• 2024-2025 WEVS School Calendar (PDF)
• 2024-2025 WEVS Parent Manual
• Family Contact List
• WEVS website
• Link for digital TARDY slip
• Link for parent LUNCH visit
• Zoom link for meetings
• Email Sylvia Wolff
• YEARBOOK LINK! ORDER YEARBOOKS FROM ANY YEAR

TEACHER LINKS:

Ms. Liz's class

Ms. Sylvia's classes (updated March 14)

Ms. Jess's classes

Ms. Kat's classes

Dr. Sheridan's class

SO PROUD of the 4th-8th graders as they completed their wind turbines. Every team was able to generate power and complete all the challenges at Saturday's competition. HUGE THANK YOU to the parents who came to support.

PARENT ACTION:

• 4th/5th parents- information coming about the camping trip next month. Please watch for field trip permission google form, and reach out with any questions!
• OUR MATH TEACHERS NEED YOUR HELP! As we progress through building on your child's math knowledge, please help us maintain their basic mental math facts skills! Car rides, dinner time, and right before bed are great times to just run though quick grade- appropriate mental math facts. Here are several math games you can play with a deck of cards that reinforce basic math skills.
• middle school- multiplication and division of multiples of ten, for example, 70*8, or 4200/6, or 4% of 200.
• 3rd-5th- basic multiplication and division facts through 12
• k-2- basic addition and subtraction through 12.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Friday, March 28-
• Pizza Day! (Please send in $5 for pizza, huge thanks to Cosmo's!)
• MARCH MADNESS Tournament- Kiddos will walk to the Corolla Light OceanFront right after lunch (1:20) to start the round robin tournament at 2:00. The winners of the tournament play the teachers. All parents are welcome to come help and/ or spectate for the afternoon! PICK UP WILL BE AT THE COROLLA LIGHT OCEAN FRONT.

BIRTHDAYS:

• Happiest of birthdays to our incredible guidance counselor, Ms. Kerri on the 25th!

BUILDING PROGRESS:

• Drywall is mostly up, priming happens this week.
• Handrails for ramps should go up this week!
• Grading equipment is on-site and should happen this week.
• Septic going in the week of April 28th.

• 4/2- END OF QUARTER
• 4/4- Report cards come home
• 4/9 - 4/10 - afternoons dedicated to conferences; link coming
• 4/18-4/21- Spring holiday weekend. No school Friday or Monday
• 4/23-4/25- 4th grade/ 5th grade camping trip to Morehead City/ Beaufort
• 4/28- 9am-4pm- Archery training for parents and staff; please reach out to Sylvia if you are interested in assisting with this!

Thank you for your support in making Pi Day a wonderful celebration of circles!

PARENT ACTION:

• All 4th through 8th grade, please read about next weekend's KidWind event.
• Complete this KidWind competition attendance form

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Monday, March 16- Happy St. Patty's Day! Wear some green!
• Friday, March 21- Pizza day! And March Madness. Contact SIP if you're interested in helping!
• 3/22 (Saturday) KidWind competition in Wanchese 4th-8th grades

BUILDING UPDATE:

• Drywall is up and mudded! The space is starting to look like a school!

• 4/18-4/21- Spring holiday weekend. No school.
• 4/23-4/25- 4th grade/ 5th grade camping trip to Morehead City/ Beaufort
• 4/28- 9am-4pm- Archery training for parents and staff; please reach out to Sylvia if you are interested in assisting with this! We could use about 1 more parent!

Last week kicked off MARCH MADNESS headed up by our SIP team. Thanks for a great initial week! Students have been divided into multi-grade teams led by a middle-schooler.They will practice three Fridays this month before a March Madness finale on March 28th! Parents are welcome and encouraged to come assist (much like flag football) Friday afternoons at 3:00.

PARENT ACTION:

• PLEASE HELP! Parents, please work to run through basic math facts routinely with your kiddos several times a week. As we work forward in content, reviewing basic facts will help strengthen their foundation and reduce simple errors. THANK YOU!
• Set your clock forward Sunday night.
• Contact Karen or a member of the SIP team to help with March Madness. See above!
• Consider sending in a circle treat on Friday for Pi day (for your co-hort only) see below!

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Sunday, March 9- Daylight Savings! Set your clocks AHEAD 1 hour!
• Monday, March 10- NO SCHOOL
• Wednesday, March 12- Board of Directors Meeting 2pm Zoom
• Friday, March 14- PI DAY! Wear circles! (Hats, hoop earrings, bracelets, and rings count.) We celebrate the incredible ratio of circumference per diameter. If you'd like to send in circular snacks for your co-hort to help us celebrate, we'd love to have your support!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

• Happiest of special days to Teddy (the 13th)!

BUILDING UPDATE:

• Siding is on!
• Drywall is in the process, and should be completed by next week!

• 3/17- St Patty's Day- wear something green!
• 3/22 (Saturday) KidWind competition in Wanchese 4th-8th
• 4/18-4/21- Spring holiday weekend. No school.
• 4/23-4/25- 4th/ 5th camping trip to Morehead City/ Beaufort
• 4/28- 9am-4pm- Archery training for parents and staff; please reach out to Sylvia if you are interested in assisting with this! We could use about 2 more parents!

And just like that, welcome to March, which seems to be stalking in like a lion!

PARENT ACTION:

• Middle School Parents only- Recent legislation (Session Law 2023-128/HB 142) requires that all NC public schools show this linked video to all middle and high school students. The content of this video are supposed to:

1. Raise Awareness: Open discussions help inform people about the signs of abuse, enabling them to recognize and respond effectively.

2. Empower: Knowledge equips individuals with the tools to take action, whether that means intervening, supporting victims, or advocating for policy changes.

3. Break the Silence: Talking about child abuse helps to dismantle the stigma and secrecy surrounding it, making it easier for victims to come forward and seek help.

4. Build Supportive Communities: Open dialogue fosters a culture of safety and vigilance, where communities are more likely to support one another and look out for vulnerable individuals.

5. Prevent: Understanding the factors that contribute to abuse allows us to create and implement effective prevention strategies, protecting children before harm occurs.

Middle school students will watch THIS video this coming week in project class. Please take a look at it so you can field any questions, and feel free to reach out to teachers. K-5 will NOT be shown this video.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Friday, March 7- 12pm- Admissions lottery at the library. (This is an FYI. This does not affect any current students.)
• Friday- we WILL have pizza again! Yay for pizza Fridays!
• Friday also starts MARCH MADNESS! Students will be divided into multi-grade teams led by a middle schooler. They will practice three Fridays before the March Madness finale on the 28th! Parents, you are welcome to come assist (much like flag football.)
• *Don't forget, no school Monday, the 10th for teacher work day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

• Happiest of days to Eli (6th)
• Birthday wishes to Bryce (8th)

BUILDING UPDATE:

• The siding is going on! The south side of the building is sided!
• The ADA ramp (sans railing) is complete, along with the north side decks.
• Drywall starts this month.
• Date of completion has been pushed to May.

• 3/9- Daylight Savings! Spring forward 1 hr!
• 3/10- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS- teacher work day
• 3/14- PI DAY! We celebrate the incredible ratio of circumference per diameter. Wear something with circles! Hats count!
• 3/17- St Patty's Day- wear something green!
• 3/22 (Saturday) KidWind competition in Wanchese 4th-8th
• 4/18-4/21- Spring holiday weekend. No school.
• 4/23-4/25- 4th/ 5th camping trip to Morehead City/ Beaufort
• 4/28- 9am-4pm- Archery training for parents and staff

What a week! We kicked it off with a fun Valentines Party, and had a great time celebrating our very interesting 100th day of school! And then, parents, students, and staff of WEVS, THANK YOU! for your support and flexibility this week as we dealt with a variety of forecasted inches and crazy weather! We had it all: an early dismissal, a delayed start, and a totally remote day! We had such a good time Friday afternoon! Your kiddos were incredible during the remote day. They interacted, asked for help, responded to teachers and worked so hard! Super job!

PARENT ACTION:

• WE NEED YOUR HELP RESTARTING OUR ARCHERY TEAM! We are (re) starting the WEVS archery team, and looking for at least four parents to be trained as an archery supervisor. (This training doesn't obligate you to anything at this point; we simply have to have people trained to proceed with the program. We have three staff members that will be trained.) The one-day training will occur Monday, April 28, 9am-4pm.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• No pizza on Friday, but round-robin chess tournament beginning at 3pm. If you'd like to play, please reach out directly to Sylvia. We can also use a few more chess or checkers boards we'd love to borrow just for that afternoon!

BIRTHDAYS:

• Wednesday, February 26th Happiest of birthdays to officially-a-teenager Kenleigh!

• Saturday, March 1st Happy birthday to the amazing Allison!

• HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY TO Pokemon-loving JR (August 21st!)

• HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY TO our resident mechanic BENSON (August 28th!!)

