West University Elementary School
The West U
Pony Express
Principal’s Place
As I mentioned last week, we begin
th
our STAAR testing tomorrow with 4
th
th
th
and 5 grades. If you have a 4 or 5
grader please make sure your child
has a good night’s sleep and eats a
good breakfast tomorrow and
Wednesday mornings to help them
do their best on these important
exams. The schedule of the exams is
in the “Mark Your Calendars” box to
the right of this page. Go get ‘em,
West U!
We are launching a sneak attack this
week and need your help! (that got
your attention!). Our Writing Lab
Teacher Kathryn Adams and our
School Librarian Kelly Russell are
calling on you to help us secure a free
author visit.
We are currently participating in a
contest to win a visit from the
amazing author, Jan Brett. Schools
across America have been racking up
votes for weeks. West U is behind
now, but with your help, we can steal
the lead. Please take a minute to
enter the contest. Our goal is to hit
10,000 entries during the week of
March 28 - April 1 making it
impossible for anyone to top us. The
Spring Edition, 2015-2016
Volume 12, March 28, 2016
Upcoming Events
deadline to enter is April 4. Please
get friends, neighbors and your family
on board for this once in a lifetime
opportunity. Remember, only one
vote per e-mail address. Please ask
everyone you can to join in the
effort.
Follow these easy steps and secure a
victory for our students!
1. Visit this website:
http://www.janbrett.com/contests.
htm
2. Click “enter here”
3. Fill in the boxes. Our school
address is 3756 University Blvd.
77005
4. Click “submit”
With a school the size of ours we
should be able to win this author visit
for our children. Thanks for helping
to spread the word. Remember, the
deadline to enter is next Monday,
April 4.
Have a first-class week!
John T. Threet, Principal
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Birthday Book Club
2
Pennies For Patients
2
Counseling Corral
2
Bookmark Contest Winners
3
PTO Guest Speaker
3
Art Night Winners
3
Book Fair Info
3
Bike Safety – Helmets
4
Vaccination Controversy
4
Mark Your Calendars:
• STAAR Testing
Tuesday, March 29
th
4 Grade Writing
th
5 Grade Mathematics
Wednesday, March 30
th
5 Grade Reading
th
• WUES 7 Annual
Invitational Track Meet
Friday, April 1,
9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
HISD Butler Stadium
13755 South Main
• PTO Meeting
Tuesday, April 19, 8:00 a.m.
MPR
th
• WUES 90 Anniversary
Celebrations
Monday-Friday, April 18-22
The West U Pony Express
March 28, 2016
Happy Birthday, 生日快乐, Feliz
Cumpleaños, С Днем Рождения!
The following students are celebrating their birthdays this
week by donating a book to our school library:
Mimi Wright
Ruhi Patolia
Anthony Zhang
Jack Robbins
Jackie Neumann
Frederic Anthony Corsiglia
Barrett Maguire
James Westin
Libby Agarwal
Nicholas Hanson
Gus Jukes
Madelyn Trudel
Brian Zhang
March 24th
March 28th
March 28th
March 29th
March 29th
March 30th
March 30th
March 30th
March 31st
March 31st
March 31st
March 31st
March 31st
April Fool’s Day
Friday is April Fool’s Day!! To celebrate, we will do Goofy
Hat and Sock Day as a Fundraiser for the Leukemia &
Lymphoma Society. Wear your goofy hat or socks and bring
a dollar to donate. Please bring an extra dollar (not from
your coin box). You can wear the items all day to celebrate
April Fool’s Day and give to a good cause.
Paula Bottecelli, R.N.
School Nurse
If you signed up your child for the Birthday Book Club and
their birthday already passed, but they have not chosen
their book yet, please be sure to let them know to stop by
the library as soon as possible!
Also, remember……..
If you would like to order a Birthday Book Club
membership for your child, all orders are due NO
LATER THAN Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m. to be included
in the following week’s Pony Express.
Submit your Birthday Book Club forms as soon as
possible, to make sure we include your child in the
Pony Express during their birthday month.
