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Advocacy

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April News

This month in Advocacy is Environmental Education month! Our Environmental Ed teacher, Chandra Valenza, will be coming in throughout the month to be teaching about different aspects of Environmental Ed. Some topics we will be covering are: Earth day, water conservation, recycling, our earth and how to take care of it, composting and pollution. 
 
Reminders: 
-Turn in your carnival basket contributions to the front desk by April 17th please.
- April 23rd is the Directors address at 6pm @ Westgate. Come to see where our school has succeeded this year and what we have to look forward to next year! 
- May 3rd and May 7th we will have field trips that relate to our end of year project. If you want to volunteer, keep those dates in mind and more info/permission slips will come home in Friday folders this month. 

Carnival Basket

 

In celebration of Westgate's 10th Anniversary, we are planning an amazing school Carnival on Saturday, May 11th for our community! This event is our largest fundraiser of the year, and one way we raise these funds is through a Silent Auction that features themed baskets prepared by each classroom.  Each family is asked to contribute something to our basket.  Small or large donations... each and every one is greatly appreciated!

The theme for our class is

Summer Fun

Erin Shugars has volunteered to be the basket coordinator for the class. She will be collecting all the donations and organizing them into a fantastic basket. You can reach her by email at [email protected] or by phone at 303-884-1805. Here is the link for that, and more information about the basket! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0F4DA9AD2CA5FD0-carnival

Please get your donated items to her as soon as possible. You can contact Erin to arrange handing them off directly, or you can turn them in to Natalie at the school's front desk clearly labeled with "Bratt's Summer Fun Basket" and your child's name.  No time to shop? Please feel free to donate a Target/Mastercard/Walmart/Amazon gift card.  Any gift cards should be turned in to the dropbox in the school lobby in an envelope labeled “Bratt's Summer Fun Basket" & your child's name.  Your donation will then be used to purchase items for the classroom basket.

Please have your items turned in BEFORE April 17th so that we can get our gift basket put together and prepped to be auctioned. March is even better than April so we have plenty of time to get everything just right!  Thanks so much for your support, and please reach out with any questions to Erin!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0F4DA9AD2CA5FD0-carnival

March Monthly Update

Happy March!

This month we are doing Mindfulness for our Advocacy theme. Some activities we will be doing as a pod are: cosmic kids yoga, mindful coloring, and reading books about mindfulness and meditation. We will also do role playing situations where we need to be mindful of our bodies and the people around us.

Please signup to support the Carnival Auction Basket. Here is the link for that, and more information about the basket! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0F4DA9AD2CA5FD0-carnival

The second week of March we will take a week from mindfulness to do career week. Just like in the fall, we want to invite parents to come in and share about their careers! If you want to sign up to come in, please see our Sign Up Genius Here

 **If you sign up, please make sure you have completed a background check.

Conferences are coming up. Please sign up for a time slot and we will do our best to have all of the teachers your child has there. Sign up here 

 

Reminders:

Panera Spirit night is from 4-8pm. Make sure you mention Westgate!

March 20-21st- NO SCHOOL for Parent Teacher Conferences

March 25- April 5th- NO SCHOOL for Spring Break

WOW Museum Permission Slip

If these don't make it home today, I want to make sure you have a backup. I am attaching the permission slip for the next field trip. If you need to print it to sign and return to school. Please do that. I have sent paper versions in backpacks of kids who were in class when the papers were delivered to me.
I hope your weekend is joyous and wonderful.
Kindest regards,
Amber

Monthly Update-February

This month is Healthy Relationships month! We will be reviewing how to have healthy relationships with our friends through various activities. We will start off playing games like Would You Rather and talking about our similarities and differences. Then, our pod will be doing bonding exercises like making a pod chain. We will learn that even if one of those chains break, it causes division throughout all of Kindergarten. We will learn strategies on how to fix those broken relationships that we might have had in the past.  We will also be talking about what is “fair” and how to handle ourselves when things aren’t fair.

Reminders:

February 11th-13th is Kindness week! We will be doing Kindness activities all week!

February 13th is Hundreds day! Children are welcome to dress up like they are 100 years old!

We will be providing a 100’s day snack that day, but if your child has allergies or wants to opt out, you can still have them bring their own snack.