• 3/7- WEVS ADMISSIONS LOTTERY- 12pm, at the Corolla library
• 3/9- Daylight Savings! Spring forward 1 hr!
• 3/10- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS- teacher work day
• 3/12- Monthly Board of Directors Meeting- 2pm library or Zoom
• 3/14- PI DAY! We celebrate the incredible ratio of circumference per diameter. Wear something with circles! Hats count!
• 3/17- St Patty's Day- wear something green!
• 3/22 (Saturday) KidWind competition in Wanchese 4th-8th
• 4/18-4/21- Spring holiday weekend. No school.
• 4/23-4/25- 4th/ 5th camping trip to Morehead City/ Beaufort
• 4/28- 9am-4pm- Archery training for parents and staff

PODCAST VERSION- audio only if you'd rather listen!

All, in an ABUNDANCE of caution, we have sent materials home with your kiddos today in case of a remote day tomorrow, which is not the current plan, but seemingly a possibility. I wanted to take a minute and let you know where we are in the weather consideration process.

• There still is huge variance between forecasts. We are concerned with (and actively monitoring:)
• the start time of snow and its effects on road conditions and
• the level of winds (sustained of above 26 and gusts above 35.)
• Most forecasts have snow starting comfortably after lunch time, with some predicting evening. If we could make it through lunch time to get at least a half day of school in, we would consider the day a success, and to make it the whole day would be a win. If there comes a point when you are uncomfortable with the road conditions because of your specific neighborhood or distance from WEVS, please reach out to Sylvia via text to work out a pick up situation.
• For WEDNESDAY: We will make the call by 6am as to whether or not tomorrow will be remote, and then, assuming we have school, a 10am goal to call whether or not we will early release at 12:30.
• For THURSDAY: Almost all forecasts include icy precipitation in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday. At this point, we predict Thursday will be a remote day.
• For FRIDAY: We are unable to offer any prediction on Friday; it has the potential to be a remote day, a delayed start, or a regularly scheduled day.

Please reach out with questions- if you have the question, it is likely someone else does, too, and I'd like to disseminate as much information as possible regarding the next three days.

On a different note, please remember that tomorrow is the 100th day of school, whether we are virtual or not! Kids are invited to dress as if they are 100 or to wear something that represents the number 100!

We hope everyone had a restful and enjoyable February break, and we are about to hit the ground running back into action!

**We are keeping an eye on weather rolling in Wednesday afternoon; snow is forecasted Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.**

PARENT ACTION:

• 4TH/5TH grade parents, mark your calendars for the 4/5 camping trip to Morehead City/ Beaufort April 23, 24, 25. We have a great itinerary planned, including Fort Macon, Somerset Place, Bonehenge, Tryon Palace, and the Maritime Museum, with camping at Hammocks Beach State Park. More info and permission forms to come!

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Monday, Feb 17- We celebrate both Presidents' Day AND Valentines Day today! Your child is not required to bring in Valentines for classmates, although all are welcome to do so. Please only write a 'from.' and your child’s name; do not address Valentines to particular students. Our numbers are:

• Grade K/1 (8 children)

• Grades 2/3 (20 children)

• Grades 4/5 (10 children)

• MS (12 children)

• Wednesday, Feb 20- 100th day of school! Dress like you're 100 years old, or represent 100 of something.
• Friday, Feb 22- NO PIZZA, but YES CHESS! Come at 3pm for a Chess/ Checkers Round Robin! Please let me know if you'd like to play! Parents will start in the middle school pool!

BUILDING UPDATE:

The siding is HERE and should start wrapping the building this week or next! We are waiting on a few inspections, and then DRYWALL. (Could be days, weeks, or another month.)

• 3/9- Daylight Savings! Spring forward 1 hr!
• 3/10- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS- teacher work day
• 3/14- PI DAY! We celebrate the incredible ratio of circumference per diameter. Wear something with circles! Hats count!
• 3/17- St Patty's Day- wear something green!
• 3/22 (Saturday) KidWind competition in Wanchese 4th-8th
• 4/18-4/21- Spring holiday weekend. No school.
• 4/23-4/25- 4th/ 5th camping trip to Morehead City/ Beaufort

THANK YOU all for a wonderful (and delicious) Sip your soup with SIP meeting! We're looking to make our next Sip with SIP after school, as we alter times to make sure everyone has a chance to attend throughout the year.

I introduced a book at the most recent SIP meeting about developmental expectations, (social, academic, and home behaviors) for each age from k-8th grade. Some of you have reached out to ask about it. The book, Yardsticks was introduced to us through our teacher training in Responsive Classroom. It can be ordered here. There are summative brochures for k-2nd grade, can be viewed here. These publications give excellent insight into the developmental stages of specific age groups, and offers guidance on how to cater expectations accordingly.

PARENT ACTION: If you wanted a conference and didn't get a chance to sign up, please reach out to Sylvia directly.

• Reminder: THERE IS NO PIZZA on Fridays until March. THANK YOU!

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• NO SCHOOL THIS WEEK- enjoy the time!!
• **PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE!** Tuesday, Feb 11- Board Meeting 2pm - library and Zoom. ALL ARE WELCOME.

• Monday, Feb 17- Back to school, Presidents Day- WE DO HAVE SCHOOL THIS DAY!
• Valentines Party! - Your child is not required to bring in Valentines for classmates, although all are welcome to do so. Please only write a 'from.' and your child’s name; do not address Valentines to particular students. Our numbers are:

• Grade K/1 (8 children)

• Grades 2/3 (20 children)

• Grades 4/5 (10 children)

• MS (12 children)

• Wednesday, Feb 19- Our 100th day of school! Your students are invited to wear something that represents 100 of something like stickers or buttons or safety pins, or dress up to be 100 years old.

Welcome to February, the month of Valentines and Groundhog predictions, Black History Month, February break, and the 100th day of school!

PARENT ACTION:

• Sign up for parent/ teacher conferences (optional) Please reminder- these are 15-minute meetings with your student and teachers to celebrate your child's accomplishments from this quarter. If you have other concerns or questions, please contact teachers to schedule a different time.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Friday, Feb 7th- our annual HATS OFF TO KINDNESS day! Please wear your favorite or most fun hat to celebrate all the acts of kindness we've seen and experienced this year.
• NO PIZZA, but YES CHESS at the end of the day! (Please reach out to Sylvia directly via email to let me know you'll be attending chess. Also, if you have an extra board, feel free to bring it!)
• Also, start of February break!
• Friday, Feb. 7th Sip your Soup with SIP lunch- parents are invited to come chat with SIP representatives and WEVS staff. Not required, we will have plenty, but feel free to bring some soup (crock pot or thermos) or some bread or crackers. WEVS will provide spoons and bowls and napkins. Topics might include ideas for a WEVS family tech-free week campaign and volunteers for March Madness.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

• Wednesday, February 5th Happiest of birthdays to Benji!

• Feb 10-14- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
• Wednesday, Feb 12- Board Meeting 2pm Zoom or the library.
• Monday, Feb 17- Back to school, Presidents Day- WE DO HAVE SCHOOL THIS DAY!
• Valentines Party! - Your child is not required to bring in Valentines for classmates, although all are welcome to do so. Please only write a 'from.' and your child’s name; do not address Valentines to particular students. Our numbers are:

• Grade K/1 (8 children)

• Grades 2/3 (20 children)

• Grades 4/5 (10 children)

• MS (12 children)

• Wednesday, Feb 19- Our 100th day of school! Your students are invited to wear something that represents 100 of something like stickers or buttons or safety pins, or dress up to be 100 years old.

Phew! We are sure looking forward to seeing your kiddos on Monday! We missed them! We hope everyone enjoyed the snow in some manner, and we sure appreciate your support during our virtual days. We know remote learning can be challenging, and I want to shout out to teachers for their efforts in making the pivot to on-line, and to parents for facilitating, and to the INCREDIBLE and ASTUTE students for their efforts. It was so fun to watch them work through challenges and reach out independently with questions. Their initiative and hard work is appreciated, teachers and students alike! Super work by all, and we will be SO happy to be back together on Monday and continuing for the foreseeable future!

Huge shout out to the middle school for rallying to complete their Future City project despite the snow, and put on an incredible demonstration for the judges, and brought home the MOST INNOVATIVE DESIGN award! We are SO proud of their efforts and work. AND we are grateful for a great middle school field trip to COA and CSI!

Our Fridays, our reading buddy/ SIP activity is now learning and practicing the game of chess. Parents are invited to come in at 3:00pm to help coach (or learn) and play! Please let Sylvia know VIA EMAIL by Wednesdays that you are planning to come in that week so we can create our round robin schedules.

PARENT ACTION NEEDED:

• Sign up for a conference (optional) Just a reminder- these 15-minute conferences are to celebrate the work of your student this past quarter. Please reach out to teachers independently to request a conference to address a concern.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Monday- Friday- Seth at Movement in the Classroom professional development at NCCAT

• Wednesday, January 28th- by lunch time -FINAL CHANCE to turn in work for Q2 credit

• Thursday, January 29th- 4pm- SIP meeting at the schoolhouse. The main topics of this meeting will be growth and school culture. All are welcome.

