Friday, November 22, 2013

Dear Parents,

We have had some exciting events going on at PWS this week.  Today, the Kindergarten students had their traditional Thanksgiving Feast.  Two of the many highlights were how one student thought carrots were cheese puffs, while another student said to us that he did not think he was going to eat lunch because of all that he had eaten at the feast.  In first grade, some classes had colonial days.  Some of the centers consisted of students weaving, making butter, cross stitch, corn husk dolls and making lanterns.  The students were so excited and wished they could have Colonial Days everyday.  Other classrooms expressed the celebration of Thanksgiving in other ways.

The Peter Woodbury mission:
We are community of that inspires and develops, engaged successful learners every chance, every day.

This week we met with each grade level to discuss our mission statement and the three important words out of the mission we decided to focus on Community, Inspiration and Engagement. 
During this meeting we had pictures to represent each one of the words.  Students at Kindergarten and grade one were interesting because these are big words for them.  As the students got older they gave us answers like, "A community is a group of people that helps each other."  "Inspiration means when you are excited to do something new." "Engagement is when you get married."  We explained that there are different meanings to engagement.  Another student said, "Engagement is when you are really focused on something."  This was a great way to end our week.

We would like to let you know that we have a nursing student named James Ndirangu who is from Kenya.  We have learned so much from him and are excited to have him talk about his childhood to our fourth graders.  Please tell your students to say hello to James and welcome him. 

Last call for Ski and Skate Sale
Saturday, November 23rd
5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
 Save time this year using our new online system to price and print scannable tags for your consignment merchandise conveniently from home.
Visit www.bedfordptg.org to access our online system and get your gear tagged and ready for the sale.
Drop Off items to sell before the sale Friday, November 22nd.
For More Details:  www.bedfordptg.org

The PTG is looking for volunteers to take part in a focus group to discuss the school board's goal "to improve and expand options for high-achieving learners."  The district wants to ensure that it provides all students the opportunity for typical or better growth.  The purpose of the focus group is to listen to the range of experiences and ideas among parents, to gather feedback on current practices, to accelerate and expand student learning, and to incorporate that feedback into a report for the school board.

The PWS meeting is scheduled for December 18th from 8:00 am-9:00 am.  Please RSVP Brenda Clark-Price at clarkprice@comcast.net.  We will include in this meeting the first 10-12 parents who respond. 

We want to wish you a a Happy Hannukah and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheryl Daley            Dan Mitchell
Principal                  Assistant Principal