who have children with ASD to take part in our team. The event will take place at Crane's Roost on Saturday, November 14, 2009. Join our team online at http://www.walknowforautism.org/ orlando/wekivaelem. Support Wekiva You can help Wekiva and its students by collecting and turning in the following product items: Tyson Chicken labels, Campbell Soup labels, and Box tops for Education. Wekiva redeems these labels and box tops for money, which is used to support students directly. Be sure to designate Wekiva Elementary as your school to support when you shop at Target. Wekiva just received a check from Target for over $600 that will be used to support student programs. To sign up or designate Wekiva as your Target school, visit Target.com/tcoe.

Seminole County Public Schools www.scps.k12.fl.us or www.wekivaelementary.com

The Big Clip Begins! Wekiva Clips Box tops for Education Once again, Wekiva Elementary is collecting Box Tops for Education, a program sponsored by General Mills. Each Box Top coupon you send to the school earns our school ten cents. Imagine if we collect 1,000 box tops a month!!! The school would receive $100! The process is fast and simple, and an excellent way to support our school during these hard financial times. Please consider supporting this project. It is easy and helps our school do some of the “extras”. Important Dates Teacher Work Day, No School 9/30 Picture Day K-2, Pre-K, and Ms. K 10/1 Picture Day 3-5 10/6 Progress Reports Papa John’s Night 10/7 SAC, 5:00 p.m. PTA Board, 6:15 p.m. 10/12-16 Book Fair 10/17 Fall Festival, 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. 10/21 ABCS Lunch Chick-fil-A Night, 5:00-8:00 p.m. 10/22 Red Ribbon Week 10/23 2nd Gr. Bone Zone 10/29 Kindergarten Pajama Day 10/30 Teacher Work Day, No School 11/3 Papa John’s Night 11/4 SAC, 5:00 p.m. PTA Board, 6:15 p.m. 11/5 PTA General Mtg. at Teague, Scott Humston Show @ 7:00 p.m. 11/8 RDV Skate Night, 7:00-9:00 11/9 Boosterthon Pep Rallies 11/11 3rd Gr. Veteran’s Day Program, 9:00-10:00 a.m. 11/12 Photo Retakes 11/16-20American Education Week 11/17 Teach In 11/18 Boosterthon Fun Run 11/20 Kindergarten Parent Project, 1:45-2:15 p.m. 11/23-27Schools Closed 11/30 Kindergarten, Holidays Around the World Rotations 9/28