The Wesley School 2021 Fall Newsletter

Fall Newsletter 2021 Excerpts from...

Student Philanthropy

The Deans' Den

A Message from the Head of School

Wesley families have already donated close to 100 bags of food! In addition, students in grades k-4 are learning about kindness, being grateful, and giving to others during Character Corner this week by coloring anonymous cards to be included in the distributed bags of food for the Pantry.

The 2nd graders are busy creating “All About My Culture” flip-books, highlighting the wonderful range of family cultures among the students, with different languages spoken, special food and celebrations, and wonderful family traditions.

We are fully utilizing our enhanced Student Support Services, grateful to have our middle school Learning Specialist, our School Counselor, and our SEL Instructor to work with our students. We are also refining and redoubling our anti-racism and social justice efforts across the board.

IN THIS ISSUE

3 A Message from the Head of School 11 Development Office Update Tammy Rodriguez & Dyllan Fernandez Julie Galles

4 The Deans' Den (Band Level News) 12 Admissions News Verena Denove & Lindsey Drasin Joey Campanella, Michelle Allegra,

Elizabeth Heneveld, LeLoni Bass, &

George Eleftheriades

13 Communications Update Lindsey Drasin & Sarah Francis 6 CODI Corner

Traci Allen

14 Student Philanthropy Carol Martson 7 Board of Trustees News

David Monahan

15 The Wesley Holiday Market 8 Parents' Association Update

Marissa Seeman

16 Campus Kudos 10 Coach's Corner JoAnn Neil

A Message from the Head of School

Dear Wesley Community It seems as if our current late fall weather is representative of how we are moving through the first trimester. We’ve had hot, sunny days, cool, cloudy days, and even a day or two of rain. Similarly, we have enjoyed wonderful teaching and learning happening every day and have also spent time discovering areas we need to remediate or work on as the effects of the pandemic experience emerge.

One of the most exciting progressions over the first three months of school has been the chance to welcome more people to campus. Parent volunteers are serving hot lunch and have decorated the campus, outside vendors are offering in-person enrichment classes in our after school program, and we have spectators for our athletic events. We have also reinstituted the long cherished tradition of Mornings on The Commons and look forward to the future when we can expand it to include all parents every day.

Consistent with our theme of Discovery and based on what we are seeing in students, we are paying special attention to several areas of our program. We are fully utilizing our enhanced Student Support Services, grateful to have our middle school Learning Specialist, our School Counselor, and our SEL Instructor to work with our students. We are also refining and redoubling our anti-racism and social justice efforts across the board. Finally, we are inviting our parent population into the learning with a series of parent education events.

All in all, Wesley strives to offer true learning opportunities for everyone.

In this newsletter, you will read exciting updates from various offices, the Board, and the Parents’ Association. The entire Wesley School team, whether employees or volunteers, is pulling strongly in the same direction with enthusiasm and dedication. I am humbled and grateful to be at the helm.

Wishing you all a wonderful season of holidays, Julie Galles Interim Head of School

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The Deans' Den Band Level News

As we wrap up the first trimester of the school year, everyone on campus–the teachers, administrators, and students– continue to embrace the collective thrill of being together at school. And it has been a busy trimester with a range of highlights from across all four grade bands.

In Kindergarten, Mrs. Mottaz and Ms. Anderson’s class performed brilliantly in Community, demonstrating their boundless imagination. Additionally, they enjoyed creating Identity Icebergs with which they explored things that are visible and invisible in all of us and learned about getting to know each other in order to find those invisible parts. They also played the game “Identity Guess Who” during their Social Justice time, discovering teachers’ unique identities.

It’s that special time of the year for 1st grade Friendship Soup! In preparation for this Wesley tradition and celebration, 1st grade students and teachers experienced a fun and informative “field trip to the farm,” courtesy of parent Rachel Crane, who shared all about her family’s farm life in Kansas, harvesting crops and turning them into the food we eat!

