Weekly Update 5/12

 Dear Wines Families, 

Sorry this is a little late today. Things continue to become more normalized here at school. The kids are happy and our staff continues to impress with their ability to be flexible and always keeping our kids’ needs first and foremost! Here is the news of the week: 

Parent Input for Class Placement

Thanks to everyone who has shared parent input for class placement for 2021-22. If you haven’t done so yet and would like to, please try fill out the form linked below as soon as possible. We will begin making initial class placements next week. 

https://forms.gle/DnSsZcbG4Hh7ttCJ6

Wines Yearbook 2020-21

As I indicated last week, we have decided to create a yearbook this year and our PTO will be purchasing a copy for every Wines student. Last week, your family should have received an email from “ybkplus” with directions to upload a child portrait. The email can only go out to one family member so if you didn’t receive it personally, please check with other family members who receive Wines emails.

We are collecting candid shots of kids as well. Below is a link to a Google folder with other folders inside separated by grade level and a few specific events. Please feel free to drop photos from this year into those folders. The link is below.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10mdkjyRCWsrlvhhnmFxv-6ssP0i2jHUx?usp=sharing

Online Auction Starting Next Week!

Although we were unable to have our traditional offsite adult-only auction last year or this spring, we are happy to announce that we will be launching an online auction next week on Monday, May 17!

This year's auction includes many of the items that were originally donated for last year's event, with most local businesses offering to extend or eliminate expiration dates. We are also including items that were provided in 2020 for the end-of-year raffle, so you will find a good mix of items for adults, kids, and fun experience-themed events for the whole family!

Bidding for the online auction items can be done between Monday, May 17 and Thursday, May 27.  Details regarding registration for the auction, setting up alerts in case you are out bid, and the link for the auction site will be sent on Monday morning. We are excited to be able to raise funds to be used next fall when we return full time to Wines. Past auctions have raised money that has supported the purchase of new play structures on both the upper and lower el playgrounds as well as adding to the general PTO fund. Thank you to all Wines families and local businesses who have donated to help make this auction a success!  

As always, please let me know if you have any questions. 

David

Weekly Update 5/5

Dear Wines Families, 

It’s been fantastic having all the grades back at Wines this week! We’ll have our eighth and final “first day” of school tomorrow. While our time together will be fairly brief for the rest of the school year, having kids back in the building certainly feels like the beginning of a return to normalcy and we certainly look forward to having everyone back together next fall for five full days. 

Class Placement 2021-2022

While some of you will be celebrating the first day of school for this year tomorrow, it is May and so we are actively planning for next fall’s return to more normal instruction. As always, we encourage parent information to help us make class placement decision. Below is a link to a parent input form for class placement for next year. As always, please respect the fact that we do not accept requests for specific teachers. Below is a link to this year’s survey. 

https://forms.gle/ZpwLvwp8uMGdpgBS9

Thank You Godaiko! 

The wait for our takeout orders may have been a little longer than some of us would have liked Monday, but that means that we were keeping Godaiko quite bus! And that means we had a successful fundraiser. We are waiting on final tabulations, but it is clear that Monday will be our most successful restaurant fundraiser of the year. Thank you to everyone who participated and I want to extend a HUGE thank you to Paul, Ying, and also Nemo and Lilo who were working so hard Monday to support our school. 

Wines Yearbook 2020-21

As I indicated last week, we have decided to create a yearbook this year and our PTO will be purchasing a copy for every Wines student. Last week, your family should have received an email from “ybkplus” with directions to upload a child portrait. The email can only go out to one family member so if you didn’t receive it personally, please check with other family members who receive Wines emails. 

We are collecting candid shots of kids as well. Below is a link to a Google folder with other folders inside separated by grade level and a few specific events. Please feel free to drop photos from this year into those folders. The link is below. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10mdkjyRCWsrlvhhnmFxv-6ssP0i2jHUx?usp=sharing

David

Weekly Update 4/28

Dear Wines Families, 

Here is the news for the week! 

Godaiko Fundraiser May 3

I want to remind everyone again that next Monday, May 3, we are partnering with Godaiko restaurant for our final restaurant fundraiser of the year. Wines parents Paul and Ying Tsai own Godaiko and they are donating 50% of all proceeds that evening to Wines. Tell your friends and family! Dine in or take out. As I said last week, Godaiko has the finest sushi in town but they also have an incredible menu of non sushi items. There is literally something for everyone. Please check out the menu at https://www.godaiko.com/menu. Hope you can participate. 

