Principal's Weekly Update

Hello West Middle Island Families!

 

Tomorrow, September 3rd is our first day of school and we are looking forward to an amazing year together.  Be sure to go to bed early tonight so everyone is ready for the day tomorrow!

 

For any new families, each week I will send out a message on Friday afternoon to inform you of the upcoming events and activities.  Please take the time to read through the email carefully as I will share with you many different links of school, district, and community events throughout the year.

 

Important Emergency Drill Information:

 

As part of our commitment to ensuring the safety and preparedness of our students and staff, we conduct regular evacuation and lockdown drills to practice our emergency response procedures. This year we will be providing families with prior written notice of all evacuation and lockdown drills.I am writing to inform you of an upcoming evacuation drill scheduled to take place at West Middle Island on Wednesday, September 4th, with a rain date of Thursday, September 5th. The purpose of this drill is to familiarize everyone with the evacuation process, ensuring that we can quickly and safely evacuate the school in the event of an actual emergency. This drill is an important component of our school safety plan.  During the drill, students will practice exiting the building while following the instructions provided by their teachers and staff members. Please be assured that all drills are conducted to ensure they are as smooth and non-disruptive as possible. As we will be conducting several drills throughout the school year, we kindly ask for your support in discussing the importance of these drills with your child. You can reassure your children that these exercises are in place to keep everyone safe and that there is no need for concern.

 

News and Updates from our WMI PTA:

 

The WMI PTA Board would like to welcome you to the 2024-2025 school year! We have been busy over the summer planning for a fun and exciting year for all the students at West! 

 

Important Information:

All students will receive a PTA packet the first week of school that will include information regarding the PTA. It will include how to register to become a PTA member, how to chair/volunteer for events, information on class parent/helper, calendar of PTA events, welcome back night celebration flyer and our 1st spirit wear order form of the year!!! 

 

Our first PTA meeting is Monday, September 9, 2024, at 7pm in the Primary multipurpose room! We would love to see everyone at our PTA meeting to kick off a great year! 

*Be sure to join as a PTA member PRIOR to the PTA meeting for a chance to win a gift card! The drawing will take place at the end of the meeting!  Here is the link to join the PTA for the 2024-2025 school year! https://wmi.memberhub.com/store?limit=21&live=true

  

We want all to feel welcome to be more involved in the PTA!  We truly need YOU to help make this a fun year for the kids at West! 

 

Any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach out via email @ wmipta@gmail.com. 

 

4th Grade Committee Information:

Attention 4th grade parents, the 4th grade committee needs you!!

As our 4th graders embark on their last year at West we want to plan a great year for them! We would love to see parents/guardians/family members that have a 4th grader be involved in helping make this a great year for our kids! 

We will be having our first meeting on Thursday, September 12th from 6:30-7:30pm at the Longwood Public Library in the downstairs community room. Please join us at our meeting to learn more about what we are planning and what you can do to help make this year great!! We welcome any ideas to make this year a memorable year for our 4th graders! We will be sending out a google link very soon to join the 4th grade committee! If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at 4thgradecommittee@wmipta.com

We look forward to a great year! 

Sincerely, 

Dr. Gretchen Schaentzler, Principal 

Good Afternoon!  

We are proud to share that our opening week at West Middle Island was a huge success.  Students were eager and happy to rejoin their friends and teacher at school.  

Thank you for your patience with our afternoon busing.  Each day gets better and better.  Please be reminded that if you are picking up your child as a walker, you need to arrive no later than 3:15 pm so that we can assist and process your information in a timely fashion.  We cannot dismiss the buses until all walkers have been dismissed.  Thank you for your assistance with this process.

Great attendance starts from the first day of school!
Every day counts!
School Success Begins with Your Attendance. 

Upcoming West Middle Island Events:

• Patriots Day: September 11, 2024- Wear red, white and blue
• Elementary Open House September 24, 6 pm - 9 pm.  Schedule to follow. 
   

PTA News and Events:

We hope all students at West had a great first week of school! All students should have received by now a PTA packet from their classroom teacher with important information about the PTA.

 

Upcoming reminders:

• PTA Meeting: Our first PTA meeting is Monday, September 9, 2024, at 7pm in the Primary multipurpose room! We would love to see everyone at our PTA meeting to kick off a great year!

