Shark Tales Weekly Update
Sheiko Elementary: January 12, 2024
PRINCIPAL UPDATE
We were so happy to welcome back students from break! Students came back happy, relaxed, and ready to learn. It was so awesome to see! We also can't wait to see everyone at "United We Walk" this Sunday at West Bloomfield Middle School from 1-3pm.
The walk will be held inside the Middle School for warmth and safety.
The "Big Announcement" this week is about our Piston's Assembly on the last day of school, but we need your help! We have a reserved block of tickets for the Piston's game on Sunday, March 17th. We need to sell 75 tickets to earn our assembly (including the mascot, Hooper, and the Piston's Extreme Team!!!).
Pistons.com/sheiko is your link to buy tickets at our special price and so that we can sit together. There will be lots of prizes for students - the more they sell, the more they earn - see the attached flyer for more info.
We really hope you can attend both the MLK walk this week and our Piston's game in March! We love partnering with our families for special events.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Blaine McDowell
IMPORTANT DATES AND LINKS
Monday, Jan. 15th - NO SCHOOL
Thursday, Jan 18th - 1/2 DAY dismissal is at 12:12pm
Friday, Jan 19th - 1/2 DAY dismissal is at 12:12pm
Wednesday, Jan 24th - LATE START -school starts at 10:10am, dismissal is 4:02pm
Wednesday, Feb. 7th - LATE START -school starts at 10:10am, dismissal is 4:02pm
Tuesday, Feb 13th - PTO meeting 7pm
Feb. 17th-20th - MID-WINTER BREAK
Wednesday, Feb. 28th - LATE START -school starts at 10:10am, dismissal is 4:02pm
Thursday, May 16th - 4th grade Music Concert 5:30pm
5th grade Camp Tanuga May 28th - 30th
Click here for the district calendar.
DETROIT PISTONS EVENT!
UNITED WE WALK
The walk will be held inside the Middle School for warmth and safety.
OPERATING MILLAGE RENEWAL 2024
What happens if this does not pass? WBSD would need to cut 17% of its budget for it to be structurally balanced. You see, the State assumes all school districts are levying 18 mills on non-homestead property. If we do not, WBSD would not receive its full per-pupil allocation. The operating millage is a component of the Foundation Allowance, which is the School District’s largest source of revenue.
Find out more here: https://www.wbsd.org/about-us/operatingmillagerenewal
Don't forget to vote on Feb. 27th!
LEGO LEAGUE REGISTRATION
Registration for 1st-3rd grade Lego League is open! It may even be possible for the 3rd graders to stay at Sheiko if there is enough interest!
NEWS FROM OUR SPECIALS CLASSES
Sheiko iCenter Volunteer Sign-up- https://calendar.app.google/63k5oZT6AvFL5tB37
Video of Sign-up Directions and Opportunities- https://youtu.be/TGXGn8B5I8U
GYM - MRS. SCOTT
This week in PE we did a team activity that required the students working together! Next week we will begin basketball skills.
MUSIC- MRS. VIRTA
We have been sorting Crewmates and Imposters by playing a musical Among Us Game. It’s been giving us good practice identifying rhythm notes and rests. Also, we have been learning a song in Swahili, “Amani Utupe”. Ask your child if they remember what the translation is! Finally, we watched the MLK Rap to honor Martin Luther King.
4th GRADE CONCERT: SAVE THE DATE!
Dear 4th Grade Parents,
Sheiko Elementary’s 4th graders will be participating in a concert this spring. The opportunity to perform reinforces concepts taught in music and gives your student an opportunity to shine! We can’t wait to show you what we’ve learned!
The timeline will be as follows:
5:30-5:45 - Emert, Snead, Cushman - students arrive
6:00-6:30 - Emert, Snead, Cushman - students perform
6:45 - 7:00 - Witchell, Pargoff, and Donnay students arrive
7:15-7:45 - Witchell, Pargoff, and Donnay students perform
Students should wear their Sheiko spirit wear or their best school clothes. Please email me at kristi.virta@wbsd.org if you have any questions. Thank you for continuing to support the music program and sending awesome students to teach!
Sincerely,
Kristi Virta
Music Teacher
3RD GRADERS GO TO LANSING
THE SPELLING BEE IS COMING TO SHEIKO!
We are happy to begin this school year’s Spelling Bee here at Sheiko. Below is an overview of the timeline and specific dates will be shared as soon as we have our winners from each class:
December - Study lists sent home with students the week of December 4, 2023. January - The classroom spelling bees will be completed by January 18, 2024. The classroom spelling bees
to determine a winner and a runner-up will take place. The runner-up will participate in the school- wide spelling bee in the event the classroom winner is absent. Your child’s teacher will inform you of the date that the class will have their Spelling Bee. The classroom spelling bees will be completed by January 18, 2024. If you would like an email of the list, please contact Mrs. Graham at Jennifer.Graham@wbsd.org.