More 1st Days of School Next Week

We are excited to welcome our 4th and 5th graders back to school next week. We'll have two final first days of school on Monday and Thursday. 4th and 5th grade parents, please look for an email from me tomorrow with some reminders of our procedures, etc. so that everything will go off without a hitch next week. With our school now at "capacity", please everyone bare with us as we may have a few growing pains with more cars in the parking lot, etc. 

Teacher Appreciation Week

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Like with all things this year, it will be different from years past. But our teachers and staff certainly deserve our appreciation this year more than ever! I will be sending out an end of the week email with ways that kids and families can show your appreciation. 

That's all for this week. As I said above, look for some follow up emails later this week on these items. 

David 

Weekly Update 4/22

 Dear Wines Families, 

I apologize for my weekly message coming out a bit late this week. My day kind of got away from me yesterday! And, fortunately, there isn’t a lot of important/timely information to share this week which means we’ve found our rhythm of school! I do have just a couple of items. 

4th and 5th Grade Start May 3rd

We are excited to welcome our final group of students back the week of May 3rd. I will be sending a few reminders to 4th and 5th grade families next week. With this staggered start, I realize that much of what I’ve sent out over the past month or so hasn’t been quite as important in the moment for 4th and 5th grade families so I’ll send some reminders over the next week or so. The addition of two more grades will make our parking lot a bit busier and, perhaps, a little slower. We ask for everyone’s patience as we experience another round of growing pains. 

Godaiko Fundraiser May 3rd

Well, we didn’t plan it this way, but what better way to celebrate everyone having the opportunity to be back in school with our final restaurant fundraiser on May 3rd. The incredible Tsai family from Wines own Godaiko restaurant and they are donating 50% of all proceeds on May 3rd to Wines. Dine in or take out. If you don’t know Godaiko, their menu is extraordinary. If you are a sushi fan, it is the best sushi in town. However, they have an extensive menu with something for everyone. Go to https://www.godaiko.com/menu and explore! 

That’s all for now. As always, let me know if you have any questions. 

David

Weekly Update 4/14

 Dear Wines Families, 

I have to say, it continues to be great to see the kids back in the building. Lots of joy on everyone’s faces! Tomorrow marks the sixth (of eight) “first days” of school as we welcome the second cohort of 3rd graders. We’ll welcome our 4th and 5th graders next week. As our school population grows over the next week and we reach our new capacity, we will continue to go through some growing pains, so we ask again for your patience and grace as we figure out how to be efficient and safe with our new procedures. 

Pick Up/Drop Off Update

As stated above, as we grow in population each week we are learning more and making tweaks to our system. Thank you to everyone who is using Driveline for pick up. It is working well. In both parking lots, you will see two signs. The first says “pull up” and the second says “stop here”. Please use these signs as markers and we ask that students be dropped off and picked up between the signs only. If you have not reached one of the signs yet, please wait until you are past the first sign before dropping off or retrieving your child. Please pull ahead as far as possible. 

One thing we have found is that the mirror hang tag is fairly difficult for us to see due to the size and glare (well, honestly, because of my aging eyesight!). We are also sending home a larger placard with your driveline number that you can hold up or tape to your passenger side window. If possible, please try to use that or a homemade version. 

Lunch Ordering 

As a reminder, school lunch is free for all students this year, but it must be ordered in advance. Information on ordering lunch can be found at https://www.a2schools.org/Page/621. The monthly menu can be found at https://a2schools.nutrislice.com. Each day there is a hot and a cold item available. If you can help us by reminding your child which item you ordered, that will be most helpful. 

From Mrs. Evaldson in the Library

Do you have school library books at home?

• Please bring those books to school to be returned to the library. If you have books from another building, those books can be returned to our building as well. Look for a bin outside the library.

• If you are remaining virtual for the remainder of the school year, hold on to AAPS library books until we can all return this school year or until next fall.  

What about late or lost fines?

• We understand many families have been impacted this past year and will be waiving costs related to school library books.

Are you not sure if you have school library books at home?

• Ms. Evaldson will be emailing library book notices (with book titles included) in the event you do not remember what books you have checked out.

Interested in Helping with Noon Hour? 

We are always looking for noon hour supervisors on our playground. In past years, we had many parent volunteers in addition to our paid staff. This year, all supervisors need to be officially hired. The process is fairly quick and easy and we’d love to have you with us! If you are interested, please let me know and I’ll get you the information. You do not need to work every day—just the days when you are available. 

