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PRINCIPALS' CORNER
Jan Murphy and Ashley Furnari
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STUDENT AMBASSADOR "WHALERS" SERVICE PROJECT
Our Grade 4 Student Ambassadors, who are now called the "Whalers", collected diapers, wipes, lotion, and shampoo for a local women's shelter. On Monday morning, students came together to package the items into holiday gift bags, which will be delivered this week. Students enjoyed organizing the operational packaging and "stations" for filling each basket.
THE FORTMANN'S SERVICE PROJECT
On Thursday, students in Mrs. Fortmann's class participated in a community-service oriented project for their classroom holiday party. Each family in the class donated a new toy or book for the new pediatric wing of Stamford Hospital. Dr. Gerald Rakos, who is the Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Director of Neonatology, and Kathy LiVolsi, who is the Clinical Operations Director of Maternal-Child Health, were on hand at West School to receive the gifts. The hospital is grateful for each of the donations and the students were beaming with pride in the spirit of giving during this holiday season.
ANNUAL TEACHER APPRECIATION HOLIDAY LUNCHEON
As we approach this holiday season, our faculty and staff would like to extend a very special thank you to our West School PTC for their Annual Teacher Appreciation Holiday Luncheon. This is an especially busy time of year, and we want to acknowledge each of our parents who took the time to provide an assortment of holiday food that was enjoyed by all.
HEALTH TIPS FROM NURSE BELL
Did you know...
Sugar suppresses the immune system. Just 8 grams of simple sugar can temporarily tamp down your immune system's ability to respond to challenges. This holiday season try encouraging your children to drink 1 full glass of water after each cookie to help move those sugars out of the body quickly.
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HOLIDAY VACATION, Monday, December 24th, 2018 - Tuesday, January 1st, 2019
No School
SPIRIT DAY, Friday, January 4th, 2019
Wear your
green, white and Westy
JOINT PTC MEETING, Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 at 9:30 AM at East School
The PTCs from West, South and East will hold our annual joint PTC meeting at East School. Our guest will be Superintendent
Dr. Luizzi, who will present the New Canaan Public Schools Budget for 2019-20 and discuss School Start Times. Following the presentations, Dr. Luizzi will answer budget and school start time questions from the parent community. This is a great opportunity to hear directly from district leadership on two important topics and we hope to see many of you at the meeting! Snow date is
Tuesday, January 15th.
TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN, Thursday, January 10th, 2019 from 9:30 - 10:45 AM at East School
All Incoming Parents from East, West and South are welcome!
Come for a presentation and conversation about preparation for kindergarten, including social, emotional, and developmental milestones. Bring your questions! Younger siblings welcome. Learn valuable insights that will help your child and you can sign-up to receive communications about next year's kindergarten class. You can also pre-register your children to assure the appropriate number of kindergarten classes for 2019 -20.
Presenters include: Elementary Principals and Coordinators and the Director of New Canaan CARES.
Snow date/delayed opening:
Friday, January 11th at 9:30 AM
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HOLIDAYS WITH MIGHTY MATH!
 We would like to wish Happy Holidays to all West School families! Don't forget to report minutes during the holidays so students can reach their next prize milestone. Fun activities such as board games and legos count! Click
here to learn more about the voluntary program, open to all West School students, to encourage the practice of mathematics at home.
WEST PTC EXECUTIVE BOARD - CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
The West School PTC Nominating Committee has initiated a search for potential volunteers to serve on the 2019-2020 Executive Board. We welcome nominations from within our parent community, and we encourage you to nominate yourself if you are interested in this important commitment. Please click here to review the PTC Board position descriptions and to submit a nomination. The deadline for submissions is Friday, January 11th.
PRE-REGISTRATION FOR KINDERGARTEN 2019
If you are unable to attend the Transition to Kindergarten meeting please visit the New Canaan Public Schools website at www.ncps-k12.org to pre-register your child for Kindergarten. (Click on "Parents", then "Kindergarten Registration"). Additional Kindergarten orientation sessions will be held at each elementary school in the spring. Jointly sponsored by: New Canaan Public Schools, New Canaan CARES, Preschool Directors Association.
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WEST COUNTDOWN TO WINTER BREAK
The kids had a great time all week celebrating winter with wacky winter wear, hats and socks! Everyone loved getting to wear their winter pajamas today!