February 14th is Valentines day! NO CHILDREN ARE ALLOWED TO BRING VALENTINES!!! Instead, Westgate makes Kindness cards and delivers them to businesses in our community. We will be taking a field trip to the bus barn to pass out our kindness cards! Permission slips come home in Friday folders. We should be back in time for normal pick up for half-day students. I will be reaching out to chaperones this week!

February 15th- NO SCHOOL: Teacher professional Development

February 18th- NO SCHOOL: Presidents day

February 21st- Field trip to Childrens' WOW! Museum. Permission slips coming as soon as we have approval for buses. Half-day pickup will be later (more information will be on the permission slip).

Class Pictures

Hello Parents,

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is Class Picture Day. Paper order forms were sent home on Monday. Kindergarten will be first to have their picture taken so please be sure to arrive to school on time. I am attaching a digital copy of the information, if you want to order online instead of using the paper form.

Thank you so much!

Amber

January Update

Welcome back!

This month's advocacy topic is self-regulation! We will be reviewing our unit from the beginning of the year on identifying emotions and then we will be figuring out what to do when we feel those emotions rising up within us!

Because it is a new semester, your child will be seeing some new faces. The kindergarten team has shuffled up every class to make sure we are supporting each child in every aspect. Feel free to have conversations with your child about this, some may be sad that their friend is not in their class anymore and others will be figuring out how to be in a new classroom. You should have received an email from your Advocacy teacher if your child is one that will be moved.

 

Reminders:

Class picture day- January 18th- picture forms coming home next week. 

NO SCHOOL January 21st for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Friday January 25th is JA in a Day- If you wish to volunteer please contact [email protected] or see our website for more info.

Advocacy Reminder

This week is our winter party.
Please sign up to volunteer or donate if you haven't already!
Remember, if you volunteer, you have to have a submitted background check that cleared. 
 
An addition to this party is that it is a PAJAMA PARTY! 
Students are allowed to wear their pajama's on Thursday for school. 
 
Also, if you haven't already, the food and coat drive ends this Thursday! Make sure you bring donations before then!
 
The conference sign up was closed Friday at 4pm, and if you need to coordinate a conference time, email me at [email protected]. 

December Update

This month in Advocacy, we are talking about Optimism and Gratitude. This is a great month for us to be positive and thankful!

We will be doing some fun activities around the language we use in the classroom and how it can be optimism or pessimism. We will also do some perspective taking and an action advent calendar counting down to break!

 

Our winter party is the last day of school- December 20th. Please sign up if you wish to help provide food or volunteer!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b49a4ac29a3fc1-winter1

 

This week we are having our Holiday gift shop. In Friday Folders you will find a gift list you can fill out and help your child pre-buy items for family members. If you wish to simply send money, you can do that as well and I will give your child a chance to go down and look around some point next week.

 

Please make sure you sign up for parent teacher conferences- https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b49a4ac29a3fc1-winter

 

Reminders:

December 3-7: Holiday Shop

December 20th: Half day for students- Pick up at 11:30

December 20th: 1pm-8pm Parent teacher conferences

December 21st: 8am-8pm Parent teacher conferences

December 24th- January 11th NO SCHOOL- Winter break

Scholastic book orders

Hello parents! I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving! 
Just a quick reminder about scholastic deals for the holidays...
If you order online by November 30th I can get your orders to you before winter break! Books and toys from scholastic are FABULOUS Holiday gifts! Go to https://clubs.scholastic.com/home and follow the links to order. Our class code is R78DG. 
 
Thanks!

Toy Reminder!

Hi parents, 
Just a reminder that at Westgate, we are allowing each student to bring ONE toy to school to play with at recess and play times. Please check your child's backpacks and make sure they are only bringing one. With multiple toys per student, it gets a little crazy and toys start to disappear. 
 
Thank you for your help with this!

November Advocacy

This month our Advocacy theme is Growth Mindset. Simply put, this is the idea that we are not fixed in what we can do, but there is always room to do/be better! We will be reading books like Girraffe’s cant Dance and Its ok to Make a Mistake.We will also be watching some fun videos about how to get through problems and not give up!

