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PRINCIPALS' CORNER
Jan Murphy and Ashley Furnari
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TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN PRESENTATION
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 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.
Date: Thursday, January 10th (Snow Date Friday, January 11th)
Time: 9:30 - 10:45 AM
Place: East School - Galley
PRE-REGISTRATION FOR KINDERGARTEN 2019
If you are unable to attend the meeting above, 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.
HOUR OF CODE
 S
tudents in Grades K-4 will be taking part in the international event "Hour of Code" in celebration of Computer Science Week. Starting Tuesday,
December 18th
, students will be engaging in coding activities (plugged and unplugged) in both Computer and Library classes. Students will be expected to use critical thinking and creativity to problem solve and innovate. This is one of the largest learning events in history and over 100 million students have participated worldwide. Thank you to our Computer and Library teachers for making this happen!
SCHOOL ABSENCES AND TARDINESS
 If your child is going to be absent or late to school, please call to let us know.
Kelly Maar,
our school secretary, oversees student absences, and with the winter months coming, it is important to verify absences and be aware when students are arriving late. Please use our school phone number 203-594-4400 and press "1" to leave a message. We appreciate your help with this.
HEALTH TIPS FROM NURSE BELL
 Did you know...
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In cold weather the body's thirst response is diminished by 30%, which can lead to a condition called cold weather dehydration.
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What can you do to help your child avoid cold weather dehydration?
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Send them to school with a water bottle.
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Use chapstick to avoid fluid loss.
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Dress them in layers on cold days.
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Use a humidifier in your home.
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And most importantly, allow at least 10 hours of sleep a night.
SCHOOL CLOSINGS, DELAYS AND EARLY DISMISSALS
Click
here
to find out how the decision is made to close, delay an opening, or early dismiss the schools in bad weather or emergencies and the process for communicating these decisions to the public.
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WINTER BASP REGISTRATION BEGINS, Monday, December 10th
Registration for the Winter Session of Before and After School Programming begins
Monday, December 10th
at
9:15 AM
and closes on
Wednesday, December 19th
. Click
here
to see a list of classes. Click
here
to register. Winter classes begin
Monday
, January 14th, 2019.
TEACHER AND FACULTY APPRECIATION HOLIDAY LUNCHEON, Friday, December 14th
Please consider making a donation to the upcoming Teacher and Faculty Appreciation Holiday Luncheon. It is such a wonderful way to help say thank you and happy holidays to our hard working West staff. If you have yet to donate we are still in need of monetary donations toward catering, or your time in the kitchen baking a favorite holiday treat to share! Click
here to view a list of items you can purchase and other volunteer requests. Thank you for your generosity,
Kara Gilliam and
Meaghan Kupchak. Please email us with any questions at
tahollunch@westschoolptc.org.
HALF DAY, Friday, December 21st
Early Dismissal (1:05 PM)
HOLIDAY VACATION, Monday, December 24th - Tuesday, January 1st
No School
THE GREATEST SHOW BY WEST SCHOOL, Thursday, February 7th
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages...this is the LAST WEEK to register for The Greatest Show-West School's Variety Show at Saxe Auditorium. Click here for more information and to register. Registration closes on Wednesday, December 12th.
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SHOP AMAZON SMILE FOR WEST SCHOOL
As you begin your holiday shopping, please consider making your Amazon purchases through Amazon Smile for the benefit of West School. Go to
www.smile.amazon.com and select
the charity
West School Parent Teacher Council.
You can shop normally, using your regular Amazon account and Amazon will donate .5% of your purchase to West School!
WEST SCHOOL STUDENT AMBASSADORS CARE PACKAGES
 This December, help those in need. Students will be assembling holiday goody bags, which will contain diapers, wipes, lotion and shampoos. All Donations NO LATER than Wednesday, December 12th.
- Kindergarten - small package of diapers
- 1st Grade - wipes
- 2nd Grade - lotion
- 3rd Grade - shampoo
- 4th Grade - white gift bags (no decorations)
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KINDNESS COUNTS!
Third graders
Elena Dillon
and
Elly Glover
created a kindness newspaper called "Kindness Counts" for our West School teachers to read to their students. They handed them out the day before Thanksgiving and shared many ideas for showing kindness and being thankful. The newspaper also includes West School's Kindness Board and some examples of "Acts of Kindness" happening around our school. The students will be sharing ways to spread our Ben's Bells kindness coins. They are very proud of the many ways students have shared acts of kindness!
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At the December 3rd meeting, the BOE continued its discussion around School Start Times after a public commentary period where several parents expressed support for later school start times for NCHS. Dr Lu
i
zzi then presented the board with key takeaways from the meetings held with faculty and staff on this issue over the last several weeks. The BOE decided further information was required before a timeline could be determined or a subcommittee designated. In addition, the Board received an update from the Crisis Advisory Board on ALICE (the new violent intruder response training program) and the implementation timeline. Lastly, the 2019-2020 Budget Assumptions were approved after a first read. Meeting notes and full BOE presentations can be found here. The next BOE meeting will be Monday, December 17th at 7:00PM in the Wagner Room at NCHS. All BOE meetings are broadcast live on cablevision channel 78 and rebroadcast on Thursdays at 7:30 PM and Mondays at 4:00 PM. Questions? Please contact the West BOE Reps Janée Hunter and Mary Blanc at
edurep@westschoolptc.org
.
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NEW CANAAN FIRE DEPARTMENT SANTA'S HELPER FUNDRAISER
 Lights, sirens and Santa to your front door!
New Canaan Firefighters will be donning
Santa suits and bringing along their elves to deliver gifts to your front door.
The first "Santa's helper" Fundraiser is open to all New
Canaan residents. Parents, please bring a small gift, wrapped in brown paper with your child's name and address clearly printed on the outside to "Santa's Helper" 60 Main Street, New Canaan Fire Headquarters.
The collection ends
on Saturday, December 8
th.
Drop off times are between 9AM-11AM and 5PM-7PM.
A donation of $40 per gift will be collected at the time of drop-off
. Deliveries will be made
December 14th , 15th or 16th
between 5PM and
9:30PM
and will be scheduled on a first come, first serve basis.
We can accommodate up to 25 stops per night. We encourage "parties"
to maximize your experience!
For more information, call (203) 594-3140.
ANNIE JR. AUDITION OPPORTUNITY
 Open Arts Alliance, a non-profit arts education organization that provides outreach, classes, volunteerism, and productions for students across Connecticut is having auditions for Annie Jr. Auditions will be held
December 12th, 13th, & 14th
at Round Hill Community Center (395 Round Hill Road in Greenwich, Connecticut). Performances of Annie Jr. will take place on
April 27th and 28th
at the Cole Auditorium at the Greenwich Library. Students will focus on teamwork, character study, confidence and communication skills throughout the process while connecting and building relationships. Children (ages 8-18) are encouraged to audition. Registration can be completed
here
.
NEW CANAAN GIRL SCOUTS
New Canaan Girl Scouts is looking for parents of girls in grades K-3 to volunteer to start new troops at West School. Your unique strengths and skills will benefit and inspire girls. Our NEW process is QUICK and EASY to get a troop up and running. Our program is very flexible and progressive, so you are able to choose a schedule that works best for you! And if you are not able to be a Co-Leader, consider being a Troop Helper. For more information, please contact: Michele Breed at
mbreen@gsofct.org.
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