Weekly Update
October 3, 2024
Dear Winnona Park Community,
I hope all Winnona Park students and families were able to enjoy the fall break. This break is so important for teachers and staff, who pour so much time and energy into preparing for and kicking off the beginning of the school year. Their week off is so well deserved.
Lastly, a big thank you to all parents who signed up for a parent-teacher conference. If you have yet to do so, please reach out to your child’s teacher ASAP to schedule this important conversation. Also, if you can’t make it to your scheduled conference, your child’s teacher will appreciate a heads-up.
Sincerely,
Greg Wiseman
Principal, Winnona Park Elementary School
Important Dates
Oct 4 - Community Circle - Kindergarten Families
Oct 9 - Walk and Roll. Please bring your own coffee cup(BYOCC)!
- Oct 11 - Community Circle - First Grade Families AND Read-A-Thon Book Swap
Oct 11 - Read-A-Thon Book Swap
Oct 11 - 18 - Read-A-Thon
- Oct 14 - PTA Meeting- ALL Are Welcome
Oct 14 - 7-9am: Read-A-Thon Coffee Cart sponsored by Tara Pesta at Keller Knapp Realty
- Oct 18 - Community Circle - Second Grade Families
- Oct 24 - Spirit Night - Naan Stop
Reading Fluency Parent Volunteers Needed!
Winnona Park is looking for parent volunteers to help out with first graders' reading fluency. This program is a wonderful way to help support students who need a little extra one-on-one practice to get them up to grade-level standards. Volunteers will meet with students twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:10-8:30 a.m. to provide extra reading practice
The program will run seven weeks: October 15-December 5, with a training session on Tuesday October 8 from 8:15-9 a.m. No prior educational or tutoring experience necessary! All parents are welcome to volunteer, regardless of what grade your child is in. Please consider volunteering!
"This is an amazing opportunity for hands-on involvement in the kiddos' learning experience. It allowed me to be creative and help them love reading and believe in themselves." -Paloma Moyano, WP parent and Reading Fluency Volunteer Spring 2024
Volunteer options include the following:
Volunteers who come both Tuesday AND Thursday morning
These volunteers will work with the same child each session.
Volunteers who come Tuesday OR Thursday morning
These volunteers will get paired with another volunteer to come the other day of the week. They will alternate working with the same child each session.
Substitute volunteers
These volunteers will be trained to help, and are "on call" in case our regular volunteers can't make a session. (They will work with a variety of students, depending on the need.)
Interested in volunteering? Fill out THIS FORM and plan to attend our training session on October 8th. Questions? Email krista.derbecker@gmail.com.
Winnona Park PTA
Please visit our PTA website to stay connected with upcoming events
We have a new website! Stay connected with upcoming events: https://www.wpespta.org/
Join Us Next Week for Walk N Roll!
At Winnona Park Elementary, we believe in fostering a strong sense of community, and what better way to kick off the school day than with our beloved Walk N Roll event! This initiative is all about encouraging our students and families to embrace healthy habits while strengthening our neighborhood bonds.
What is Walk N Roll? Walk N Roll is where families are invited to walk, bike, or scooter to school together. Not only is it a great way to get some morning exercise, but it’s also an eco-friendly alternative to driving. This event promotes fitness, environmental awareness, and school spirit, all in one!
Our next event is Wednesday, October 9 from 8 am - 8:15 am. And parents, don’t forget we have coffee from Refuge Coffee. We are trying to go green and reduce waste, so bring your own mug to help reduce the number of cups we waste.
Just about a week away to Read-A-Thon!
Mark your calendars for October 11-18 as we kick off the biggest fundraiser of the year—the Winnona Park PTA Read-A-Thon!
To get everyone excited about reading, we're hosting a Book Swap on Friday, October 11, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM. This is a great way to freshen up your home library before the Read-A-Thon begins!.
How You Can Help:
Start gathering your gently used, age appropriate books at home and drop them off in the designated box at the front of the school. Your donations will help make the book swap a hit and ensure all students can find something to enjoy.
Perk up after a weekend of reading with a cup of joe thanks to Tara Pesta at Keller Knapp Realty. They are sponsoring a coffee cart on October 14 from 7 am to 9 am. Bring your mug to fill up!
