Friday, August 28, 2015

First Week of the 2015-16 School Year


New Kindergarten Friends Reading Together


Dear Wawaloam Family and Community,

Our first few days of school may feel like a complete blur as it seemed to go by SO quickly! I am sure your children are coming home exhausted with the combination of the back to school schedule change and the humid weather we started off with this week. In case you were not aware, we were the first district in the state of Rhode Island to start school this year!

We want you to know that Wawaloam is off to a fantastic start! I am always amazed at how quickly students fall back into the routine and very impressed with our new Kindergarten friends! We are all so excited to see our newest members of Wawaloam and it is evident that they are also thrilled to be here. Of course, everything is NEW for our youngest students and we are spending a lot of time on establishing systems and expectations. Students may be sharing that they are practicing lining up and practicing walking in the halls........these are all important steps in building a classroom culture where children feel safe and secure. When children feel safe they can learn their best, our ultimate goal.

We feel that the parent drop-off, parent pick-up and bus arrival and dismissal are getting smoother each day! There is no perfect formula but it is very helpful if you do send in a note regarding transportation that you write the name of your child's teacher on the note. These notes all get delivered to the front office and this small step can save us valuable minutes. We appreciate your help with this.

The main message we would like to extend this week is that we sincerely would like to know how we are doing. You may be a new parent to Wawaloam or a returning family.  From experience, I know that your observations can help us continue to be a reflective group striving for growth and improvement. We can not make improvements if you do not share your concerns or your observations. Many amazing changes have been implemented as a result of parent communication. We really want to know, early on, if there is a way we can do something better.

We are genuinely thrilled to be back for the 2015-16 school year and look forward to watching your children strive toward individual goals and experience the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment each day!

Respectfully,
Melissa Marino

HOUSEKEEPING:

Please refrain from sending children to school in flip flops or sandals. These provide a safety hazard and are not allowed at school. Thank  you

If you have not returned your student information forms, please do so as soon as possible.  These are used to contact you in the event of an emergency and the quicker these come back the better.

EVENTS:

PTA SEPTEMBER 3 at Metcalf School  6:30 PM

GRADES 1 and 2 OPEN HOUSE  THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10 @ WAWALOAM
5:45-6:30 for Grade 2      7:00-7:45 for Grade 1

Kindergarten OPEN HOUSE THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24 @ WAWALOAM 6:00 PM

Note that our Open House events are geared for parents and guardians. Thank you