Happy February!

We are so glad to be back in the groove of school! Thank you to everyone's patience and flexibility with all of the snow and cold weather that January brought us. Students truly did a great job with all of the indoor recess we have had to have over this last month. We have been getting outside as much as possible as long as it is over a 20 degree windchill and it's not raining, snowing, etc. Please make sure students are coming to school prepared to go outside every day. If you need a coat, hat, or gloves, please reach out as we are happy to help provide those items or connect you with community resources!

This month, we are continuing our focus on digging into instruction to LEVEL UP our learning! Being at school on time and not leaving early is so important for each and every student! Each month at our Warrior Way assembly, we recognize the classes and grade level that had the highest attendance over the last month. At our assembly today, the grade level with the highest attendance was honored and it was 2nd grade! We challenged each grade level to be the winner next assembly, but they can't do that without you and your support! Let's LEVEL UP our attendance so we can, in turn, LEVEL UP our learning!

We were so honored to be recognized by Living the Dream and the Topeka Public Schools Board of Education as the winners of the annual food drive! Members of Mrs. Lyndelle’s 4th grade class, who raised over 700 items on their own, were present to accept and receive the award. They were also interviewed by the news so be sure to be checking WIBW to see us in the news!

Thank you to all of our families and our student council for their work and generosity to support our community! We are so grateful of the way our Whitson family takes care of others in our community so thank you!

This is the third year in a row that Whitson has been the top school and we are hoping that is a precursor of what comes Sunday with the Chiefs!

Enjoy pictures from the board meeting and of our student council members shopping for additional items. Thank you, Warriors, for your generosity!

We were so fortunate to have Buster the Bus and Trooper Jodi come to talk all about school bus safety with our preschool through 3rd graders! Even if students don’t ride the bus to and from school daily, they will ride the bus to go on a field trip at some point so this was super important!

Buster the Bus could talk, move, and make noises, which students loved!

Thank you to the Kansas Department of Education and the Kansas Highway Patrol for putting on this program!

We are so proud of all of our students that worked hard to study for and participate in our annual spelling bee! We sure do have some great spellers!

Congratulations to:

1. Jubilee, 3rd grade
2. Cruz, 5th grade

Thank you to the staff that volunteered their time to make the spelling bee a possibility for our students!

Way to go, Warriors!

We had so much fun at our Family STEAM Night! Thank you to everyone who came!

• February 3: NO SCHOOL
• February 4-12: Major Saver Collections
• February 6: Papa John's Night
• February 10: STUCO Meeting, 8:00-8:30 am
• February 12: School Planning and Management Team (SPMT) Meeting, 4:00 pm
• February 13: PTO, 6:00 pm
• February 14: Valentine's Day Parties, 2:30 pm
• February 17: NO SCHOOL
• February 18: Whitson Night at Pepperjax

• March 4: 2nd-3rd Music Program, 6:00 pm
• March 6: Papa John's Night
• March 10-12: Spirit Week
• March 12-13: Parent/Teacher Conferences
• March 13-March 24: NO SCHOOL, Spring Break
• March 25: Students Return to School
• March 25: Whitson Night at Spin Pizza
• March 29: SUMDay Competition

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!

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.

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 starting our focus on honesty this month. Check out this video and the family newsletter to understand what we mean when we say that.

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, we are focusing on all of the Warrior Way words together.

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. Next month we are focusing on EMBRACING THE CHALLENGE. Look below for what we expect from our Warriors when embracing the challenge. Then, talk with your Warrior about times you've had to embrace challenges.

PE updates will be in this section.

KG-1st Grade

• We are learning about body parts. We are learning to identify and describe them.
• Kindergarten y primer grado están aprendiendo sobre las partes del cuerpo. Aprendemos a identificarlas y a describirlas.

2nd-5th Grade

• We are learning about characteristics of animals and how to describe them using adjectives.

• Estamos aprendiendo sobre las características de los animales y cómo describirlos usando adjetivos.

As the weather begins to cool, we want to remind families and staff of school closing notification procedures.

As we make decisions about closing school, a number of factors come into play, including the safety of travel but also the safety of students who will be home during the day.

Should school be canceled, we will:

• Send a text, email, and/or phone call via SchoolMessenger
• Update the district social media pages
• Update the district website
• Contact our local media partners

To sign up for text message updates, text Y to 67587. To learn more about school delays and closures, please review our How We Communicate With Families document.

The Whitson PTO needs you! Please consider attending our upcoming PTO Meeting on Thursday, February 13th 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