• Friday, January 30th- (NO PIZZA TODAY!)

• Friday, January 30th- Ms. Kat out for professional development - literacy training
• Friday, January 30th- Report cards come home

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAYS! Our summer birthday kiddos have their half-birthdays this month and next! Happiest of HALF birthdays to:

• Belated sparkly wishes to Vashti (10th)
• A little belated half birthday to Kaiden (11th)
• A belated happy day to almost-teenager Haley (14th)
• Wishing Mia a belated day of fun (23rd)
• Merriest of days to Brooks and Walker (28th)
• We wish Addison (28th) a star-studded day
• Happiest and brightest of days to Chloe (29th)

• Friday, February 7- SIP (your soup) with SIP - LUNCH TIME SIP with SIP - 12:30 at the chapel Bring your own soup! More info coming.

• February 10-14 Spring break for students

• We will be starting our KidWind project gearing up for competition in March, and for the Lancer project.

THANK YOU for sending your kiddos in with appropriate clothing and layers! It has made all the difference to continue to allow outside recess even with the lower temperatures! Speaking of which...

• WEATHER- We have an eye on the weather! Right now, forecast has us for snow on Tuesday night, which means the possibility of a remote day on Wednesday. We will keep you advised and ensure the students prepared . *Middle school students, we are also looking at the forecast for next weekend, and we will wait until at least Wednesday for a more definitive prediction before altering any plans for our Raleigh trip.

• PowerSchool DATA BREACH- WEVS, along with all public schools in the state, is required to use PowerSchool, a student-information platform that tracks student lists, attendance, state test scores, etc. The company recently experienced a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain information in the PowerSchool Platform.
• I will note two things here:

1. WEVS does not use (or enter) student or parent SSNs in the system, so no SSNs were compromised. We are informed that all compromised data has been 'recaptured' and destroyed.
2. This happened at the PowerSchool company level, and had nothing to do with the handling of information by WEVS or by any individual school.

We have received the following directly from PowerSchool to pass along to parents and staff:

• • Identity Protection and Credit Monitoring Services: PowerSchool has engaged Experian, a trusted credit reporting agency, to offer two years of complimentary identity protection services for all students and educators whose information from our PowerSchool SIS was involved. This offer will also include two years of complimentary credit monitoring services for all adult students and educators whose information was involved.
• • Notification to Individuals Involved: Starting in the next few weeks, in collaboration with Experian, PowerSchool will provide notice to students (or their parents / guardians if the student is under 18) and educators whose information was involved, as well as a phone number to answer any questions you may have about the incident. The notice will include the identity protection and credit monitoring services offer (as applicable).

In the meantime, I encourage you to visit https://www.powerschool.com/security/sis-incident/ for up-to-date information on the cybersecurity incident, and be on the lookout for communication in the form of a paper letter from PowerSchool.

A few housekeeping items:

• The exchange of money at school between students is not permissible. While we know (and support that) several of our students have started businesses to showcase their artisan skills, solicitation on school grounds during school hours between students is not allowed. We are open to hosting craft fairs or fundraising events where parents and students are advised of, and help to coordinate, such activities, but students cannot be selling their wares to other students. Please reach out if you have any questions.
• Medicine distribution needs to be done by adults during school. (If you want your child to have cough medicine or ibuprofen during the day, please send it in a baggie with a note stating permission and your expectation of dosage times.) If you are sending in cough drops, please only send the number you want your child to consume during the day.

PARENT ACTION NEEDED:

• If you haven't completed the mid-year parent survey, please take a few moments to do so! We would love 100% participation in this.
• Please check your teacher class links, posted at the top of this newsletter!

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Monday, January 20th MLK school-wide service project being will benefit the Room at the Inn. Feel free to join us from 1-2pm at the chapel, and/ or drop off donations at the door. More information can be found here.

• Tuesday, January 21st Middle school field trip to COA and CSI

• Friday, January 24th- End Quarter 2, Conclusion of the 1st semester. (Report cards come home the following week) And also- PIZZA DAY!

• Saturday, January 25th Future Cities competition in Raleigh

BIRTHDAYS:

• January 25th Happy Birthday to the super, spectacular, Snoopy- loving Graham!

BUILDING UPDATE:

• The decks have been started; the siding is on back-order but should arrive this month.

• Wednesday, January 22- Report cards come home.

• Wednesday, January 29 & Thursday, January 30th- Conferences in the afternoon. Sign up link to open this week.

• Thursday, January 30th 4pm SIP meeting at the school house. ALL ARE WELCOME!

• February 10-14 February break- no school for students!

It has been a chilly reentry to our school routine, but that hasn't stopped us! Please take a look at this week's WEVS Weekly, compliments of Mr. Seth's ELA class! Our lottery is open for another six weeks for sign up. If you know anyone interested, refer them to our website or directly to Sylvia!

PARENT ACTION NEEDED:

• Complete our mid-year parent survey.
• Middle School Parents:- Complete this COA/ CSI field trip form
• Start assembling donations for our MLK service day to benefit the Room at the Inn: If you have toiletries or men's clothing (clean and good condition, particularly socks and t-shirts in L or XL) to donate, razors, q-tips, trial size soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, drop it off in either of the bins outside the chapel this week.
• Assemble some interestingly shaped containers from your trash pile (rinsed out please) to bring in (this week only) for our Middle School's Future City project! We could use small yogurt containers, k-cups, pint and quart milk containers, and anything else you think might enhance their model city! Please bring to the schoolhouse.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Monday, Jan 13- 4pm- MS parent meeting for Future Cities competition- see link for information letter
• Friday, Jan 17- Pizza day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

• January 12th! Happy birthday to the magical Maddy Renner!

• January 13th! Happiest of birthdays to the spectacular Dr. Sheridan!

• January 16th! Happy birthday to Giselle, we hope it's another incredible year!

• Happy half birthday to the fabulous Ms. Kathy (July 13)!

• Monday, January 20th MLK school-wide service project , like last year, will benefit the Room at the Inn. Parents are welcome to join us to assemble kits; exact time will be announced this week.

• Tuesday, January 21st Middle school field trip to COA and CSI

• Saturday, January 25th Future Cities competition in Raleigh

• Thursday, January 30th 4pm SIP meeting at the school house. ALL ARE WELCOME!

We hope your break was restful and fun-filled!

We had a VERY successful Christmas in Corolla campaign; we are VERY close to our fundraising goal, and we look forward to getting to the point where our focus is on furniture and fixings!

We have also landed in a whale of a tale! Our dear resident parent biologist Karen Clark got the clearance to bury the bones of the recently washed up humpback whale so that in a few years we can dig up the bones of a complete whale skeleton as a school rearticulation project! How lucky are we! Can't wait to continue this project! Huge shout out to community members William and Lawson and Ginny and Remi for their assistance!

A few housekeeping items as we roll into 2025:

1. If your child will be late, please use the digital tardy slip found here and at the top of this newsletter, EVEN IF you are bringing in a doctors note.
2. Three reminders:

• Please send water bottles with your students weekly! We much prefer reusable water bottles to open cups, which have the potential to spill.
• OBX winter weather is wonky. Please dress your child in layers, and LABEL clothing so we can return it to you!
• School hours are 8:45-3:40. Doors open in the morning at 8:30, and pick up must happen at 3:40. Teacher meetings, prep time, and conferences happen outside of those times, so we sure appreciate your punctuality and support.
• PARENTS, if you would like to be added to the instagram close friends for link to newsletter for class updates and newsletter reminders, please go DM the school Instagram account. (This is a DUPLICATION of the newsletter information that is sent out on Remind, just sent out on Insta- you don't need Instagram, but if you prefer it to Remind, sign up here.)

PARENT ACTION NEEDED:

• Fill out the mid-year survey- we need your feedback! The economic part of this survey is required. Thanks for taking about 15 minutes. One survey per household please!
• Middle School parents, mark your calendars- we will have a CSI/ COA field trip just confirmed for January 21st! More details and permission slip to follow.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Monday, Jan 6th -BACK TO SCHOOL! See you at 8:45!
• Wednesday, Jan 8th- 2pm- Board meeting on Zoom or at library; all are welcome.
• Friday, Jan 10- 9am- SIP meeting to plan the events of 2025 location TBA. All are welcome.

BIRTHDAYS:

January 5th! Happiest of days to Lennox!

January 8th! Happy birthday to the amazing Royce and Nolan!!

BUILDING UPDATE:

• We have had a very successful fundraising campaign these past few months due to some incredibly generosity and lots of community support and involvement. We have about $30k left to go!
• We should be seeing some progress this week with siding and decking to start this week!

• Monday, Jan 20th- MLK Day/ service day- WE DO HAVE SCHOOL THIS DAY! This will be our 2nd civil service day in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Stay tuned for specifics; we will be asking students to complete specific tasks before and on this day; parents participation is encouraged!
• Tuesday, Jan 21st- Middle School- only field trip to COA and CSI.