Order
forms
can
be
found
online
www.westupto.org, or in the blue PTO box at the
front office.
Happy Birthday and thank you for supporting the West U
Elementary library!
The West U Pony Express
If you have questions please contact Tracy
Benner
March
21,at:2016
(tracymbenner@yahoo.com)
or
(guadacarlesso@hotmail.com).
Guadalupe
Lymphoma Society. We have an West University
Elementary page for online donations.
Please visit:
http://events.lls.org/pages/txg/WestUniversityElementaryS
chool to make your donation online. We did not do
individual class pages, just a school-wide page. Please visit
and consider a donation
Last week we installed the character benches we made last
year. The benches will be placed along the walkway going
through the courtyard next to the vegetable garden. The
next time you are at school, walk by and
take a look. All the students put their
thumbprints on the tiles covering the top
of the bench.
Citizens of the Month
This month students were selected for Citizen of the Month
for being a role model for the character trait kindness.
Below are the students nominated by their teachers.
Kindergarten:
st
Lianna Chap, Ms. McMillan’s Class
Anne Marie Maurer, Mrs. Breen’s Class
Jordan Young, Ms. Webb’s Class
nd
Mary Bertrem, Mrs. Wick’s Class
rd
Ellie Elmore, Ms. Langston’s Class
Marquesa Madison, Mrs. McLamb’s Class
rd
Sofya Domakhina, Ms. Herrera’s 3 Class
th
Carter Murphy, Ms. Wood’s Class
Jenny Abdalla, Ms. Schlichting’s Class
th
Elisha Rabley,
Mrs. McAleavy’s Class
1 Grade:
2 Grade:
3 Grade:
Harper
We are continuing our collection of coins for the Leukemia
& Lymphoma Society until April 1st. The boxes can be filled
with coins, bills, and checks made out to the Leukemia &
Kylie Chap, Mrs. Powell’s Class
4 Grade:
5 Grade:
Michael Connolly, School Counselor
The West U Pony Express
March 28, 2016
•
•
Thank you to everyone who entered the “Design a 90th
Birthday Bookmark” competition. There were so many
fantastic entries it was hard to pick.
The lucky winners will have their book marks sold at the
Book Fair on April 4th, 5th and 6th.
Book Fair Winners:
Eden Ingraham - Kinder
Lauren Chen - Kinder
Grace Smith - 1st
Xinru Lai - 1st
Aylin Ozus - 2nd
Kate Jurkash - 2nd
Layla Knott - 3rd
Sofia Giuliani - 3rd
Lucy Ginzel - 4th
Bella McIntyre - 4th
Jane Johnston - 5th
Evelyn Shatto - 5th
•
•
Station Coordinator: Jennifer Blum
Event Set-up and Wrap-up Lead: Corrie
Chumpitazi
Bulletin Board Lead: Martina Luke Dorn
PTO Team: Kristine Martinez, Rachna Shroff,
Suzanne Doué, Jamie Burress, Felecia Fitzgerald,
Robin Wexler (Bracelet station), July Cheng (HOA),
and Lori Yi
•
We would also like to express our
gratitude to our School Administration
for their guidance and support:
Principal Threet, Tracey Wyatt, Coach
Jones (Master of Ceremonies), Mr.
Connolly (No Place for Hate), Mrs.
Chapa and the Custodial Team.
We had incredible attendance, and, as promised the
following classes (with the greatest attendance), will be
treated to a Pizza Party on Friday, April 1, 2016 (no joke).
Mrs. LaPadula’s Class (Kindergarten)
st
Mrs. Smith (1 Grade)
nd
Mrs. Stone (2 Grade)
st
Mrs. Reid (1 Grade)—most parent volunteer
participation.
Greta Pliskin & Janet Feng, 2016 WUES Art Night Chairs
Please join us for a special guest speaker during our 90th
Anniversary week of special events: Tuesday, April 19, 8:00
- 9:00 a.m., in MPR.
