Did you know Wayzata Schools’ Family Learning Center offers a summer preschool? Barefoot in the Grass is a great way to create just the right amount of routine for your family without over-scheduling, and a valuable experience for children transitioning into kindergarten this fall.
Give your kids a chance to explore nature, art, science, music, movement, games and stories–indoors and outdoors. Your child will learn through play, run through sprinklers and make new friends!
Classes are either four or eight weeks in length and run 9-11:30 a.m. for 2-year-olds and 8:45-11:45 a.m. for 3- to 5-year olds. Parents may choose a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday class. To be eligible, children must be 2- to 5-years-old as of September 1, 2010, and have not yet started kindergarten. Session I is June 6-30 and Session II is July 11 to August 4.
Parents can also register children ages 18-months to 5 years for one morning (8:45-11:45 a.m.) or afternoon (noon-2:30 p.m.) per week of BLOCK Time, the center’s high quality child care option. BLOCK Time is prepaid for a full session of four weeks, the same dates as Barefoot in the Grass.
Limited financial assistance is available for qualifying families. Registration and additional information is online at www.wayzata.k12.mn.us/ces (Select Birth to 5.) Registration forms are also available at the Family Learning Center at 305 Vicksburg Lane North, in Plymouth. For more information, call 763-745-5290.
As part of an effort to strengthen district policies regarding tobacco, nutrition and physical activities, Wayzata Public Schools is participating in the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) funded through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Health.
The work on the SHIP grant has been coordinated through the special services department. A district Wellness Committee was formed with fourteen representative members from curriculum, secretarial, custodial, administrative, culinary, Home Base, health services and the community. The following three initiatives were selected by the committee:
Tobacco-free schools
Non-food classroom rewards
Staff physical activity
The tobacco initiative focuses on increasing awareness and enforcement of Wayzata Public Schools’ tobacco-free campus. As part of the grant, new signage was installed by the buildings and grounds department and window decals were placed on entry doors at each building to remind visitors and staff that there is no tobacco use within buildings or on district grounds. Additional written and verbal announcements are included at athletic events and fine arts programs throughout the district.
The second initiative for nutrition, focused on using non-food rewards in the classroom. A pilot program was developed and volunteer teachers were selected to participate from each elementary school. The participants implemented the use of non-food rewards in their classrooms from October 2010 through December 2010. The next step is the implementation of non-food rewards in classrooms across the district. This initiative does not impact classroom celebrations, daily snacks or special education student programs.
The third initiative focuses on increasing staff physical activity. Walking maps have been designed for each district building to encourage staff to walk during their breaks. To kick off the staff physical activity initiative, the Wellness Committee sponsored a district-wide four-week “Walking Challenge” and a breakfast in February.
Funding provided by the SHIP grant was used to purchase the Tanita Body Composition Analyzer. This is a medical grade tool for Body Mass Index (BMI), fat percentage, bone mass, Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and hydration. The equipment produces a printout for each participant and may be mounted on a sheet that explains the readings.
The Wellness Committee will continue to meet after the SHIP grant ends in May 2011. Follow-up will continue with these initiatives and exploration of new options will permit the committee to move forward as to seek ways to promote a healthier way of life for students and staff.
Four students from Wayzata High School have scored at the 90th percentile or above on the 2011 National German Exam and an additional three students placed as state winners scoring above the 80th percentile.
The national winners are: junior Rachel Mohr and sophomores Akash Batra, Gretchen Struckmeyer and Kallan Swenson.
The state winners are: junior Zachary Barenburg and sophomores Shai Ann Cain and Katie Corwin.
The students are taught by Barbara Melbye Janssen and Karen Nickel.
Rohit Agrawal, a senior at Wayzata High School, was selected as the National Winner of the 2010-11 Siemens Award for Advanced Placement.
The Siemens Foundation selects only two winners from across the country for this award and Agrawal was selected based on his exceptional performance on the AP exams in math and science. With the honor, Agrawal will also receive a $5,000 award.
