PTA Board Meeting
Wednesday, Sept. 10
7:00 pm
Childcare available — please RSVP to Jennifer Bucher, rjmlbucher AT comcast DOT net

Stay ‘n Play
Friday, Sept. 12
3:05 pm

Anti-Bullying Assembly
Tuesday, Sept. 16

Curriculum Night: Grades 1-5 & PTA General Membership Meeting
Thursday, Sept. 18
Grades 1-3: 6:15 pm
PTA Mtg: 6:45 pm
Grades 4-5: 7:15 pm

Kindergarten Pizza Lunch Bunch
Thursday, Sept. 25
11:30 am – 12:05 pm

Fall Square Dance
Friday, September 26
6:30 – 8:30 pm

Welcome to the 2008-09 school year. We have been busy this summer getting ready for the start of the year. We have new classrooms, new teachers, two new PTA presidents, and a new principal! All of these additions have brought a renewed energy and excitement to our community.

In order to welcome more students, the district and our teachers have been hard at work to ready two new and exciting learning environments for our incoming first grade classes. Ms. Denney will be in Portable 3 and one of our new teachers-Ms. Wolfe, will be in Portable 1.

I would also like to welcome Ms. Rudisill our new Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Cox, our new 5th grade teacher, Ms. Sokolow our new enrichment teacher, Mr. Cooper our new special education teacher, Ms Harmeling who will be with us while Ms Tice is on maternity leave and Ms. Amar-Strugo our counselor. Our new teachers bring a wealth of knowledge and a passion for teaching, learning and our students.

We know that enhancing teacher learning positively impacts the learning that goes on in our classrooms. Thanks to the generosity of the PTA and the generous monetary support that our families provide to Wedgwood, our teachers were able to have an educationally enriching summer filled with learning and professional growth. For example, a cohort of four Wedgwood teachers were able to attend professional development on literacy instruction and had the opportunity to collaborate with each other about extending the literacy practice in and across their classrooms. Another teacher went to New York to study writing instruction at Columbia Teachers College, which is one of the nations leading institutions for the study of writing instruction. Another teacher received a full scholarship to attend the University of Washington for a summer science institute. Other teachers took classes on integrating theater and the arts into classroom, integrating yoga techniques to assist with focus, and one of our teachers spent time learning about how integrating Chess into the curriculum can extend instruction around literacy, math and critical thinking, as well as social skills and sportsmanship.

Our teachers are refreshed, renewed and ready to begin this year of learning with our children. Through PTA support the staff was able to go to the Center for Wooden Boats to learn about enhancing our curriculum and instruction to encompass environmental and experiential education. This week we worked intensely to strengthen our programs to focus on supporting the learning necessary to produce high academic achievement as well as rigorous instruction that will prepare our students to be global citizens. Our growing population means that we have the opportunity to meet and learn from a larger group of people. We know that this increase will have its logistic adjustments, but we teachers, students, staff and families will be working together as community to ensure that each and every child continues to have the high quality education that a Wedgwood student has always had. We know that all of this would not be possible if not for the generosity of the PTA and we are extremely grateful for such supportive families.

I would like to invite each of you to learn more about what is going on at Wedgwood by attending our monthly “Mocha Mondays.” The first dates of these informal, once a month meetings, to “talk story” with the principal will be on September 3rd and then on October 6th.

I am looking forward to meeting each of you soon!

Denise Espania
Principal of Wedgwood Elementary

It is with this spirit that we directly ask you to JOIN IN! at Wedgwood. We have a lot of family events and programs, which are instrumental in building our community and enriching the experiences of our children, but none of them can happen without your support. This is not a new message, but think about how much we can accomplish together if we all took part and JOINed IN!

Looking forward to working together,
Emily Maher and Rachael Weissman
2008-09 PTA Co-Presidents

Parents and/or Guardians are asked to attend curriculum night. This is your chance to learn about the individual classroom curriculum and expectations for the school year. These evenings are for adults only. If childcare is an issue, it is acceptable for one parent/guardian to attend.

• Breakfast - $1.25
• Lunch - $2.25
• Milk - $.50

Following the last bell join us in the cafeteria for some coffee, tea, doughnuts, and bagels to welcome Mrs. Espania to Wedgwood.

See you there!

CLASS LISTS
Class lists will be posted on the school’s front doors on Thursday, Aug. 28, after 3:30 pm.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL BBQ
Tuesday, Sept. 2
5:00 to 7:00 pm
Wedgwood Elementary Playcourt/Playground

This is an annual kick-off to the school year. Excited kids get to meet, parents and staff get to greet, and everyone gets to eat! (Kindergarten rooms will be open the first 30 minutes to allow parents to see the rooms and drop-off supplies. The rooms will close at 5:30 pm.)

A CALL FOR HELP! If you are able to help pull off this all-school event (manning dogs on a grill, shuttling chips, serving drinks) please contact PTA VP Volunteers Julie Stevens at bryceandjulie@comcast.net ASAP.

FIRST BELL
Wednesday, Sept. 3
Our first bell will ring at 8:55 am with the tardy bell at 9:00 am. School will be dismissed at 3:05 pm.

SUPPLIES LIST
Attached is a scan of my personal copy of the supplies list which was passed out on the last day of school (pardon the highlighter). It is a list for upcoming grades K-4. 5th Grade was given a separate list (we were not able to get one in time for this email).

SHOP & SUPPORT WEDGWOOD
Many Seattle businesses run generous donation campaigns to support education, but two in particular directly give back to Wedgwood year round — Office Depot and Target.

When shopping at Office Depot, mention Wedgwood Elementary, and they add it to a tally, giving our staff 5% of total purchases in the form of store credit to be used for supplies.

At Target, once you register your “Red Card” at Target.com or in the store and designate Wedgwood Elementary as your charity of choice, 1% of all card purchases are given back to the school.

Purchasing Scrip through school and shopping with it is another simple way to support Wedgwood (more on this when the year starts).

When shopping for school supplies this season, please consider these generous programs.

I hope that this letter finds all of you enjoying your summer. I have spent a great deal of my summer thinking of all of you and I am so excited to have the opportunity to officially introduce myself and join the Wedgwood community as your principal.

First, I would like to share a little bit about my background and how I came to Wedgwood. Many of you have already met and worked with me: my name is Denise Espania, and I was your principal intern at Wedgwood from January through June. I have been and will continue to work closely with Mrs. Gallardo to ensure a smooth transition. I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, but moved to the Pacific Northwest to get my undergraduate degree at Gonzaga University. From there I received my masters in Special Education at the University of Hawaii—and just this past June I completed the UW Danforth Educational Administration Program. Currently I’m finishing up my doctorate in Education from UW. My areas of study are literacy instruction, teacher learning and leadership, and educational equity.

On a personal note, my husband Alejandro and I have two boys. Adonis, 6, will be in first grade at Bryant Elementary this fall; and Apollo, 4, goes to preschool. I truly believe that it takes a village to raise a child and I place great value in building family school relationships. To that, I welcome your input and suggestions.

As you know, Wedgwood is growing; so, if you are around this summer, you will notice an additional portable classroom being delivered and set up as we get ready for the start of the school year. It is really exciting to watch our school grow to incorporate even more families into this wonderful school community. I will be in touch with you as the school year approaches. For now, just know that there is a lot of work being done to prepare for what I know will be an enriching 2008-09 school year.

I look forward to see you all very soon. Until then, enjoy each other, the rest of summer, and—of course—a good book.

With great excitement and anticipation,

Denise Espania