As always, please let me know if you have any questions. 

David

Weekly Update 4/7

Dear Wines Families, 

We continue to be thrilled to have kids and staff back in the school building. Everyone—from kids to adults—are so happy to be back! While everyone is learning some new routines, I’m incredibly impressed by how quickly things seem to be normal in each classroom. It is quite amazing to see! 

Change in Return Dates

Yesterday Dr. Swift shared information with the entire AAPS community regarding a change in the return to school dates for students in grades 4-12 due to the increase in COVID infections in Washtenaw County. I followed up with our 4th and 5th grade families last evening, but for all of our information, our 3rd graders will return by cohort next Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday. Our 4th and 5th grade student are now scheduled to return on April 19th. 

Another 1st Day Tomorrow! 

Tomorrow we will celebrate our fourth “1st day” of school as we welcome our second cohort of 1st and 2nd graders. This week has gone quite smoothly as our student population increased and we are excited to see a new group of kids tomorrow and more on Monday! 

Thank you to everyone for following our arrival and dismissal procedures. Today I again emailed your family Driveline # (I know I’ve sent this many times, but I just want to make sure everyone has it!). Please have this number displayed prominently in your car for either Ms. Schemanske in the Cooley Lot or me at the main entrance lot to see. On students’ first day of school, they will be sent home with a car mirror tag with your number. Please have this number displayed on a hand- written piece of paper for the first pick up. In all honesty, both Sarah and I have found that a large hand-written piece of paper is actually a little easier to see than the car tag, so feel free to use either one or both! As a reminder, please use the lot associated with the youngest sibling in your family. 

Lunch 

Just a reminder that lunch is provided free for any student this year if you choose. However, lunch must be ordered in advance. Information on ordering can be found at https://www.a2schools.org/Page/621. It is helpful if you have a conversation with your child about which item you ordered. There is a hot and a cold choice each day and students don’t always know which they ordered. We will have extras, but any help in this area is appreciated. 

Report Cards

On Friday you will receive a secure email with your child’s report card. 

Mark Your Calendars: Godaiko Fundraiser

Our final dinner fundraiser at Godaiko is scheduled for May 3rd. Godaiko is owned by Paul and Ying Tsai, a wonderful Wines family. 50% of all proceeds will go to Wines for the evening. Dine in or take out. More information to come later. 

Looking forward to another first day of school tomorrow and more over the next couple of weeks. As always, please reach out with any questions. 

David

Weekly Update 3/24

 Dear Wines Families, 

For the first time in over a year, our school is buzzing with life! I can't tell you how good it feels to see our staff working in the building this week. Tomorrow, we begin the slow transition of welcoming students to our school!! 

By now, I've sent all I can send out so nothing new today, but a few reminders: 

• Young 5's. Tomorrow all in person Young 5's students will be at school. Friday, all Young 5's will be virtual. 

• Kindergarten: Tomorrow we will welcome our Monday/Tuesday cohort. Friday we will welcome our Thursday/Friday cohort

• Mrs. Gray: We will welcome all in person students tomorrow and Friday. 

• 1st and 2nd Grades: We will welcome students by cohort beginning April 5th. 

• 3rd-5th Grades: We will welcome students by cohort beginning April 12th.

 Arrival/Departure

All Y5 and Kindergarten families must use the Cooley entrance for arrival and pick up. For car pick up, I have sent your Driveline code twice. Please display this code when you arrive at pick up in the afternoon (you do not need a code in the morning). On your child's first day of school, we will send home a more permanent car mirror hanger with your family code. 

Mrs. Gray's class will utilize the main entrance off of Newport. Please use your driveline code in afternoon. 

Lunch

If your child is eating lunch provided by school, you must order ahead of time. Families can order one week in advance. Please go to https://www.a2schools.org/Page/621 for more information. Students, of course, can bring lunch from home as well. 

What to Bring to School? 

Students should bring their school issued devices to school daily. Please do not bring chargers. Please try to send the devices fully charged (we will have charging stations available if necessary). 

All students must wear a mask at all times, except while eating. An extra mask would be most helpful. We have extras available in each classroom. 

Each student should bring a water bottle. We will provide cups if necessary. 

Please refer to information from your child's teacher regarding other supplies. 

We are excited for this new beginning. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

David