 

• Be sure to join as a PTA member PRIOR to the PTA meeting for a chance to win a gift card to Café Amici! The drawing will take place at the end of the meeting! Here is the link to join the PTA for the 2024-2025 school year! https://wmi.memberhub.com/store?limit=21&live=true

 

• Class Parent/Helper: To sign up for class parent/helper for a child’s class the form is due Friday, 9/20. The QR code was in the packet or you can use this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0bhAclTNZOhHrBRc-AlYlrGPNk98L1vOmUqc5AXUoemLYFw/viewform

Any further questions please email Tara Velez @classparent@wmipta.com.

 

• Welcome Back Night: Friday, September 20th- Our welcome back night celebration is from 6-8pm! We would love to see everyone for a fun filled night to kick off the school year! Its free admission we will have a D.J, face painting, tattoos, games & prizes! Pizza, Drinks, Snacks & Candy will be available for purchase!  Cash Only!  Come on down to meet new friends and have a blast with old friends! Any questions please email wmipta@gmail.com.

 

• Spirit Wear: The flyer for our 1st spirit wear order of the year was included in the packet. This spirit wear order is paper form ONLY so orders must be returned to school no later than Friday, 9/27. Any questions email wmipta@gmail.com.

 

4th Grade Committee Information:

Attention 4th grade parents, the 4th grade committee needs you!!

As our 4th graders embark on their last year at West we want to plan a great year for them! We would love to see parents/guardians/family members that have a 4th grader be involved in helping make this a great year for our kids! 

We will be having our first meeting on Thursday, September 12th from 6:30-7:30pm at the Longwood Public Library in the downstairs community room. Please join us at our meeting to learn more about what we are planning and what you can do to help make this year great! We welcome any ideas to make this year a memorable year for our 4th graders! Here is the link to join the 4th grade committee! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0bhAclTNZOhHrBRc-AlYlrGPNk98L1vOmUqc5AXUoemLYFw/viewform

If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at 4thgradecommittee@wmipta.com

 

Community Events:

• LYSA Basketball Winter Season Ages 5 and above LYSA Basketball Flier or register at https://go.teamsnap.com/447146

 

Have a Great Weekend!

Dr. Gretchen Schaentzler, Principal 

Good Afternoon!  

We have had another fantastic week at West!  The students have practiced two evacuation drills this week and did a wonderful job. 

Please continue with the same dismissal process.  We will begin our "every day" walker process after Open House on September 24th.  As a reminder if you are picking up your child as a walker, you need to arrive no later than 3:15 pm so that we can assist and process your information in a timely fashion. 

Great attendance starts from the first day of school!
Every day counts!
School Success Begins with Your Attendance. 

This week at West:

• Start with Hello Week: We will be enjoying different activities throughout the week please don't forget to wear Green on Monday to connect and promote kindness.

Upcoming West Middle Island Events:

• Elementary Open House: September 24, 6 pm - 9 pm.  Open House Schedule Letter to Parent 

 

PTA News and Events:

• Thank you to all who came for our first PTA meeting of the school year! We would love to see more members join to have a great year! Here is the link to join the PTA for the 2024-2025 school year! https://wmi.memberhub.com/store?limit=21&live=true

 

• Next PTA meeting is Monday, October 7, 2024, at 7pm in the Primary Multipurpose Room. The school has childcare during PTA meetings.

 

Upcoming Reminders:

• Class Parent/Helper: To sign up for class parent/helper for a child’s class the form is due next Friday, 9/20. The QR code was in the packet or you can use this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf7Xoul1d-qZfpi3v2YG0oRLIYCKeHyHN9YyPfStyHd9R_Qbw/viewform   Any further questions please email: Tara Velez: classparent@wmipta.com.

 

• Welcome Back Night: Friday, September 20th: Our welcome back night celebration is from 6-8pm! We would love to see everyone for a fun filled night to kick off the school year! Its free admission we will have a D.J, face painting, tattoos, games & prizes! Pizza, Drinks, Snacks & Candy will be available for purchase!  Cash Only!  Come on down to meet new friends and have a blast with old friends!

 

• Spirit Wear: Reminder spirit wear sale is running now until Friday, September 27th be sure to order by the due date, so you don’t miss out! This year we brought back class shirts as we had many requests! Don’t forget to order the year your child will be graduating West so they can wear it on spirit wear Friday's and for years to come! Please click on the flier to view all of our products! Spirit Wear Flier.  Any questions email wmipta@gmail.com.

