Dear Whitmore Families,
We’ve enjoyed a flurry of culminating activities with you and your children in the past few weeks. It’s hard to believe that this year’s coming to an end. Your children have come so far in one year, and we are very proud of them!
On behalf of the staff, I’d like to thank all of you who helped organize and volunteer for Field Day. The kids had a wonderful time! Also, special thanks to all of you who have contributed in ways small, large and unimaginable! Helping teachers, volunteering as a Watch D.O.G., attending school or PTA meetings, chaperoning field trips, helping with school pictures, organizing events, working at events, showing up to support your children, serving on committees, sharing your talents… supporting our work in countless ways and providing the resources to do what we dream and know is good for children. Thanks for getting your kids to school on time each day, for kind notes of encouragement that mean so much, for sending your kids with healthy lunches obviously packed with love, for making sure homework gets done… and turned in. Thank you for providing rich and engaging, well-rounded experiences for your children and knowing that education is about joy, wonder and fostering curiosity, along with the development of social skills so needed to succeed. For these, and a million other things, we are truly grateful.
Last Day of School
Just a reminder that the last day of school, Wednesday, June 10 is a half day; students will be released at 11:45 am. We will be honoring our 5th grade students at the Honor’s Celebration starting 9:30 am.
Reading over the summer is critical to your child’s success!
Reading during the summer makes a critical difference in your child’s success in the fall. The Whitmore challenge has been set that all students read and log 2000 minutes over the summer. Those who turn in a log will be invited to an ice cream party in the fall. Students can use www.mobymax.com/signin (username is student number, password is birthdate MM/DD/YYYY – June 5, 2003 would be 6052003 – single digit months do not have zero in front) or www.myon.com/login (enter school name, username is student number and password is student number). A letter explaining the challenge was sent home earlier this week.
*Please note that the password for Mobymax has changed to birth date instead of student number.
The research is very clear that books read at home should be EASY! If your child wants a more difficult book, read it aloud to him or her. Reading aloud to kids of ALL ages is a great tradition that builds vocabulary, comprehension and is just plain fun!
Talking with your child about books also improves your child’s reading comprehension. Possible questions you can ask: What has happened so far in the book? What do you think the character will do next (and why)? What are you wondering about the book/story now? What is the problem in the story and how is it solved? Can you retell the basic story/facts about the book? In fact, the more you engage your child in meaningful conversation in general, the more he or she will improve his/her thinking.
If your child is not an eager reader, encourage ANY reading – comic books, sports statistics, series books, joke books, magazines, online stories read aloud, interactive app books. Taking turns reading or listening to a parent read aloud develops vocabulary as well as the love of reading.
There will be a SUMMER READING PROGRAM offered again this year. Because of the summer construction this year at Whitmore, the program will be offered at Duvall Elementary each Monday and Wednesday from 1:00 -4:00 pm. The program will begin June 24th – August 21st. This is a wonderful program and we encourage all of our Whitmore students and families to participate in.
Summer math over the summer is also critical to your child’s success!
Practicing math is just as important as reading over the summer. Please make sure to review and sharpen their math skills on a daily basis. The goal should be to make math “real” and meaningful by pointing it out in the world around your child. That could include checking and comparing prices at the grocery store, driving down the street counting mailboxes, reading recipes, calculating coupons, or even measuring food or drink at the dinner table.
As part of your Mobymax subscription, students have access to adaptive and differentiated practice sets and problems. Other good resources can be found on the school website https://wbolles.dearbornschools.org/parent-central/.
Summer School
Students who have been invited to attend summer school will be attending our program at Duvall Elementary. This is a joint effort with Duvall, Nowlin, Long and Snow schools. The program runs July 27th through August 13th. Please direct any questions to the main office.
Class Placements
Next year’s class placements will again be communicated before school starts on September 8th. Although we do not accept individual teacher requests, please know that teachers advocate for and work together for the best placement of each child. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation with this policy.
New Kindergarten Program and Schedule
New this fall, selected Kindergarten students will be invited in for a “jump start” program to get acquainted with the building, our staff and our routines. All Kindergarten students will participate in a “soft start” schedule to ease them into the school year. This means that Kindergarten will follow a different time schedule than students in grades 1-5 for the first week of school. Kindergarten parents will receive a separate letter with specific information about the two programs.
Summer Office Hours/Getting in Touch
The school office will be open through June 16th and will reopen the week before school begins. I will be working a week after and before those days, although I will be off-site for meetings some days. I can always be reached through email waddelk@dearbornschools.org if something should come up in between the dates. Teachers return September 2nd, however they will be in meetings all day.
Looking Forward
Our school has been selected as one of three schools in Dearborn to become a Leader in Me school through the I am a Leader Foundation. The Leader in Me program is aligned with best-in-class content and concepts practiced by global education thought leaders. It provides a logical, sequential and balanced process to help schools proactively design the culture that reflects their vision of the ideal school. All staff will be participating in several trainings on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People this June and August. We are very excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to begin!
To those of you who are leaving us for new places and adventures, we wish you all the best. Congratulations to our very capable 5th graders who are onto a new stage in their academic career! And, well-wishes, albeit with saddened hearts, to Ms. Syring and Ms. Douponce, as they move to new positions within the district. They’ve been a gift to us and will undoubtedly be a great asset to their new schools. We wish all of you a wonderful summer, with time for rest, a change of pace, and family.
Most sincerely,
Kristi Waddell, Principal