Laconia School Board Presentation: WHS Community Engagement Program

Earlier this evening, the WHS administrative team had the opportunity to present information to the Laconia School Board about our school's Community Engagement Program.

Our efforts in this area have been integral to our work for quite a while, but now parent partnerships have additional emphasis due to our current work on Project Wildcat:  Phase 3.

Some information on this topic is presented in this 'Prezi'.

If you have questions or suggestions to help strengthen our work in this area (or any other), please contact us in the WHS Main Office at 603-524-8733.

Thank you!

Fall Parent Conference Night to Feature Parent Programs Offered by the Family Resource Center

In addition to the opportunities at WHS on Thursday, November 7^th, to see your Woodland friends and hold an extremely important meeting with your child’s teacher, you will also have an opportunity to visit our fall school book fair (open until 8:00pm. that night), and visit the Pod 5 Café’ for presentations by educators from the local Family Resource Center. 

 

Here are outlines for the 20-minute programs that will be offered by the Family Resource Center in a continuous rotation from 2:00pm. to 7:00pm. 

Session #1: The Nurturing Lifestyle – Taking Good Care of Yourself and Your Family

How can we create lives for our children that are full of love, caring, fun, happiness and guidance? Caregivers will explore the concept of “nurturing” and the positive impact that nurturing parenting can have on the family. We will discuss the need for caregivers to nurture themselves in order to effectively nurture their children.

Session #2: Meeting Needs and Changing Behaviors

How do behaviors tell us something about the basic needs of both adults and children? Caregivers will explore the direct connection between needs and behaviors. We will discuss the lifelong benefits of appropriately meeting children’s needs as well as the significant risks of routinely leaving needs unmet. We will also consider the needs of caregivers in this session.

Session #3: The Family Resource Center—Who We Are and What We Do

For hundreds of families living in the Lakes Region each year, the Family Resource Center of Central New Hampshire, a program of Lakes Region Community Services, offers respectful, non-judgmental education, early intervention, and support to assist families in their efforts to meet needs, make positive connections, and prepare children for success today and tomorrow because the Family Resource Center believes strong families lead to strong communities. Come learn more about the programs and supports available to families living in Belknap and Lower Grafton County.

Come out to WHS on Thursday and spend some quality time with your child’s teachers, and your friends.  While you are at it, round out your experience by visiting our book fair and Family Resource Center presentations.  We look forward to seeing you at Woodland Heights School on Thursday to reconnect, to learn, and to grow.  At WHS, we are all learners: children and adults alike.

Along with Teaching and Learning, the Activity Level Continues at WHS

Over the past two weeks, we have had quite a bit of activity here at Woodland Heights.  We have enjoyed two enrichment assemblies (Larry Frates – Anti-bullying, Odd Bodkin – Storytelling), two emergency response drills (Drop, cover, and Hold On, and Lock-Down), our first School Spirit Assembly (Project Wildcat, Student Recognition), a couple of field trips (Grades 2 & 5), our annual Harvest Day activities held just yesterday, and grades for Quarter #1 closing today.  Also, there has been a good deal of excitement about the success of our Boston Red Sox throughout their playoff run (and some pretty serious beard growing, as well). 

WHS Outstanding Students for Quarter #1 -- October, 2013

 

Though some weeks are quieter than others, there is always a great deal of activity in our rich and dynamic Woodland Heights School community – and all of it really, really good for kids.

Here is the big news for the next couple of weeks:  WHS Book Fair opens on Monday, City Elections on Tuesday, Quarter #1 Progress Reports go home this Wednesday (not on Monday, as previously announced), WHS will make a presentation to the Laconia School Board about our community engagement program that evening, Parent Conferences on Thursday (with a series of presentations by the Family Resource Center – see the article on the back of this page for more information), and school will be closed in observance of Veterans Day on the 11^th.  We’ll also be conducting a school evacuation (fire) drill in the next two weeks and hold our November PTO meeting on the evening of the 12^th (6:30pm.).

We continue to move quickly here at WHS.  To stay on top of the action, read our newsletters (published every other Friday) and visit our school website often (www.laconiaschools.org/whs) – where there is a ton of information about our school, updated continuously.

It is Time for 'Smooth Sailing' at WHS

After a very smooth and quiet start to our school year, we began to layer in fall testing, job-embedded teacher professional development, PSU student visits, and emergency response procedures, as well as fall field trips, picture day, and assemblies. 

The good news is that most all of our systems are now up and running, and fall testing is over. 

