October Newsletter

Calendar

October 11: Early Release Day

     P-T Conferences: Grades TK – 5 | 4:15 PM – 7:15 PM

October 12: All Students Half School Day

     P-T Conferences: Grades TK – 5 | 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM

     P-T Conferences: Grades 6 – 8 | 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM

     P-T Conferences: Grades 9 – 12 |12:30 PM – 3:30 PM

October 13: NO SCHOOL for Students and Staff

October 18: Early Release Day

October 19:  PTO meeting 3:45 West Office Conference Room

October 20: Grades 6 – 8  First Marking Period Ends

October 25: Early Release Day

October 30: Reading Spooktacular

November 1: Early Release Day

November 3: NO SCHOOL All Students 

November 8: Early Release Day

November 15: Early Release Day

November 17: Grades TK-5 First Trimester Ends 

November 22-24: No School | Thanksgiving Break

November 29: Early Release Day

Follow West on Facebook  and for more information go to Holland Public Schools Main Page

POWER Expectations

At West, our behavior expectations are described in the matrix P-O-W-E-R.  Our staff has been teaching what POWER stands for so that every student can memorize, recite, and demonstrate positive behavior. 

Here’s what POWER stands for:

P-Pride | We care about self, others, work

O-Own Your Actions | We are responsible and honest

W- Wise Choices | We think before acting

E- Engaged | We are focused and involved in learning

R-Respect | Be Nice

We believe it is important for each parent to be aware of these expectations so you can support our efforts at home.

Principals Corner

Dear Holland West Families,

The school year is off to a fantastic start with Halloween right around the corner.  Please mark your calendar to attend the Reading Spooktacular on October 30. More information will follow. I look forward to connecting with all of you throughout the school year as we work together to provide the very best education for your child.  School can be a time filled with a lot of emotion, and it’s important to remember we are all feeling the same types of emotions whether we are a principal, teacher, parent or student!  Excitement, anxiety, nervousness, and many others!  We are here for you and your family to make school a safe, fun, learning environment.

Communication is the key to a successful school and we are excited to communicate with you in regards to your child’s progress at school.  Whether it be through email, text, REMIND, phone calls, notes home or face to face visits, I want you to feel engaged in your child’s education.  Do not hesitate to contact me or your child’s teacher with any questions or concerns.  

Attendance Matters! Please be diligent about having your child to school “All Day, Every Day”!  Chronic absenteeism and/or tardiness can be devastating to your child’s success in school.  At Holland West we have a lot of people here to help you with whatever barriers may be keeping you from getting your child to school every day on time.  If there is anything that we can assist you with, please contact me and we can work together to solve any issues.  

 As always, if you have any questions or concerns please stop in the school office or give me a call at 494-2500. I can also be reached by email at ctolson@hollandpublicschools.
Yours in Education,

Chad Tolson

Reading Spooktacular

You are invited to the Spoktacular! Trick or Treating Parade, snacks and how to read with your child.

OCTOBER 3OTH, 2023 | 5:45-7:00PM
School Friendly Costumes are Encouraged.  If your family would like to donate candy for the event please send your donations to your child's classroom teacher.  Peer to Peer friends will meet together at a table in the cafeteria.  Peer to Peer friends will have special bracelets to wear.  Peer to Peer friends wearing bracelets will be able to trick or treat in front of the line.

Attendance Incentives

3 Cheers to Ms. Kempf’s class for winning the September Attendance Incentive!!!

Regular daily attendance is an important part of success in all our students! We are so glad to celebrate great school attendance. Thanks to our awesome parents and families for helping our students get to school, on time every day!

We are looking at most improved attendance from September to October. The winner this month gets ice cream and a visit from our Community Resource Officer.   Please see the attached flyer.

Power H Shop

Our next Power H Shop will be at the new location and open for shopping on October 19th from 4:30- 6pm. The new location is Maplewood School 925 Central Ave, Holland, MI 49423. Doors unlock at 4:30 pm. The shop is open to Holland Public Schools Families and is for families who are in financial crisis. 

