January WAVA Wave Newsletter

Happy New Year to you and your families. This month I will be hosting a Morning Cup of Cocoa with the Director of Academics, Susan Boyer. This is for Learning Coaches and Students to grab a warm cup of cocoa or coffee and join us for time to chat and catch up! I look forward to seeing you January 7th, 8:30am. We introduced Newrow in the New Year as our online learning system, thank you for your teamwork in this rollout. Our WAVA Wave Newsletter provides information for all grades K-12 and includes greetings from our Director of Academics, Principal Teams, Community Engagement, Special Programs, Student Support, Ops and Assessments and K12 National updates. We believe at WAVA that every student can succeed, thank you for choosing WAVA.

Welcome Back WAVA

-Summer Shelton, WAVA Head of Schools

Welcome to January and the New Year 2021 WAVA Families

January Monthly Events and Reminders

Welcome back to school! I hope that your break was restful and that you were able to recharge! I spent the break relaxing with my family and doing projects around my house. One of my projects was to clean out our garage. Over the years I have accumulated a lot of teaching supplies and it was time to go through them. I found was a short article that I wanted to share. I had cut it out of a magazine at one point many years ago, but it was powerful enough to catch my attention as I sorted through years of files and papers. I wanted to share this article with you.

Seven Things Kids Never Forget

1. People who care- Listen when children talk and help dust them off when they fall.

2. The stories they hear- The richness of family history is learned this way.

3. Failure- Failure teaches children powerful lessons--give them the freedom to fail.

4. The milestones of growing up--Take time to celebrate the positive ones!

5. The rules- "Don't talk with your mouth full." "Get your elbows off the table." What are your family rules?

6. Crisis times- The hard times can strengthen a family and has much to teach children about how to cope with life.

7. Traditions of home- Rituals and traditions forge strong family connections. Look for opportunities to create memorable traditions.

This reminded me that everything matters—whether it is the big things like celebrations or crisis times or the little moments you have before bed or the conversations at dinner.

Our focus word this month is perseverance—which means to keep going and not give up, even if is hard. Perseverance takes commitment and means trying again and again. It means to push through things even when you would rather give up. As you work with your student this month, talk about how they show perseverance in their school work and their daily life. Share stories with your student about times when you have had to preserver.

A new year always brings renewed hope and expectations. As we look to the upcoming month and rest of the year, there are so many exciting things planned for our students. We are excited about our implementation and transition to our new platform—Newrow. While we are excited about this transition, we know that there will be bumps ahead as we all learn together. Please be patient with our teachers as they learn this new system along side you. We encourage families to join a Newrow Learning Coach training. Here is also a Newrow Guide for Students. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your homeroom teacher should you have additional questions about Newrow.

Lastly, I want to highlight our Culture Fair which will be held on January 20th. More information will be coming soon regarding this event and others. We hope that you will join us!

-Susan Boyer, WAVA Director of Academics

Please help us in our accreditation survey process by completing the below surveys if you have not already. Thank you for your time.

A critical portion of our accreditation involves receiving high quality feedback regarding your experiences with WAVA. We hope you will consider participating in our school’s accreditation process through completing several brief surveys related to culture & climate, community engagement, and family engagement.

Climate and Culture: Parent Survey – https://forms.gle/ZMsTkwafBEqHVF8M9

Community Engagement Survey – https://forms.gle/FTFb7SDHyZ4dtTMQA

Family Engagement Survey - https://forms.gle/6jZYAWAsX6k1PUud9

Each survey provides a unique opportunity to provide feedback directly to WAVA Administration, Teachers, and Staff regarding your experience as a Learning Coach.

· All surveys are anonymous. You will not be required to login to access and complete the survey and there are no field requesting potential identifiable information.

· Results will be reviewed by all WAVA Administrative and teaching staff to plan continuous improvement for our school culture, climate, and engagement.

For general questions or concerns regarding the information above, please email: info@wava.org.