We are pleased to have Barbara Gruener, Author,
Counselor and Character Coach, to help us support our
children: KINDNESS IS THE REAL GLOBAL WARMING
Did you know character is a learned trait? Empathy leads to
compassion, which leads to kindness. As parents, we teach
our children by role modeling it. Barbara will give
us guidance to help make it an action, not a noun, for our
kids.
For
more
information,
contact heather.curran.kelly@gmail.com.
please
Thank you to our amazing community for helping make Art
Night 2016 such a successful and enriching event for our
kids! A Special Thank You goes out to our dedicated parent
volunteers:
• Food Service Lead: Lisa Prati
Join us next week at the annual WUES
Book Fair to purchase recommended
summer reading books and participate
in a variety of free entertainment. Any
item purchased during the event will
help fund improvements and additions
to our school library.
The WUES Book Fair is April 4th, 5th
and 6th, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., located at Barnes & Noble on W.
Holcombe and free to all.
Join us to hear amazing Teacher and Author Readers, Ted
Schwank the Magician, The Houston Museum of Natural
Science presenting butterflies and other fun animals,
Writers in the Round,
Honeydew the Clown,
and much more!
The West U Pony Express
March 28, 2016
Bicycle Safety Month isn’t until May but we in Houston
probably started riding our bikes last
month when the sun popped out and
spring-like weather came to town.
Throughout the spring we will include
bike safety tips for kids and parents.
One of Mr. Threet’s pet peeves is to see
parents riding to school along with their
children and not wearing a helmet. If
your child sees you not wearing a
helmet, they will eventually think that
helmets are only for kids.
Two percent of motor vehicle crash deaths are bicyclists. In
a majority of these deaths, the most serious injuries were
to the head, highlighting the importance of wearing a
bicycle helmet. Helmet use has been estimated to reduce
head injury risk by 85 percent.
The City of West University Place requires helmets for
children under the age of 14 including any side car, trailer,
child carrier, seat or other device attached to a bicycle.
Parents can be ticketed for failing to ensure that their child
wears a helmet:
https://www.municode.com/library/tx/west_university_pla
ce/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH46MO
VETR_ARTIICERE_S46-54BIHE.
Texas Children’s Hospital:
http://www.texaschildrens.org/departments/centervaccine-awareness-and-research-cvar/vaccine-facts-andmyths
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia:
http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccineeducation-center/vaccine-safety#.VvlJKeIrLmE
Boston Children’s Hospital:
http://childrenshospitalblog.org/measles-numbersmultiply-myths-linger/ and
http://childrenshospitalblog.org/british-medical-journalfurther-discredits-doctor-who-claims-autism-linked-tommr-vaccination/
Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthylifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/vaccines/art20048334
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/autism.html
West University Elementary School
3756 University Blvd., Houston, TX 77005
Phone: 713-295-5215
Fax: 713-667-8514
There has been much controversy over the last few years
surrounding the issue of vaccinations for young children
and an alleged link to autism.
Last year about this time, there was an interesting Letter to
the Editor in The Houston
Chronicle from Dr. Mark Kline,
Physician-in-Chief,
Texas
Children's
Hospital,
J.S.
Abercrombie Professor and
Chairman, and Dr. Ralph D.
Feigin, Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of
Medicine
about
this
issue:
http://www.chron.com/opinion/letters/article/Thursdayletters-Irrefutable-evidence-6173481.php#comments.
We’re on the Web!
visit us on the web at: www.westues.org
John T. Threet, Principal
Tracey L. Wyatt, Instructional Coordinator
Amber Pinchback, Assistant Principal
Daphne Rawlinson, Teacher Specialist
Texas Education Agency Exemplary School
Texas Education Agency Met Standard
with Academic Distinction in All Areas
Children At Risk, Ranked #2
Among All Texas Public Elementary Schools
Texas Honor Roll School
For more information from other respected hospitals and
medical organizations, please visit these websites:
It is the policy of the Houston Independent School District not to discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, handicap or
disability, marital status, religion, veteran status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression, or any other basis
prohibited by law in its educational or employment programs and activities.