And of course, the holiday assembly was enjoyed by all. Have a great Winter Break!
WEST SCHOOL SECRETARIES FOR THE DAY!
On
Friday, December 14th, two students joined our secretaries,
Janine Farkas and
Kelly Maar, to spend time in the office learning about what secretaries do here at West School.
George Hoffstein and
Anna Gass learned how to create files, stuff mailboxes, make copies, use the laminator and deliver packages to classrooms. The best part was seeing their smiling faces as they greeted parents arriving for pickup at the end of the day. As part of our dismissal process, they learned how to use School Dismissal Manager and call classrooms for student dismissal. A special thank you to their parents who purchased this special experience for them as part of our West School PTC auction. Both students enjoyed many smiles from faculty and parents throughout the day and helped to make it another Great Day at West!
THE NEW CANAAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION VISITS KIDS CARE
Kids Care held its last meeting of the fall session last week. Lauren Patterson of the New Canaan Community Foundation (NCCF) visited with the children and talked about what a nonprofit is, what the NCCF does, and discussed many of the other nonprofits that are in our own community. The children also worked on posters "What I Love About New Canaan" that will be posted in the NCCF offices in town, The Kids Care participants also created holiday ornaments that will be delivered to Waveny Care Center to decorate and spread cheer for the holidays. To learn more about the New Canaan Community Foundation, click here.
Registration for the Spring Session of Kids Care will begin in February. More details to come in the Friday Folder in the New Year. Happy Holidays from Kids Care!
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At the Monday, December 17th BOE meeting, several students spoke in support of later school start times. The students read the names of the first 350 plus signatories on a petition for later start times for the 7-12 grades. During the meeting, Dr. Luizzi gave an update regarding changing start times. Currently, the district is having a transportation study done and stated that the district's goal is to decide in June whether to move forward with changing start times for the 2020-2021 school year. The next BOE meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 7th at 7 PM in the High School's Wagner Room. At that meeting Dr. Luizzi will present the proposed 2019-2020 school year budget. For complete minutes and videos of the meetings click here. If you have any questions please contact the West BOE representatives, Mary Blanc or Janée Hunter at edurep@westschoolptc.org. All BOE meetings are broadcast live on cablevision channel 78 and rebroadcast on Thursdays at 7:30 PM and Mondays at 4:00 PM.
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KINDNESS IS CONTAGIOUS - NEW CLASS!
The New Canaan Recreation Department is offering a Winter West Before-School class on Thursdays called "Kindness is Contagious" for Grades K-4 starting on January 17th. This 10-week class will be instructed by West School Staff Michelle Hutchinson and Jennifer Derby. The class will use iPads and paint to make posters and brainstorm to create a school-wide kindness project. Their efforts will benefit the West School community in addition to family and friends. If interested, please register your student to help meet the minimum enrollment for the class. A quick response is requested by contacting Bill Kapp bill.kapp@newcanaanct.gov at the Recreation Department within the next few days. A minimum of 10 students is necessary to validate this class for the winter. The fee is $150.00. The class will meet on the following dates: 1/17, 1/24, 1/31, 2/7, 2/14, 2/28, 3/7, 3/14, 3/21, 4/4. (This class will not meet on 2/21, 3/28.)
NEW CANAAN CARES
Cakes for New Canaan Cares - Sunday, January 13th, 2 - 4 PM at the NC YMCA
Join us for an afternoon of family fun and help us celebrate.
You don't have to bake to be part of the fun!
Enter the Baking Contest,
Cupcake Decorating,
Face Painting,
Fondant Demonstration,
Bid in the Cake Auction. Registration required to enter the baking contest. See our website for contest rules and to register. Please
go to
www.newcanaancares.org
for more information.
"LIKE" Documentary Screening - Wednesday, January 23rd, 7 PM in the Saxe Middle School Auditorium
Join us for the documentary "LIKE" which explores the impact of social media on our lives and how we can learn to navigate it more safely together. There will be a panel discussion after the movie. Register here.
YWL Empowering Women Series: Financial Fitness - January 24th, 9:30 - 11 AM at the New Canaan Historical Society - Lindstrom Room
Common financial challenges that women face will be explored in a supportive and fun atmosphere. Participants will also be given techniques to teach kids financial responsibility. You will walk away with easy to digest practices women can start using right away. Register here.
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