The 2nd graders are busy creating “All About My Culture” flip-books, highlighting the wonderful range of family cultures among the students, with different languages spoken, special food and celebrations, and wonderful family traditions. The 2nd grade students are also hard at work preparing their realistic fiction stories to take to publication.

The talented 3rd grade students have been discussing identity in their Social Justice curriculum and developing their map skills in Social Studies. The teachers are so proud of their students’ ongoing hard work, notably in increasing their stamina in reading and writing.

In 4th grade, Ms. Johnson and Ms. Tutundzhyan’s class is deep into their Hispanic Heritage Project, and Mrs. Williams and Mr. Lange’s class is focusing on the wonderful range of diversity in California, both units aligning directly with our theme of the month–Diversity. The students have also been all over campus, equipped with tape measures and clipboards, as they dive into their math project focusing on calculating the area of various spaces, including the Sport Court!

And in 3rd and 4th grade science with Mrs. Salazar, students are learning about germs and the importance of washing their hands (quite a pertinent topic these days!), the wonders of the weather, and animal and plant adaptations.

The Deans' Den Band Level News

In 5th grade English, the focus is on the genre of historical fiction and the form of story structures. Students are exploring the different parts of a plot, as well as character development and varying narrative structures, and applying these concepts to their next text, Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson, which follows the story of a young woman caught in the middle of the Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia in the late 1700s. In the next 5th grade Social Studies unit, students will learn about the Age of Exploration and the early colonies of North America, and explore questions like “How did the exploration of the Americas lead to settlement?” and “What happens when cultures collide during the pursuit of settlement?”

It’s been very busy in the exciting world of 6th grade Humanities with the students reading, writing, and analyzing the mystery genre. To complement the exploration of “Whodunits,” 7th grade parent and author, Phillip Mottaz, visited the classroom to discuss his writing process with the students–it was a stimulating conversation! Shifting to geography, students created games to bolster their understanding of latitude and longitude, and in History they classified and examined trash from a midden (a dunghill or refuse heap!) to understand how historians learn about the past. They are ending the trimester by analyzing the gravesites in the mystery cemetery, using observation and inference to determine who is buried in each grave.

Last but, of course, not least, our 7th and 8th grade students are gearing up for their trimester 1 exams for their core academic classes. They are feeling the pressure but, with the support and guidance of their teachers, are well prepared! Kudos to our 8th grade Mock Trial team that advanced to the final ten teams in the county-wide program with more than 50 schools! And just to add a bit more to their already very full plates, the 8th grade students have been very busy with high school applications, campus visits, and interviews. We are extremely proud of our senior students who are impressively managing their substantial school responsibilities along with the pressure of the high school application process.

I know we are all looking forward to the Thanksgiving break, and the faculty, staff, and I wish you all a wonderful and restful holiday with loved ones. We will hit the ground running when we return to campus on November 29th to start Trimester 2! You can expect Trimester 1 report cards the second week of December. Happy Thanksgiving!

Joseph Campanella, Associate Head for Program, & Your Band Level Deans

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CODI Corner With Thanksgiving steadily approaching, I think it’s important to acknowledge all the things I am grateful for. I am grateful for being a community member at a school that values diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.

Teachers work diligently to ensure that the curriculum is inclusive. We pride ourselves on adhering to the social justice curriculum and the Social Justice Standards. I am thankful that we value anti-bias pedagogy and educating the whole child. The Wesley School recognizes that allowing students to develop a deeper awareness of their identities creates students that are equipped to embrace the differences and perspectives of others, delight in the joys of learning, and make good choices. As teachers and parents, we strive to teach our students life’s lessons, provide the best advice, and cheer on and support them from the sidelines. With all our efforts, we still at times come up short. It’s important to acknowledge that our students are human beings just like us. They will make mistakes. I am grateful to be in a community that provides support to students when they do make mistakes. This is a community that also seeks to repair hurt when harm is done. We want to illuminate and amplify the voices of those who may feel voiceless. The Wesley School wants students, families, faculty, and staff to feel seen.