 

4th Grade Committee Information:

• Attention 4th grade parents, the 4th grade committee needs you!!  As our 4th graders embark on their last year at West we want to plan a great year for them! We would love to see parents/guardians/family members that have a 4th grader be involved in helping make this a great year for our kids! Here is the link to join the 4th grade committee! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0bhAclTNZOhHrBRc-AlYlrGPNk98L1vOmUqc5AXUoemLYFw/viewform  If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at 4thgradecommittee@wmipta.com

 

• WEST MIDDLE ISLAND 4th Grade Committee Hosts: URBAN AIR: 3147 Middle Country Rd, Lake Grove, New York 11755 Friday October 11th, 5-9pm: West Middle Island 4th grade committee is hosting a night of fun at Urban Air. ALL ARE WELCOME! Share with all your family and friends, you don't have to be a WMI student to have fun with us. Help support the WMI 4th grade committee by jumping and playing all night with your friends. Unlimited access to the park for 4 hours with socks included. Price is $35 per child for platinum level entry a savings of $15 per person. A portion of all sales will go to our committee to help us raise money for the end of the year 4th grade events. Come join us and play!!  Adults do not need to purchase a ticket if they do not plan on using the attractions! Urban Air Flier

 

• SEPTO Information: Longwood SEPTO Website: Please click the following link to visit SEPTO's website, which has the most up to date information regarding membership, meetings, events and fundraisers throughout the year.Longwood SEPTO Link

Community Events:

• LYSA Basketball Winter Season Ages 5 and above LYSA Basketball Flier or register at https://go.teamsnap.com/447146

 

