The Whale's Tales 

masthead - students
Monday, January 11, 2016

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MetroWest Elementary School
   

Prin. Szymanski Thank you for a great first week back to school and to those of you that attended our community meeting last Wednesday regarding our school relief plan. We received a first look at the site plan design and had the opportunity to provide input and feedback to district leaders.  If you attended the first community meeting last April, you will remember that the original plan was to split the school into a K-2 campus and a 3-5 campus. Based on input from the community, the plan was changed to create two K-5 campuses, showing that your input is important and taken into consideration. Our district leaders will continue to work with the design team to create two campuses that meet the needs of our students and community. Should you have any questions or concerns, please continue to contact me, so that I can share them with our district leaders.

The next step in this project is the rezoning meeting that will take place tomorrow evening at 6:30 pm at the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center.  I encourage you to attend and learn about the possible rezoning options and potentially which school your child will attend.

Have a good week,

Christine A. Szymanski
Principal

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Dates to Remember . . .
This is the last school week of the 1st semester  

January 11 - 5:00 pm Table Talk with Pam Gould at Panera Bread - Sand Lake Rd.
January 11 - Rezoning meeting at Educational Leadership Center 6:30 PM
January 14 - End of 2nd Marking Period (43 days)
January 15 - No School - Student Holiday/Teacher Workday
January 18 - No School - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
January 19 - 29 - MAP Testing (K-2)
January 28 - 6:00pm-7:00pm Bedtime Story Night (K-2)
January 29 - Report Cards go home
January 30 - OCPS Parent Academy (STEM)
February 4 - 6:00pm - 7:00pm FSA Night (Grades 3-5)
Vital Signs
MetroWest Media Center:
Books checked out by type during an average week for month of December 2015
2016 Spring Daily State Testing Calendar

Table Talk
Guidance Corner
January's Character Trait - Respect

Students are learning about respect on the morning news throughout the month of January. They are learning that respect means the following:
  • Showing honor or consideration for others through our words and actions
  • Treating others as we want to be treated
  • Understanding that all people have value as human beings
One of the most important things you can teach your child is respect. Keep in mind that respect is not the same as obedience. Children might obey because they are afraid. If they respect you, they will obey because they know you want what's best for them.
 
The best way to teach respect is to show respect. When a child experiences respect, they know what it feels like and they begin to understand its importance.
 
Respect is an attitude. Being respectful helps a child succeed in life. If children don't have respect for peers, authority, or themselves, it's very difficult for them to succeed.
 
Schools often teach children about respect, but parents have the most influence on how respectful children become. Until children show respect at home, it's unlikely they will show it anywhere else. How can you show respect to your child?  Be honest - if you do something wrong, admit it and apologize.
 
Thank you for the work you continue to do at home with your children so that they come to school they are able to respect themselves, their peers, and their teachers!

In the Spotligtht . . .
Mr. Bell . . . Music Teacher
 
Mr. Bell went to Florida A&M University and was in the world famous "Marching 100," and performed all over the United States; including President Bill Clinton's Inauguration Parade in 1997.

Mr. Bell started the MetroWest drum line this year. The drum line consists of 4th and 5th grade students, and they learn not only how to play the drums, but also how to present themselves through leadership, discipline, respect, and excellence. His goal is to be a great role model to these great students through music and to show them that they can be and do anything they want to do in life if they stay positive and put their minds to it with respect and dignity.

Mr. Bell has a beautiful wife of 9 years name Faith, and three beautiful kids, Christopher, Jr., 8; Charity, 7; and Joshua, 5.


Mr. Bell, MetroWest Music Teacher

Media Center News

reader leader Our Media Center is the hub of our school where children are encouraged to learn information and technology skills, to love books and to become lifelong learners.

Our media program supports all instructional areas, providing media resources, facilities, and services to our staff and students. Within the Media Center, the latest in computer technology allows students to easily locate books and search electronic databases, encyclopedias, and the Internet to expand their knowledge of different types of subject matter.  Each morning, our students produce a live television broadcast of the morning announcements over our closed circuit system. 

Our Media Center has over 11,000 non-fiction books, chapter books, picture books and biographies. Parents and students can search our Destiny catalog to find the books they are interested in reading by following the directions below:
1. Type destiny.ocps.net in the address bar.
2. Click on MetroWest Elementary.
3. Click on top tab - Catalog.
4. Type in the title of book, subject, series name or author's name that you wish to search.
5. Once the list of books appears, look to the right of the book icon - this is the call number of the book and it tells you where you can find it in the media center. Also, look to the far right of the book title and it will tell you whether the book is available or not.
 
Example:

Leadership Team

Principal: Christine Szymanski christine.szymanski@ocps.net
Assistant Principal: Atresa Grubbs-Holmes atresa.grubbs-holmes@ocps.net
Assistant Principal: Evangeline Slaughter evangeline.slaughter@ocps.net

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