• Saturday, Jan 25th Future Cities competition in Raleigh

• Feb 10th-14th- SPRING BREAK! No school!

Well, that came fast! Thanks so much for a great week, filled with lots of holiday fun. Click here for the file of Santa photos from Thursday! We caroled around the village on Friday; it was wonderful to be so well-received by our local supporters.

PARENT ACTION NEEDED:

• Have a wonderful break. We will NOT be opening the schoolhouse for Christmas in Corolla this weekend.
• Read with your kiddos.
• If you have access to a Coastland Times from the 23rd, check out our students' letters to Santa!

BUILDING UPDATE:

• Interior door frames are installed.
• The decking material is on site and should start after the Holidays.
• The siding is set to be delivered on January 2nd.

Mark you calendars for:

• Monday, Jan 6th -BACK TO SCHOOL! See you at 8:45!
• Wednesday, Jan 8th- 2pm- Board meeting on Zoom or at library; all are welcome.
• Friday, Jan 10- 9am- SIP meeting to plan the events of 2025 location TBA. All are welcome.
• Monday, Jan 20th- MLK Day/ service day- WE DO HAVE SCHOOL THIS DAY!

Welcome to the final academic week of 2024! Wow, that came fast!

Thank you for supporting your kiddos in caroling for Christmas in Corolla! Special thanks to Ms. Liz and Ms. Jess for running rehearsals, publishing music, recording and inspiring our students! Super job to all!

PARENT ACTION NEEDED:

• Sign up for a Christmas in Corolla shift

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Monday, Dec 16-Friday, Dec 20- Mr. Seth out for professional development at NCCAT
• Friday, Dec 20- PAJAMA DAY and EARLY DISMISSAL! 12:30! NO LUNCH is served this day; no pizza. Holiday festivities will include snacks like popcorn and fruit.

BIRTHDAYS:

Happiest of days to Mickie next weekend!

BUILDING UPDATE:

The roof is on! The shingles look fantastic! We are also on TV! You can check out the WTKR News Channel 3 story here!

• December 20th/ 21st- Christmas in Corolla- volunteers needed
• December 27th/ 28th- Christmas in Corolla- volunteers needed
• Monday, Jan 6th -BACK TO SCHOOL! See you at 8:45!
• Wednesday, Jan 8th- 2pm- Board meeting on Zoom or at library; all are welcome.
• Friday, Jan 10- 9am- SIP meeting to plan the events of 2025 location TBA. All are welcome.
• Monday, Jan 20th- MLK Day/ service day- WE DO HAVE SCHOOL THIS DAY!

OUR LOTTERY FOR THE '25-'26 ACADEMIC YEAR IS OPEN! If you know of anyone who might be interested in attending our small-but-mighty school, please direct them to Sylvia or to our website! The lottery draw is the first Friday in March. (As a reminder, those who are currently students do not have to enroll in the lottery. Your student's spot is theirs until you submit a withdrawal in writing, or they graduate from 8th grade!)

Huge kudos to the middle school students for their performance in the annual Joan's Tour at the Whalehead Club. Thanks to parents for supporting kids with their lines and costumes!

PARENTS ACTION NEEDED:

• Sign up for a Christmas in Corolla shift

• Practice these songs with your kiddos for our performance next Friday in the Christmas in Corolla village!

• Check your student's teacher pages. They are listed at the top of this newsletter, and here below:

• Ms. Liz's class

• Ms. Sylvia's classes (updated Dec 8!)

  Ms. Jess's classes

  Ms. Kat's classes

  Dr. Sheridan's class

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Wednesday, Dec 11: School Board Mtg. at 2pm online or library. Link can be found at the top of this newsletter.

• Friday, Dec 13: WEVS sings for Christmas in Corolla from 5-6pm. This is the holiday song list your children will be singing! Feel free to play the list while you are making dinner, driving, brushing teeth, etc. so your kiddos knows the songs backwards and forwards!

• Friday & Saturday-Dec. 13th &14th-Christmas in Corolla Village from 5-8pm - volunteers needed for the Schoolhouse.

BIRTHDAY WISHES:

Happiest of days to James next Saturday, who officially turns teenager status!

BUILDING UPDATE:

Check out the shout out from the Outer Banks Community Foundation!

• Friday, Dec 20- 12:30 Pajama day! AND early dismissal for students to begin holiday break! We start back to school on January 6th!

• Monday, Dec 16- Ms. Jess out for literacy professional development

• Monday, Dec 16-Friday, Dec 20- Mr. Seth out for professional development at the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Happy Sunday! We hope everyone had a restful and enjoyable Thanksgiving break! We are so grateful for all who came (and brought food) to the community potluck, and to those who got up early on Thanksgiving morning to help out with the Turkey Trot, AND to those who volunteered and baked and crafted for the Christmas in Corolla nights! We make WEVS happen!

PARENTS ACTION NEEDED:

• Sign up for a Christmas in Corolla shift
• Middle school parents- sign up for a performance time (Unfortunately, we can only open this to middle school families due to time and number restraints.)

• Practice these songs with your kiddos for our performance next Friday in the Christmas in Corolla village!

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Monday, Dec. 2nd- Friday, Dec 6th: Ms. Kat and Ms. Jess out for Professional Development at the NC Center for Advancement in Teaching in Ocracoke! Mrs. Moore, Ms. Lauren, and Ms. Sylvia will be working to cover all classes.

• Friday, Dec 6: MS performing at Whalehead from 2pm - 4pm. We will run four 30-minute performances. Middle school parents, Please sign up for a spot, space is limited

• Friday, Dec 6 and Saturday, Dec 7- Christmas in Corolla schoolhouse tours!

BIRTHDAY WISHES:

Senneca celebrates her birthday in the summer, so in order to acknowledge her during the year, we wish her a happy HALF birthday this Saturday, Dec 7th!

BUILDING UPDATE:

The shingles and siding colors have been picked, and materials ordered! Still on track for an April finish! We had a great Black Friday night, raising close to $1000 (thanks to popcorn, hot chocolate, sweet treats, and crafts) to count towards the approximately $240,000 we have left to raise.

• Wednesday, Dec 11: School Board Mtg. at 2pm online or library. Link can be found at the top of this newsletter.

• Friday, Dec 13: WEVS sings for Christmas in Corolla from 5-6pm. This is the holiday song list your children will be singing! Feel free to play the list while you are making dinner, driving, brushing teeth, etc. so your kiddos knows the songs backwards and forwards!

• Friday, Dec 20- 12:30 Pajama day! AND early dismissal for students to begin holiday break! We start back to school on January 6th!

PARENTS ACTION NEEDED:

Recent feedback from SIP involved an explicit "What are my responsibilities to the school this week," so each newsletter will start off with a simple bullet list, with details below.

• Signup for Thanksgiving Potluck- we ask families to bring ONE dish or item per family (not per child.)

• Let us know how many people you are bringing here to the potluck Tuesday and

• WE NEED VOLUNTEERS to bake for the bake sale and to staff the schoolhouse on these nights. Please sign up here.

• Practice these songs with your kiddos.

It was great to see so many of you at Sip with SIP, and THANK YOU to the 5k volunteers! We have our quota. We are excited to be here at the Thanksgiving week already.

Here's an interesting (and perhaps slightly awkward) issue we're hoping parents can help with. I'm told the influence stems from video games and/ or voiceovers on social media videos, but we have had some distraction with (maybe inappropriate) moaning sounds from some students in our 2/3/4/5 classroom. The moaning elicits quite a few giggles (because unfamiliar sounds can be funny) but the sounds could certainly be interpreted as very school-inappropriate and is perhaps uncomfortable to the adult ear; we're asking that if you are hearing these mimicked sounds at home, would you please support us in tactfully discouraging moaning as a source of humor or communication. Please feel free to reach out to your homeroom teacher with questions or elaboration.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

• Tuesday, Nov. 26th- Early Dismissal (12:30) and Pot Luck- We will serve pizza to the students at 11am at the schoolhouse (thank you, Cosmo's Pizza!) so they will have eaten before the potluck part. (They will be invited to grab a dessert after they sing.) We will open the potluck to say thank you to our parents, sponsors, and community members. We expect about 50 adults including parents, but we do ask EVERYONE (even parents) to fill out this form to let us know how many people you are bringing here. Please feel free to invite your family, friends, and neighbors. While the adults are eating (starting around 11:45) our students will sing/ play bells for our guests. We will early dismiss after lunch at 12:30 and wish everyone a Merry Thanksgiving holiday! We will invite kiddos to partake in desserts after singing.

• Wednesday Nov 27th- Thanksgiving break begins- NO SCHOOL

• Thursday, Nov 28th- Happy Thanksgiving! Turkey Trot volunteers, please meet at Whalehead Club at 7:30am.

• Friday, Nov 29th- Christmas in Corolla begins! Volunteers and baked good needed. Please sign up here.

BIRTHDAYS:

• Monday, November 25- Happy Birthday to Luke!

NEW BUILDING PROGRESS REPORT:

• Check out our new updated website page!