Have a Great Weekend, 

Dr. Schaentzler

Good Afternoon!   We hope that your children enjoyed the events from Start with Hello Week.  We finished up the week with an amazing assembly with singing and poetry.  Great job West!  Looking forward to sharing our drone pictures of the event.  Special thank you to the PTA for supplying everyone with T-shirts for the event.  Please be sure to have your child continue to wear their shirt on Fridays to show their school spirit! Great attendance starts from the first day of school! Every day counts! School Success Begins with Your Attendance.  Blessings in  Backpack: Could your family benefit from full and balanced meals for all elementary-aged children over the weekends? Blessings in a Backpack provides free food to many families in the Longwood community weekly. Email maria.tsavos@longwoodcsd.org or go to longwoodblessings.org to self-identify, if interested. Food will be sent home discreetly with your child or children each Friday afternoon.  This Week at West: Spirit Week Monday:  Pajama Day Tuesday: Times Travel Tuesday Dress as someone from another era Wednesday: We Are ALL Heroes Wednesday Dress as a Super Hero Thursday: Sports/Team Day Wear your Favorite Sports gear Friday: School Spirit Day Wear your favorite Westwear and Longwood Gear   Open House Schedule September 24 UPK:   5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.- Just Kids UPK Presentations Kindergarten: 6:00 p.m.-6:15 p.m.- Kindergarten General Meeting - Primary Gym   6:15 p.m.-7:15 p.m.- Kindergarten Teacher Presentations and B. Graniello  Grade 1: 6:30 p.m.-6:45 p.m.- Grade 1 General Meeting - Primary Gym    6:45 p.m.-7:45 p.m.- Grade 1 Teacher Presentations   Grade 2: 7:00 p.m.-7:15 p.m.- Grade 2 General Meeting – Intermediate Cafeteria   7:20 p.m.-8:20 p.m.- All Grade 2 Teacher Presentations and K. Marcello Grade 3: 7:20 p.m.-7:35 p.m.- Grade 3 General Meeting – Intermediate Gymnasium   7:40 p.m.-8:40 p.m.- Grade 3 Teacher Presentations and K. Stark Grade 4: 7:40 p.m.-7:55 p.m.- Grade 4 General Meeting – Intermediate Multi Purpose Room   8:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.- Grade 4 Teacher Presentations and K. Herrarte   Upcoming West Middle Island Events: All School Meeting: October 2 - 10:10 am  We hope that you can join us.   No School: October 3rd and 4th in celebration of Rosh Hashanah   No School: October 12th in celebration of Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day      PTA News and Events: Friday, September 20th - TONIGHT!! We can’t wait to see everyone tonight from 6-8pm! We would love to see everyone for a fun filled night to kick off the school year! Its free admission we will have a D.J, face painting, tattoos, games & prizes! Pizza, Drinks, Snacks & Candy will be available for purchase!  Cash Only!  Come on down to meet new friends and have a blast with old friends! The event will be held outdoors! In case of inclement weather, the event will be held in the Intermediate building. We can’t wait to see everyone!!!  Welcome Back Night Flyer   Spirit Wear Reminder spirit wear sale is running now until Friday, September 27th be sure to order by the due date, so you don’t miss out! This year we brought back class shirts as we had many requests! Don’t forget to order the year your child will be graduating West so they can wear it on spirit wear Friday's and for years to come! Please click on the flier to view all of our products! Spirit Wear Flier Any questions email wmipta@gmail.com.   Class Parent/Helper We apologize for the inconvenience. It was brought to our attention that we added the wrong link on the weekly email for class parent/helper. The google form will close tonight 9/20 at 9pm it gives us time to organize classes and notify class parents by 9/30. Class parents then will notify class helpers. Reminder class parent/helpers meeting is October 7th at 6pm. All class parents/helpers should come to this meeting.   Class Parent/Helper Google Form Any further questions please email Tara Velez @classparent@wmipta.com.   Color Run – Saturday, November 16, 2024 We are so excited about this event as it was so much fun last year! Be sure not to miss this event, it is a blast of color and fun! We will have more information next week as we kick off with opening registration!  Color Packets will be going home with students next week! Color Run Flyer    New Facebook Page We have created a new Facebook page for current PTA members of The WMI PTA 2024-2025 school year!  Please make sure all questions are answered and agree to the group rules. The reason we asked this is so we can verify each is a current PTA member. This is for the safety and privacy of the children at West! This page will be monitored by The WMI PTA Board. This will be the only platform on social media where all PTA events/information will be posted throughout the year. You can ask PTA related questions, and we will certainly get back to you. PTA Facebook Page 2024-2025   PTA Membership We would love to see more members join to have a great year! Here is the link to join the PTA for the 2024-2025 school year!  Membership Link Next PTA meeting is Monday, October 7, 2024, at 7pm in the Primary Cafeteria Room. The school provides childcare for school aged children during PTA meetings.    4th Grade Committee Thank you to all 4th grade parents who attended our first 4th grade committee meeting. Our next meeting will be held on Monday September 30th @ 6:30pm at the Longwood Public Library. A google meet link will also be sent out.  To sign up or if you have any questions please feel free to stop by our table at Welcome Back Night and Open house! You can also join the committee by clicking the link below! To Join the 4th Grade Committee, you must be a paid PTA member. 4th Grade Committee Volunteers    Open House Table   Stop at our table at Open House we are selling little goodies for you to leave a surprise in your child's desk. Pocket hugs and/or bus pouches!!! These pouches are great for storing their truth tickets.  $5 each or two for $8. Click  the link for Google form if you would like to preorder and pick up at our table. Please bring cash! Pre-order a pocket hug or pencil pouch   Chocolate Fundraiser  All 4th grade parents/students we need your help! We will be having a Worlds Famous Chocolate Fundraiser starting Monday September 23rd-Monday October 28th.  All our fundraising efforts go towards giving our 4th grade students the best LAST year at WEST. If you are able to sell some chocolate boxes, The 4th grade committee will distribute at END of welcome back night 9/20.  Please reach out to the  4thgradecommittee@wmipta.com with any questions.    Urban Air Event  Please see details below for our Urban Air Night! This is another great event to help support the 4th grade committee. Urban Air Tickets Urban Air Flyer   SEPTO Information: Longwood SEPTO Website: Please click the following link to visit SEPTO's website, which has the most up to date information regarding membership, meetings, events and fundraisers throughout the year. Longwood SEPTO Link Community Events: Sunshine Prevention Center Do you need extra support with assisting your child with social skills?  Look into the Sunshine Prevention Center to register for a group! Sunshine Flier   LYSA Basketball Winter Season Ages 5 and above LYSA Basketball Flier or register at https://go.teamsnap.com/447146   Longwood Community BBQ Rescheduled Wednesday, September 25 - 5 - 7 pm Granny Road Park   Have a Great Weekend,  Dr. Schaentzler, Principal

Good Afternoon!  

West Middle Island Students are present and engaged.... now watch our knowledge grow!
Congratuations to our students at West! We have an average rate of 95% of our students attending school for the month of September.

However, there are some students who have missed more than 2 days of school.
  
Reminder: missing 2 days a month for the entire year will cause your child to be considered to have chronic attendance challenges.  


Blessings in  Backpack:

• Could your family benefit from full and balanced meals for all elementary-aged children over the weekends? Blessings in a Backpack provides free food to many families in the Longwood community weekly. Email maria.tsavos@longwoodcsd.org or go to longwoodblessings.org to self-identify, if interested. Food will be sent home discreetly with your child or children each Friday afternoon. 