Left to right: Pat Gleason, Wayzata School Board, chair, Tom Cullum, WEF board member, Linda Miller, WEF treasurer, Mari Colbourne, WEF board member, Paula Picard, WEF
The Wayzata Education Foundation today announced that four curriculum-based projects, in the areas of special education and literacy, were selected as part of its 2011 ‘From Excellent to Exceptional’ grant program.
This year, WEF considered 10 projects and selected four that will extend the regular curriculum in collaborative and innovative ways. The selected projects will receive more than $8,000 in grants as part of nearly $18,000 in total funding for 2011 programming. Additional funding was facilitated by WPSEF through the Wayzata School DiThe Wayzata Education Foundation has unveiled the recipients of its 2011 ‘From Excellent to Exceptional’ grant program, focusing on four curriculum-based projects in special education and literacy.
Out of the 10 projects evaluated this year, the foundation has chosen four initiatives that promise to expand the standard curriculum through collaborative and innovative approaches. These selected projects will collectively receive over $8,000 in grants, contributing to the total 2011 programming funding of nearly $18,000. The Wayzata School District played a pivotal role in facilitating additional funding for these projects. Here are the distinguished recipients for 2011:strict. Following are the 2011 recipients:
The Sensory Approach to Learning: This program will allow the professional development and training of five district staff in specific sensory strategies for use in three pilot classrooms at Oakwood Elementary School, Central Middle School and Wayzata High School. The sensory techniques will facilitate intervention support for students with learning disabilities, behavioral and emotional problems, motor incoordination, attention problems and other developmental issues. The goal is to eventually roll out these techniques to all schools within the Wayzata Public School District, and to better arm general education teachers with classroom strategies that to improve the school performance and general attentiveness of students of all learning styles.
Closing the Summer Set Back Reading Gap of Economically Disadvantaged Students: This summer reading program will help struggling readers in first through fourth grades at Plymouth Creek Elementary. Qualified students will receive appropriately leveled reading materials and additional reading support with the goal of increasing reading proficiency in the areas of accuracy, fluency and comprehension, and to close the current achievement gap.
21st Century Literacy: This program will fund the purchase of 15 eReaders and a library of digital grade level novels and audio books at West Middle School. The goal is to enhance the literacy learning of all reading levels, especially those who will benefit from the auditory and visual capabilities enabled by this technology.
Integrating iPads in Special Education Programming: WPSEF facilitated district funding to provide two iPads and customized applications to be used at Oakwood Elementary School. The iPads will enable children with special needs to utilize technology to learn through visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities.
“We believe all students in the Wayzata Public Schools are exceptional, and we are pleased to fund these worthwhile and curriculum-based programs that would otherwise not be available,” Jenny DeWall, WPSEF board co-chair.
Since 2007, WPSEF’s ‘From Excellent to Exceptional’ Grant program has provided more than $95,000 to projects in the Wayzata Public Schools. Prior grants recipients include:
Essays for Everyone: a ‘Document Based Questions’ AP- based program for all WHS US History classes.
Elm Creek Water and Soil Testing and Research Materials: for students in WHS AP Environmental Science, Environmental Science, and Wildlife Biology classes.
Middle School Media Center US History/Geography Book Collection Upgrade
Elementary Library Media Centers Book Collection Upgrade
Elementary Literacy Project: community/school partnership to provide one-on-one reading assistance to elementary students.
Ropes Challenge Course: S.T.E.M.- based collaborative approach (WHS P.E., Math, Science departments and students) to enhance physical education curriculum by designing/building/implementing a ropes challenge course which will utilize biomechanical and physics concepts in P.E. class lessons.
Accelerated Summer Math Program at Wayzata High School.
Discretionary project funding to support the needs of students in the WPS elementary and middle schools.
“The programs funded this year and in previous years would not be possible without the generosity of past and current WPSEF donors, and we wish to express our sincere appreciation for this support,” said Michael Hagerty, WPSEF board co-chair.
