Principal's Message

How can it possibly be March! During the dark and cold of January, I thought we would never get to spring, but here it is right around the corner. We sure have had some beautiful days too! It is such fun to be outside with our eagles during recess; they are so good at finding a great game to join and most are being kind, safe and productive…especially our older students.

Our kindergartners really love to play with each other, but at times, are still learning how to play without chasing, and how to solve small disagreements with words instead of hands. They are growing every day, and Second Step, our classroom social-emotional lessons, along with consistent reminders and reinforcement of our common area expectations, sure help boost kind and safe behavior!

Right now 93% of our scholars have 0-1 office referrals. That means almost all of our students are independently following expectations, and if they do have a disagreement, they are solving and apologizing at the classroom or playground level. I always tell our students that it is perfectly OK to have big feelings; everyone gets frustrated, angry or sad, it is how we manage those feelings that is important, so that our feelings do not negatively impact others. Having a safe and supportive community is essential for high levels of learning and we make this a priority every day.

We have so many exciting events coming up in March:

On March 13th we have our district STEAM night at Federal Way High School from 6-8. There will be so many cool STEAM activities going on, and each school will have a table, please stop by the Star Lake table where we will be building marshmallow catapults.

On March 27th and 28th we have Student-Led Conferences. Again, we need to meet with EVERY family to celebrate student growth and share progress. Please be watching for sign up information coming soon from your child’s teacher.

Please see the calendar in this newsletter for additional spring events.

Amazingly, we are getting close to entering the last third of our school year and time will fly between now and June. We are excitedly registering kindergartners, reviewing data, looking at staffing and beginning plans for the fall while still digging into instruction to continue our positive, strong end to this school year.

I wish your family continued health and happiness, and a wonderful spring!

Kris Rennie, principal

krennie@fwps.org

253-945-4007