 

Looking for AMAZING West Students!

We want to recognize all students for special accomplishments.  If your child has achieved a goal (in the areas of:  athletics, community service, academics, or the arts),  please complete this form to share your child's accomplishment with us.  We will honor your child by displaying their photo and a description of their accomplishment on our WMI Wall of Pride!

​Parent Nomination form for Wall of Pride​​​

 

This week at West:

• Wednesday: All School Meeting: 10:10 am
• Thursday: No School: Celebration of Rosh Hashanah
• Friday: No School: Celebration of Rosh Hashanah

 
Upcoming West Middle Island Events and Reminders:

• No School: October 12th in celebration of Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day 
• Picture Day: October 18th
• Disabilities Awareness Day: October 25
• PTA Fall Festival: October 26 11-2 pm
• Halloween and Diwali: October 31
   

 

PTA News and Events:

• Welcome Back Event: We can't thank you enough for everyone who joined us for our welcome back night last Friday! We hope everyone had a great time!

 

• Spirit Wear: Today was the last day to order spirit wear. We thank everyone that ordered from our fall spirit wear! The order will be placed once we tally everything up and the order should be in mid-October! Once the order arrives, we will give an update! Any questions please feel free to email wmipta@gmail.com.

 

• Class Parent/Helper: Thank you to all who submitted a form. We will be reaching out to selected class parents Monday 9/30 at that point the class parent will notify all the helpers in the class. Reminder class parent/helper meetings are October 7th at 6pm. All selected class parents/helpers should come to this meeting which will be held in the primary cafeteria . Any further questions please email Tara Velez @classparent@wmipta.com.

 

 

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES

• Class Parent/helper Meeting: Monday, 10/7 at 6pm 
• PTA General Meeting: Monday, 10/7 at 7pm
• Fall Book Fair: Monday October 7th- evening shop from 5-8pm. 
• Fall Book Fair open during the day for classes: 10/8-10/11
• Fall Pictures: Friday 10/18
• Fall Festival: Saturday 10/26 
• Color Run: Saturday 11/16

 

• Fall Book Fair: Fall Book Fair is October 7 – 11, 2024 – Evening Shop is Monday 10/7 from 5-8pm. Students will visit the book fair 10/8-10/11 with their class during the day. Parent Volunteer sign-up will be emailed to PTA members soon!

 

• Picture Day: Fall Picture Day will be Friday, October 18, 2024. We will be using a new photography vendor this year as many schools within the district have transitioned to Pixels Photography. This year you will receive ONLY a digital proof. If a parent would like a hard copy proof, you may request it from the company directly. More information will be coming soon. We will be emailing PTA members 1-2 weeks prior with the sign up to volunteer for picture day.  

 

• WMI PTA 2nd  Annual Color Run - Saturday, November 16, 2024: We have officially kicked off registration for our 2nd Annual Color Run event! Registration is open and closes 10/15!! Today all students at the end of day watched a short video about this event. I am sure they will come home excited and talk about the color run! This event is one you don’t want to miss and a family fun event!  The students will be able to get sponsors for our run and get color blasted the more we raise the more colors we will get! Last year the top students who raised the most money got to color blast Dr. Schaentzler! This was so much fun for those kids and for everyone to watch! This year is another opportunity to color blast our principal of WMI!  We can't wait for this run as it is a blast of color and so much fun! We will have a DJ during the event and light continental breakfast after the run! Color Run packets will be coming home today with your child! Let’s have some fun!  

Color Run Flyer

 

• WMI PTA Annual Fall Festival on Saturday, October 26, 2024 from 11am – 2pm: This is one of our largest events of the year that involves a lot of planning. This is a FREE event filled with so much fun for everyone and we would love to see you all!  Every child will get to pick a free pumpkin to decorate, we will have our needle in the haystack, games, face painting, tattoos, raffle baskets, DJ, class pumpkin contest, fire department and the 4th grade Haunted Hallway!  We had such great feedback last year, so we decided to have vendor tables again for shopping and to showcase small businesses. Also, the 4th grade will be selling concessions for additional purchase! Fall Festival Flyer

 

• Basket Raffles for Fall Festival – Every year we have basket raffles at the fall festival which is always a huge hit! If anyone is interested in donating a basket, gift card or anything else, please email wmipta@gmail.com.

