WES Weekly > Welcome 2025!

I hope you had a great Winter Break! I hope you and our owls got some rest, had some lazy days, and are ready to come back to us!

Sending our "Sunday" message a bit early to give extra time to get heads around school routines again. And pro tip...If you haven't already, I highly suggest checking the bottom of backpacks for old papers or worse...we once searched my house for "what is that smell?!?!" for days during a long school break, only to find what we assume was once a sandwich at the bottom of my kid's school bag!

May your hearts be full, backpacks be empty & new year resolutions feel realistic!

Bring it 2025!

Back at it with our owls, Monday, January 6th,

Beth/Ms. Niskanen

principal, Worthington Estates School

PS - If you want to put those owls to bed early these next nights, you'll get no arguments from here. ;)

Got new electronics for the holidays? Please be mindful that cell phones, smart watches, and most electronics are not allowed during school hours.

If you choose to send your owl to school with these, please ensure they are silenced and in backpacks during the entire school day. And photos/videos on bus or during school are never allowed (this is for a variety of safety needs).

I also highly recommend limiting elementary students' access to internet, online video games, & social media. I address a surprising amount of needs during the school day that stem from online activities outside of school and seems to be a growing need lately. THANK YOU! ~Ms. Niskanen

Monday - Chicken Nuggets or SB&J

Tuesday - Macaroni & Cheese or Toasted Cheese Sandwich

Wednesday - French Toast w/ Chicken Sausage or SB&J

Thursday - Turkey Ham & Cheese Pretzel Sandwich

Friday - #1 Cheese Personal Pizza #2 Turkey Pepperoni Personal Pizza #3 SB&J

Can you help in our WES cafeteria?? (REALLY appreciate the extra support for our owls at lunch! THANK YOU!)

WES will have a Family STREAM Night attached to our Science Fair, Thursday, January 23rd! There will be hands-on activities for parents/guardians to do with their kids throughout the building around Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, & Math!

Please RSVP for WES Family STREAM night here (this is a separate RSVP from Science Fair RSVP below)

Winter Break is a great time to think of Science and start a Science Fair project!

The annual Worthington Estates Science Fair, will be January 23, 2025, along with our now-annual STREAM night!

Full Flyer and registration links below!

Our Annual WES Wellness 5K Run will be Saturday, April 5th and Registration is open now! PLEASE contact Ms. Niskanen, Mr. Troast, or Ms. Packert directly if your family would benefit from a free voucher for this event, we can help!

WES Library is looking for a new parent volunteer! This job has a totally flexible schedule and would rotate weeks on and off with our current volunteers. We will train you! Some of the tasks include...

-Reshelving books (we get on average 100 in per day!)

-Straightening/reorganizing shelves

-Putting books on display

Please complete this form if you're interested and Mrs. Brown will be in contact with you. Thanks!

5th graders going into 6th Grade next year Informational Night (for students AND parents/guardians), message from Worthingway team:

Worthingway is excited to welcome all 5th grade students and families to an information session on February 12th at 6:30pm in the gymnasium (6625 Guyer Street).

We expect that this will last about 30 minutes. The goal of this event is to give families information about scheduling for 6th grade courses and a general welcome to middle school.

During the week of February 17th, Worthingway staff will come visit each elementary school to pick up student scheduling requests. If you cannot attend this event, scheduling forms with information will be given to students the following day at their current school.

Please Note: This year we are aligning this event with our Parent/Teacher conference night. Expect a full parking lot. Street parking is available if there are no spots available.

Starting Jan 3, 2025, the old www.worthington-portal.org site will no longer be accessible. The vendor who owns and supports the system our portal site is built on is no longer supporting it.

The items from the old portal are now available from your Infinite Campus portal in the “More” section in “Parent Access Links”. Here is a guide to help you navigate this change: Parent Access Link.

We also recommend updating any browser bookmarks you may have.

We are thrilled to announce that kindergarten registration for the 2025-26 school year will open on January 6th, 2025. Visit our kindergarten Welcome Center website for information about the registration process and requirements.

We are excited to announce that starting in the 2025-26 school year, Worthington Schools will be offering universal, no-cost all-day kindergarten for all students. This program will provide a strong foundation for learning and allow us to better meet the needs of every child in our community.

For more details about Worthington's All-Day Kindergarten, you can read Superintendent Dr. Bowers blog or watch a presentation about kindergarten from a recent board meeting.

We can’t wait to welcome our newest learners to our schools!

Did you know the Columbus Zoo offers a super discount for family membership to the zoo for families receiving EBT benefits? Check it out: https://www.columbuszoo.org/discovery-family-membership

Did you know the program EVERY KID OUTDOORS? Students in 4th grade can get free National Park passes for their families! Check it out!

The summer OWL Camping season is approaching! OWL is a residential and day summer camp for gifted and talented students currently (at time of application) in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. It is held in June and July on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. Applications are now open and the deadline to apply is January 31st.

Please see the attached brochure and information sheet and reach out to Gifted Services coordinator, Suzanne Palmer at spalmer@wscloud.org for additional questions.

Dec 23 through Jan 3 = NO SCHOOL, Winter Break (back to school Jan 6, 2025!)

Jan 23 = WES STREAM and Science Fair (more coming soon!)

Email: bniskanen@wscloud.org
Website: https://estates.worthington.k12.oh.us/
Location: 6760 Rieber Street, Worthington, OH, USA
Phone: (614) 450 - 4600

Twitter/X: @WESOwls

Instagram: @wes_owls_msniskanen (private page, request with full name/photo)