I am grateful for how the Wesley Community has come together to speak honestly and openly about the painful racial incident that happened in our community some weeks ago with middle school students offcampus. Members of the community shared personal narratives and talked about our plans to move forward at the Wesley Community Forum two weeks ago. Parents, faculty, and staff spoke courageously, listened with intention, and communicated with care. This was an emotional and invigorating conversation that had to be spoken. I am thankful for the response from the Senior Administration and my colleagues who facilitated these conversations. Middle school students engaged in conversations about race and spoke to the impact of racism. There is much dialogue happening around the country centered on race, gender, ethnicity, class, and sexuality. These conversations are inevitable because of student growth and development. Growth happens for students when they begin to make connections between their inner circle/life and the greater world. We have work to do. We must do our part in school, in our workplaces, in our homes, and in our communities.

Members of the DEIJ Committee will be presenting to the faculty and staff on December 17th. Our conversations will center on microaggressions in the workplace. We will have large group discussions, small group facilitations, and role-playing activities. We are eager to begin work with the faculty and staff. This presentation is a continuation of conversations that we had in the Spring. The committee welcomes a new member, Jenn Allen, who will be a fantastic addition to the committee. Several members of the committee will be attending PoCC (People of Color Conference) in December. This year’s theme - Reckoning with Impacts, Rolling with Just Intent - is sure to be memorable and thought-provoking.

CODI is currently working to schedule Ruby Bridges, the civil rights icon, to visit with Wesley students in March. March is Women’s History Month, and we would be honored to have Ruby share her history, knowledge, and advice to students regarding social justice and activism.

I’m very excited for what the new year will bring. I hope the holiday season brings you joy, peace, connection, and invigoration.

Traci Allen Coordinator of Diversity and Inclusivity

Board of Trustees News

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(In case you missed our Fall Update!)

Dear Wesley Parents and Guardians: The Wesley Board of Trustees would like to share an update on what we've been up to this fall. Just as students have been shaking off the rust, digging into their work, settling into familiar routines, embracing the new normal and looking forward to the year ahead, the Board of Trustees has been doing much of the same.

We concluded the day with a review of the Board Self-Assessment Survey to focus on our own growth edges. Lastly, Julie presented her Head of School goals for the 21-22 school year, which were a product of her own reflections and her performance review which was conducted over the summer by the Executive Committee.

Overall, it was an extremely fruitful day that got us into a team oriented, goal focused mindset. I'm very fortunate and very grateful to be surrounded by such talented, compassionate individuals who give an enormous amount of their time and energy to Wesley and offer needed and highly valued skills to our community. Special shout out to Jenny Hollier who attended the retreat and gave birth to her third child a week later. Welcome, Olly!

We successfully planned and completed our first Mock Board Meeting in early September to help familiarize new Trustees with the cadence of our monthly meetings before they began. During this Zoom event, freshman members were given the opportunity to run through a 'case study' agenda and ask questions about the process and procedure of our sessions.

Bear with me, I'm almost done…

This set the table for a successful Board retreat on Saturday, September 18th where the entire Board and the Senior Administration gathered to reconnect, be inspired, and dedicate themselves to the year ahead. Although it's technically referred to as a 'retreat', there's really nothing retreat-y about it outside of a nice lunch courtesy of Harvest Moon. A more apt name might be the Board 'boot camp'.

Trustees, along with our Interim Head of School and the Senior Admin team, spent the day in the Social Hall contemplating Wesley's past, present and future through a variety of team building activities, in-depth discussions, and PowerPoint presentations. A LOT of PowerPoint presentations – this group loves a slide deck. We kicked things off by grounding ourselves in the school's mission, which sits at the heart of all our decision making. Then we conducted a group SWOT analysis to highlight our institution's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, before moving on to a thoughtful dissection of our current Long Range Plan, which wraps up this year, and a podcast reflection on Our Role as Trustees. And that was all before lunch!