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month at Winnona Park
The Winnona Park PTA DEI Committee is collaborating with Ms. Zeff in the Media Center to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at Winnona Park. This celebration includes an author's study of Emma Otheguy, comprising a video read-aloud, crafts, introducing characters in Spanish classes and music performances in Community Circle, and purchasing copies of A Sled for Gabo from Brave and Kind Bookstore for the classrooms. For more details, check out this site.
Winnona Park is for the Birds
The WP PTA is working to create a rotation for the bird feeders in front of the school (Restaurant Row) to be cleaned and filled. Here is a link to more information and a sign up genius to enlist volunteers.
Sign up to host a Pride Porch at Oakhurst Porchfest
We are hosting Pride Porches @ Porchfest! Every year the PTA/PTO DEI committees collaborate to decorate porches @ Oakhurst Porchfest to help celebrate Atlanta Pride (which is in October) and show support for our LGBTQ+ families. If you live in the Porchfest area, we need your porch, lawn, or driveway for Pride Tables!
The Talley and FAVE DEI Committees will create craft kits and decorations and will drop off before Porchfest. The host house just needs to set up a folding table to set up on the lawn, driveway, or porch. If you have a Pride flag, fly it high!
If you would like to be a host house, please sign up below and provide your address (for kit and treat drop off and as a reference for any Porchfest maps). We also need volunteers to help assemble the kits on Sunday, October 6 @ 1pm onwards. Place TBD depending on weather.
SIGN UP HERE: https://evite.me/gpZmJ9sUh5
Volunteer Opportunity: Diwali Celebration
Our Diwali celebration is coming up. If you’d like to help share your information here or reach out at dei@wpespta.org. More details to follow. Thank you for your support!
We’ve got spirit! Do you?
Show your school pride in style with our Winnona Park Spirit Wear—now available online! From cozy hoodies to cool t-shirts, we’ve got something for everyone. This is your chance to rep our school spirit wherever you go!
Shop now and support the PTA with every purchase. Visit the online store and gear up in time for school events, community circle, and more. Let’s show off that Winnona Park pride in style!
Join the PTA and Support the School with our New Membership Drive
Thank you to everyone that has already joined the PTA this year. As a reminder, joining the PTA is an annual event. We’ve also combined our membership drive with a fundraiser, asking families to make a donation. All contributions from this annual drive will directly benefit our students and teachers by supporting essential programs. The funds will cover:
All field trip costs for the year
Support educational initiatives like the community garden, STEAM materials, Books-in-a-Bag, and DEI programs
Teachers will also receive a stipend for classroom materials at the beginning of the year
Ongoing teacher and staff appreciation activities
Yearbooks for every student
School social events
And so much more!
Your generous donation will ensure that these programs thrive and that our children continue to have enriching educational experiences. And your PTA membership is included in all levels.
Visit our website for more information or select your membership level!
Community News
Lighten the Load for CSD Families
DEF's Lighten the Load program began with an elementary school teacher who told us that one of her students dreaded school breaks because he and his siblings counted on having two meals a day at school. Our Lighten the Load program has evolved since then, but we're still committed to helping remove obstacles - like food insecurity - for our kids.
The number of weekend food bags we provide has DOUBLED this year, and we need your help to ensure we're able to continue to meet this need. This is our community, and these are OUR kids. Please consider donating to DEF, or purchasing items from our Lighten the Load wish list today.
DEF Provides Suicide Intervention Training for Anyone Interested!
Joe’s Fund, DEF’s behavioral health fund, provides ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) workshops multiple times each year. These two-day workshops are open to ANY CSD staff member or Decatur community member. We held a refresher course just this week, and the next trainings will be: October 10-11, February 27-28, and March 13-14. Help us make Decatur a suicide-safe community - sign up using the QR code. Interested in supporting this important work? Donate here: https://decatureducationfoundation.org/donate/.
Season of Giving
A Season of Giving is a neighbor-led organization that brings joy to local children and seniors through gift-giving.
For Assistance: To apply for gift assistance, please complete our online application at Apply by October 31st. We are excited to support children through 12th grade again this year.
Sponsor a Gift: Donors can purchase gifts based on individual wish lists for children or seniors. If you would like to be a sponsor, please fill out the form at Sponsor.
Donate Directly: If you prefer, you can make a donation, and we will do the shopping for you. Simply Donate at our website!
Volunteer: We would greatly appreciate your help! If you're interested in volunteering, please go to Volunteer and sign up.
Need Help or Have Questions? If you encounter any issues with the forms or have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at aseasonofgivingdecatur@gmail.com.
Thank you for your support and generosity of the Season of Giving!