If you are looking for ways to connect we provide options for ages K-12 through clubs and activities, lunch chats, and small groups. Please visit our https://www.wavabulletinboard.com and stay updated on our social offerings! Thank you for your continued support as a Learning Coach and for being our partner in your students education.

-Thank you, Team WAVA

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ES Corner:

Video Message from ES Principal Miller

This is Principal Miller here and thank you to all of you for showing your ways of Sharing for the month of December. We had a wonderful month before the break and I hope that each of you had a wonderful holiday break and New Year with your family. Prior to the break we held a Taco Tuesday in the Elementary School. My family and I enjoyed having Taco's and getting to know all that could attend and we look forward to offering more events like this in the New Year. This month we have a new addition to our team and we would like to welcome Assistant Principal Taylor Kreilmann. Ms. Kreilmann joins us this month and is excited to get to know students, families and teachers in the classroom and becoming a part of the WAVA family. Welcome Ms. Kreilmann!

January is the month of Perseverance and you will see resources and information in and out of the classroom around this WAVA Word. Connection is key and we hope that your students are staying connected with our Clubs. Elementary students can also socialize and connect in the weekly Lunch Chats and we hope that you are staying connected this month. Be sure to check out the January Cultural Fair on the 20th and I hope to see you in your favorite Sports Wear or Team on January 29th for our School Spirit Day! Thank you and looking forward to a great month.

Chris Miller—WAVA ES Principal

Jodi Schilling—WAVA ES Assistant Principal

Taylor Kreilmann--WAVA ES Assistant Principal

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MS Corner:

Staff Spotlight: Get to know Assistant Principal Dempewolf

Message from Principal Heistand

Hello WAVA Middle School Students!

I hope that you enjoyed the Month of Sharing we had in December. We had fun celebrating with each of you. I appreciated seeing our Middle School students show Sharing on our WAVA Day of Sharing and also turning up for the Spirit Day and Holiday Wear before the break. We had a great month and are refreshed from the break and ready for the New Year. I hope that you and your family had a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year as we move into 2021.

This week coming back we have our "I'm Back" Spirit Week and are ready for Middle School to show some school spirit with daily activities. Our WAVA Word of the Month is Perseverance and we will work on ways to highlight this in the classroom and through events. This month we have grade level assemblies and are also focusing on our High School and Beyond Plan for Middle School as we help students plan out their next steps. We continue to work as a team as our students and staff share and show our Middle School Pride.

Great job on another month of strong attendance ratings for Middle School. Let's keep it up this month. Keep going to class, staying engaged and getting our work and assignments done. We have a WAVA Cultural Fair coming up and School Spelling Bee that are great ways for your Middle School Student to get involved and connect. Join a Club and be sure to check out ways to be involved outside the classroom. I look forward to seeing you all throughout the month, lets do this and have a great January!

-Sincerely

Principal Del Heistand

Assistant Principal Russell Kovalenko

Assistant Principal Jennifer Dempewolf

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HS Corner:

Video Message from Assistant Principal Walle

Message from High School Principal Warren

Dear WAVA Families,

We hope that you all had a wonderful break and had time to relax and catch up on sleep and rest! Many of you spent time catching up on homework or assignments and came back ready for January! Wish you all a Happy New Year and 2021 ahead. This month we are focusing on Perseverance and this is very fitting for High School as we are working hard to accomplish our goals each week. We kicked off returning to school with our "I'm Back" Week and we hope that your student is able to enjoy the daily events or activities and looks forward to being back in the classroom with us!

This month we are switching over to Newrow as our online learning system. We changed to this new platform and we know that your students will enjoy this new learning system. We will have MAP testing the 26th-29th of January just like in the beginning of the school year. Be sure to prepare and get sleep and be ready for testing. We want to see all of our students there and have 100% attendance. Semester 2 is coming up and we are ready for the next half of our year. We know that you will do well. Our goal is that we all succeed and are completing all that is necessary for graduating and passing your classes. If you need support in any way, always reach out to your teacher your advisor, your HS team and we are all here to help. Our priority is you and your students success and we are all here to help. Be sure to stay connected in HS. We have our ASB that meets weekly with the Chill N Chats on Mondays and we also have our club offerings for grades K-12 with WAVA Clubs. Stay connected and meeting friends in and outside of the classroom at WAVA. Let's have a great January month and work together!

