West Tatnuck Weekly Week of December, 20, 2021 - Worcester Public Schools

West Tatnuck Weekly
Week of December, 20, 2021

Dear West Tatnuck Elementary Families,

Every year at this time, we all reflect on the year that is ending and look forward to the year ahead. As I
do this, I am in awe of the resilience that I have seen in our school community over the past year. When
families were nervous about sending their children to school due to fear of a spreading virus, you
trusted us to provide a clean and sanitized environment for students to learn in, and when students
were identified as close contacts of those who tested positive, families trusted our health staff to
guide them and participate in our test and stay program in order to keep your children in school and
learning, and most recently, when threats of violence emerged, families trusted us to maintain order,
calm and most importantly keep all of our students physically safe as well as emotionally safe. Thank
you for your trust in not only educating your children, but for keeping them safe, happy, and healthy.

As the new year approaches, I look forward to our continued collaboration in ensuring the wellbeing of
all of our students and providing them with the best educational experience possible.

From the staff at West Tatnuck, we wish you a happy holiday season, be safe, rest, and we look
forward to seeing you all in 2022!

                                Sunday Night Read Aloud

'Twas Nochebuena written by Roseanne Greenfield Thong
This is an oldie but a goodie! We have gone back to our read aloud vault from last year to bring back
Roseanne Greenfield Thong's, 'Twas Nochebuena, a beautiful story that follows a family as they
prepare to host a night filled with laughter, love, and Latino tradition. Make tasty tamales and hang
colorful adornos (decorations) on the walls. Gather to sing festive canciones (songs) while sipping
champurrado (hot chocolate). After the midnight feast has been served and the last gifts have been
unwrapped, it’s time to cheer, “Feliz Navidad and to all a good night!”

'Twas Nochebuena

                WT Big Family Meeting: December 14, 2021

The weather cooperated once more for an outdoor Big Family Meeting this past Tuesday morning.
This new tradition at West Tatnuck is the arena for our values education and whole school community
building, and most importantly, a TON of fun for all! A big thank you to Ms. Shilale in grade 5 for
providing our faculty skit on compassion, our value of the month for December. It makes me so proud
to hear how our students are learning about our school values in their classes and how they can see
how these values have the power to make our world better. Please take time to talk about this month's
value of compassion with your child and how they saw this tied into their learning this month.

We also took time to recognize students from each class who modeled November's value of gratitude
throughout the month. The following students were awarded certificates of recognition:

Preschool
Gus Garcidiaz, Makayla Kimberg
Kindergarten
Lisette Arsenault and Owen West
Valentino Marte and Aiden Polisi
Nolen Griffin
Grade 1
Mackenzie Lamoureux, Owen O’day
Frederick O’Doherty, Reese Butterfield
Grade 2
Flavia Naco and Zamir Diaz
Luis Rivera Martinez and Adrina Soheili-Arshadi
Grade 3
Meredith Nguyen
Roans Bode
Violet Allan, Jaxon Fenneuff
Grade 4
Carla Pacheco, Charlotte Almieda

Gia Rodriguez, Joshua Kpodo
Anderson Mendez Fajardo
Grade 5
Kylie Crocker, Katerina Panagiotidis
Belinda Caraj, Livia Zhuri
Grade 6
Khloey Boquist, Giovani Monestine, Jadrian Martinez Sanchez

Thank You PTO for an AMAZING Book Fair!!

I feel very fortunate to be able to collaborate with such an amazing and supportive Parent/ Teacher
Organization. Thank you to Ms. Katie Chaffee and all of the volunteer who spent time setting up,
organizing, working at, and breaking down this year's Scholastic Book Fair. It was a HIT with the
students and the teachers! We cannot wait until next year!!

Congratulations and Thank you to Ms. Wallace!

Please join me in saying a heartfelt thank you and congratulations to Ms. Joanne Wallace as she is
retiring at the conclusion of school on Wednesday. Ms. Wallace's calming presence and warmth will be
missed dearly in our community. Best of luck for a safe and happy retirement!

Taking over duties for our school’s technology class is Ms. Mara Safer. Mara may be joining us this
week for introductions and a tour so please join me in welcoming her if you see her.

                  Congratulations to Mr. Virgil Hernandez

Please join me in congratulating and thanking Mr. Virgil Hernandez for all he has done for us at West
Tatnuck Mr Hernandez is celebrating earning a promotion to Sr Custodian at City View Elementary

and will be starting Tuesday, 12/21 so Monday is his last day with us. Best of luck, Virgil!!

Wednesday, December 22, 2021
This Wednesday we will be celebrating one of the best days in the history of elementary school
education, PAJAMA DAY! Students and teachers will be dressed in their most comfy and school
appropriate PJs and spend time reading their favorite literature. Please be sure that, if your child
chooses to participate, that they still wear a coat and appropriate shoes to school as we will be going
outside for recess.

           Picture Re-Take Day, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

If you would like to have your child re-take their original school photo, you may do so this coming
Tuesday, December 21 at school. Please bring in the original photos sent home previously and a
completed re-take form. If you have any questions please contact Ms. Nancy Freeman in the West
Tatnuck School office at 508-799-3596.

                                           PTO Corner

Dates to Note:
   December 21 - Picture Retakes at West Tatnuck
   December 22 - Pajama Read Aloud Day at West Tatnuck
   December 23-January 3 - Winter Vacation
   January 3 - Progress reports sent home from West Tatnuck
   January 7 - PTO Friday Fun Day: New Year's Aspirations!
   January 13 - PTO meeting (virtual) 5:00-6:00 pm

Jack Young, Principal
  @Jackwyoung12

   300 Mower Street, Worcester, …   jyoung@worcesterschools.net

   (508) 799-3596                   worcesterschools.org/school/…