However, we still have a couple of emergency response exercises to conduct over the next couple of weeks, and a couple of assemblies for our students to enjoy and learn from, as well (Larry Frates -- Anti-Bullying, Odds Bodkin -- Storytelling).  We are definitely looking forward to easing back into familiar  routines and a consistent pace of life here at Woodland Heights.  We have just a few more bumps in the road over the next couple of weeks (and they are good 'bumps'), but other than that:  smooth sailing!

Routines and rhythm are extremely important to a school community.  When you've got it, you know it, and everything feels right.  When you don't, you know it, and things feel disjointed, scattered, and not as productive as we would like.  Student behavior can sometimes deteriorate a bit, also, during unsettled times. 

After returning from our long Columbus Day weekend, we'll be working hard to lower the excitement level and increase the focus level here at WHS.  Once we re-establish the rhythm of our learning community, we will be back on track for strong academic growth, and continued improvement of our school climate here at Woodland Heights.

Although it is time to take our boats out of the water, we anticipate plenty of smooth sailing in the time ahead at Woodland Heights School!

Fall Assessment Results to Go Home on Thursday, 10/10

On Thursday of this week, we will be sending home student results for our fall testing this year.  Students in Kindergarten through Grade 2 will bring home reports illustrating their performance on the AIMSweb fall assessment, while students in Grade 3 through 5 will bring home reports from their NWEA fall assessment.  If you have questions about these results you can contact your child’s teacher or me at 524-8733, or by email.

As a reminder, schools in Laconia are closed on Friday, October 11^th, for teacher training, and on Monday, October 14^th, in observance of the Columbus Day holiday.

All of your friends at WHS wish you and your family a great rest of the week and a happy and safe long weekend!

It is Time for NECAP Testing at WHS!

       This coming week we wrap up our fall testing program with the NECAP statewide assessment for students in Grades 3, 4, & 5.  Students will test in the morning each day with all students taking subtests in Reading and Mathematics, while 5th Graders will also take subtests in Writing.  These ‘pencil and paper’ booklet tests are very challenging, and tend to exhaust our students.  Student commitment to doing well on the tests has a great deal to do with their eventual scores (which will be available to us in the winter).  Each day that students take the NECAP test, they will receive a FREE breakfast from our food service department! You can help our students do well next week by talking to them about the tests, and making certain that they understand your expectations for good effort on the tests, as in all schoolwork.  Students should be well-rested for testing, and should be to school on time.  These recommendations (plenty of rest and punctual school attendance) are good to follow any school day, but are especially important during testing periods.  Many thanks, in advance, for your good efforts to promote good learning and good testing for your child(ren) in our school.

       In other news related to testing, our students recently completed their AIMSweb (Grades K-2) or NWEA (Grades 3-5) testing, and we are currently generating reports to send home with students over the coming week.  When you receive these reports and have questions about the test, report, or your child’s performance, please speak to your child’s teacher by making a phone call to the school, or emailing her at your convenience.

       Our Wildcats continue to impress us with their hard work in class, and their academic achievement as evidenced through our school and district testing process.  The results we receive from our testing program guide our decisions as we continue to improve all that we do here at Woodland Heights.  Thank you, once again, for having a talk with your child about the importance of testing, and your expectation for him/her to show their best effort. 

       From all of your friends at WHS:  Happy Weekend!!

 

Laconia Elementary 'Job-Embedded Professional Development' Program Now Underway

Beginning this past Friday, some of our teachers spent half a day with their grade-level counterparts from across our district to engage in job-embedded professional development.  What is job-embedded PD?  It is teacher training that occurs within the context of the teacher workday, and connected directly to district and school improvement initiatives.

For half of the day, once a month, the teachers of a selected grade level meet with Gail Bourn, our Academic Coordinator of Teaching and Learning -- Elementary.  While with Mrs. Bourn and fellow grade level classroom teachers and interventionists, our teachers work to refine their understanding of new district curriculum standards (Mathematics, Reading, or Writing 'Non-Negotiables'), best instructional practices and techniques, and common assessment practices that will bring all of our schools to a high level of performance, and assure educational equity for all of our Laconia Elementary Students.

The topic of this collaborative professional study for the month of September was refining mathematics instruction techniques (we had the benefit of a visit from our district math consultant, Professor Mahesh Sharma, during our second week of school to support this learning).  For October, our teachers will focus on learning and implementing our district's new Reading Non-Negotiables (developed this past summerby teachers and administrators during a professional learning institute right here in Laconia!).

Our job-embedded professional development program is just one aspect of our educational system here in Laconia that is head and shoulders above the rest.  It demonstrates a strong commitment to teaching and learning, and our ongoing quest for individual and organizational improvement.  As has been said before, for teachers at Woodland Heights, the learning never stops!