Ten days after the retreat, we had our first Board meeting of the year and got right to work, evaluating and approving the Fall budget update, setting Trustee expectations for Annual Giving, voting on our Committee Chairs and discussing Admissions, Development, Finance and Head of School Reports. All this is to say, we're off and running and looking forward to a successful year partnering with Julie, Senior Administration, and the entire Wesley Community.

If you're interested in the work of the Board, please consider getting involved and join a committee that appeals to your skills and interests. Each year, we look to members of our community to fill positions on the Board as current Trustees wrap up their term of service. In addition, if you have a question, please don't hesitate to reach out to any one of the Board members from across the grades and/or email us at boardoftrustees@wesleyschool.org.

All my best, Dave Monahan Your Wesley Board Chair

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Parents' Association Update It’s been four months since our kids have been back at school and I’m amazed by how quickly our community picked right back up where we left off and openly embraced the new families this year. We were all eager to have some normalcy and be together in person.

Going into this year, the PA was faced with a new set of challenges with each event. How do we bring people together in a safe way that supports our school’s COVID restrictions, but still captures the intention and experience of each event? We found ourselves stuck in the reality of a new normal of living our lives with COVID. The first day of school was the initial event of the year that had to be tailored. Last year we had a Welcome Back Parade and on-site drive-through to sneak a peek at our teachers before resuming distance learning. This year, the kids were all back full-time in the classroom, but without parents on campus. Luckily, the Back to School Fairies came to visit to ease the minds of all family members and bring excitement to an anxious day for all!

In September, we had our first Book Swap, which was a fun way for families to exchange new books. All remaining books were donated to Re-Book It which provides low cost books to libraries, hospitals, and schools.

The funds made from our donated books go back into the local community to support literacy.

With the kids being in banded cohorts at school, we were free to resume the grade level adult-only Potlucks.

While the food varied from Potluck to Potluck, the families all agreed it was nice to be back together in an intimate group setting. Thank you to the hosts and room parents for making these special events happen.

Our annual Family Picnic was back in action this year with some new and exciting changes. The usual swimming pool, tube slide, and picnic races were offered along with lanyard bead making, a silent disco, new sports games booth, and a middle school versus faculty and parents flag football game. Our highest attendance in history coupled with named tags and grade level hang-outs ensured families got to know one another. The smiles on everyone’s faces said it all!

Parents' Association Update

Last year for Halloween, the parking lot was transformed into a Haunted Lot and PA created Drive through Trick-or-Treat routes, which was a blast. Back by popular demand, but slightly tweaked we came up with a Trick-or-Treat Boos and Booze party. Nine amazing Wesley Families and Toluca Lake neighbors decked their houses and hosted over 300 people for our candy and cocktail route. The event turned out to be so much more than we imagined and we hope this will continue as a new Wesley tradition. In addition, our fabulous Halloween decorating duo Christine O’Flaherty and Dayna Turcotte, along with PA Lead Soyon Halpin, and all the parent volunteers really out did themselves making the school spooky and festive. Last but not least, the 7th and 8th graders finally had their first dance on Oct. 29th. With nearly everyone in attendance in costume, it was a monster mash fright fest.

A new party book concept we added this year was backyard grade level and banded movie nights. Chicken Little, Back to The Future, Raya, and The Adams Family 2, were all movies enjoyed by families under the stars. While the kids had a dine-in movie experience, the parents could hang out and chat. Thank you to the hosts for opening up your yards and hosting such a fun night out.