-Thank you

Amalia Walle, WAVA HS Assistant Principal

Joanne Warren--WAVA HS Principal

Terry Ackerman--WAVA HS Assistant Principal

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Video Greeting from CES Hailey Chamberlain

Post Your WAVA Pics to our Padlet

Spirit Week Video

January Social Blurb:

• Check out the January Social Spot! Take a look and mark your calendar for our Spirit Day, Virtual Experiences, Events and Activities! Let's stay connected together!
• This month we are focusing as a WAVA community on the WAVA Word, PERSEVERANCE. We are going to focus on ways in and out of the classroom to persevere and reach our goals!
• Our SEL team and Kids of Hope Committee are planning suggested activities for our school around the word Sharing, along with suggested book reads for our ES grades. Check out this WAVA Team Message on PERSEVERANCE!
• We will also celebrate our WAVA "I'm Back" Spirit Week January 4-8th and hope you can join us! We have daily events that are schoolwide for grades K-12 and include Selfie Posts, Clubs Night, Class Pics, Cup of Cocoa with our Head of School and Director of Academic and an Orca Drawing Entry for the New Year. Check this out and more details!
• Join us as we connect this month through virtual suggested activities, clubs, lunch chat meetups and spirit events on the Social Spot Page!
• Clubs are in action and packed with fun! If you are still looking to participate please be sure to check out our Clubs Webpage, you will find info, meeting links and details. Sign up today and start connecting with Clubs!
• We celebrate the Power of ONE! Our Clubs Spotlight this month is our weekly Diverse Discussions Group (including LGBTQ+). We are here for you and we are WAVA! We also have a 1x a month Movie Club the 2nd week of the month. Come and join us at the movies! Check it out!
• Lunch Chat anyone? Students can enjoy a 1x a week Lunch Chat! Thank you as we work to make these specific to your students age and grade as well as the best methods and games/activities for during our chats. These are in the Class Connect as a Optional Class. We meet with themes like scavenger hunts, kahoots, trivia, animal parties, show n share, open chat and more!
• Save the Date for January 14th at 1pm and our Learning Coach Snack Chat!! Grab your snack and come chat with your fellow LC's. We look forward to seeing you there!
• Save the Date for January 20th Cultural Fair Virtual Tour, sign up to share about your country or culture!
• Sign up for the WAVA Spelling Bee coming February 5th! This is for grades 3rd-10th and you have a chance to place and move onto the Regional and National competition. Sign up for more info!
• January 29th is our School Spirit Day- wear your favorite Sports Team or Sport Wear!
• Esports Shoutout!! Way to go WAVA Esports! We have a great group of gamers that meet weekly and are practicing to scrimmage and compete and represent WAVA! Along with Coach Fogle and Coach Hankins they are practicing to represent WAVA and make us proud! Go Esports!
• Be sure to follow us on FB, Instagram, our Learning Coach Community on K12 App and check out WAVA Bulletin to stay updated!

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HS ASB Corner:

Did you know that our High School has an amazing group of Student Leaders that help run our ASB! This group of leaders and students collaborate to help create and run student lead ideas and activities throughout the year! They have a wide list of HS Clubs you can participate in during their weekly Chill N Chat sessions as well as event they support throughout the year! If you are in HS and want to become involved, check it out!

http://wavaasb.blogspot.com/

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Staff Spotlight:

For the month of January we would like to highlight with you some of our thanks to staff! Thank you to all of our WAVA Teachers! We do have a few shoutouts that have been sent in to thank some teachers that have made an impact this month in their students learning!

Big Orca Pat on the Back to:

*Christine Kjenstad *Susan Dostie *Jamie Anderson *Sue Perry *April Sorensen *Rebecca Posz-Tamez *Heather Brannan *Keturah Dempewolf *Mary Sandberg *Mike Walsh *Nate Tepper *Heidi Davis *Ryland Fogle *Julia White *Rosie Bailer*

Please let us know if you would like to give a special shoutout to your teacher and how let us know something special that is happening for your student! We would love to highlight your news here in our Staff Spotlight each month!

