Windermere Family Update

We want to have a little FUN before Thanksgiving break. On Monday, 11/25, we are all (students and staff) dressing up like a staff member. Be creative! Have fun with this and show a staff member how much you love him/her by having your child(ren) dress up like that staff member. We will try to guess throughout the day who the staff member is.

Windermere’s Kindergarten Parent information night is February 6, 2025, 6:30pm

Schoolwide, we are seeing an uptick in illnesses. As a gentle reminder, students should remain home from school for 24 hours AFTER being free from vomiting, diarrhea, and/or a fever without medication. Thank you for partnering with us to ensure Windermere remains a healthy learning environment for all students and staff.

On Tuesday, 11/26th, the day before we go on Thanksgiving break, we will focus our Hawk Huddle lesson on GRATITUDE! Gratitude is choosing to appreciate the people and things in our lives. We will read the book, Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson. We sure do love our Hawk Huddle and appreciate the time we get to spend with this special group of Hawks. Make sure you ask your child about his/her Hawk Huddle!

We’re excited to announce the return of the highly anticipated second annual Windermere December Makerspace Event! Thanks to the incredible generosity of our PTO, our Makerspace is stocked with a variety of creative tools and consumable materials, ready to inspire young makers. This month, students will dive into crafting unique, handmade "gifts of gratitude" to share with someone they love!

This month in our library collection and on Wake Up Windermere we will be featuring Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the western calendar New Years Day!

Click the link below and check out some new design offerings! Orders must be placed by November 25, 2024 and items will be delivered before Winter Break.

https://hawks-golden-bears-holiday-2024.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Please make sure your children are prepared for the colder temperatures we are starting to see. Coats, hats, gloves, etc. are very important. We go outside for recess as long as temperatures and/or wind chills are above 20*.

As an extension of the October 2024 Digital Safety Week and Screenagers viewing, we wanted to provide families with some Digital Wellness tips and strategies to consider during the Thanksgiving break. These five days are an opportunity to exhibit a healthy balance with device use. Here is an exercise to try:

• Commit to a plan around having no phones or devices out as family from out-of-town are visiting or if you are visiting others. Explain that it’s an opportunity to connect with family and anything online can wait.

• Set an expectation for the entire family so parents/guardians can model a similar ability to know when it is appropriate to be on devices.

• Find other times during the weekend as your family moves from one activity to another to preemptively define if this is a time the family has devices out.

By Sunday, discuss questions with your students related to this activity, such as:

• Did you feel more present with your family?

• What was the most challenging part of the day for you?

• What was the first thing you did when you got your device out? Why is that specific thing important to you?

• Can you help our family create a plan to make this a more frequent practice?

If you do this with your family and feel comfortable to share, please share an anonymous feedback about the process. The Excellence and Engagement Office is committed to supporting families with exercises like these to help create a healthy digital balance for our students.

Any prescription medication administered at school requires written authorization from the student’s physician as well as written parental permission. Per Ohio Revised Code, the Prescribed Medication must be received by the health office in the container in which it was dispensed by the provider or pharmacist (we cannot accept medication in baggies). Medication authorization forms and other health forms can be found on the district website at: UA Health Forms. Should you have any questions, please contact the Windermere Health Office at 614-487-5060.

Our health clinics track communicable illnesses and work with local public health agencies to mitigate potential outbreaks. If your student is diagnosed with or treated for a communicable illness/condition (strep, pinkeye, influenza, COVID-19, lice, etc.), please report those to the school nurse at windermerehealthclinic@uaschools.org, or windermereattendance@uaschools.org. Thank you for partnering with us to ensure Windermere is a healthy learning environment for all of our students!

Flyer Connection is our online “bulletin board” of opportunities for students and families in our schools from nonprofit organizations in our area.

Please refer to this arrival and dismissal doc for guidelines on keeping everyone safe during our drop off and pick up times.

Please email windermereattendance@uaschools.org along with your child’s teacher, any student absences. For extended absences (vacations, travel, etc.) please submit a pre-planned absence form. For more information on the district attendance policy, please visit the district's attendance web page. For all medical appointments, please provide a doctor’s note.