The week before Thanksgiving was a busy one indeed! The first ever Groundlings Party Book was a barrel of laughs. Our very own Stephanie Courtney, Ryan Raddatz, Laurel Coppock and Rachel Crane hosted a unique improv experience just for our community. Parents and faculty gathered at The Village Idiot before and after the show. We capped the week off with the return of Gobbler’s Feast. Over 90 Dads and Dudes showed up with aprons, spatulas, and huge smiles to serve the kids, teachers, and faculty, a BBQ lunch. PA Leader Adam Gershon and Co-Chair Steve Nolte really turned up the heat this year with burgers, hot dogs, mac n cheese, veggies, cookies, and ice cream. Holy Moly, what a FEAST! Thank you Adam and Steve for continuing to serve up a delicious lunch and fun event despite not having the volleyball game. And we truly hope all kids, Dads and Dudes had a special time together.

Over the last few months, we’ve done our best to show that the challenges of COVID could be creatively overcome. We have come together, pivoted continuously, and have shown time and time again that we are Wesley Strong!

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving as we all have so much to be grateful for. We at PA are grateful for all our parents, teachers and faculty. An extra big thank you to all the parents who have volunteered and supported us with their time and/or donations to ensure our community always has a fun list of events to attend where we make memories together.

Warmly, Marissa Seeman Your PA Chair

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Coach's Corner

On March 13, 2020, I emailed the Wesley spring sports’ parents to let them know I was confident that, with a few weeks away to contain the mysterious virus in our midst, it would still be possible to carry out a robust season in April and May of that year. Cut to: This September we finally returned to competitive sports playing against other schools. We were masked but happy. Watching the football players figure out plays and pull flags, the basketball players learn the defense and how best to make a layup, and the cross country runners lift their knees and swing their arms to get to the finish line, it felt otherworldly. We’d all been through so much in the past year and a half and no one was quite sure if school sports would be possible again. But there they were - students sweating, learning, laughing, competing. I’m verklempt just thinking about it.

The 6th through 8th grade cross country team started off the season on a hot and dusty afternoon in Glendale, ran through rain, thunder, and lightning in Cheviot Hills, and finished among oak trees beneath the hills at Paramount Ranch. Students who started off fast got faster, and those who walked at the beginning found a way to complete the two-mile distance running the entire way. A good, albeit exhausting, time was had by all.

The enthusiasm during the flag football season was palpable. Who would play quarterback? Who was hungry for a pick six? Would any team go undefeated? To that last question, the answer was no. Most teams finished their seasons about even, but the 4th and 5th grade teams were more fierce as each week passed. 6th grade surprised Chaminade with a solid victory away, 7th grade’s three losses were near wins, and 8th grade, in a blowout against AGBU, was reminded, touchdown after touchdown, why they play football in the first place.

The 4th/5th grade girls’ basketball team was, more than anything, a learning experience. But watching them during their last game follow the instructions from their coach for a zone defense or to “press,” “box out,” and “post up,” was a pleasure to see. Coach Matt’s 6th/7th grade team remains undefeated going into the championship. The girls’ have learned how to finish their layups, pass to the player with the better shot, and defend as if their lives depended on it. It’s been a winning season in ways other than actually winning.

The unoppressive autumn weather, for most contests, helped tremendously. We even had an unexpected rain out. Covid only occasionally reared its ugly head for some rescheduling. Reasons materialized everywhere for why it’s not only fun for children to play sports, but important as well. What a wonderful, if slightly unusual, fall season we had!

Happy Thanksgiving and I look forward to seeing the students for soccer and basketball after the break.

JoAnn Egan Neil Director of Athletics

Development Office Update

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Tammy Rodriguez, Director of Development

Happy Thanksgiving Break! Life at Wesley has been such a whirlwind this year that I’m especially thankful to have some time to relax a bit and reflect. As I do, I’m struck by an amazing sense of gratitude; incidentally, it’s the very things that made the semester such a whirlwind that I’m so grateful for. I started at Wesley in the Spring and could only interact with people across a screen but this semester, amid and partly thanks to the chaos, I’m grateful to have finally been able to truly meet Wesley.

The students are on campus every day and I’ve had the chance to meet their silly precocious selves as I help out around campus. (Kindergarten duty is absolutely the best part of my week and is a constant reminder of why I’m here.)

