Hello Viewlands Families!

Today brought some big excitement at Viewlands for students. At our lunch recesses, students had the first opportunity to play on the two play structures! There was a lot of excitement. We had lots of adults out there to help support since all the children wanted to be on the play structure. I heard so much happy joyful playing while out there helping supervise. There was a lot of joy. Eventually as more areas open on the playground, a more reasonable number of students will be on the play structures, which hopefully will happen in the next 7-10 days.

There are always highlights when listening and learning with and from our students. This week a few of the highlights included visiting 4^th, 5^th and 3^rd graders in art working on projects celebrating and learning about Dia de’ los Muertos; talking about math with some 2^nd graders; building and reading with some of our kindergarteners; and greeting families at our Multilingual Family night. Your children are bright, inquisitive, and creative thinkers. We will continue to seek ways to make every student feel known, valued, and empowered through the year.

In Partnership,

Carrie Wheeler | Viewlands Principal

Dia De Los Muertos

Ms. B, our Art teacher, and Mr. Velez, our Multilingual Instructional Assistant are supported learning about Dia De Los Muertos during art this month. Thank you to Mr. B and Mr. Velez for collaborating on this art integrated learning opportunity at Viewlands. This is our 6^th year of this integrated art learning project around Dia de los Muertos.

Message from Mr. B and Mr. Velez:

In art this month students have been discussing and learning about the traditions of El Dia De Los Muertos and the cultural significance that it has within the Hispanic community.  Students have been using their personal connections, stories, and inspirations to create different art projects. This topic has sparked powerful conversations while also providing a deeper understanding of how other cultures honor family through celebration rather than mourning.  This unit has allowed students to learn about symbolism and symmetry in their work.  The day-to-day work has created numerous opportunities to highlight the importance of both patience and practice as it relates to learning new skills and techniques. In November we will have a Viewlands Ofrenda. Families will have the opportunity to see the Ofrenda during November family conferences.  

All School Zoo Fieldtrip: Tuesday, October 31^st

The all-school Viewlands K-5 Field Trip to the Zoo is on October 31st. At Viewlands we celebrate fall on or around Halloween with an all-school field trip to the zoo. We do this instead of a traditional Halloween celebration. This all-school fieldtrip is a fun way to celebrate fall, our community, and inclusive to all. We do not do Halloween costumes or celebrations at school. We love this annual tradition and are grateful that we can continue to do this with the generous grants through the zoo, family donations, family volunteers, and VEPTSA support! This has been a tradition at Viewlands for many years.

Chaperones:

• Teachers will be confirming chaperones for the zoo fieldtrip early next week.
• Chaperones will be with small groups of students exploring the zoo. The classroom teacher will provide general guidance, but you will be responsible for a group of students. Due to this, we ask all chaperones to not bring younger siblings with them to the zoo. 
• Chaperones have two options for this field trip. Chaperones can ride one of the school busses to the zoo. Many/most chaperones won’t be riding with their child/classroom they are supporting. We don’t want to split classrooms across two busses, so this means we will have one bus with more capacity for chaperones. Any chaperone that wants to ride a school bus, will likely ride that bus, not the one with your child/classroom. Chaperones can also meet us at the zoo. We will have very limited availability for chaperones to ride in school busses. If you are riding a school bus, we ask you arrive to the school between 8:45-9:00AM and let the classroom teacher know you plan to ride the bus. If you plan to meet us at the zoo, we ask you to be at the south entrance (Hippo Lot – the entrance off of North 50^th Street) by 9:25AM.  Busses are scheduled to arrive between 9:25 and 9:40AM.
• We would love a couple more volunteers for kindergarten if there are any other families available to go and approved as a volunteer.

Other Information:

• We go to the zoo rain or shine. This means it will be important for students to wear appropriate clothing if it is rainy. We are outside while at the zoo. If your child needs a coat, we have a limited number of sizes at school. Please e-mail Ms. Lin in the office at lkmccormick@seattleschools.org
• Fieldtrip permission slips need to be returned as soon as possible. All students need a permission slip. Please return these as soon as possible. Students can’t go on the fieldtrip if they don’t have a signed permission slip.

Viewlands Spirit Days

We are excited to share our Viewlands Spirit Day plan! These are optional, not required, but anyone who wants to participate, we encourage it! We hope to build enthusiasm for these spirit days through the year!

• Every Thursday – Viewlands Community Spirit Day – wear Viewlands spirit wear OR Viewlands colors (blue and/or green) OR anything with an Orca on it!
• Every Friday – Community and Me Celebration Day – wear something that is about you (the student) and/or a community the student is a part of, simple things like their favorite color or, a sports team you/your family cheer for, a place or community you or your family love to visit or feel a part of, a college you or your family feel connected to, an organization or cause you support, LGBTQIA+ Pride gear, or just something you love to wear.
  • 4-5 Fun Fridays Add-Ons to the Community and Me Celebration Day – these will be spread across the year and easy to participate in but completely optional.

VEPTSA Update:

Message from VEPSTA Partners

VEPTSA GENERAL MEETING | Next Week
Tuesday, October 24^th | 6:30pm-8:00pm at Viewlands Elementary School

Come and join us for VEPTSA 1^st General Membership of the year to learn about upcoming activities, the latest VEPTSA updates, budget goals and other business. All families are welcome to attend. (Creative Kids is offering child care if needed for school age children while the parents/guardians attend the general membership meeting – pre-register link).

FALL Gradeband Playdates | This Weekend

Kindergarten and 2nd Grade Gradebands are having Fall Playdates at Greenwood Park this weekend! 

• Kindergarten – Sunday, October 22nd |10am-12pm | Greenwood Park
• 2nd Grade – Sunday October 22nd | 2pm-4pm | Greenwood Park

Fred Meyer Rewards

Do you shop at Fred Meyers? Do you have a Fred Meyer’s shopper card? You can support Viewlands just by shopping! Go to Fred Meyers Community Rewards Page. Link your card to our organization by searching for Viewlands PTSA. Contact us if you have any questions or need any help with the process – VEPTSA@viewlandsptsa.org.

Important School Calendar Dates

• Tuesday, October 31^st – All School Field Trip to the Zoo – volunteers needed
• Friday, November 10^th – No School, Veterans Day Observed
• Monday-Wednesday, November 20^th-22^nd – No School Elementary School, Family Conferences
• Thursday and Friday, November 23^rd and 24^th – No School, Native American Heritage Day and Thanksgiving