February - February 2, 2024 - School-wide Spelling Bee to determine the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade winners. This round will only be one winner for each grade level. Fifth Grade will have ONLY ONE winner no runner up for this round. We are only able to submit one name for the Oakland County Spelling Bee.
March - March 2, 2024 - Fifth Grade winne will participate in the Oakland County Spelling Bee
Spelling Bee Coordinator - Mrs. Graham
ARE YOUR EMERGENCY CONTACTS UP TO DATE?
We are working to keep all contact information up to date for our students. Please log into your PowerSchool parent account to verify and make any changes necessary to all the listed contacts for your student. This is very important, it enables our communications system to function properly. At the very minimum, all parents should have an email address and a current phone number attached to their name. The window to edit and review is now open and will stay open until February 9th. After you log in:
Select the Forms tab on the left-hand side.
Click on the General tab at the tob.
A link for the Contacts page will appear, click on the link.
The page of all contacts for the student will be available for review.
Click on the pencil icon next to any name on this list of contacts that needs to be edited.
There is also a tab at the top of the page that says new if you would like to add another contact.
When you are finished, scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit submit.
Thank you for taking the time to review and edit the contacts for your student!
REGISTER NOW FOR BLOOMFILED BASEBALL
The Bloomfield Baseball League is now offering recreational baseball in West Bloomfield. Register now at www.bloomfieldbaseball.com, for the Spring 2024 Season (April-June). Save $50 off of registration fees if you sign up by January 31, 2024. We offer co-ed recreational baseball for pre-K through 6th grade players April through June. Middle and high school seasons start in early June and run through July.
West Bloomfield Teams will complete against other West Bloomfield and Bloomfield Hills based teams in a 12-game season. The season also includes an All Star game and Playoffs! Home games will be played at Marsh Bank Park, Pine Lake Park, and Sylvan Manor Park and away games will be on those fields or Bloomfield Hills School fields.
Coaches, we want you! Every team starts with a dedicated coach. Please consider volunteering as a head or assistant coach on your son or daughter’s team. The BBL provides all equipment and supports our volunteer coaches with equipment, practice plans and coaches workshops. We’re looking for 1-4 coaches per team and we would like to have at least one team for each grade at each elementary school so please let us know if you would like to help run a team in 2024!
2024 Spring Training Academies: If your player is interested in some off-season training, they can sign up for our Spring Baseball Academy. We offer four skills based instruction sessions hosted by Bloomfield High School Coaches Camp; Players, these academies are Feb. 25, March 3rd, 10th , and 17th and are for grades K-6.
For more information about the 2024 Spring Season, registration, the Spring Training Academies or go to www.bloomfieldbaseball.com, Feel free to contact the BBL league administrator, Stephanie Chapa at bloomfieldbaseballinfo@gmail.com or 586-372-6299 or BBL Board Member and West Bloomfield School Rep., James Sheridan at jamesasherida86@hotmail.com, or 248-409-8484. See the FLYER for more info.
Let’s Play Ball!
SEX EDUCATION FOR 4TH & 5TH GRADERS
Each year, students in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade take part in instruction focused on puberty and sex education topics.
The West Bloomfield School District offers parents an opportunity to preview the videos and the instructional materials used ahead of the instruction. Please use the links below:
Parent resources are available below:
KIDS IN CHARGE
Dear Parents,
Kids in Charge has been in West Bloomfield Schools for over 30 years with prevention programming! The Kids in Charge (KIC) Program will begin this week in your child’s classroom. KIC is an on-going program throughout the school year (4 sessions in 1st grade and 5 sessions in 2nd – 5th grade). It is an elementary substance abuse education/prevention program provided by your School’s Physical Education Teacher.
The program teaches:
How harmful household chemicals, nicotine, alcohol and other drugs can affect their physical health.
The differences between safe and unsafe drugs.
Basic refusal skills to reinforce their ability to make healthy life decisions.
The effects of peer pressure, feelings and advertising on decision making.
KIC teaches children to be responsible for their own individual health and personal choices. It teaches that alcohol, marijuana and tobacco use is legal for adults, who are in charge of themselves and their choices.
Basic coping skills & safe and trusted adults.
What can parents do?
Use “teachable moments” – This is simply a relaxed time when you can casually bring up the subject of alcohol and other drugs as opposed to a “formal talking to.”
Be a positive role model. Older siblings, babysitters and other adults influence children. Parents’ drinking and drug use habits also strongly influence children’s attitude about alcohol and other drug use.
