Archives – Friday Howl!
Cedar Park Friday Howl Archives
November 1, 2024
Hello Timber Wolves!
We did it! We made it to November. So many fun and exciting things are on the horizon.
We only have 2 more IDEA Time classes for this first session followed an all-school assembly just before Conference week led by students from one of those IDEA Time classes. Soon all students will be asked to pick their preferences for our next IDEA Time session that launches on December 4th.
Thank you to the staff on the PBIS Team and an extra thanks to Ms. Mary and Mr. Jose for hosting coffee and conversation for our Spanish speaking families. Are you a Spanish speaking family? We are now hosting this gathering for Spanish speaking families every Tuesday at 8am. If you missed our last one, please come to the library on Tuesday. I will reach out to our Spanish speaking families soon with additional resources and to get feedback soon. We appreciate your partnership and hope that we can grow this into supports for more of our families.
We have our Fall Family Traditions Class Celebrations on Friday, November 8th. This will be a time to have students talk about and share some of their fall family traditions. Contact your classroom teacher if you have not heard from them about your class celebration.
This weekend is the end of Daylight Savings time. Remember to set you clock back one hour before you go to bed Saturday night.
There is NO SCHOOL on Monday, November 11th in observance of Veteran’s Day.
Picture Re-take Day is Tuesday, November 12th. This is for anyone who was absent on the previous Picture Day or for families who want to have the picture re-taken and re-ordered.
Remember, conferences are scheduled to take place on Monday and Tuesday, November 25th and 26th. Your student’s teacher has started to send out sign up links. Everyone should receive a link to sign up for a conference time sometime next week.
Here is a bit of joy from our week: A student walked into the office with a handful of plastic dice saying, “I found these in the boys’ bathroom.” Mrs. Kolias said thanks and held out her cupped hands saying she would take them. As the student dumps them into her hands he adds, “They’re wet.” Ms. Kolias gives the subtlest of pauses and says, “…Thanks.” Ms. Kelley is just shaking her head back and forth and I am stifling a laugh as Mrs. Kolias heads straight to the sink to wash up. Let’s just not think about how they got wet. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy that extra hour of sleep as we “fall back” and set our clocks back one hour tomorrow night. I don’t know about you, but I feel like we all deserve it!!
Principal Z
October 25, 2028
Hello Timber Wolves
Another great week at Cedar Park! The Bike unit in PE has seemed to spark a higher interest in biking to school. Our bike racks in the courtyard have never been so full! Biking is a fun and healthy way to start your day. Please remember that when you arrive at Cedar Park, we ask that you get off and walk your bike through our campus to the bike racks. We had another near miss today as a student rode their bike around the corner of the portables and almost crashed into a classroom line on their way up.
It is the time of year for cold, flu, and COVID season. Order free COVID test kits.
If your student is going to be absent or late to school, please email cedarpark.attendance@seattleschools.org. It is a great idea to cc your classroom teacher too but when the email only goes to the teacher it creates work for our office that involves interrupting the classroom learning day to verify attendance and/or generates a call home about your missing student. Thank you.
We are now halfway through our first IDEA Time session. Students will be asked to provide feedback about this session and the classes and experiences they would like to see in our program. We use this information to build new classes and adjust favorite past classes to align with student interests. Info will come out soon about signing up for a class in our next IDEA Time session.
Are you a Spanish speaking family? We are hosting a gathering for our Spanish speaking families on Tuesday, October 29th at 8am. We will have an interpreter there to help provide more information about our school and how we can support you. Also, you can enjoy a cup of coffee while you make connections with other Spanish speaking families at Cedar Park. I hope to see you there.
Another reminder to the many families who will be celebrating Halloween next week, we ask that you do not send students to school in costumes on October 31st. We will hold our Fall Family Traditions Class Celebrations on Friday, November 8th. This will be a time to have students talk about and share some of their fall family traditions, which may very well include religious or secular holidays but could also include trips to see relatives or less festive celebrations like the start of cooking soups and chili or getting out that bin of sweaters to wear in the cooler weather. Watch for more information to come from your classroom teachers.
Last week I let you know of our conference schedule next month. There is no school for students the week of November 25th. However, during the week of conferences KidsCo is running all-day childcare. Registration opens on Monday. Learn more about Kids Company.
Here is a bit of joy from the week: I walk through classrooms to see students engaged in learning and ask them about what they are working on. After several minutes in a class working on games to build math fact fluency, I headed out the door to visit another class when I heard an excited voice call out behind me, “Principal Z! Come here, come here.” The students showed me the game they were playing on their iPad, how it’s played, how they used math to make all their moves, how many points and rewards they were earning in the game, and then asked me if I understood the game. I explained everything back to them that they taught me, ending with “that is pretty cool.” They replied, “Yeah, it is really cool!” That excitement and joy for learning has lasting and meaningful effects for students. I love this school. I hope you are enjoying your school year so far! Have a wonderful weekend!
Principal Z