WAVA Wavemakers:

Thank you to our wonderful Learning Coach teams and families! We are thankful for you and your support as we partner in your student(s) education journey. Each month we will give a special shoutout to some of our LC Wavemakers that are positive, encouraging, informative and supportive! The list is long and plentiful!

Thank you this month to our Wavemaker:

• Jennifer Goss
• Stephanie Dirks
• Bethany Davenport
• Jennifer McKee
• Ruheena Syed
• Amira Fitzgerald
• Jessica Kaiser
• Tami Washburn
• Amy Lewis
• Liz Toby Cairn
• Laura Stellman
• Kristie Wilcox

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Get to know Principal Fernandes

Special Programs Team:

Special Programs Principal, Dolly Fernandes, and Special Programs Assistant Principal, Jennifer Tubbs, are excited to support your students. The team recently applied for and were awarded the Inclusionary Practices Project Mini Grant through the Association of Educational Service Districts (AESD). The goal of the AESD’s Inclusionary Practice Project is to increase the capacity of school leadership teams to understand, prioritize, and implement structural and instructional inclusionary practices.

If you have questions or concerns about the diverse needs of your learner, please contact -

• Dolly Fernandes, dofernandes@k12.com – Special Education Principal
• Jennifer Tubbs, jtubbs@wava.org -- Special Education Assistant Principal
• Scott VanGerpen, svangerpen@wava.org – 504
• Stephanie Haegele, shaegele@wava.org – Highly Capable Program
• Star Downey, sdowney@wava.org - Highly Capable Program
• Karen O'Leary, koleary@wava.org – English Learner Program
• Lauren Garcia, lgarcia@wava.org, English Learner Program

Do you have a Success Story you would like to share? Please share your story to: www.tinyurl.com/parent-shareastory

You know that your kids have something special inside them. We know it too. Washington Virtual Academies (WAVA) and K12 ignite the minds of children like yours to bring learning and innate possibility alive. Together, we are helping Washington students in grades K-12 reach their true, personal potential.

Email: info@wava.org
Website: www,wavabulletinboard.com
Location: 2601 S 35th St Suite 100 Tacoma, WA 98409
Phone: (253) 591-6888
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WAVAESLC/
Twitter: @K12_WAVA

Omak School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Civil Rights Coordinator and Title IX Coordinator: LeAnne Olson, (509) 826-7687, lolson@omaksd.org or WAVA Family Resource Coordinator: Kathy Swartz, (253) 682-7906, kaswartz@k12.com; and Section 504 Coordinator: John Holcomb, (509) 826-8342, johnholcomb@omaksd.org , P.O. Box 833, Omak, WA 98841 or WAVA 504 Coordinator, Scott VanGerpen, (253) 591-6888 svangerpen@wava.org

El Distrito Escolar de Omak no discrimina en ningún programa o actividad por motivos de sexo, raza, credo, religión, color, nacionalidad, edad, estado militar o veterano, orientación sexual, expresión de género o identidad, incapacidad o el uso de un perro entrenado o un animal guía o de servicio, y proporciona el mismo acceso a los Boy Scouts y otros grupos de jóvenes que sean designados. Los siguientes empleados han sido designados para estar a cargo de preguntas y quejas de presunta discriminación: Coordinadora de Derechos Civiles y Coordinador del Título IX: LeAnne Olson, (509) 826-7687, lolson@omaksd.org; Coordinador de recursos familiares, Kathy Swartz, (253) 682-7906, kaswartz@k12.com; y el Coordinador de la sección 504: John Holcomb, (509) 826-8342, johnholcomb@omaksd.org, P.O. Box 833, Omak, WA 98841 or WAVA Coordinador de la sección 504, Scott VanGerpen, (253) 591-6888 svangerpen@wava.org.