Southwood Elementary

What a fun Friday here at Southwood! First, our PTO treated the students to Popcorn Friday during recess! Next was our Panther Pride assembly where we were able to recognize our recipients of November's Skill of the Month Awards for demonstrating the skill of Encouragement! Then, the first graders introduced us to December's skill, Respect, by singing us the Respect Song and our Hero Team took their oath vowing to be leaders in helping to make Southwood a great place to be! 🐾

The fifth graders along with our four/five split class showcased their hard work and dedication during the Dancing Classrooms performance today, and it paid off - they were amazing! Thank You @EnumclawSchoolsFoundation and @SouthwoodElementaryPTO for bringing this program to Southwood!

To support November's skill of the month, we launched an Encouragement Challenge where students filled out Shout-outs of encouragement to show appreciation to other students and staff who had been helpful or kind. It was very ENCOURAGING to see the posters in the gym fill up as students encouraged one another throughout the month! Way to go, Panthers!

Lunch

Meet the Staff Monday: Today, in honor of National Special Education Day (Dec 2), we are meeting our Resource Room team as well as our ILC team, Mrs. Colby, Mrs. Self, Mrs. VanHoof, Ms. Johnna, Mr. Josh, Ms. Erica and Ms. Addy! Mrs. Colby has been with Southwood for 20 years and leads our resource room team. She loves to teach and see the kids learning new things and likes that she is able to work with them year after year. In her spare time she loves to spend time with her family! Mrs. Self has been at Southwood for two years now and heads our ILC room. She worked as an interpreter and a paraeducator before coming to Southwood and she said the best thing about her job is the kids! Mrs. VanHoof has been with Southwood for 19 years and said that she loves the Southwood kids and her Southwood family (especially those ladies in the office...)! When she's not at school she enjoys hanging out with her family. Ms. Johnna has been at Southwood for 10 years and loves creating meaningful relationships with the students! In her free time she enjoys being in the great outdoors. Mr. Josh has been working in education for the last 10 years and this is his 3rd year at Southwood. He enjoys watching the kids learn new things and grow in their skills. Mr. Josh has a 5 month old at home so he doesn't have free time, but he tries to sneak in watching the Mariners and Kraken when he's able. Ms. Erica has been with Southwood since February of last year. She's got two girls and a boy and spends her spare time transporting them to their various activities. She is happy to be part of the Southwood family and is looking forward to the 2024/2025 school year! Ms. Addy is working on her 2nd year at Southwood and said her favorite thing about her job is connecting with the kids and watching them learn new things. In her former life she was a hairdresser and still enjoys doing that when she has time. Thank you, Resource Room and ILC team, for all you do for the students of Southwood!

Southwood Spotlight: We are so THANKFUL for art! Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving, Panthers!

Teacher Feature: Students in Mrs. Stuenkel's class put on their science "hats" and their gloves to dissect owl pellets. Using cooperative skills, they partnered up to explore the transfer of energy in a food chain. Using reference materials, students identified the bones and other undigested remains from the owls' diet. Despite some kiddos having a little apprehension, all students fully participated with joy and curiosity. Way to go fifth grade scientists!

Due to ongoing power and technology outages, Byron Kibler Elementary and the Birth to Five Center are closed today. All other schools are fully operational and will be open today. Open schools will run on the regularly scheduled half-day schedule. Conferences will occur at open schools only. Buses will be on normal routes. Thank you to our operation teams, first responders, and PSE workers who are still working to return operations and power to our community!

5:45 a.m. 11/22/24 UPDATE: Due to ongoing power and technology outages, Byron Kibler Elementary and the Birth to Five Center are closed today. Enumclaw High School, Enumclaw Middle School, Thunder Mountain Middle School, Black Diamond Elementary, Southwood Elementary, Sunrise Elementary, and Westwood Elementary are fully operational and will be open today. Open schools will run on the regularly scheduled half-day schedule. Conferences will occur at open schools only. Buses will run on normal routes. Thank you to our operation teams, first responders, and PSE workers who are still working to return operations and power to our community! ...... 4:10 p.m. 11/21/24 : We are continuing to monitor the ongoing impact of this weather event closely. Currently, we have five school sites back up and running: Enumclaw High School, Enumclaw Middle School, Sunrise, Southwood, and Birth to Five. We will continue to assess conditions throughout the night and early morning. Any delays or closures will be communicated by 6:00 AM. School conferences that had to be canceled this week will be addressed by each school once they reopen. Thank you for your understanding, and please stay safe. ..... 5:54 a.m. 11/21/24: Due to ongoing power outages across the Enumclaw School District, all schools are closed today (Thursday, November 21, 2024), and all activities are canceled. Thank you to our operation teams, first responders, and PSE workers working to return operations and power to our community!