 

• Amazon Wish list for Fall Festival- We will be creating an Amazon wish list for this event and will have it in next Friday’s email. We appreciate anything that can be donated for all the kids to have a blast at this event!

 

• New Facebook Page- We have created a new Facebook page for current PTA members of The WMI PTA 2024-2025 school year!  Please make sure all questions are answered and agree to the group rules. The reason we asked this is so we can verify each is a current PTA member. This is for the safety and privacy of the children at West! This page will be monitored by The WMI PTA Board. This will be the only platform on social media where all PTA events/information will be posted throughout the year. 

WMI Facebook page

 

•  PTA Membership- We would love to see more members join to have a great year! Here is the link to join the PTA for the 2024-2025 school year! Membership Link  Next PTA meeting is Monday, October 7, 2024, at 7pm in the Primary Cafeteria Room. The school provides childcare for school aged children during PTA meetings.

  

4th Grade Committee

•  Welcome back Night: THANK YOU to those 4th grade parents that helped out at Welcome Back Night and thank you to everyone who supported us by buying pizza and drinks!

 

• Our next 4th Grade Committee Meeting will be September 30th at 6:30 PM in the Longwood Public Library Community Room.  Please join the committee by clicking on the google form below or just join us at our next meeting to sign up. You must be a PTA member to join the committee.

4th Grade Committee Sign Up

4th Grade Committee Google Meet Link 9/30 @ 6:30 PM

 

•  Chocolate Fundraiser- All 4th grade parents/students we need your help! We will be having a Worlds Famous Chocolate Fundraiser starting Monday September 23rd-Monday October 28th. All our fundraising efforts go towards giving our 4th grade students the best LAST year at WEST. If you are able to sell some chocolate please fill out the google form below.  Pick up information is included in the Google Form. PLEASE HELP US REACH OUR GOAL OF SELLING 50 BOXES!!

Google Form for Chocolate Sales Sign Up

 

•  Urban Air-Please see details below for our URBAN AIR NIGHT on October 11th from 5-9PM! This is another great event to help support the 4th grade committee. Click the link below for more information and to buy tickets!

Urban Air Flyer

Purchase Urban Air Tickets Here

 

• Clothing Drive- The 4th Grade Committee will also be hosting a CLOTHING DRIVE. Please see the link below  for more information. This is a great way to help fundraise while getting rid of your unwanted clothes, linens, toys and more.

Clothing Drive

 

• SEPTO Information: Longwood SEPTO Website: Please click the following link to visit SEPTO's website, which has the most up to date information regarding membership, meetings, events and fundraisers throughout the year.

Longwood SEPTO Link

 

Community Events:

• Sunshine Prevention Center Do you need extra support with assisting your child with social skills?  Look into the Sunshine Prevention Center to register for a group! Sunshine Flier

 

• LYSA Basketball Winter Season Ages 5 and above LYSA Basketball Flier or register at https://go.teamsnap.com/447146

 

• Baiting Halloween Adventure Saturday, October 19 10 am - 4 pm (Raindate October 26) Baiting Hollow Halloween Fun

 