Help children deal with peer pressure. Children who have been taught to be cooperative and obedient may need parental support and encouragement to assertively say “no” to peer pressure.
Encouraging healthy, creative activities; hobbies, school events, and other activities may keep children from the boredom that sometimes leads to experimenting with alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.
Connect with our local Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition, www.gwbcoalition.org to learn more for yourself. We provide resources and educational opportunities for parents.
West Bloomfield School District has always been a strong advocate for drug prevention education. Surveys show that students who have had Kids in Charge curriculum in elementary school, use substances at lower levels than other students in our county and the nation. Please look in the school newsletter for the optional opt out form if you are interested.
The Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition, West Bloomfield Education Foundation and West Bloomfield Township partner together to fund this program. The Greater West Bloomfield Coalition is reliant on sponsorships and funding from our community so that we may continue our prevention efforts. It is very expensive to run this program. Please help us make sure this important program continues into the future. Donations can be sent to GWB Community Coalition, P.O. Box 250072, West Bloomfield, MI 48325-0072. All donations are tax deductible. For more information about the Coalition, please look at our website at www.gwbcoalition.org or e-mail Lisa Berkey, lberkey@gwbcoalition.org. For information on Kids in Charge, please contact KIC Coordinator Lisa Kaplan, lkaplan@gwbcoalition.org or 248-321-8476.
Lisa G. Berkey
GWBCC Executive Director
If you would prefer that your child NOT participate in Kids in Charge, plesase use the green button below.
HOW TO CHECK PROGRESS REPORTS
Progress reports can now be viewed on Power School! You will see a mark in citizenship, math, and reading. A key element of our District Strategic Plan includes that core belief that education is a shared responsibility and that positive community experiences and relationships are key to student success.
You can view your child's progress report on a computer or on your mobile device: Video & Slideshow to help parents view progress reports
CALLING ALL "CASINO NIGHT" VOLUNTEERS!
Hello West Bloomfield Educators and Stakeholders! It is that time of year and we hope that you will join us at the West Bloomfield Educational Foundation’s Annual Casino Night! The WBEF is proud to support our Teachers, Students and classrooms by raising FUNd$ and donating back every fall. This is our main event of the year that enables us to donate FUNd$ back to your school. The WBEF Casino Night is on Friday February 2, 2024 at Glen Oaks Golf Club. Please consider volunteering; we have 2 hours shifts, cocktails, food, music and fun!
We could not do this without your help and participation, so once again, we want to thank you for your commitment, time and energy to making this year’s event a success! It is certainly going to be another exciting evening for our schools & our community coming together to raise FUNd$ for our children’s education!
Please contact Kristen Murray or Jennifer Hill by January 12, 2024 to volunteer. If you have any questions, or know someone interested in volunteering, please feel free to contact Jen at #248-672-2658.
Thank you for joining us for another fun-filled evening!
Let the “Gaming” begin!
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
Week 7
What are Relationship Skills?
Relationship skills are “the ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups.” Relationship skills are imperative for people to have in both a personal and professional setting. It is
impossible to go about daily life without interacting with people
PTO NEWS
PTO meetings will be in person and you can zoom in.
Please join us at 7:00pm on:
- February 13
- March 12
- April 9
- May 14
This will be our link for all future dates: https://wbsd-org.zoom.us/j/4211617208
FRIENDLY REMINDERS
Winter is upon us and students should be dressed for outdoor recess. Students are outside for recess unless there is heavy rain, thunderstorms/lightning or the 'feels like' temperature is below 10* Fahrenheit.
Please label everything. It will help eliminate the need for a Lost & Found table.
We are asking that students leave their smart watches at home. They have proven to be a huge distraction to teaching and learning. Students may have phones (but totally not necessary!) as long as they are powered down and in their backpacks. Students will have one reminder to put them away. Otherwise, these items will be turned into the office for parent pick up if they are out.Thank you for your support in this matter!
SICK POLICY INFORMATION
To protect all children from communicable illnesses, students infected with certain diseases are not allowed to come to school while they are contagious. Students should be symptom-free for 24 hours before returning to school. Please call our Safeline (248-865-6372) if your child will be absent from school. We also have a masking station at the front of the building in which students are welcome to help themselves. For more information regarding the sick policy, please see the attached document.
BRIDGES MATH PROGRAM
The West Bloomfield School District uses the Bridges math program. Below you will find the family letters for Dec/Jan Unit 3
JANUARY LUNCH MENU
DISTRICT CALENDAR/SAFELINE PHONE NUMBERS
About Us
Email: blaine.mcdowell@wbsd.org
Website: https://www.wbsd.org/sheiko-elementary
Location: 4500 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, MI, USA
Phone: 248-865-6370
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/225210744201191
Twitter: @BlaineMcDowell