WEST PTC | WEST PTC CALENDAR | WEST SCHOOL | NCPS DISTRICT

The new online directory is now available! Please click here to link to our directory website, Membership Toolkit. Register and pay your $30 membership fee to gain access to the site. Your support funds our programming and events, which cost over $250 per child each year. Please contact Martha Harper at [email protected] with any questions. Paper copies of the directory will be available for an additional $5 fee. Only PTC members will gain access to the online directory.

Mark your calendar for the Virtual Open Houses next week! Grades K-2 will have their Open House on Tuesday, September 22nd and Grades 3-4 will be on Wednesday, September 23rd. We look forward to hearing from the faculty and administration on the curriculum and programming this year at West School. We typically offer our Share-A-Book program in conjunction with the Open Houses, which is the only fundraiser to support Mr. Murren and the wonderful media center at West! See below or click here to participate in Share-A-Book!

We hope you can join us for the first PTC meeting of the year on Tuesday, September 29th at 9:30AM.  The virtual meeting will feature updates from Superintendent Dr. Bryan Luizzi, Principal Jan Murphy and Vice Principal Ashley Furnari. There will be an opportunity for questions from families. Stay tuned for the Zoom details. We hope you can make it!

Grades K, 1 and 2

Grades 3 and 4

No School.

VIRTUAL PTC COFFEE, Tuesday, September 29th, 9:30-10:30AM

Sign ups for the Nutmeg Reading Groups will open Monday, September 21st at 8:00AM! The popular book clubs were established by the West School PTC to give kids a chance to read some top-notch, age-appropriate literature and discuss it with their friends. The groups choose their own books from the annual Nutmeg Book Award nominees. Each group is led by a parent volunteer, and will meet six times throughout the year in grade and gender specific groups. All meetings will be virtual this year with days and times agreed upon by the group. Space is limited, so mark your calendars! Click here for more information.

As in past years, we are thrilled to have confirmed volunteers to be coordinators for each of our 22 classrooms, which you can see here. As with many efforts this unusual year, the role of classroom coordinators will look a bit different than in the past. We are delaying the typical classroom coordination outreach and activities for a few weeks so that teachers can focus on implementation of the hybrid model. But stay tuned and look out for an email from your coordinators soon!

There is still time to purchase tickets for our annual Fall Family Fun Night! We will begin the fun with a week-long Westy scavenger hunt through town, and will end with a goodie-filled parade at West School. There will be funny costumes, balloons, and goodie bags! A few lucky prize winners will receive a “golden” ticket in their bag. This will be a community event that you will not want to miss! Tickets are $20 per participating child which includes admission, Westy hat and goodie bag. Click here for Westy Scavenger Hunt Rules & Riddles. Questions? Contact Natasha Coughlin and Jenn Thompson at [email protected]. To purchase tickets, click here To volunteer for this event, click here (We’re sorry, due to social distancing guidelines children will not be permitted to accompany you while volunteering at this event).

Help fill the West School library with NEW books through the Share-A-Book program! Our Library Media Specialist, Mr. Murren, continues to build an inspiring and forward-looking space for our school. Parents and caregivers can strengthen that vision by donating books during the annual Share-a-Book drive. Share-a-Book is the only fundraiser for the library at West. With every $20 donation, Mr. Murren will purchase a new book and place a book plate with your child's name inside the front cover. Please click here to donate.

A special thanks to everyone who participated so generously in our Spring virtual Book Fair. Because of you, the Media Center will be getting nearly 30 new books celebrating diversity and inclusion! These interesting books cover both topics of diversity and authors with diverse backgrounds. Each one will make an incredible addition to our beloved West School library. Thank you Mr. Murren for curating such a thoughtful collection!

Congratulations to our math stars from the 2019-20 school year and the summer of 2020! We are pausing the Mighty Math program for 2020-21. A big thank you to Trish Gracia, our West School Math Specialist, and parents Jenn Ciolli and Lauren Hansen for their awesome work on the program this past year.

Though visitors are not permitted in the building this year, there are still many ways to support our school and volunteer! You can design layouts for the memory book, support the library's share-a-book program, create our first virtual science fair, and more! We hope all parents will find an opportunity to get involved. Click here for our volunteer interest form.

The next BOE virtual meeting is Monday, September 21st at 7:00PM. The meeting agenda and prior meeting minutes are here. Questions? Please contact the West BOE representative Erica Schwedel at [email protected].

Calling all budding architects, engineers and building fanatics! Come join the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society and create a structure in your favorite New Canaan architectural style out of interlocking blocks (such as Lego or MegaBloks bricks). Kids’ creations will be displayed in local store windows throughout the month of October to celebrate October4Design - the month-long celebration of New Canaan’s architecture, art, community and design. (Don’t worry you can retrieve your child’s building at the end of the exhibit.) We have 50 baseplates to get you started on a first-come, first-served basis - one per family please! The Builder’s Challenge sign up (and free baseplates) will be available at the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society beginning September 9th. For more information, please visit: www.october4design.org or call the NCM&HS at 203-966-1776 ext 2.

Filling in the Blanks is a local non-profit organization that fights childhood hunger by providing children who qualify for the free or reduced lunch program with meals on the weekends. Through the Holiday Backpack Program, children in the FITB program will receive a new backpack filled with pancake mix, syrup, books, a toy and dental kits. For many children this might be the only items they will receive for the holiday. The order deadline is October 12th. Please consider donating an item by clicking here. If you would like to make a cash donation please click here. To learn more about FITB, please go to www.fillingintheblanks.org.

The Children's room is OPEN for appointments! Click here to book your appointment! We also have limited capacity for walk-ins. Learn more about the Library's re-opening and express service here! Please take a look at our September Virtual Family Programs including SEAM Rippers, a monthly non-fiction book club, with a paired do-at-home activity for 1st – 3rd graders. There are four paths to choose from, each a letter from SEAM: Science, Engineering, Art or Math. Register by September 11th. To learn more please click here.