 

Spirit week is November 5th- November 9th!

Vote for the Carnival Theme with your change!

Monday- Team Spirit day-wear your favorite team (bring pennies)

Tuesday- Wear your Words Day- Wear your favorite t-shirt with words (bring nickles)

Wednesday- Design your own bookmark at school day (bring dimes)

Thursday- Dress like your Favorite book character (bring quarters)

Friday- PJ Day- Drop everything and read (Bring dollars and any coins)

 

Reminders:

November 8- Patricia Gatto-Walden Speaker Series guest 6-8pm @ Westgate

November 12th- NO SCHOOL- Veterans day

November 16th- All School vision and hearing screening. If your child wears glasses, please have them bring them this day.

November 19th- November 23rd- NO SCHOOL- Thanksgiving Break

November 27th- All School field trip. Parent chaperone info coming home with permission slips.

Halloween Signup

Hello parents! 
 
It is that time! Sign up here to donate/help out with our Halloween party!
 
Half day students are welcome to stay for the whole day on Halloween. Please email me if you’re halfway student will be staying for the full day or not. 
 
A few reminders about Halloween:
1. Students must bring their costumes to school. We will have time to change into them after lunch. 
2. No masks or weapons! 
3. The 5/6th graders put on a carnival for the younger grades as a part of their community service each year. This will happen after lunch and is super fun and exciting for the kids. Even better, it’s here at Westgate! 
4. After the carnival, we have a party. This party is from 2:15-3:15. Please sign up to donate. If you choose to bring a game or craft, you will be responsible for setting it up and hosting it. We need volunteers for lots of things so check out the sign up! YOU MUST HAVE A BACKGROUND CHECK TO VOLUNTEER. If you simply want to donate food, you can send that in the week of Halloween or drop it off at the front desk. 
 
Thanks everyone! 

Monthly Update October

Happy Fall!

Our monthly Advocacy theme for October is Bully Prevention. Westgate has received a grant regarding Bully Prevention, and we have had training on how to empower students to handle conflict and disrespectful behavior. Social-conflict resolution is a life-long skill that will enable them to advocate for themselves in situations where they feel disrespected. Advocacy lessons these next couple weeks will focus on teaching them these skills and strategies. Students have already heard about the ENOUGH protocol, but we will continue training them in this and how to handle those conflicts. If you want to know more about this, you can visit this link where Fox news explains the value of Bully Prevention and how our grant was used in this process: http://kdvr.com/2017/10/24/new-bullying-prevention-protocol-established-at-thornton-school/

 

This month we will officially be starting our kindness box as well. This is a great way for students to also empower each other with their kind words and acknowledging each other’s kindness. This week, ask your child about the kindness box and a story that they may want to add to the kindness box.

 

You should have received the permission slip for Miller Farms that came home in friday folders before break. Please get those returned to us ASAP! A couple more things to remember for the field trip.

  1. Please have your child either wear their purple Westgate shirt, or another purple shirt. This will help us easily identify them.
  2. If you are a half day parent, and you opt your child into our field trip, pickup will be at 1:30 that day in our usual spot. If you are planning to opt your child out, please let me know so that we can talk about alternatives for your child or the possibility of them staying home.
  3. THIS IS A FARM. Your child will be out in the dirt and fields digging for veggies. They will get dirty. Please do not send them to school in their Sunday best. Also, please remind them to wear appropriate shoes. Sandals are NOT okay to wear.
  4. We will be eating lunch at the farm. Please send your child with a SACK lunch that can be thrown away at the farm. Your child is able to bring their own water bottle, but they will be responsible for bringing it back to school. Westgate will also supply extra water bottles if you choose not to send your child with theirs.
  5. Last, the weather is forecasted to be 60 degrees and sunny, but PLEASE check the weather the morning of and send your child in appropriate clothes for the weather.

We are super excited to spend our first field trip with our high school buddies!

 

 

Reminder:

October 18th- Westgate’s 10th Anniversary Gala: Buy your tickets now! https://www.westgateschool.biz/10th-Anniversary-Celebration-Gala-gala.htm

October 19th – Field Trip to Miller Farms

October 31st- Halloween party: Sign up genius coming for donations and volunteers soon!