• Dec. 2: Back to school!

• Dec. 2nd-6th: Ms. Kat and Ms. Jess out for Professional Development at the NC Center for Advancement in Teaching in Ocracoke!

• Friday, Dec 6: MS performing at Whalehead from 2pm - 4pm. We will run four 30-minute performances. Middle school parents, Please sign up for a spot, space is limited.

• Wednesday, Dec 11: School Board Mtg. at 2pm online or library. Link can be found at the top of this newsletter.

• Friday, Dec 13: WEVS sings for Christmas in Corolla from 5-6pm. This is the holiday song list your children will be singing! Feel free to play the list while you are making dinner, driving, brushing teeth, etc. so your kiddos knows the songs backwards and forwards!

PODCAST VERSION!

THANK YOU all, students, families, and teacher alike, for a successful initial remote learning day! The students diligently worked through their task lists, and parents, your support was paramount in this endeavor. We have the option to do that four more times this year in case of inclement weather. If you have feedback, please reach out a SIP rep for discussion at the next SIP meeting.

Your kiddos have been doing an excellent job contributing and leading their own conferences. Super work!

The week ahead:

• Monday, Nov 18th- WHOLE SCHOOL PICTURE at 3:45- Please join us for a WEVS families picture immediately after school on Monday in front of the new building as representatives of the Corolla Cup competition will be there to present the check (over $25k!!) of the funds raised from the event. We'd love for all families, students, and staff to be in it if you can! (We'll try to be quick so that students can get on to their after-school obligations.)

• Monday, Nov 18th and Tuesday, Nov 19th, Conferences continue- check the schedule!

• Friday, Nov 22nd, SIP with SIP at the Kind Cup following 8:45-ish. **HOLIDAY TRUNK SHOP!** We invite you to (with or without the help of your child) gather toys and items still in good shape, and bring them to SIP with SIP. Leave your trunk open for parents to 'shop' for what they could use, and you enjoy the same privilege with other open trunks. This idea comes in an effort to 1) reduce the financial burden of the holidays; 2) remove household toy clutter while allowing those toys a chance at a new child owner; and 3) deemphasize the expectation of brand-new packaged toys. All of this also supports the school's mission of responsible environmental stewardship. Win win!

During the Holiday Season, WEVS collects Food Lion, Walmart, and Harris Teeter gift cards to help WEVS families that might be able to use a little extra support through these festive months. There is a little schoolhouse coin box sitting just inside the school on Ms. Jess's desk. Feel free to give any cards to a teacher or drop them in the box if you can contribute.

Lots of birthdays to celebrate this week! Happiest of days to these guys!

• Sunday, Nov. 17th, Happy birthday to Brady!

• Tuesday, Nov. 19th, Alek turns a year older!

• Thursday, Nov. 21st, Ben G celebrates another trip around the sun!

• Saturday, Nov 23rd, Val gains another completed year of wisdom and experience!

The new building progress report:

We are about 40 weeks away from projected completion. The top ceiling has been drywalled so that the drop ceiling can be installed. Windows went in last weekend, as did the pilings to support the decks. We are overjoyed at the chunk of funds raised over the last two months. We are moving into focusing on our Sees Candy Fundraiser. Please share the link far and wide! This is high-quality candy you can be proud to gift while you raise money for the building. (See below.) THANK YOU ALL!

• Tuesday, Nov 26th- Community Potluck- Signup for Thanksgiving Potluck

We are running this event a little differently this year. We will serve pizza to the students at 11am at the schoolhouse (thank you, Cosmo's Pizza!) so they will have eaten before the potluck part. (They will be invited to grab a dessert after they sing.) We will open the potluck to say thank you to our parents, sponsors, and community members. We expect about 50 adults including parents, but we do ask EVERYONE (even parents) to fill out this form to let us know how many people you are bringing here. Please feel free to invite your family, friends, and neighbors. While the adults are eating (starting around 11:45) our students will sing/ play bells for our guests. We will early dismiss after lunch at 12:30 and wish everyone a Merry Thanksgiving holiday!

• Wednesday, Nov. 27th-Dec. 1 Thanksgiving Break-No School

• Thursday, Nov 28th- Happy Thanksgiving- 3 more volunteers needed for the Turkey Trot, 7:30-9:30am at the Whalehead Club. Please reach out to Sylvia directly. (Thank you Burnell family, Kasurkin family, Mullins family, and Wolff teenagers, for volunteering! Middle school parents, this is an excellent opportunity for middle schoolers to rack up some volunteer hours! Let me know if your student needs a ride!)

• Friday, Nov 29th- Christmas in Corolla begins! WE NEED VOLUNTEERS to bake for the bake sale and to staff the schoolhouse on these nights. Please sign up here. Reach out to Sylvia with questions.

• Friday, December 6 - WEVS MS performing at Whalehead

• Wednesday, December 11, 2pm- WEVS Board of Directors Meeting. Link can be found at the top of this newsletter.

• Friday December 13- WEVS sings for Christmas in Corolla from 5-6pm. If your child will NOT be there, please reach out to Liz Voldish at voldish@WatersEdgeVillageSchool.com

Happy Veteran's Day! We hope you are enjoying the long weekend!

-Calling for trash! Ms. Sylvia's project classes are getting ready to turn some trash into treasure! See here for more details; we can use bottles (glass and plastic,) milk cartons (cardboard and plastic,) lids, containers, toilet paper rolls, etc. **PLEASE** wash (with soap) any containers before you send them in. There is a big box labeled 'trash to treasure' at the chapel classroom; please deposit all items into the box. (We don't need big cardboard boxes... yet. Just smaller containers/ items for now.) Thank you!

Please continue to read and practice math and spelling with your students each night!

The Week Ahead:

• Monday, Nov 11- NO SCHOOL! SIP meeting at 4pm at the schoolhouse

• Tuesday, Nov 12- Conferences- check the schedule!

• Wednesday, Nov 13- Ms. Liz and Ms. Kerri out for Professional Development in Safe Schools Training; Board meeting at 2pm library or Zoom

During the Holiday Season, WEVS collects Food Lion, Walmart, and Harris Teeter gift cards to help WEVS families that might be able to use a little extra support through these festive months. There is a little schoolhouse coin box sitting just inside the school on Ms. Jess's desk. Feel free to give any cards to a teacher or drop them in the box if you can contribute.

• Tuesday, Nov 26- Our Community Thanksgiving Celebration begins at 11:30. See the Thanksgiving invitation here. **Notice: We are going to serve pizza to the kiddos at 11:00. The main courses will be for the adults, although desserts will be open for everyone! Our students will sing during adult eating time. Please Sign up to bring a dish for Thanksgiving Potluck.

• Thursday, Nov 28- VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for the Whalehead Turkey Trot 5k! This race is on Thanksgiving morning, and volunteer duty runs from 7:30 until about 9:15. (This is a great opportunity for our middle schoolers to earn some of their volunteer hours!!) I've got three volunteers; I need about 4 more! Please reach out to Sylvia directly if you're available!

• Friday, Nov 29/ Saturday, Nov 30- First weekend of Christmas in Corolla. We will be looking for volunteers to staff the schoolhouse, do some baking, and donate some crafts! Sign ups will be published after Monday's SIP meeting.

• Friday, December 13- WEVS students sing and play bells for Christmas in Corolla from 5pm-6pm. Ms. Liz will be sending the music home so kiddos can practice. This event is not mandatory, but if you cannot come, please reach out to Ms. Liz or Ms. Jess so they can plan staging and special effects accordingly.

-->Character day was a hit! Some great characters showed up, including Nancy Drew, Rudy and Liesel from The Book Thief, and Fancy Nancy!

-->What a great Halloween celebration! Thanks to all parents and businesses who participated in making that day extra sweet! Pajama day was a success, and we cruised through the day after Halloween, thankful for the extra hour of prep time.

-->You should have received your students' pictures. Mr. Bruce Lorenz has offered a package to each WEVS family free of charge. If you share on social media, please be sure to credit him!

-->Please share our Sees Candy Fundraiser link on ALL your social media places! (See below for more info.) This is a 'hands-off' fundraiser; the company does all the work, including taking orders and payment and shipping the product directly to the consumer, then sends us a check for our donation. We just need help getting the word out!

The week ahead:

• Nov 3rd- DAYLIGHT SAVINGS! Don't forget to set your clocks back!

• Nov 4th-8th- Ms. Sylvia out for professional development

• Monday, Nov 4- Ms. Jess out for professional development; Mrs. Moore is subbing

• Tuesday, Nov 5- Please look for report cards coming home. Please sign up for a 15-minute conference here if you would like to meet to celebrate your student's work and effort this quarter. The purpose of this conference is to allow your child to showcase their successes. If you have concerns or would like to meet about something else, please contact Sylvia directly to set up a time outside of q1 conferences.

• Tuesday, Nov 5- VOTING DAY! Please vote!

• Thursday, Nov 7- Ms. Jess out for literacy training- Mrs. Moore is subbing.

