What a great, quick October! Thank you so much for coming to parent/teacher conferences - we cannot do what we do at Whitson without your partnership! It truly takes a village and we had over a 98% attendance rate for our whole building, which is amazing!
We have three more full weeks of learning until Thanksgiving break and we are going to keep pushing forward. As we finish out our focus on Gratitude as part of our Character Strong curriculum, we want to make sure we tell our Whitson families just how thankful we are for each and every one of you. You show up for staff and students regularly and make Whitson such an amazing school community! Thank you!
Warrior Way and PRICE Word Winners
We celebrated our most recent Warrior Way Word and PRICE Word winners at our most recent assembly! Teachers look for one student in their class that exemplifies the word we are focusing on to be the winner. Then, that student gets honored at our monthly Warrior Way assembly. If you see a familiar face, expect a positive phone call home soon! Way to go to our Outstanding Warriors in COMPASSION and REFLECTION!
Fire Safety
We have been learning all about Fire Safety with Mr. Ryan from the Topeka Fire Department!
Mrs. Allen in kindergarten shared: “we had the Topeka Fire Department come and talk to us about hot and cold objects in honor of fire safety week. We learned to stay away or back from hot objects to keep ourselves safe!
Grandma Belinda also joined in on the Fire Safety Week and read us a book about fire safety!”
The Gratitude Tree
These past few weeks, we have been focusing on Gratitude as a part of our Character Strong curriculum. Students and staff have been adding to our Gratitude Tree throughout this time and it is looking amazing! Thank you to Mrs. Sigle, Mrs. Stadler, and Ms. Becky for making this happen!
Fun in Kindergarten!
- Tic-Tac-Toe Sight Words: Ms. Wodtke’s kindergarten class practice their sight words by playing sight word tic tac toe! How fun!
- Glow Day: This is so cool! Miss Putthoff’s kindergarten class had a GLOW day for getting all their shields! They had the lights off all day and all of their reading and math activities were glow in the dark!! Such a fun day that they will remember forever thanks to Miss Putthoff’s creativity!
- Popcorn Party: Mrs. Allen’s kindergarten class earned another class party for showing The Warrior Way! This time the class elected for a popcorn party! It is safe to say they LOVE popcorn! Yum!
November 8
SK8 Away Party, 5:00-7:00
We are bringing back the skating party! Join us at SK8 Away on Friday, November 8th from 5-7 pm. It will cost $5/skater to enter and grown-ups must be present.
November 11
Veteran's Day Assembly, 2:30 pm
Join us as our student council and sponsors host our annual Veteran's Day Assembly. All veterans are welcome to join us!
All Upcoming Events
- November 4-5: Spelling Bee Try Outs, Before and After School
- November 7: Papa John's Night
- November 8: Sk8 Away - PTO Skating Party, 5:00-7:00
- November 11: Veteran's Day Assembly, 2:30
- November 12: Picture Retake Day
- November 14: Hearing and Vision Re-Screen
- November 14: PTO, 6:00-7:00
- November 18-22: American Education Week
- November 18-22: Real Men Read Week
- November 19: 4th and 5th Grade Music Program, 6:00
- November 19: Whitson Night at Goodcents, 4:00-8:00
- November 25-29: NO SCHOOL, Thanksgiving Break
- December 5: Geography Bee, 9:30 am
- December 5: Papa John's Night
- December 12: PTO, 6:00 pm
- December 16-20: Spirit Week
- December 17: Whitson Night at Culver's, 4-10 pm
- December 17: Band and Strings Concert, 6:00 pm
- December 20: Winter Parties, 2:30 pm
- December 21-January 5: NO SCHOOL, WINTER BREAK
- January 6: Students return to school
Want all of these dates easily accessible and to be able to check if anything changes? Access our school calendar on the Whitson website! There, you can add the calendar to your own or even sign up for email alerts if something changes using the menu with the < sign above Saturday!
School Fees
As of July 2024, Topeka Public Schools is using My School Bucks as a way for families to track and pay student fees and other costs online. Create your free My School Bucks account to conveniently and securely pay your student's school fees online or with the mobile app.
To access My School Bucks, please login to ParentVue and create a secure login. Once your secure login has been created, you will login to My School Bucks to access your account. View step-by-step instructions to create an account here.
If you need assistance with your account, you can find helpful how-to videos and answers to commonly asked questions by visiting myschoolbucks.com or by calling 855-832-5226.
All About Whitson Crisis Drills
Please see the document below to learn all about the crisis drills we do at Whitson so that we are prepared in the case of emergency. These drills are mandated for us to do by the state of Kansas.
Drills for this month*:
- September 10: Secure Campus
- September 19: Fire Drill
*Drill dates are subject to change based on weather or other factors.
We are very lucky that we got a new resource - Character Strong - to help teach Warriors how to be aware of their feelings and how to become "purposefull people." This program is filled with resources that we think will better connect with students AND also includes monthly newsletters that we can share with you at home to keep the learning going. We are finishing our focus on gratitude and will be moving to empathy soon. Check out this video and the family newsletter to understand what we mean when we say that.
The Warrior Way
At Whitson, we practice the Warrior Way at all times, which is:
- Self-Awareness
- Compassion
- Respect
- Responsibility
The Warrior Way helps us make good choices with our behavior and show kindness to others. This month and next our focus is on RESPECT. Check out the picture below to see all the ways we show self-awareness at school and talk with your Warrior about how you can show respect at home or out in public.
Learning Out Loud
In addition to the Warrior Way, at Whitson, we also believe our learning is P.R.I.C.E.less, which stands for
- P - Perseverance
- R - Reflection
- I - Innovation
- C - Curiosity
- E - Embrace the Challenge
Our P.R.I.C.E. language describes how we learn at Whitson. This month and next we are focusing on INNOVATION. Look below for what we expect from our Warriors when reflecting. Then, talk with your Warrior about times innovation has helped you move forward.
Stuffed Animal Sleepover
First grade has been having stuffed animal sleepovers! Fun was had by all and lots of mischief happened in the library.
Jack-O-Lantern Book Characters
Mrs. Schwinn read a book in library to 4th and 5th grade called Lila and the Jack-o-Lantern and then students drew out a popular story book character to recreate a jack-o-lantern using AI. They worked on using descriptive language to recreate the character as close as they could. They couldn't just type in the characters name and expect it to generate the same likeness. Can you guess who these book characters are?
Whitson PTO
The Whitson PTO needs you! Please consider attending our upcoming PTO Meeting on Thursday, November 14th at 6pm in person or via Zoom to be informed on changes for the school year and to help set direction for how PTO funds get used. We need your input to plan events, raise funds and invest resources where it will make the biggest impact on your children here at Whitson. We can only do this by collaborating with school staff and getting input from parents and family members like you! Please contact ptowhitson@gmail.com at any time with feedback and ideas.
Thank you,
Whitson PTO
President: Taylor Phelps
Vice President: Elizabeth Miller
Secretary: Katherine Phelps
Treasurer: Helen Swan
Email: kpierce@tps501.org
Website: https://whitson.topekapublicschools.net/
Location: 1725 Southwest Arnold Avenue, Topeka, KS, USA
Phone: 785-438-4570
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitsontps