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The Willow Lower School Weekly Newsletter

August 18, 2023

Click here for our Academic Calendar for the 2023-24 school year.

Important Upcoming Dates

  • Tuesday, Aug. 22: School Pictures, Grades 1,2,3
  • Wednesday, Aug. 23: School Pictures, Grades K, 4
  • Tuesday, Aug. 29: Back to School Night, grades 1,2
  • Wednesday, Aug. 30: Back to School Night, grades 3,4
  • Monday, Sept. 4: Labor Day Holiday (no school)
  • Wednesday, Sept. 6: Early Release (2pm) for staff Professional Development
  • Thursday, Sept. 7: AABE governing board meeting, 5pm
  • Tuesday, Sept. 12: PTSA meeting, 6pm, Lower School Goldring Building
  • Thursday, Sept. 14: Progress Conferences (no school)
  • Saturday, Sept. 23: City Park Fun Night
  • Monday, Sept. 25: K-12 Professional Development (no school)

Please report your child's absences to attendance@willowschoolnola.org

Carpool

We need your help! Please consult the below carpool maps (also found in the Student Handbook), to help our morning and afternoon carpools go smoothly and safely.

Morning Drop-Off

Afternoon Dismissal

To view the menu for the week, go to our individual campus website, click on "Menu" and "Dining." Here is a direct link: https://www.willowschoolnola.org/o/ls/dining To pay for school lunches and to apply for free/reduced lunch, please go to schoolcafe.com
Keeping our students safe is our top priority so we have made adjustments to our schedules to limit the time students are outside during the recent heat advisories. Outdoor activities are limited to 20 minutes and students are encouraged to hydrate often. Please send your child to school with a labeled water bottle daily. There are water filling stations throughout the school to replenish water bottles. Once it is safe to do so we will return to our regular recess, P.E., Morning Meeting, and aftercare routines.

THANK YOU!!!

There is so much planning and coordination that is required to prepare for a new school year. Many thanks to the teachers who poured hours into setting up their classrooms and the parents who volunteered at Meet and Greet and Parent Work Day. A very special thank you goes to our custodial staff for making sure our beautiful building was ready to receive students.

Girls on the Run registration is now open. Here is the link to register: https://www.pinwheel.us/register/index/GOTR-New-Orleans-Fall-2023-Program-Registration.
Sign up to be a Room Parent! As a volunteer Room Parent/s you will be the conduit to pass along any information or needs your teacher may have to the other parents throughout the year. You will also be in charge of money collections for teacher birthday, holiday, and end of year gifts. The PTSA now has a website to establish a school directory that can be separated by your teacher that the room parent/s will use for communication purposes. Please use the link here to sign up on the website. Once you have an account be sure to fill out the "23-24 Volunteer/Sponsorship Interest Survey" in your forms. This is how you will indicate that you want to be a room parent. This directory will also be the way in which the PTSA will be in communication with the parents so please help us get the word out! If you have any questions please feel free to email erika.buxton@gmail.com
It was great to see so many parents at this morning's PTSA coffee!
We love Morning Meeting! Morning Meeting is a long-standing tradition of the school, and is considered part of our instructional day. Students learn about mindfulness, our core values, citizenship and the arts during this time. We are thrilled to welcome parents back on the campus during Morning Meeting. In an effort to protect the instructional time of Morning Meeting and to provide clear paths for students to get to their classes, we have a designated area for parents to observe Morning Meeting. Thank you to our PTSA ambassadors for their help with this.

Nurse Jo's Notes

First days of school fun
pink and orange twins!
The Willow School uses a mobile app to help students, parents/guardians and community members know from their smartphones what is happening on campus. Most families use their phones as a primary means of communication, so we have an app that is custom-built to our school for smartphones. On the app, you can read the latest announcements, locate staff contact information, review upcoming events and find important documents. The Willow School app is available to download free from the Apple App Store or the Google Play store.
Vote for The Willow School! The Gambit Best of New Orleans® issue voting has begun! Vote here. (Click the LOCAL LIFE sub-section and you will see “Best grammar school" and “Best high school" categories)
The Willow School has again been named an "Exemplary School" by the Arts Schools Network. Ms. Neelis, our K-12 Arts Director, successfully completed the designation process on behalf of our amazing, talented student artists and staff. We are thrilled to share this honor with 13 schools nationwide who will be celebrated as Exemplary Schools at a ceremony this fall. Arts Schools Network is a collective group of arts leaders and thought partners joined together in their pursuit to be valuable contributors in the arts learning ecosystem. Membership includes leaders from K-12 arts schools, universities, colleges, organizations and individual members from across the country. Willow first received the designation in 2014.
Website link: https://www.safeschoolsla.com/sitemenu.aspx?ID=5010&; Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSnUVajehI
Parents have access to GoGuardian Parent mobile app to help keep them aware of their children's activity on school-issued devices. It is a companion to the classroom management and internet filtering tools that the school uses for devices issued to students. Click here for more info re: this app. Click HERE for instructions on signing into GoGuardian Parent. This account allows parents to block specific sites, pause internet access and monitor internet usage at home.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

The Willow School does not discriminate in the rendering of services to, or regarding employment of, individuals because of race, color, religion, sex, gender, age, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected basis.

Advocates for Arts-Based Education Corp.

CEO: Nicolette London

Principal: Linda Clogher

Dr. Everett Williams Jr. Campus, 7315 Willow St., New Orleans, LA 70118

Phone: (504) 862-5110 Fax: (504) 866-4292

willowschoolnola.org

Send submissions of school-related events/photos to communications@willowschoolnola.org by Wednesdays at 7pm.

Appreciate