About The Wayzata Public Schools Education Foundation
The Wayzata Education Foundation was formed in June 2003 by a group of concerned parents and community leaders who wanted to ensure academic excellence across the district despite unreliable state and federal funding for public schools. The Foundation’s sole focus is to maintain and sustain the high quality of education in the Wayzata Public Schools. WEF is a fund of the Minnesota Community Foundation. For more information, visit www.wpsef.org.
A Young Scientist Roundtable will be held Monday, March 7, 2011, at 7 p.m. at Central Middle School. Dr. John Delaney and Jerome M. Paros will present “Wiring an Interactive Ocean. Delaney is a professor of oceanography at the University of Washington and is also the director and principal investigator for the regional scale nodes program. Paros is an endowed chair in sensor networks as the University of Washington.
The oceans make our planet livable, yet they are largely unexplored and poorly understood. Delaney is an advocate of next-generation ocean science, which is made possible through the distribution of robot-sensor networks in the oceanic environment. These networks enable real-time, interactive research on the natural phenomena operating throughout the world’s oceans. Delaney will discuss his work at the University of Washington as principal investigator and director of the regional scale nodes program, which is constructing an innovative, cabled network of instruments in the northeast Pacific Ocean. This event is a rare opportunity to meet an oceanographer celebrated for working with cutting edge technology to understand the watery frontiers that surround us.
A Teen Roundtable will be held from 8:10 to 8:40 p.m. where students will have the opportunity to ask in-depth questions.
The Young Scientist Roundtable is free for students in grades K – 12 and their families and no registration is required.
Due to the expected snowfall and inclement weather predicted for overnight and throughout the day on Saturday, all activities scheduled to be held in a Wayzata Public Schools facility, including the Central Middle School Ice Arena and Dome Complex, will be canceled for Saturday, December 11.
All buildings will be closed and there will be no activities, events or games. Canceled activities include ACT testing and the community wrestling tournament scheduled at Wayzata High School and community youth basketball.
Central Middle School is closed today, Friday, December 10, due to a broken water main. All other district schools are open today and operating with their regular schedule. Staff who work in Central Middle School should report to the building for work today.
At its November 8 meeting, the school board of Wayzata Public Schools approved a boundary adjustment for the Kimberly Lane attendance area and moved three designated areas to the Greenwood attendance area effective immediately.
The boundary adjustment affects less than 10 students and they have been grandfathered into the Kimberly Lane attendance area. The changes were made due to future housing developments planned in these areas.
Current and projected resident enrollment at Kimberly Lane created the need to make a boundary adjustment for the current and future years. Although resident enrollment growth within the current Kimberly Lane attendance area has been higher than projected, total enrollment within Greenwood’s attendance area has been slightly lower than projected. This shift should help to stabilize enrollments at both Kimberly Lane and Greenwood.
The first census area that was moved includes current and future residences in the city of Plymouth, north of the current Plymouth Creek attendance area, extending north to the city of Maple Grove. Greenwood’s existing eastern boundary will be extended east from Lawndale Lane North to Vicksburg Lane North. It was recommended that the three current elementary students who are affected by this adjustment be given the option to continue their attendance at Kimberly Lane for the remainder of their elementary years.
The second census area that was moved includes approximately 45 future residences in a small census area in the city of Maple Grove. This area is contiguous to the current Greenwood attendance boundary. Greenwood’s northern attendance boundary has been extended north of County Road 47 to 63rd Avenue North. Greenwood’s eastern attendance boundary has been extended east of County Road 101 to Vagabond Lane North. At this time, there are no students currently residing in this area.
The third census area that was moved includes approximately 63 current and future residences in a small census area in the city of Maple Grove. This area is contiguous to the current Greenwood attendance boundary. Greenwood’s northern attendance boundary has been extended north into the city of Maple Grove to 62nd Place North on both Queensland Lane North and Peony Lane North. It also includes all of Olive Lane North. Greenwood’s northern attendance boundary has been extended to Fieldstone Boulevard Lane on Merrimac Lane North. The eastern boundary for this attendance area is now Lawndale Lane North. The western boundary for this attendance area is now Queensland Lane North. One student who is affected by this adjustment will be given the option to continue attendance at Kimberly Lane for the remainder of his elementary years.
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