Feeding America

The next mobile food pantry will be at Holland High School Parking Lot #1 at October 16 at 4:30pm. First come first serve. See the attached flyer.

Body Safety Lessons

Body Saftey Lessons will be happening in the classrooms on October 17, 18 and 19th.  Taught by the Childrens Advocacy Center. Please see attached flyer that was sent home with your student. 

PTO News

Hello West families! The PTO will being providing a teacher lunch Thursday, October 12 before conferences. The PTO will be providing sandwiches and we are looking for additional beverages and snacks. Please deliver all items to the main office no later that 10am on 10/12. Thank you for helping us support our wonderful staff and all they do!  Please click if you would like to donate. Email HollandWestPTO@gmail.com if you would like to volunteer!

Hello from PTO!

West PTO supports students, teachers, and all of West’s amazing staff. We pop popcorn, plan events, host the book fair, sponsor the teachers’ lounge, and so much more. Most importantly, we raise money to support field trips, classroom cash and staff appreciation. We welcome you to join us in volunteering, planning or fundraising.  

We are thrilled with the recent book fair and spirit wear sales this fall. Thank you!! So far we have been able to donate more than $1,000 in books to West’s book vending machine and offer a FREE popcorn Friday for all staff and students! Up next we have our annual food drive and holiday craft, plus we will be planning our Winter Carnival.

Donations are needed for the teachers’ lounge. Please consider us during your next shopping trip. Tea, k-cups, individually packaged snacks, sweet treats, and cans of  sparkling water or pop are always a hit. You may drop off items in the red bin labeled “PTO” in the front office. TIA!

If you would like to stay informed, please fill out our quick form . If you or someone you know would like to donate money or sponsor an activity, please email HollandWestPTO@gmail.com for details. Our PTO is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The next meeting is Thursday, October 19 at 3:45pm in the conference room at West. 

Thank you!

West PTO

Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports (PBIS) Update

We want to hear about your experiences with your child’s education. The School Climate Survey includes questions about your child’s learning, school safety, and interpersonal relationships, as well as your attitudes about the institutional environment and your personal involvement in school. Your responses will be very helpful in improving student relationships, learning conditions, and the overall school environment.   The PBIS team will use this information as we move forward  to make adjustments to our plan based on your feedback.  This survey is anonymous .  Click on the link if you have not completed the survey.  Thank you for your time.

The staff will hand out POWER tickets to students modeling POWER student behavior.  Students can earn a prize on Fridays if their ticket is drawn!  A student can be a POWER student by showing these behaviors:

P- Pride- show pride in your work

O- Own your actions- take ownership over their actions

W- Wise choices- make wise choices

E- Engaged- stay engaged in their learning

R- Respect- show respect to self, others and property 

Teachers have been modeling POWER expectations for each area of the school; arrival/dismissal, cafeteria, office, bus, classroom, playground, and restrooms.

We are looking for a parent to join the PBIS and work with us in our future planning.  We meet monthly at 7:15.  Please reach out to ldekker@hollandpublicschools.org if you are interested or have questions regarding this opportunity to join the PBIS team.
 

STEM

Hey Families,

We have been having so much fun in STEM. I hope your students have come home telling you that we have learned about the water cycle, different types of clouds, Storms, and Hurricanes.  We will be ending October with some Autumn festivities.  Next month we will be making some cool projects and we need BOXES!!!  (Shoe boxes especially.)  But we can use any size box,  Cheeze-it, Cracker, Cereal, etc.  Also we will be doing some fall experiments and will need bags of candy corn, and candy pumpkins.  If you would be willing to donate a bag or two, we would greatly appreciate it.  Just label it STEM or Mrs. Johns and bring it to the office BEFORE Oct. 25. Thanks in advance!!!

Thanks,

Mrs. Johns 

ART