October Newsletter
October
2 Early Release Day
8 All Students Full School Day | P-T Conferences: Grades TK — 5 4:15 PM ~ 7:15 PM
9 Early Release Day
16 Early Release Day | P-T Conferences: Grades TK — 5 | 4:15 PM — 7:15 PM
17 TK-S Half School Day l P-T Conferences TK-S| 12:30 PM - 3:30 PM
18 NO SCHOOL for Students and Staff
23 Early Release Day
24 Spooktacular (5:30 start for Peer to Peer and 5:45 for all others)
30 Early Release Day
At West Elementary our behavior expectations are described in the matrix P-O-W-E-R. Our staff has been teaching what POWER stands for so that every student can memorize, recite, and demonstrate positive behavior.
Here’s what POWER stands for:
P-Pride | We care about self, others, work
O-Own Your Actions | We are responsible and honest
W- Wise Choices | We think before acting
E- Engaged | We are focused and involved in learning
R-Respect | Be Nice
We believe it is important for each parent to be aware of these expectations so you can support our efforts at home.
Principals Corner
Dear Holland West Families,
The school year is off to a fantastic start with Halloween right around the corner. Please mark your calendar to attend Parent Teacher Conferences on Oct. 8, 16, or 17 and the Math Spooktacular on October 24. More information about the Spooktacular will follow. I look forward to connecting with all of you throughout the school year as we work together to provide the very best education for your child. School can be a time filled with a lot of emotion, and it’s important to remember we are all feeling the same types of emotions whether we are a principal, teacher, parent or student! Excitement, anxiety, nervousness, and many others! We are here for you and your family to make school a safe, fun, learning environment.
Communication is the key to a successful school and we are excited to communicate with you in regards to your child’s progress at school. Whether it be through email, text, REMIND, phone calls, notes home or face to face visits, I want you to feel engaged in your child’s education. Do not hesitate to contact me or your child’s teacher with any questions or concerns.
Attendance Matters! Please be diligent about having your child at school “All Day, Every Day”! Chronic absenteeism and/or tardiness can be devastating to your child’s success in school. At Holland West we have a lot of people here to help you with whatever barriers may be keeping you from getting your child to school every day on time. If there is anything that we can assist you with, please contact me and we can work together to solve any issues.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns please stop in the school office or give me a call at 494-2500. I can also be reached by email at ctolson@hollandpublicschools.org
Yours in Education,
Chad Tolson
PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
Please sign up for Parent Teacher Conferences using this link
Tuesday, October 8 - 4:15-7:15
Wednesday, October 16 - 4:15-7:15
Thursday, October 17 - 12:30-3:30
PTO UPDATE
HPS District PTO
We’d like to welcome new members to the Executive Board! The Executive Team is dedicated to modernizing our organization and we couldn’t be more excited!
Executive President Monica Hallacy
Interim Executive Treasurer Lindsey Younglove
For information on HPS District PTO, please reach out to West@hps.pto.org.
Popcorn Friday
Popcorn Friday will be October 25. We need about 5 volunteers to pop, bag, and deliver popcorn from about 8:30 - 11 am.
Scholastic Book Fair
Mark your calendars! Our beloved book fair returns in October! The in-person shop will be open October 8-10, 2024, in the school library. Email west@hps-pto.org with your availability to help.
October 8, 2024 3:45 - 7pm
October 9, 2024 2:45 - 5pm
October 10, 2024 3:45 - 5pm
The online shop will be open October 7 -25, 2024.
Teacher’s Lounge Restock
PTO sponsors a monthly restock of the Teachers Lounge. Please consider picking up some items on your next grocery trip. Favorites include individually bagged snacks, tea, k-cups, & cans of pop. Drop items off in the red bin in the front office.
HELP WANTED
Winter Craft Coordinator (December)
Winter Event Coordinator (January) – traditionally, this has been the Winter Carnival, but other ideas are welcome!
Email Jenn at west@hps-pto.org to volunteer or for more information on HPS PTO!
SPOOKTACULAR
West will be hosting our Spooktacular Parent Night on Thursday, October 24th (5:30 start for Peer to Peer and 5:45 for all others) . This year, we will be featuring math content across our grade levels. Parents are invited to attend a grade-level session before our hallway Halloween Parade. We need candy donations to make this event a success. It would be greatly appreciated if you could send a bag of candy to your classroom teacher. Hope to see you there!
ROCKY!
Rocky is doing amazing things at West! Please watch this video and follow Rocky on Instagram! @rockydogwest
OCTOBER ATTENDANCE INCINTIVE
Hello West Families,
Congratulations to Yoshi (Mrs. Ruhf's Class) and his team for winning the September Mario Cart race! 
For October, each student will receive an attendance punch card. Every day your student attends school, their card will be punched. Every fou days your student comes to school in a row, they will be offered the option to get a sweet treat.
Did you know that attending school regularly provides essential opportunities for your children to interact with peers, helping them develop social skills, empathy, teamwork and communication!
CHARACTER of the MONTH
October's character trait focus is RESPONSIBILITY. Responsibility is doing your best and taking ownership for your words and actions. Here are ways your student can show how they can be responsible:
- Finishing and turning in school assignments on time
- Keeping your desk and locker clean
- Listening when the teacher is talking
- Arriving to class on time
- Respecting classroom rules
- Owning up to your mistakes and telling the truth
- Treating classmates and others with kindness and respect
- Keeping track of your belongings
We will take time in class to discuss what Responsibility looks like at school. Please take this opportunity to discuss at home how your student can be responsible at home and in the community.
PBIS
Our focus for the beginning of the school year is still teaching all students what POWER stands for and how it looks throughout different places in the school building!
Be on the lookout for surveys coming your way so you can help us know the best ways to help improve our schools and improve students' learning!! We love your input!
We will be celebrating our full POWER ticket jar in October but enjoying the fall weather with some extra recess and a special snack!
STEM NEWS!!
November is just around the corner and the 2nd and 3rd graders will be making floats for our Macy's Day Thanksgiving parade! We need EMPTY Kleenex boxes and shoe boxes. If you could send any in, it would be greatly appreciated! We are always looking for toilet paper and paper towel rolls as well!
Thanks, Mrs. Johns!
We are in need of some donations!
Please consider donating any of the following items to our school. We are in need of boys socks and (new) underwear, mostly small and medium. Any size boys clothes but no sweatshirts/hoodies (we have so many): Girls clothes: any size, but desperately need under size 7 and over size 10. We do not need girls underwear at this time. Any size sweatpants and shoes (we go through the smaller items faster). Winter is approaching quickly; we will need waterproof gloves, mittens, and snow pants. Thank you for considering donating to West!