Windsor Elementary

• June 5 - Summer office hours begin 7:30am-3pm
• July 5 - Online Registration for 2023-24 begins
• August 21 - Meet the Teacher Night 4:00-5:30
• August 23 - First Day of School for the 2023-24 school year.

Hello Families!

Well, we have reached the end of another school year and all the kids are getting ready to celebrate that summer freedom! But for some, the beat goes on. There will be a few teachers here in June for Summer School; Mr. Curtis and his crew will be busy cleaning, waxing, and the like; Ms. Noi, Ms. Lorentzen, and Mr. Nichols/Ms. Johnson will be shutting down the “books” for this school year and getting them ready for next year.

Many people have asked at one time or another when I will be leaving/when Ms. Johnson is taking over. Officially the answer to that is July 1. However, I will be slowing moving out and transferring things to Ms. Johnson in between meetings during the month of June.

As I mentioned in the past, there will be some HVAC and concrete work taking place at Windsor over the summer. They will be replacing part of the playground concrete and repairing other places to make it safer. They will also begin some repair work on the parking lot on the west side of the building. But before they can do that work, they need to bring a crane in to put the new HVAC units on top of the building. Which of course means that the parking lot concrete has to wait for the crane to come and go. I have been assured that all work will be done in time for teachers to report in August – fingers crossed.

Since our last Newsletter, we have added in some new staff and are saying goodbye to a couple more. Here is the rundown of teachers and positions for next year as it sits on May 30. A * denotes a teacher that is new to Windsor and a ^ denotes a position yet to be hired.

• Principal - Ms. Johnson*
• Associate Principal - Ms. Lorentzen
• Office Manager - Ms. Noi
• Nurse - Ms. Williams*
• Counselor - Ms. Hubner*
• Instructional Coach - Ms. Veigulis
• Librarian - Ms. Taylor-Mathews*
• ELL - Ms. Eisler, Ms. Metelman
• Interventionist - Ms. Roth
• SUCCESS - Ms. Maurer
• Community School Coordinator - Ms. Madisen
• AMP - Ms. Dyer, Mr. Leckband, Ms. Warren
• Kindergarten - Ms. Byriel, Ms. Kair, Ms. Smith
• First grade - Ms. Cowman, Ms. Groepper
• Second grade - Ms. Pimlott, Ms. Wilson
• Third grade - Ms. Bachman, Ms. Leahy, Ms. Zimmerman
• Fourth grade - Ms. Bolte, Ms. Rodriguez
• Fifth grade - Ms. Merical, Ms. Nichol
• Special Education – Ms. Gillespie*, Ms. Zenti*, ^
• SLC - Ms. Gilley*
• Associates - Ms. Anderson, Ms. Brandner, Ms. Herndon, Mr. Nelson, Ms. Posekany, Ms. Smith, Ms. Walters, ^

We will be saying goodbye to the following staff members as they move on to the next chapter of their lives. I personally want to thank them for all they have done for Windsor and its students: Mr. Ballard, Ms. Bennett, Ms. Damman, Ms. Hansen, Ms. Harned, Ms. Hartwig, Ms. Heddinger, Ms. Hoffman and Ms. Powers.

And finally, this is also my last edition of the Windsor Newsletter as I prepare to take over the reins as principal at Cattell Elementary. It’s been a fun and sometimes crazy journey, but it was a journey that I am glad I was able to take. I just want to say that I am so proud of the partnerships that we have built between families and school over the years, and that was a HUGE testament to all of you. I can’t find the right words to thank all of those people that have stuck with me through all of my mistakes, my silliness, and my nerdy sense of humor. You have talked with me and supported me through it all and I appreciate it more than I have words for. So, I will humbly say thank you and I know that, because of you, Windsor is in a great place for a new principal to come in and carry on our work.

Join Ms. Madisen and friends all summer long for a traveling, Popsicles in the Park event series! There will be popsicles, bubbles, games, chalk, fun guests and MORE! Mrs. Johnson, Windsor’s new Principal, will be at most of the events, so this will be a great opportunity to meet her if you or your students haven’t yet.

Des Moines Public Schools is participating in the USDA Summer Food Service Program, which will allow for a safe and streamlined service of nutritious meals during the 2023 summer break at 29 locations. Meals will be provided for all children ages 18 and younger at not cost. DMPS has been providing free summer meals for more than 40 years.

Windsor’s Meal Site will be open June 12-June 30 from 11am-12:30pm.

For a complete list of meal sites, some that are open all summer, use the link below.

https://www.dmschools.org/departments/division-of-leadership-learning/food-nutrition/summer-meal-program-2/

This year Windsor completed it’s first of five years with the 21st Century Grant for After-School Programs. From September- May we engaged over 80 students and offered over 20 different clubs! The kids learned valuable skills such as cursive, cooking, STEM, social emotional intelligence, aspects of various cultures around the world, and SO much more. We are excited to engage even more students next year in fun clubs again. We would love your feedback on what kind of after-school clubs you would like to see offered. Please provide your feedback here.