• Friday, Nov 8- Monday, Nov 11- NO SCHOOL for Veteran’s Day holiday

We're about to get VERY busy as we pack a lot of activity into two short months!

• Friday Nov. 8-Monday Nov 11- No school for students. Happy Veterans' Day.
• Wednesday, Nov 13- Monthly Board Meeting 2pm library or Zoom
• Tuesday, Nov 26- WEVS community Thanksgiving potluck and early dismissal (12:30) More info on the potluck coming next week!
• Wednesday, Nov 27-Sunday, Dec 1- THANKSGIVING BREAK- no school
• Thursday, Nov 28- VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for the Whalehead Turkey Trot 5k! Please reach out to Sylvia directly if you're available!
• Friday, Nov 29/ Saturday, Nov 30- First weekend of Christmas in Corolla. We will be looking for volunteers to staff the schoolhouse, do some baking, and donate some crafts! Look for more info next week!

PODCAST VERSION HERE

What a great week! Thanks, parents and students, for a wonderful trip to the NC Aquarium and Jockey's Ridge, and we finished the week with an exciting Friday with flag football as the finale!

We have another very busy week on deck!

• Monday, Oct 28- Ms. Jess is out for literacy professional development. Ms. Marcy will be teaching her classes.

• Tuesday, Oct 29- Ms. Sylvia is in Raleigh for a school director's meeting. Mr. Sean will be teaching her classes.

• Thursday, Oct 31- 2:30- School wide Halloween Parade around the Corolla Village. We are anticipating a 2:30ish line-up to begin our walk to participating businesses. Parents are welcome to come along! Just a reminder, while costumes are encouraged, please use discretion when considering allowing costume accessories to go to school. Please NO weapons or masks that cover the whole face, and please use discretion with accessories that could be easily lost or damaged including wands, staffs, stuffed animals, etc.

• Friday, Nov 1st- 9:45 am -ONE HOUR DELAY! School doors open at 9:30, school day begins at 9:45.

• Friday, Nov 1st- Final day of the quarter. Report cards will come home no later than Tuesday of next week.

• Flag-Football continues in PE Class on Fridays. Parent volunteers are appreciated. Please reach out to a SIP member if you can help from 2:50-3:40pm. Please refer to the SIP Remind announcement for contact information.

FUNDRAISING

We are finishing up our matching grant campaigns; one double, and one TRIPLE! The doubled match generated over $55k before the match, and the weekend's triple match generated over $17k before the match, so, with massive amounts of gratitude to our donors, volunteers, sponsors, and cheerleaders, we will have taken at least $150,000 chunk out of fundraising goal! This is INCREDIBLE! Super work by all! It is estimated that we have about $240,000 left to raise to complete the build without a mortgage. Down to less than a quarter million from 2.4 million feels like we are plugging along! We still have a classroom naming opportunity for $100,000 if you can think of any businesses or philanthropists looking for a good cause!

On that note, we have partnered with Sees Candy for a fundraiser. This is high-quality chocolate that makes for fantastic holiday and seasonal gifts. Please feel free to share the link with your relatives, friends, business owners, etc. There is NO responsibility on your end, except to spread the word. (In other words, this doesn't involve parents and students going out and gathering orders and money.) The website does it all: collets payment, sends the product, etc.

This seems to be the time of year that rolls through like the Polar Express! So here we go!

• Monday, Nov 4-Thursday, Nov 7th- Ms. Sylvia in Burlington for state software training,
• Monday, Nov 4- Ms. Jess out for professional development, Ms. Marcy subbing
• Tuesday, Nov 5- Report cards come home, AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!
• Wednesday, Nov 6-Thursday, Nov 7- afternoons dedicated to student parent conferences. **A note about these quarter conferences: this is an opportunity for you and your student to celebrate their accomplishments. These meetings are limited to 15 minutes, and students are expected to be there and to lead the discussion. If there are concerns about academic progress or student behavior, please reach out to the homeroom teacher to schedule a conference outside of quarter conference times.
• Friday Nov. 8-Monday Nov 11- No school for students. Happy Veterans' Day.
• Tuesday, Nov 26- WEVS community Thanksgiving potluck and early dismissal (12:30)
• Wednesday, Nov 27-Sunday, Dec 1- THANKSGIVING BREAK- no school
• Friday, Nov 29/ Saturday, Nov 30- First weekend of Christmas in Corolla

PODCAST VERSION HERE!

Whew! What a busy weekend last weekend! So many thanks to ALL; we raised THOUSANDS of dollars these past few weeks, including a chunk for this last weekend's Hang 10 and yard sale events. So much gratitude to all of those who helped, visited, patronized, donated, organized, and supported in all the ways! And as you all have seen, the building continues to grow! Want to see a sneak peek at the inside? Take a look here for a virtual tour of the new building!

On a different note, we have had a reported case of hand foot mouth disease, a very contagious-when-you-have-a-fever virus that can be super uncomfortable. If your child spikes a fever and seems to have tiny red bumps on the hands and/ or feet, and possibly sores inside the mouth, please keep your student home until the fever is passed and they feel better.

Can you do us a favor? Please write your students initials somewhere in sweatshirts and coat clothing. We have had LOTS of clothes left at school these last few days. It's not supposed to rain, so we are leaving them out on the picnic table for now! Please swing by this weekend or Monday morning and take a look!

The week ahead:

• Monday, Oct 21- FIELD TRIP! We meet AT the aquarium at 9:30. (We do not come to the school at all; all students will be on the trip so no staff will be at the school.) We must enter together.

• 9:30 am Meet AT the Aquarium on Roanoke Island

  9:45- Enter the building/ assign parents to groups

  10:00- k-4 program with Aquarium staff/ 5-8 scavenger hunt tour

  11:15- SNACK

  11:30- 5-8 start squid dissection program/ k-4 scavenger hunt tour of aquarium

  1:00 pm- packed lunch at the picnic tables

  1:30 pm- depart for Jockey’s Ridge

  1:50 pm- Dr. Sheridan’s program

  2:20 picture at the top of Jockey’s Ridge

  2:45- dismissal for travel to Corolla
• PLEASE READ HERE for parent information from the aquarium. If you are attending but not as a chaperone, you must purchase your own ticket in advance by clicking here . See below for rules the aquarium has asked us to follow:
  

Please do not run, jump, push or roughhouse at the aquarium for your safety, and for the safety of our animals, other guests, and staff.

No food, candy, gum, or drinks are allowed inside the building. Water bottles with lids are welcome.

We have touch pools. Only two fingers are to be used to touch animals at the touch pools. No animals are to be touched anywhere else in the aquarium.We have the Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation (STAR) Center. Please be as quiet as possible when entering this area and please DO NOT use the flash on your phone or camera.

Please do not tap on the habitat windows.

Chaperones must stay with their students. Students must stay with their chaperones. If you can’t see each other, you are too far away.

Remember that other guests are enjoying the aquarium during your visit. Please be mindful and respectful of those around you.

(We are not doing the gift shop on this visit.)

• Tuesday, Oct 22- Sylvia and Kat out in the morning for professional development. Ms. Marcy and Mr. Sean subbing.
• Friday, Oct 25- PIZZA DAY! Team jersey day! And flag football day! Parent volunteers have been amazing! If you'd like to participate, please reach out to a SIP member if you can help from 2:50-3:40pm. Please refer to the SIP Remind announcement for contact information.

Birthday Shoutouts! Happiest of days to:

Mya- Oct. 22nd

Mr. Seth- Oct. 23rd

Ms. Lauren- Oct. 26th

Charlie- Oct. 26th

• October 25/26- COROLLA CUP! This 2nd annual event helps to raise money for our school, and is Corolla-wide. Please click here for information about the event. We could definitely use volunteers; please sign up HERE for a shift.
• October 31- Halloween! Students are invited to wear their costumes* to school and will parade around the village at the end of the day (2:45) for a pre-Trunk-or-treat event and visit local supporting vendors. Parents are encouraged to come help!
• *Costumes at school- please NO weapons or masks that cover the whole face, and please use discretion with accessories that could be easily lost or damaged including wands, staffs, stuffed animals, etc.
• November 1- 1-hour DELAYED START- SCHOOL DOES NOT BEGIN UNTIL 9:45. Doors open for students at 9:30am. This is also the final day of the quarter.

THANK YOU so much for all of the help this weekend raising money for our new building! From hosting as a Hang 10 for 10 business to patronizing a Hang 10 event, from staffing events to collecting money boxes, you all are making it happen! The building is starting to take shape, literally.

Our middle school field trip was a success! Huge thanks to the staff and parents who accompanied our students to Williamsburg and Jamestown.

The WEVS family contact link is here. This contact list will move to the BOTTOM of this newsletter after this week.

The week ahead:

• Monday, Oct.14th- No school for the holiday.

• Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 2pm- Board of Directors Meeting- Zoom or Library

• Friday, Oct 18- Parent volunteers welcome for flag football 3pm at the Whalehead Field

• Friday, Oct 18- PIZZA DAY! Please bring $5 OR a non-perishable food item. AND.... It's team jersey day! Wear your favorite sports team jersey. This can be a jersey of a team you play on or a team you support.