I also finally got to meet the parents face-to-face. I nobly sacrificed nine Thursday and Friday evenings to attend the class potlucks—and I would do it again in a heartbeat. (Not just because of the taco carts.) Those potlucks let me really see the “Wesley Community” that everyone speaks so highly of—and let me tell you, it absolutely lives up to the hype. I could see lifelong friendships forming and reigniting before my eyes. Then, in the last couple of weeks, those parents have been able to meet on campus on the Wesley Commons for the first time. Their unbridled enthusiasm for the return of that old Wesley tradition is palpable, and it absolutely rubs off, buoying me through my day.

That enthusiasm has carried over to fundraising as well. As I write this, we are currently on day 37 of our 100 Days of Giving campaign, and already 78% of parents have participated in the 2021-2022 Annual Fund. (Not to mention 96% of faculty, 100% of senior admin, and 100% of trustees.) For comparison, on day 37 of our last 100 Days campaign in 2019, we were at 27%. I can’t express enough how grateful I am for this incredible show of support. I also need to give a special shoutout to Kindergarten and 3rd Grade as they both reached 100% participation a few weeks ago—before day 25 of the campaign in fact.

So, as we go into Thanksgiving break, as I relax and reflect, I will count the Wesley Community toward the top of my list of things I’m thankful for. I’m sure once we come back, it will be a whirlwind once again. After all, we have the second half of the campaign, and a bevy of spring events to plan—including an in-person gala!—but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank You!

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Admissions News Verena Denove, Director of Admissions & Lindsey Drasin, Associate Director of Admissions

What a difference a year can make!! We couldn’t be more excited about being able to have visitors back on campus so we can share the magic of Wesley in person. While we feel we did pretty well last year in terms of trying to convey about Wesley to prospective parents over Zoom and through a number of drive through events and more, it’s just so darn different being able to provide on campus tours and engage with prospective students and parents in person.

The biggest difference to having on campus tours is being able to allow our guests to “peek” into the classrooms and witness what teaching looks like here at Wesley; the way our students are actively involved in their learning, the way they speak up easily due to the small class sizes, the way that teachers present content using a variety of modalities to reach different types of learners, and how happy the kids are to be here learning from teachers they love while hanging out with their friends.

In addition, there are a few holdovers from last year that we have kept and that are providing additional access points for prospective families. We created a “Virtual Lounge” on the admissions part of our website so that families can see all the various opportunities available to engage with our community. They might want to reach out to a current family via email to set up a time to meet over Zoom so that they are able to learn more about Wesley or they might decide to join us for a virtual panel to hear from parents, students, and alumni about their experiences here. These were things we created last year to broaden the ways that families could connect with us and we have continued to utilize them this year since they worked so well.

All in all, we are in the midst of open house events, visits for applicant students, interviews with prospective parents, and all that great stuff that makes up our annual admissions cycle.

Communications Update Lindsey Drasin, Director of Communications & Sarah Francis, Communications & Social Media Associate

Congratulations Wesley on completing a fun, educational, and enlightening Fall term! In the Communications/Social Media Office we have enjoyed promoting and capturing each moment, from the wonderful moments in the classrooms to the impressive big events of the Blessing of the Animals, the Halloween Parade, and the Family Picnic (to name just a few). We continue to utilize our social media platforms as a window to share these moments with the wider Wesley community, and look forward to featuring more of you as parents begin to return to our campus! If you haven't yet done so, follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more adorable content!

Download Our App HERE!

We have also worked to streamline all important information to you. Our Mobile App (available for Apple and Android products) is more user-friendly than ever, with direct access to school calendars, event details, notifications, sign-up forms, supply lists, directories, and more, right in the palm of your hand! Wondering what new and exciting things are happening at our school? Check the Wesley Weekly Email, delivered to your inbox every Sunday! There you will find a list of all events being offered that week (and the next!) along with answers to many of your burning questions. We look forward to continuing to share all the latest exciting news with you as we enter the Winter term.