Due to widespread power outages and road debris across the Enumclaw School District, all schools are closed today (11/20/24), and all activities are canceled. Thank you to our facilities and grounds teams, first responders, and PSE workers working to return operations and power to our community!

5:00 p.m. 11/20/24: We are closely monitoring the ongoing impact of this weather event on our district and community. While we remain hopeful that power will be restored and roads and facilities will be operational by morning, we will reassess conditions throughout the night and early morning. Any delays or closures will be communicated by 6:00 AM. Thank you for your understanding, and please stay safe.

5:55 am 11/20/24 UPDATE: Due to widespread power outages and road debris across the Enumclaw School District, ALL SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED TODAY, and all activities are canceled. Thank you to our facilities and grounds teams, first responders, and PSE workers working to return operations and power to our community! ......... 11/19/24: Due to widespread power outages and road debris across the Enumclaw School District, all schools will operate on a two-hour delay tomorrow (11/20/24). Birth to Five families will receive additional information related to programming in a follow-up message. Please note there will be no out-of-district transportation. Buses will run on normal routes. We appreciate your understanding and patience as we work to ensure the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and families. 

Attention Panther Community: Picture retakes are Wednesday! Please be sure to bring your original picture order back to exchange for your new ones. And, if you have not made an order yet or were absent on the original picture day, you can order online by going to https://mydorian.com/order/ or by bringing your order form and payment with you to retakes.

Reminder: November 21 - 27 are half days with early release times for school conferences. Elementary schools release at 12:15 pm.

During a recent field trip with the third graders, I witnessed a wonderful moment when a group of boys invited one of their classmates to join them as they explored together. In a world that can sometimes feel overwhelming, it was truly heartwarming to see such genuine kindness. Their thoughtful gesture not only brightened their classmate's day, but also inspired others to follow their lead. It's a beautiful reminder that kindness knows no age and that together, we can foster a supportive and caring community! ~ Happy World Kindness Day!!

Meet the Staff Monday (on a Tuesday): Today, in honor of National School Psychology Week, we are meeting Ms. Woods, our school psychologist. This is Ms. Woods' fourth year working as a school psychologist, her second year in Enumclaw School District, and her first year at Southwood. She also splits her time with Sunrise Elementary. She is very excited to be a part of the Southwood team and enjoys getting to support our teachers and students in many different ways! She recently moved back to Washington from Montana, so in her spare time she loves spending time with friends and family, as well as reading and baking.

What a Fun Fake Friday here at Southwood! We had our Veterans Day Assembly today where we were able to honor some of our local veterans from the senior center as well as veteran family members of some of our students! We sang songs, listened to a bugle performance of the song Taps performed by Casey Westendorf from EHS and some of our third graders put on a performance of the book America's White Table to honor prisoners of war and missing in action soldiers. We thank you, Veterans, for your service!

Panthers, in honor of Veterans Day, please join us in wearing red, white and blue tomorrow, November 7th.

Teacher Feature: Students in Ms. Miller's first grade class practice their reading stamina every day. On Fridays, they do it with flashlights! It's an engaging way to get kids excited about books while also practicing self-control as they follow expectations about being respectful and responsible with their flashlights! Well done, Mrs. Miller's Class!

Meet the Staff Monday! Today we're meeting our Title/Lap team, Mrs. Blanchard, Ms. Terri, Ms. Rachel and Mrs. Pohlman. Mrs. Blanchard started teaching 29 years ago and is working on her 12th year at Southwood. She came here first as a 5th grade teacher and transitioned into the Title 1/LAP Reading role 8 years ago. She said the best part of her job is getting to know her students and helping them to see how much they are growing as readers! Ms. Terri is in her 21st year teaching and 10th at Southwood. She spends most of her day in the Title/Lap room and in classrooms helping out, but also supervises in our lunch room during lunch. In her spare time she is a photographer and farmer! Ms. Rachel has been helping with the Southwood PTO for the last 6 years, but decided to join us full time 3 years ago. She also spends her time in Title/Lap, in classrooms and our lunchroom. When she's not at school she's loving life as a busy sports mom. Her 3 kids are all previous or present Panthers! Mrs. Pohlman has been with the Enumclaw school district for 6 years now and is her 4th year at Southwood. She works in the Title/Lap room and helps with reading in other classrooms, as well as recess supervision. She said she truly enjoys watching all the students grow in their reading skills. She has 3 daughters (all former Panthers) and she spends most of her time outside of school watching them play sports. Thank you, Title/Lap Team, for all you do for the students of Southwood!