A note from our Principal
Happy New Year, West Side Families!
I sincerely hope your Holiday Season was filled with joy and peace. We were able to spend some quality time with cousins in California as well as our immediate family in Rapid City. We were so excited to get back to Worland just to rest for a few days, but now I'm fired up to get back to school. I'm betting you are too! Kids can get a little stir crazy after a while, so I'm pretty excited to get them back in a learning rhythm right away on Tuesday, January 2nd.
Speaking of coming back, can we talk a little about attendance? It is vital that all of our kids are in school every single day. Now, of course, illness can creep in and derail that plan for a day or two, but did you know that missing 2 days per month over the length of the school year would equate to missing 10% of that school year? Missing 10% of the school year is the definition of Chronic Absenteeism, and it is a great predictor of future student success (or lack thereof) at the 4th and 5th grade levels. One study I read stated that Chronic Absenteeism is the greatest indicator of whether a 6th grader will eventually drop out of high school. As I stated earlier, student attendance is vital to our kids' future successes. I need your help on this: when your child says he or she isn't feeling well, could you please check his or her temperature for fever? If he or she isn't running a fever, please consider sending your child to school.
To help with this, I'm giving away one newly refurbished Chromebook, charger, and headphones in a drawing this spring. To be entered to win this prize, the student must have PERFECT ATTENDANCE for the entirety of the second semester. We will hold a drawing on the last day of school. If you would like to read more about the negative effects of Chronic Absenteeism, please click on this link.
Thanks again, and we look forward to seeing all of our kids back again in 2024!
Brian Gunderson
Principal
West Side Elementary
307-347-4298 (office)
Note from the Nurse's Office
We are starting cold and flu season. Here are some reminders on when to keep your child home. As a rule of thumb, your child should stay home if they have:
- Fever over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and should remain at home until they are fever free for 24 hours without the use of a fever reducing medication; such as Motrin or Tylenol.
- Vomiting/Diarrhea
- Frequent cough
- Persistent pain (ear, stomach, head, etc.)
- Widespread rash
News from the P.E. Office
This month students will be focusing on teamwork and hand eye coordination. Students will be playing a variety of activities that involve working together with abilities and using strategy to be successful. Be sure your students bring their PE shoes to school because they will not want to miss what we have planned!
Mr. Lempka
Happy New Year
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great Christmas break and was able to spend time with family and friends.
In Guidance this month, we are taking a few weeks to look at careers and exploring different paths that students might be interested in. It is a fun unit that will hopefully broaden their scope of future opportunities, as well as get students dreaming of the future and all they can make it.
Kids have asked me if they get to watch career videos again, so parents, please consider making a short 3-5 min. video of your job to share with us. Students will be bringing home a letter that will explain all the details.
Lastly, I want to encourage you to spend extra time with your kiddos. Exchange phone/electronic time with time spent doing something fun or talking to them. I have had a number of kiddos share how they would love more time and attention from the adults in their life.
Here's to a Happy 2024 year, let's work together to finish this school year well!
Heather Rollema
K-12 School Counselor