Happy Holidays to all!

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Student Philanthropy

The passion to help others can be found at The next year!

Wesley School! Our student leaders have inspired others and made a huge difference in the lives of Sylvester Stewart, along with some help from his people they may never meet. mom Jessica, is leading the way for donations to help those affected by food insecurity through the Ralston Turcotte turned his love for baking into an North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry. Thanks to opportunity to help those less fortunate by creating Syl’s announcements and reminders in the Wesley Bake For Better. Bake for Better encourages families Weekly, the families of the school donated well over to bake cookies or brownies, bag them in portions of 3 250 bags of food! In addition, students in grades k-4 or 4, and attach a handwritten note to encourage the are learning about kindness, being grateful, and recipient. Ralston has headed this program for over a giving to others during Character Corner this week year and received over 300 bags of baked goods in by coloring anonymous cards to be included in the honor of Indigenous People’s Day! Be on the lookout distributed bags of food for the Pantry. for his next Bake for Better event to happen in early 2022!!!

Thank you to our student leaders and our entire Wesley community!!! Your generous hearts are Henry Mottaz led The Wesley School’s Relay for Life making an impact in the world around us and team (Wesley Warriors) to a first place finish with displaying kindness for everyone to see! donations totaling over $17,000!!!! All proceeds went to help those affected by cancer. Henry has been passionate about helping those with cancer since kindergarten, and he has already accepted the Carol Martson opportunity to serve as our student team captain again PRIDE Coordinator & Student Council Advisor

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The holidays are officially upon us, and with that comes holiday shopping. Because things are still a bit different this year, we thought we would bring the shopping to you!

We are so grateful for our greater community of local vendors and businesses; the same businesses that are essential for our economy, know their customers by name, and bring growth and innovation to our community.

This holiday season, let's show our gratitude for our friends and neighbors by supporting them in a unique Wesley shopping experience. Each vendor found HERE on our dedicated Market site is donating a percentage of their sales back to Wesley when you shop between Friday, November 19 and Sunday, November 28. All you have to do is be sure to enter (or give) the unique Wesley code at checkout, and voila, your packages will arrive in time for the holidays!

day Market li o H r u o e r Sha far & wide! word and Spread the this #shopsmall on! holiday seas

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Campus Kudos

From Mrs. Mottaz and Miss Anderson: For the first time since February of 2020, Kindergarten took the stage in Community on Wednesday October 20, 2021! The theme of the month was Imagination and these kiddos sparkled as they played the improv game, “What are you doing [with that box]?”

Kindergarteners might have approached this type of public speaking event on tiptoes at best and at worst with silence and fear. None of that was apparent as these students showed off how hard they worked and And they ended their presentation with their how much they prepared their game and song. daily affirmations: I am Smart! I am Strong! I am Brave! I am Flexible! I can Do Anything!

In Kindergarten we talked about how our process and And I Love Myself! practice were more valuable than anything that would happen in the actual presentation. We take the Remember, you are all of these things too pressure off by using our rehearsal times to focus on and we are so proud to be a part of The what we are learning by sharing ideas and speaking Wesley School. publicly. We take the time to acknowledge the pride we have in ourselves and how that should weigh more than any other outside opinion.

Miss Michelle Allegra recently visited New York City and met up with 2011 Wesley Graduate Olivia Paradise! She was thrilled to reconnect with Mrs. Sue Paradise’s daughter.

Ms. Barbara Anderson, Mock Trial coach and middle school specialist, has found a new passion in writing this past year, and she is particularly interested in memoir writing. She has recently performed with other talented female writers in her third virtual storytelling show entitled, “Based on a True Story.”

Fall Newsletter 2021

4832 TUJUNGA AVENUE

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA 91601 818.508.4542 COMMUNICATIONS@ WESLEYSCHOOL.ORG