Woods School

This summer we are running a four week summer school. The summer school will be instructed by Mrs. Wessels, our special education teacher, and Mrs. Dee, or special education aid.

The summer sessions will run from 8:30 – 11:00 Monday through Thursday. The classes will be held during one week in June, two weeks in July, and one week in August. Students participating in the summer school are selected to do so by their current homeroom teacher.

We are very pleased to welcome Mrs. Thometz to our staff. She will be instructing Spanish next year to our students. In addition, we are also looking into the possibility of a before school program for interested students wishing to learn the Spanish language. More on this program will come over the summer. Mrs. Thometz lives in the Woods School community and will have two boys at Woods School next year.

Towards the end of this school year we started the long process of rewriting our Reading curriculum. We will continue this process over the summer and into the next school year.

We are being led in this process by Dr. Jerry Hawver. Dr. Hawver is a curriculum writing specialist and is also the administrator at the Alternative High School in Elkhorn.

I have contracted Dr. Laura Gliesner from CESA #2 in Milton, Wisconsin for an all-day workshop on differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is a time-tested teacher skill. It is not a program or workbook. It is what all good teachers use to reach all ability levels and interest levels in their classroom. After the workshop, which will take place on August 27th, Dr. Gliesner will return on half-day in-services throughout the school year as follow up.

We are really looking forward to this refresher workshop. We have contracted Dr. Gliesner in the past when we studied the 6-traits of writing.

As you all know by now, we have installed and are using 8 new Smart Boards at Woods School.

These boards bring the world to Woods School. The boards are actually computer interfaces that generate interest and excitement in learning.

We will be receiving more training on these wonderful tools before the start of the next school year.

Look for much more information on our website next September. We are currently in the process of entering our curriculum on the website to help you understand what we are doing at Woods School and why.

We will also be changing our individual pages to give you more information on the units of study within each grade level. We are hoping this project will be nearing completion by the start of the next school year.

We are saying good-bye to Mrs. Bohn as she retires from Woods School. She will certainly be remembered through the coming years. Taking over the reigns in the 4th grade will be Ms. Smerchek, our current 5th grade teacher.

The new member to the staff is Ms. Betsy De Lazzer who will be taking over 5th grade. Ms. De Lazzer is a recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin–LaCrosse. Ms. De Lazzer resides in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Welcome to Betsy De Lazzer.

Yes, the school year is coming to an end, but we will be very busy at Woods School over the summer months.

I want to thank everybody for their kind words over this past school year and for your concern.

I am overwhelmed by the caring and giving of the Woods School community. It is no wonder why our students succeed the way they do. Our parents are the best! Our teachers are the best! Our community is the best!

Have a great and safe summer and I'll see you next school year!