Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Weekly Blog 1/23


Dear Wines Families,
Usually our snow days are associated with beautiful fluffy snow. Not so much today. Yuck! I hope if you had to travel to work this morning, that your commute was uneventful. We do have a lot of news today.

Follow Up Re: New Check in Procedures
I’ve had a number of questions and comments regarding the message I sent out yesterday about the new check in procedure pilot we are participating in. I wanted to reiterate that we are participating in two, two-week pilots of two different systems. This is not a permanent change at this time. I volunteered to be on the committee to choose the vendor and agreed to be the elementary pilot site for AAPS because I feel like our school is uniquely situated to give quality feedback about the systems considering the size of our school and the number of visitors we have each day. I share many of the concerns some of you have expressed regarding the possibility that such a change will not only be inconvenient, but also will increase office staff workload and perhaps diminish the community feel of our school. Balancing security and keeping a welcoming atmosphere of the school is a challenge in this day and age, but I'm committed to both. I welcome your feedback over the next three and a half weeks and I ask for your patience as we implement this new system on the fly. We will start in earnest tomorrow.

International Night January 30th, 6:30-8pm
Next week is our annual International Night. We hope to see you there! If you're still interested in hosting a country, please sign up at https://goo.gl/forms/3Cf0DZHHyPmW0SuP2 by this Friday, Jan. 25th, so we know how many tables we need.  There are still some key volunteer spots we need to fill. If you can help out during the night next week, please go to https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a4fa8af2da1ff2-international

Kindergarten/Young 5’s Round Up Feb. 5th
Now that we are into 2019, we are beginning to plan for fall of 2019. Our Kindergarten/Young 5’s Round Up is scheduled for Tuesday, February 5th from 6:30-7:30. The event is for parents AND kids. If you have a child who will be coming to our program next fall, please plan on joining us! Please also tell your friends and neighbors who have children eligible for Kindergarten or Young 5’s next year. If you know your child will be coming to Wines next year for Kindergarten or Young 5’s, please let Robin know in the office so she can begin to compile our list of students.

Parent Involvement Day Feb. 11
Our annual Parent Involvement Day takes place on Monday, February 11th. Please spend part or all of your day with us! Look for an official paper invitation and digital RSVP soon. This year, we are excited to have a representative from the Human Rights Campaign’s “Welcoming Schools” program join us for parent workshops throughout the day. Our trainer has worked with our staff this fall (and again next week) and will be providing an overview of Welcoming Schools and the work we are doing to foster an inclusive environment for all students and families at Wines. A second digital sign up will be sent out to attend the sessions. I urge parents to attend a session that day. More information to come!
PTOC Guest Speaker: Social Media
DATE:   Monday, January 28, 7:00-8:30 PM
Westerman Preschool & Family Center, 2775 Boardwalk, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 
TOPIC:  Social Media: Helping Parents Help Their Tweens and Teens. Robbin Batten, from the Washtenaw Area Council for Children will speak about privacy and security, sexting, cyber-bullying, online predators, and digital reputation.

Friday Floor Hockey
Our first Friday Floor Hockey will take place this Friday beginning at 8:15. Feel free to drop your child off or join us for the game! Everyone must have dry shoes.

That’s all for today. We’ll see you tomorrow.

David

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