Lower Letter
Updated November 19, 2020
Upcoming Events
Lower School Upcoming Events
Looking Ahead
Monday, January 18 - Academy closed – MLK Day
Thursday, February 11 - All Academy Remote Day
Friday, February 12 - Academy Closed
Monday, February 15 - Academy Closed – President’s Day
March 1 -8 - Spring Break – Academy Closed
Tuesday, March 9 - Students Return from Spring Break
January Service Project – Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Each year, the Lower School elects to participate in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) “Put Cancer To Bed” program which is a service program that gives students the unique experience of working together to help raise awareness and funds in honor of thousands of children and adults fighting against blood cancers. LLS is a global leader in the fight against cancer. The LLS mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, has invested nearly $1.3 billion in the most pioneering science worldwide since 1949, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care. Every three minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer and every 9 minutes someone loses their battle. Thanks to the support of people like you, doctors are getting closer to finding a cure every day! In the 1960’s the 5-year survival rate for children under the age of 20 with ALL (the most common form of leukemia) went from a mere 3% to nearly 90% today!
We are asking that everyone (students, faculty, parents, etc.) join in this effort of raising awareness and collecting funds to benefit the mission of LLS: to find cures for blood cancers and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families. Your support is critical to help us find a cure. We hope you will join us in the fight against blood cancers!!!
Go to the following link to donate online:
https://events.lls.org/pages/ga/Woodward-Academy-Lower-School-2021
Please donate through your child’s Homeroom Teacher’s Classroom page in the following way: On the left side of the school’s page, search for your child’s teacher’s name in the "DONATE TO A CLASSROOM" search bar and click on the teacher’s name. Once you are on the teacher’s page, select an amount then select “Donate.”
OR
Your child can bring your donation to school and give to their homeroom teacher.
(Please make checks payable to LLS)
The campaign ends on Friday, January 22nd. Students who participated in this program with a minimum of $20.00 may wear their pajamas in lieu of their uniform.
Thank you so much for supporting LLS
Message from the Principal
Dear Parents,
Welcome back to school! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday break! I was so excited to see most of you last Wednesday for testing! The results for our entire community were very encouraging with a 1.5% positive rate. We had 2 positive cases within the Lower School student body. We will continue to be very diligent with our safety protocols at school so that everyone remains healthy.
Next week, our new President of the United States will be inaugurated. We have plans to watch the inauguration. It is always an important time in our nation's history when an inauguration takes place and we want to share this time with our students to help educate them on this important process.
In my last email to you, I mentioned some opportunities to serve around the Atlanta area to help celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. I hope many of you will take the opportunity to serve our community during this time. Remember, we are out of school on Monday, January 18th.
As always, I appreciate all of your efforts to make our community a better place if it is by keeping all of us safe or just serving one another! Thank you!
Andy Phillips, Principal
Lower School
Message from Lower School Nurse
Parents,
The safety and health of all students and staff is of utmost importance. If your student becomes ill during school hours, the nurse will contact you as soon as possible. After receiving a call from the nurse, we ask that you pick up your student within 60 minutes. If you are unable to do so promptly, please arrange for a designated individual to do so on your behalf.
Please note that our pick-up waiting area is located by the South circle carpool. Once you have arrived, please call the front desk at (404) 765-4420 and your student will be escorted to your vehicle.
Thank you.
Phyllis Sullivan, RN, BSN, MPH
Lower School Nurse
Changing Student Learning Preference
If your child is going to return to class after being a remote student, you will need to fill out the Opt in/Out form HERE. I would also remind you, remote learning is for those who have signed up or if you have been quarantined by the virus. If you are going out of town or if your child doesn't feel well for a day, the teachers will be happy to send any work the student will miss. We would like to have some consistency in knowing who is a remote learner and who is an on-site learner. Teachers have to prepare differently for both and not knowing from day to day where the student is going to be is not the best situation. If your child isn't feeling well, rest is often the best solution. Please communicate if your child is going to be absent with the front office at absls@woodward.edu and with the teachers via their individual Woodward email addresses.
Some of you have inquired as to the number of covid cases in our school. That information can be obtained on the parent portal. This report is updated daily. Thank you all for doing your part in keeping our students and teachers safe in and out of Woodward Academy. We are very grateful to all of you!
Counselors’ Corner
Happy New Year and welcome to spring semester 2021! It has already been an eventful few weeks, but we are so excited to see our students back and ready to go after winter break. Although we love working with our students, we also work to provide information that may be helpful to our parents. With the events last week at the US Capitol, we would like to present some information on how to talk to your children or answer questions that may come up in your homes. With Covid, anxiety, and depression all affecting our young people's lives, we want to provide as safe and healthy an environment as possible for them. Here are a couple of articles that can help you have those conversations within your home.
How to talk to children about the Capitol riots: An age by age guide
Talking to Kids About the Attack on the Capitol
In the classroom during the month of January, will be focusing on teaching and modeling a growth mindset. This will be the primary focus in our classroom counseling lessons, as well as in your child’s Morning Meetings. In these exposures to this topic, we will discuss the key tenets of the ground-breaking research by Stanford psychology professor, Carol Dweck. You may visit the resources provided below to learn how the mindset you model to your children has a huge effect on their success and how your own mindset can either help or hinder you in all areas of your life.
Virtual Growth Mindset Classroom
The Power of Yet | Carol Dweck
The Secret to Raising Smart Kids
In addition, we wanted to provide some resources for families while we continue to navigate supporting ourselves and our children during these unprecedented times. The CDC provides us with some helpful information that you can find in their COVID-19 Parent Resources Kit.
Please contact us at taylor.strawn@woodward.edu and carrie.lauchlan@woodward.edu if we can be of any additional support or if you have any questions or concerns.
Carrie Lauchlan
Taylor Strawn
Yearbook Information
To order the 2021 yearbook, click here.
Rotation Calendar for 2020-2021
If you would like to keep up with the rotation days, click here for a digital version of this calendar.
Publix Partners
If you shop at Publix, please consider being a Publix Partner and a portion of your purchases will go to our school. All you need to do is sign up (if not already a partner) and select a school at publix.com/partners. Provide your phone number when you check out at Publix. Publix Partners will donate a portion of eligible purchases to your chosen school. Publix Partners has contributed $37.7 million to more than 4,600 schools across the Southeast.
Stay Engaged with the Parent Community
Keep up with all the Parent Community news, events and volunteer opportunities by visiting the Parent Community website and following us on Facebook and Instagram. Being involved with the Parent Community is a great way to get to know other parents and enrich campus life.
WALive
Use voucher code "WAlive1819" here to activate your account so you can watch live Woodward sporting events, performances, and more throughout the school year.