Have a Great Weekend, 

Dr. Schaentzler, Principal

Good Afternoon!   Congratulations to Mrs. Corella and Mrs. Uhlinger's class for hosting the ALL SCHOOL MEETING.  I am sure all parents who attended will agree you were AWESOME!  Each of you were articulate and added your own flair to your individual parts of the meeting.  Truly one of the best times together in September.  We had amazing readings, rapping, and singing.  BE PROUD OF YOURSELVES! West Middle Island Students are present and engaged.... now watch our knowledge grow! Did your child miss two days of school during the month of September? We are here to help! Need help with routines at home?  Is your child showing symptoms of nervousness?  Please reach out to one of our mental health providers to assist you and your family. Do you enjoy knowing that your child receives FREE breakfast and lunch each day?  THIS IS AMAZING THAT WE CAN DO THIS FOR OUR FAMILIES!  However, WE NEED YOUR HELP In your summer mailing packet, you received a hard copy of the Household Income Form (formally known as the Free and Reduced Lunch Form).  It is important that all families complete this form to ensure we will continue with this funding each year.  Without this form and funding, we will not be able to continue with our FREE breakfast and lunch program.   Please complete the form on-line using the following link: My School Apps If are not able to complete the form and you need an additional hard copy of the form, please call the school. FUN FACT! Students who utilize Right at School are eligible for a discount if they complete the Household Income Form and qualify for free and reduced lunch   FIRE PREVENTION POSTER CONTEST: Calling All Artists!  The Middle Island Fire Department Poster Contest is HERE!  "SMOKE ALARMS Make Them WORK for you" Due to school: October 15, 2024 Be sure to include your name, address, phone number, grade and teacher on the back of your poster. Prizes and a chance to win a FREE IPAD! Classes with the most entries will receive a TROPHY! MI Fire Department Poster Contest   CALLING ALL VETERANS: Our next All School Meeting will be our annual Veterans Day All School Meeting.  We will be honoring all the special Veterans in our lives by inviting them to our school for breakfast, a photo session, and special recognition at our ASM on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. If you know a veteran that you would like to come to WMI to be honored, please complete the digital form BEFORE October 18.  Use the Digital Form to sign up a Veteran to attend our Veterans Day All School Meeting on Nov. 15, 2024.   BLESSINGS IN BACKPACK: Could your family benefit from full and balanced meals for all elementary-aged children over the weekends? Blessings in a Backpack provides free food to many families in the Longwood community weekly. Email maria.tsavos@longwoodcsd.org or go to longwoodblessings.org to self-identify, if interested. Food will be sent home discreetly with your child or children each Friday afternoon.    Looking for AMAZING West Students! We want to recognize all students for special accomplishments.  If your child has achieved a goal (in the areas of:  athletics, community service, academics, or the arts),  please complete this form to share your child's accomplishment with us.  We will honor your child by displaying their photo and a description of their accomplishment on our WMI Wall of Pride! Parent Nomination form for Wall of Pride   This week (and a little more) at West: Thursday: No School Celebration of Rosh Hashanah Friday: No School Celebration of Rosh Hashanah Monday - Tuesday: MI Fire Department In School Visitations Tuesday - Friday: PTA Book Fair Wednesday - Friday: Grades 2-4 Bus Presentations Upcoming West Middle Island Events and Reminders: No School October 14th in celebration of Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day  MI Fire Department Posters due October 15 Picture Day October 18th MI Fire Department Open House October 18 6 - 9 pm  Middle Island Fire Department Open House Flier Abilities Awareness Day October 25 PTA Fall Festival October 26 11-2 pm Halloween and Diwali October 31   PTA News and Events: IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES Class Parent/helper Meeting: Monday 10/7 6pm  PTA General Meeting: Monday 10/7 7pm Fall Book Fair: Monday October 7th evening shop from 5-8pm.  Fall Book Fair: open during the day for classes 10/8-10/11 Fall Pictures: Friday 10/18 Fall Festival: Saturday 10/26  Color Run: Saturday 11/16   Spirit Wear We thank everyone that ordered from our fall spirit wear! The orders should be in mid-October! Once the order arrives, we will give an update! Any questions please feel free to email wmipta@gmail.com.   PTA Meeting The next PTA meeting is this upcoming Monday, October 7, 2024, at 7pm in the Primary Cafeteria Room. The school provides childcare for school aged children during PTA meetings. We will be presenting all October leaders with Pride at this meeting. The office has notified all parents/guardians if their child was chosen.             Class Parent/Helper All Class Parents have been notified and should have reached out to all helpers. The class parent/helper meetings are October 7th at 6pm. All selected class parents/helpers should come to this meeting which will be held in the primary cafeteria. Any further questions please email Tara Velez @classparent@wmipta.com.   Fall Book Fair Fall Book Fair is October 7 – 11, 2024 – Evening Shop is Monday 10/7 from 5-8pm. Students will visit the book fair 10/8-10/11 with their class during the day. Parent Volunteer sign-up has been emailed to PTA members.  