Final Weekly Update 6/9

 Dear Wines Families,

Well, here is the final Wednesday message of the school year. Please note that this is NOT the final email you will receive from me this week. In fact, on Friday you will receive multiple emails that contain your child’s report card, special area report card, math assessment data, and reading assessment data. Depending on the grade level, you will receive three or even four emails. Due to the fact that most of the information is sent via secure messages, our SchoolMessenger system has to separate all of the emails. But please look for this information Friday afternoon. Below are a couple of announcements and some final words as we head into summer.

Technology Return

Just a reminder that we are collecting student technology beginning tomorrow. Students who are in person tomorrow should bring their technology to school. Please remember power cords and iPad cases for iPad users. We will be checking the technology in and preparing it for your child to use again next fall. We will check for damages and make repairs/replacements this summer—please note there is no parent charge for repairs to devices this year. For those students who are not in school tomorrow, we will be collecting devices from 12-3 on Friday and 12-3 on Monday. Collection takes place in the cafeteria. If your child is participating in any AAPS summer learning programs, please do not turn in their device.

Friday Dismissal

Dismissal on Friday is at 11:10 AM. There will be “grab and go” lunch for any student who would like one.

From the Library

Summer is the best time for children to enjoy reading the books they most enjoy. With more discretionary time many families find that their children enjoy reading more than ever. We have resources to help you! I have posted many reading activities and help for parents with Sora on the Wines Library homepage, including links to the AADL Summer Game and other incentive programs. You can also click here for a summary and on the S.Evaldson page of your child's Clever account. The Sora and myOn platforms continue through the summer.  They are accessed through Clever, so keep track of your badges. Clever classes will retire in early August for reset, but these platforms should continue. The AADL will reopen in person on July 12.  I hope to see our families at the Westgate branch browsing the shelves and looking for hidden codes.  Take care, everyone, and have a lovely summer!  Sally Evaldson.

What a Year!

I don’t think I’m ready to really begin to reflect on this school year quite yet. We have all lived through a remarkable time together and while we’d probably like to put this year behind us, we will remember it forever. All I can do right now is to thank everyone in this community. I want to first thank the Wines teachers and staff. What they have done this year to change everything they do to reach our students was quite incredible. I’ve always been impressed with this staff, but NEVER more than this year. They’ve never worked harder and never cared more about providing for our kids. They never complained, only doubled down on their commitment to kids as they literally re-invented themselves overnight. I am humbled to be a small part of this incredible team.

I want to thank our parents and our entire community. You have always been key to our success and certainly never more than this year. The family gymnastics that you all went through to support our kids as they learned primarily from home was most certainly exhausting, confusing, and frustrating. But you did it!! Obviously, no one wanted this year to go the way it did and there certainly wasn’t a roadmap on how to handle educating kids during a global pandemic. One thing we did confirm, however, is that parents had the world on their shoulders this year and you carried that world splendidly.

Finally, to our kids. I always say that kids are resilient. When I say that, I generally mean they can handle more than we give them credit for. But I never thought they would demonstrate their resiliency by successfully “doing” school in a completely new way. Our students were just incredible. They persevered, learned, and continued to find joy. I’m do this job because I love kids. I’ve never loved them more than this year.

With all of that said, let’s do put this year behind us and look forward to a regular school year next year. Five full days of live instruction will be here starting August 30^th!!

Thank you, Wines community. It’s always an honor to serve this school and I look forward to serving again next year.

David

Weekly Blog 6/2

 Dear Wines Families, 

It is really hard to believe that we are approaching the last week of school. While this year has been anything but normal, there certainly was a sense of normalcy in the building yesterday as we experienced the usual post-Memorial Day “energy” amongst the students. I expect the same energy tomorrow! 

Fond Farewell

It is with fondness and appreciation that I’m able to share with our community that Sally Evaldson will be retiring from the Ann Arbor Public Schools at the end of the school year. Sally has been a fixture at Wines for the past 15 years and we thank her for her tireless service to our students and our entire community. Below is a note from Ms. Evaldson. 

I often say that I have the best job in the world. This summer, I will be handing this wonderful position to another librarian.  I am sure they will be awesome!

Our library's success comes from the families of Wines. Thank you so much to our PTO for providing a reliably generous budget, to our thoughtful family who provides the grant for our diversity collection, and to all the many, many volunteers who have helped our library thrive. Thank you to all the families who have supported reading at home, who have helped return those books when they are finished, and who regularly visit the AADL. You have made a difference with our Wines students over the years and it has been my privilege to be a part of this community.

I have tried to bring children to books where they can find humanity, discover themselves, or simply laugh out loud. I have tried to create projects that help students explore meaningful issues, filter information sources, and create aesthetically pleasing products. I will surely miss that, and you. And of course, our wonderful students!

Technology Collection

Next week, we will be collecting devices for all students except for students who are participating in AAPS summer learning programs. We will be collecting devices from Cohort II student on Thursday, June 10th. Please plan on your child bringing their device, chargers and cords, and iPad carriers (for K/1 students) next Thursday. For Cohort I and fully virtual students, we will have set up two collection opportunities on Friday, June 11 from 12-3 and Monday, June 14 from 12-3. 

Young 5’s students will be able to bring their devices on Tuesday, June 8th. Please look for more information from Mrs. Middleton.

Registration for 2021-22

Last week, you should have received an email from “AAPS Registration” with the subject “Ann Arbor Public Schools: 2021-2022 Online Registration Notification.” The email contains directions for how to register for school in the fall. Families need to re-register each year. Your previous information is pre-populated so it does not take very long to complete. It is important that everyone do this. Reminder emails will be sent soon if they haven’t already.

David

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