• Monday, Oct. 21- FIELD TRIP to the Aquarium and Jockey's Ridge- ACTION REQUIRED- please fill out this form to indicate if your child is attending the field trip, and their mode of transportation.

• October 25/26- COROLLA CUP! This 2nd annual event helps to raise money for our school, and is Corolla-wide. Please click here for information about the event. We could definitely use volunteers; please sign up HERE for a shift.
• October 31- Halloween! Students will parade around the village at the end of the day (2:45) for a pre-Trunk-or-treat event and visit local supporting vendors. Parents are encouraged to come help!
• November 1- 1-hour DELAYED START- SCHOOL DOES NOT BEGIN UNTIL 9:45. Doors open for students at 9:30am. This is also the final day of the quarter.

Somehow we are through week #5! Many thanks to all who helped with flag football, came to the SIP activities, and to all the businesses that are stepping up to get this building up and going with Hang 10 for 10% days! There are SIX opportunities this week to raise money just by eating delicious food!

The week ahead:

• Saturday, Oct 5th- Nellie's Cornhole Tournament 12:00-2:45 HANG 10 for 10!😄
• Monday, Oct 7- Whalehead Brewery Bingo- Hang 10 for 10!😄
• Tuesday, Oct 8-Thursday, Oct 10- Middle School Camping Trip!
• WEDNESDAY- the monthly board meeting has been rescheduled to NEXT WEEK (to Wednesday, October 16th)
• Thursday- Oct 10- Banana Dog Coffee- located in front of the Wildhorse Inn. HANG 10 for 10!😄
• Friday, Oct 11- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS! Teacher work day!
• Friday, Oct 11- Chicken Coop Hang 10 for 10! This will be make a FANTASTIC family dinner night- but they close at 3 so grab dinner early!😄
• Friday, Oct 11- Monday, Oct 14- Photography Fundraiser for WEVS- Bruce Lorenz is offering family photo sessions and ALL proceeds go to WEVS! Click the link to for more info and to schedule!😄
• Saturday, Oct 12- Low Tide Bar and Grille HANG 10 for 10!😄
• Saturday, Oct 12- ALL HANDS ON DECK! If you are in town, we have a need for volunteers. (Middle school students, here's an opportunity to get some hours!) Corolla Light has granted WEVS a booth at the Homeowners Day at the sports center. We will need families to staff the WEVS information booth for a few hours at a time. We are also planning a WEVS fundraising garage sale. If you want to donate things to sell, come sell things on your own and donate a portion of proceeds to WEVS, or just come help set up and break down, we could really use your help! If you are available to help this weekend, can you please send Lauren Mullins an email at mullins@watersedgevillageschool.com and let her know what kind of hours you could contribute!
• Monday, Oct 14- NO SCHOOL for everyone- holiday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDYN! OFFICIALLY A TEENAGER!

• Wednesday, Oct 16- Board Meeting, 2:00, library or Zoom (link at the top of this newsletter)
• Monday, Oct 21- Whole School Field Trip to the aquarium, then to Jockey's Ridge
• Flag-Football continues in PE Class on Friday’s. Parent volunteers are needed. Please reach out to a SIP member if you can help from 2:50-3:40pm. Please refer to the SIP Remind announcement for contact information.

• Fridays will be football jersey day. If you have a favorite team shirt or jersey feel free to wear it to school and show your team pride!

Welcome to almost October! Another interesting week in the books, including a beached boat find, an end-of-school ice cream treat, a striped dolphin, and some drastic improvement in football skills!

SIP TEAM nominations are open: It is time for self- nominations for the SIP team. Currently, the SIP parent liaisons are: Jaqueline Winter, Erin Price, and Leanne Gebhart. This is a volunteer position that requires about 2 hours per week, including two monthly meetings, and regular interaction with WEVS families and the WEVS leadership team. If you are interested in serving, please fill out the hyperlinked form.

We are getting ready to publish our communication roster for parents. The default is publication of both parents email and phone number. Please fill out this form if you do NOT want one of those contact methods shared. One opt-out per parent please. (You can't opt out both parents on one form.)

**Save the date! ** For your radar- we are working with the aquarium to nail down a date of either Oct 21 or 22nd for a field trip! We will let you know as soon as we do!

The week ahead:

• Tuesday, Oct. 1st at 4pm Middle School camping trip parent meeting, in person or Zoom.

• Tuesday, Oct 1st - 5pm Non-WEVS sponsored Swim Team information and evaluation meeting at Corolla Light- more info below

• Wednesday, Oct 2- Thursday, Oct 3- Ms. Sylvia and Ms. Kat out for professional development in testing administration

• Friday, Oct. 4th the first SIP with SIP event will be held at the Kind Cup following drop off at 8:45, revolving door style- come as you can and leave when you must! All are welcome to come meet your SIP representatives, share ideas, ask questions, and just converse.

• Friday, Oct 4th- CLOTHING SWAP!! Please bring your too-small clothes and trade them for some clothes that fit! Shoes, coats, clothes welcome. Whatever is left at 4:15 is going to the thrift store!

• Oct. 8- Oct. 10 Middle School camping trip Jamestown and Williamsburg. Middle school parents, PLEASE FILL OUT THIS INTEREST FORM.

• Oct 12- ALL HANDS ON DECK! If you are in town, we have a need for volunteers. (Middle school students, here's an opportunity to get some hours!) Corolla Light has granted WEVS a booth at the Homeowners Day at the sports center. We will need families to staff the WEVS information booth for a few hours at a time. We are also planning a WEVS fundraising garage sale. If you want to donate things to sell, come sell things on your own and donate a portion of proceeds to WEVS, or just come help set up and break down, we could really use your help! If you are available to help this weekend, can you please send Lauren Mullins an email at mullins@watersedgevillageschool.com and let her know what kind of hours you could contribute!

• No school Friday, Oct. 11 or Monday, Oct.14th- Enjoy the weekend!

The Corolla Community is helping to get this building built! The following businesses are signed up for Hang 10 for 10- they donate 10% of their proceeds on these days to WEVS. Our job? Enjoy delicious food, raise money for WEVS!

• Oct 5th- Nellie's Cornhole Tournament 12-2:45
• Oct 10- Banana Dog Coffee
• Oct 12- Low Tide Bar and Grille

**Non-WEVS sponsored info** Our neighbors in the western part of the state have suffered devastating effects of Hurricane Helene. There are several community organizations organizing for Air Drops. The Boil Company is accepting donations for Operation Air Drop, more information about donations can be found on the link.

All, super many thanks for your flexibility in dealing with the weather and possibility of remote learning. And thanks to all for a great back to school night! Parents had some great questions and contributions! Special thanks to Friends of the Library and the middle schoolers and Lauren and Marcy for providing entertainment for the kiddos! We had great feedback on our flag football time, and are so grateful for the support there.

• Monday- Make up day for BOGs
• Tuesday- BOG scores come home. Ms. Sylvia and Ms. Kat will be out in the morning for Professional Development.
• Thursday- Ms. Sylvia out for Professional Development in STEM training with NC State.
• Friday- Sept 27th- Pizza Day! And Flag-Football continues in PE Class on Friday’s. Parent volunteers are needed. Please reach out to a SIP member if you can help from 2:50-3:40pm. Please refer to the SIP Remind announcement for contact information.
• Friday, Sept. 27th at 4pm SIP meeting at the school house. All are welcome.

• Tuesday, Oct 1st Non-WEVS sponsored Swim Team information and evaluation meeting at Corolla Light!

• Friday, Oct. 4th the first SIP with SIP meeting will be held at the Kind Cup following drop off at 8:45, revolving door style- come as you can and leave when you must! All are welcome to come meet your SIP representatives and share ideas.

• Oct. 8- Oct. 10 Middle School camping trip. Details to follow shortly.

• No school Friday, Oct. 11 or Monday, Oct.14th

AUDIO VERSION if you'd prefer to listen!

What a great second week of school- we have been busy! In week two, we:

• conducted our first fire drill of the year
• had school pictures
• rehearsed for a remote learning day
• and ended on a great note with an ice cream social at the library (thank you Chill Spot and Friends of Corolla Library!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Ms. JESS (Sunday) and to Dori our bookkeeper (Sept 4!)

Remote Learning Possibility: **The weather forecast this week looks a little daunting. Monday afternoon into Tuesday, wind forecasts according to Accuweather, look to be the highest. We use the NOAA Wind Threat Description for guidance, which defines moderately threatening winds as sustained speeds of 26 to 39 mph, or frequent wind gusts of 35 to 57 mph, and we consider road conditions in light of the following factors:

• How long has it been raining?
• What is the rainfall rate?
• Is there standing water on the roads?

If travel to or from school is deemed moderate to high risk using these considerations, WEVS will move to remote learning (or early dismissal, depending on when the weather moves in.) As of Sunday morning, we have NOT declared any remote learning days, but in an abundance of opportunity for preparation, I am distributing this information now and not in the moment of declaration.