Book Fair Flyer   Picture Day Fall Picture Day will be Friday, October 18, 2024. We will be using a new photography vendor this year as many schools within the district have transitioned to Pixels Photography. This year you will receive ONLY a digital proof. If a parent would like a hard copy proof, you may request it from the company directly. More information will be coming soon. We will be emailing PTA members the parent volunteer sign-up soon. Picture order forms will be going home with student’s week of 10/7.   WMI PTA 2nd Annual Color Run - Saturday, November 16, 2024 (RAIN OR SHINE) We have officially kicked off registration for our 2nd Annual Color Run event which will be held on November 16th! Registration is open and closes 10/15!! This event last year was a huge success, and we had so many west families join us! This event alone funded all cultural art programs/assemblies for the whole school last year. We would love to be able to fund cultural arts programs again this year for all students! We can raise money while all students and their families have a blast at this event!! It’s an event you don’t want to miss, ask anyone who joined us last year!! The students will be able to get sponsors for our run and get color blasted the more we raise the more colors we will get! Last year the top students who raised the most money got to color blast Dr. Schaentzler! This was so much fun for those kids and for everyone to watch! This year is another opportunity to color blast our principal of WMI!  We can't wait for this run as it is a blast of color and so much fun! We will have a DJ during the event and light continental breakfast after the run! Color Run packets went home this past Monday with your child so please check their backpacks. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out to us at wmiita@gmail.com.        Color Run Flyer Color Run Online Registration Link   WMI PTA Annual Fall Festival on Saturday, October 26, 2024, from 11am – 2pm This is one of our largest events of the year that involves a lot of planning. This is a FREE event filled with so much fun for everyone and we would love to see you all!  Every child will get to pick a free pumpkin to decorate, we will have our needle in the haystack, games, face painting, tattoos, raffle baskets, DJ, class pumpkin contest, fire department and the 4th grade Haunted Hallway!  We had such great feedback last year, so we decided to have vendor tables again for shopping and to showcase small businesses. Also, the 4th grade will be selling concessions for additional purchase! Fall Festival Flyer  Basket Raffles for Fall Festival – Every year we have basket raffles at the fall festival which is always a huge hit! If anyone is interested in donating a basket, gift card or anything else, please email wmipta@gmail.com.   Amazon Wish list for Fall Festival We will be creating an Amazon wish list for this event and will have it in next Friday’s email. We appreciate anything that can be donated for all the kids to have a blast at this event!   New Facebook Page We have created a new Facebook page for current PTA members of The WMI PTA 2024-2025 school year!  Please make sure all questions are answered and agree to the group rules. The reason we asked this is so we can verify each is a current PTA member. This is for the safety and privacy of the children at West! This page will be monitored by The WMI PTA Board. This will be the only platform on social media where all PTA events/information will be posted throughout the year.  WMI Facebook page   PTA Membership We would love to see more members join to have a great year! Here is the link to join the PTA for the 2024-2025 school year! Membership Link    4TH GRADE COMMITTEE NEEDS YOUR HELP!!! THANK YOU to everyone who supported us at Open House by purchasing a pocket hug or bus pouch.  You helped make our fundraiser a huge success. We apologize for anyone who was unable to purchase something. We were overwhelmed by the response!   Please see details below for our URBAN AIR NIGHT on October 11th from 5-9PM! This is another great event to help support the 4th grade committee. Click the link below for more information and to buy tickets! Don’t miss your chance to save big!!! Urban Air Flyer Purchase Urban Air Tickets Here   PRE-ORDER YOUR FALL FEST TREATS If you are interested in pre-ordering cookies, cake pops, or a “decorate your own” cookie kit, use the google form below to pre-order for pick up at Fall Fest! Pre-order your Fall Fest treats here   Our next 4th Grade Committee Meeting will be Monday, October 21st at 6:30 PM in the Longwood Public Library Community Room.  Please join the committee by clicking on the google form below or just join us at our next meeting to sign up. 4th Grade Committee Sign Up Google Form   All 4th grade parents/students we need your help! We are having a World’s Famous Chocolate Fundraiser from now until Monday October 28th. All our fundraising efforts go towards giving our 4th grade students the best LAST year at WEST. If you are able to sell some chocolate please fill out the google form below.  Pick up information is included in the Google Form. PLEASE HELP US REACH OUR GOAL OF SELLING 50 BOXES!! Google Form for Chocolate Sales Sign Up   The 4th Grade Committee will also be hosting a CLOTHING DRIVE. Please see the link below  for more information. This is a great way to help fundraise while getting rid of your unwanted clothes, linens, toys and more. Clothing Drive   SEPTO Information: Longwood SEPTO Website: Please click the following link to visit SEPTO's website, which has the most up to date information regarding membership, meetings, events and fundraisers throughout the year. Longwood SEPTO Link       COMMUNITY EVENTS: Baiting Halloween Adventure Saturday, October 19 10 am - 4 pm (Rain date October 26) Baiting Hollow Halloween Fun SEPTO Hallowwwen Spooktactular Friday, October 18 6 - 9 pm Longwood JHS SEPTO Halloween Flier Longwood Girls Basketball Clinic October 13 9 am - 2 pm LYSA Basketball Clinic Flier    Have a Great Weekend,  Dr. Schaentzler, Principal