WMS Newsletter - November 6, 2024

Dear Woodward Families,

We have noticed that students are arriving quite early in the mornings to campus. This is a friendly reminder that unless a student has a pre-planned club, or is coming for Homework Club or to meet with a teacher, which all require signing in through the main office, students should not arrive at school until 8:40 am or later. We are unable to provide supervision for students on our campus until this time. Once students arrive on campus, they should go to two locations only:

Thanks for your understanding and support to help keep students safe.

Danielle Warman

Associate Principal

Hello Woodward Families,

Due to your generosity, we surpassed our fundraising goals! Over $60,000 was raised, which means we can continue to offer teacher and student support and school enrichment! Thank you to everyone who donated and made the fundraiser a success!

Remember to request your corporate matches if your company offers them - it’s a great way to double the impact of your donation. The PTO’s tax ID is: 91-0977467. Please email woodward.fallapalooza@bainbridgeptos.org so we can anticipate the match.

Our next PTO meeting is November 13th in the Woodward Library from 6:00 - 7:00 pm. If you cannot make the in person meeting, here is the link to the online meeting.

With much gratitude,

Your Woodward PTO Board

On November 19th and 21st in 7th grade science classes, Woodward science teachers will be teaching Signs of Suicide, a curriculum that teaches students about mental health and how to seek help if they are worried about themselves or a friend. SOS has been used by thousands of schools for over 20 years and is shown to effectively teach students about depression and suicide while reducing the number of students’ self-reported suicide attempts. 

 

Through the program, students learn: 

Students will watch age-appropriate video clips and participate in a guided discussion about depression, suicide, and what to do if they are concerned about a friend. Following the video, students will complete a brief depression screening form. This form cannot provide a diagnosis of depression but does indicate whether a young person should seek help from a mental health professional. At the end of class, students will complete an exit slip which asks whether they would like to talk to an adult about any concerns. The school counseling staff will conduct brief meetings with any student asking to talk.

 

We encourage you to visit www.mindwise.org/parents for information on this program. For additional resources, visit this webpage. An announcement will be sent to all 7th grade parents/guardians on Friday, November 8th that includes information should you chose to have your student opt-out of this program.

If you have any questions regarding the SOS program, please contact your student's counselor:

Patti Beer (7th Grade) - pbeer@bisd303.org

Sue Constan (8th Grade) - sconstan@bisd303.org

Seminar is Woodward’s Social Emotional Learning (SEL) platform that takes place every Monday. For the first lesson of the month, 7th grade students explored the concept of unconscious bias and how it can impact you and others; 8th grade students attended an all day field trip. For the second Seminar lesson, students will learn and discuss our school's namesake, Walt and Milly Woodward and the positive impact they made on Bainbridge Island history. Seminar will end the month with a lesson on the character trait of gratitude in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday.

In each of our community newsletters, we are challenging you to participate in Family Character Dares this year! Here are our next two challenges.

We would be honored to have all parents and family members who have served in our armed services join us for our annual Veterans Day Assembly this Friday, November 8th at 9:45 am. This student-led assembly features guest speakers from active and retired military branches, our Woodward Band and our student Boy Scout Color Guard. Please RSVP to Susan Waite at (206) 780-4501 or swaite@bisd303.org so we can reserve a seat for you.

PTO is excited to announce some new colors in Sprit Wear and another chance to order classics before the Holiday Season! This will be the last sale for the 2024-2025 school year! The order site is only open until Friday, November 15th, 5:00pm, to make sure we can get orders distributed before Winter Break. Thank you for supporting Woodward PTO!

If you would like a 2024-2025 Woodward Yearbook for your student, the deadline to purchase one is Friday, December 20th. We will provide the total copies sold by that date to the publisher and there will be no extra copies available at the end of the year.

You can order two ways:

To check to see if you have purchased a yearbook already, please contact Kate Carr at (206) 780-4502 or kcarr@bisd303.org.

NOTE: If you need financial assistance for a yearbook, please click on the following link: Scholarship Application Form.

On October 23rd, it was thrilling to see the BISD Farm to School Program in action at Woodward Middle School! Karen Selvar from Suyematsu/Bainbridge Island Farms delivered Pink Banana and Blue Hubbard squash that was enthusiastically received by our food service team. Our kitchen manager, Brett Irick, is contemplating new ways to serve the squash to students ... he mentioned one being a curry! To learn more about the district-wide farm to school program and squash recipes featured in lunches, click here. Also, see photos below.

8: Veterans Day Assembly

11: Veterans Day Observed - No School

13: PTO Meeting @ 6:00 pm WMS Library

27-29: Thanksgiving Break - No School

4: PTO Meeting @ 6:00 pm WMS Library

17: Winter Band Concert @ 7:00 pm WMS

12/23-1/3: Winter Break - No School