Remote Learning Resources:

• Attached here is our Remote Learning Policy as it is filed with the state of NC.
• PARENTS, HERE IS A QUICK (10-MINUTE) VIDEO OF OVERVIEW OF REMOTE LEARNING (this link takes you to the publication in case you'd rather read) AT WEVS. Please watch!

The week ahead:

• Wednesday, Sept. 18th -BOG for 3rd grade- Letters went home last week. Please let us know if you have any questions.

• Wednesday, Sept. 18th 4pm- Parent Back to School Night! Parents are invited to run through a shortened version of their child's schedule. (If you have more than one child, see Sylvia for a recommendation on whose schedule to follow.) During this time, the Friends of Corolla Library, led by Lauren Mullins, will be providing activities, games and movie for those children would rather not hang with their parents for the event. Feel free to drop children off with Lauren Mullins at the school yard at pickup. She will be walking students over to the library.

• Friday, Sept. 20th 2:50-3:40pm- SIP supported Flag-Football for PE Class. Parent volunteers are needed. Please reach out to a SIP member if you can help from 2:50-3:40pm- you can email SIP@watersedgevillageschool.com.

• Friday, Sept. 27th- SIP meeting, 4pm at the schoolhouse. All are welcome. (Childcare is NOT provided as of right now.)

• Friday, Oct. 4th the first SIP with SIP meeting will be held at the Kind Cup following drop off at 8:45. All are welcome to come meet your SIP representatives and share ideas.

• Oct. 8- Oct. 10 Middle School camping trip. Details to follow THIS WEEK!

• Friday, Oct. 11 to Monday, Oct.14th. No school! Holiday and teacher workday! Enjoy your weekend!

AUDIO VERSION if you'd rather listen!

You all! Thank you for an enormously successful, fun-filled first week of school!

This week:

• Monday, Sept 9- 9:30am- SCHOOL PICTURES in the morning! No money or order forms need to be sent in.

• Wednesday, Sept 11- 2pm- Board meeting at the library and broadcast on Zoom. All are welcome. Link can be found on the WEVS website.

Birthdays: Happy belated birthdays to Emilia, Clint, and Banks! What a great way to kick off the year, with THREE birthdays, including a visit from LizardLand! And Happy Birthday to Ms. Jess this coming weekend!

A couple of housekeeping notes:

*Birthdays-

• If you are planning on sending in a treat, please reach out to your child's teacher as we have several food allergies at the school. We can have allergy-friendly treats if we have notice.
• If your child has a birthday in the summer months, we encourage a HALF BIRTHDAY celebration during the school year!

*Lunch time- we LOVE to have parents hang with their kiddos during lunch. A few items to keep us all accountable and organized.

• If you plan to attend lunch with your kiddo, please either text Sylvia and/ or fill out this form by 9am that morning. This is so we know how many to expect and who will be on campus at any given time.
• Our lunch times are staggered by age. Middle school eats first, right at 12:30, and k-5 is called for lunch at 12:50. (Fridays are a little different because of the pizza- everyone eats in the first rotation.) The twenty minutes allotted for lunch also includes finding a seat, using the microwave, filling up water bottles, cleaning up and washing hands, etc. Thank you for your patience with, and support of, our routine.
• Instead of allowing kiddos to throw away uneaten food, we tell them to take it home so that you can see how much of what they are eating and adjust lunch-packing accordingly.
• One of the things they are learning is routine, self- sufficiency, and self- accountability. Please allow and encourage your students to take care of their routine themselves during lunch. Of course, we often have students ask for help opening, twisting, closing, etc, but even asking for help is a skill we are honing.

Thank you for your support on this!

Arrival and Departure:

• We know we are figuring out schedules and commute times; please remember that students cannot enter the building until 8:30am. Teachers are using that time to prepare for an awesome day of learning.
• At the end of the day, we ask that kids (or parents) check out with the middle school leader as they leave campus. Kids cannot play in the school yard, climb trees, play gaga ball until parents have arrived to take over care.
• The schoolyard rules apply at all times, even after school. Gaga ball rules are universal and timeless! Only hands are used in the gaga pit (no kicking balls); kids are not permitted to walk on the picnic tables during school; we ask you to support that rule even after school has ended. There is no kicking/ hitting/ spitting during school, and we expect that same conduct even after school.

FUNDRAISING: there are some simple things you can do that will allow you to earn money for the school in your daily routines.

1. Link your Harris Teeter VIC card to us. You can do this in the checkout lane (just ask the cashier to link your card- it must be done at the beginning of each school year, so if you linked it last year, you've got to do it again now.) We are number 1578. You can also do this on line by heading to Harris Teeter- Together In Education and linking your vic card using the email that is associated with the card.
2. Download BoxTops for Education and link your account to us. See pictures below for steps.
3. Share our story with EVERYONE! Don't forget to mention our matching opportunity running through October!

• Saturday, Sept14th- Non-WEVS event at the Whalehead Club- The Wrightsville Beach Outrigger Club is concluding a three-year, 325-mile journey to bring awareness and help find solutions to improve water quality. More information can be found here.

• Wednesday, Sept. 18th- Back to school night! This is an opportunity for you to follow your student's shortened schedule, hear from the teachers, and ask questions. Ms. Kerri, our guidance counselor, will be there to say a few words about her role and instruction, and SIP team has some announcements for the evening as well. Kiddos will have the opportunity to spend that time at the library- See below Friends of Corolla Library Events.

• Sept. 18th Beginning of Grade (BOG) testing for 3rd grade. This is a state-mandated test ONLY FOR 3rd GRADE. Parents, you will be receiving an email and a paper copy of the explanation letter.

• Friday, Sept. 20th SIP supported Flag-Football for PE Class. Parent volunteers are requested. Please reach out to a SIP member if you can help from 2:50-3:40pm.

Community events- (we normally allow SIP to broadcast these events, BUT this month, they relate directly to our WEVS events)

• Friday, Sept. 13th -Back to School Ice Cream Social sponsored by the Chill Spot! All are welcome after school to come grab some ice cream at the Corolla Library.

• Wednesday, Sept. 18th-Parents Back to School night- the Friends of the Corolla Library will be providing activities, games and a movie for those children who would rather not attend back to school night with their parents. Lauren Mullins will walk the students to the library from the school yard right after school.

• Friday, Sept. 27th Read It Watch It at 4pm. Friends of the Corolla Library will be viewing the movie Holes. This was a required reading last year for some students. More information coming soon.

• Saturday, October 26- The Corolla Cup is back for 2024! The event was first launched in October last year by the Corolla Light Outreach Committee and all proceeds were donated to WEVS. The Currituck Club and Ocean Sands will host this year ‘s games on Saturday, October 26, at The Currituck Club. (Rain date Sunday, October 27.)

  All WEVS families are invited to participate in this amazing event as a participant, a spectator (wearing your team’s T-shirt), or volunteer. You have a short opportunity to register at http://www.corollacupobx.com by September 9. Registration is $25 which includes a very cool t-shirt; All Net Proceeds go toward construction of our new school. The WEVS matching donors have graciously agreed include proceeds from this event in their match. The Corolla Cup is a great way to meet new neighbors, play some fun games and raise money for our amazing school. We hope to see everyone there!

Audio version if you'd rather listen

You all are so great! We have so many thanks:

1. Thanks for all of the assistance in moving (twice!) our furniture and supplies to set up our chapel classroom.
2. Thanks for making our back-to-school picnic fun and delicious!
3. Thanks for your timelines in making sure all the paperwork is turned in!

It is shaping up to be a fantastic year, and we are eager to get it started. For those who missed the potluck, or if you wanted to review the talking points, the welcome back to school points are here. (It's worth looking at because my monologue was cut short.) ;)

ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL:

• Drop your child at their homeroom spot- k,1, and 6,7,8 at the schoolhouse, and 2,3,4,5 at the chapel. FOR THE CHAPEL, PLEASE DROP YOUR CHILDREN OFF FROM A CARPOOL LINE.
• Please come down to schoolhouse yard (feel free to swing by the coffee shop and grab a cup of coffee first!) and meet your SIP representatives, and stick around for a WEVS first-day-of-school family picture which should happen as close to 9am as possible.
• Wish your kiddos a great day and then leave them to kick off the school year!
• Return at 3:40 to pick up your student AT THE SCHOOLHOUSE (all students!)

• Monday, Sept 9 (Rain date, Sept 10)- School pictures compliments of Bruce Lorenz of Lorenz Fine Photography.
• Wednesday, Sept 11, 2pm board meeting at the Corolla Library or on Zoom. All are welcome.
• Wednesday, Sept 18, 4pm- Back to school night- come follow your student's (shortened) schedule for an evening, see the format of the class, hear from the teachers about expectations and communication. Vittles and childcare provided, although your students may also follow you through their 'classes.'
• Oct 8-10- Middle school camping field trip to Williamsburg- more info to come.