The staff at Willapa Elementary is planning to create a pumpkin patch on the back playfield for students to visit and pick out a pumpkin to take home.  This is something we have done in past years and is enjoyable for our students.  In order for this to happen, we need your help.  If you or someone you know is a local gardener with spare pumpkins, we are looking for donations.  We would gladly take pumpkins or gourds of any size or color for our Willapa Elementary Pumpkin Patch.  If you would like to donate, please contact Willapa Elementary at (360) 942-4850 or email loris@willapavalley.org.  We can arrange for a staff member to come to your location to pick-up pumpkins or set-up a drop-off time at school.  Pumpkin donations are needed by Tuesday, October 27th.

Each student in preschool through fifth grade will have the chance to visit the Willapa Elementary Pumpkin Patch on Thursday, October 29th.  To provide staff time to set-up the school playfield for this event, the gates to the playground at Willapa Elementary will remain locked on the evening of Wednesday, October 28th.

We are also looking for donations of plastic shopping bags to help students take items home from special events (pumpkin patch, book fair, holiday store, ect.)  If you have extra plastic bags, we would gladly take them.

Thank you,

Willapa Elementary Staff

We will be kicking off School Safety Week on Friday, October 9 with a Fire Safety Assembly from the Raymond Fire Department for our kindergarten through second grade students.  Then, during the week of October 12-16 Willapa Elementary will be practicing safety drills and doing daily discussions with our students and staff following the schedule below:

Monday:  Schoolwide Fire Drill

Tuesday:  Schoolwide ALICE Discussion - ALICE is the training and procedures that Willapa Valley School District uses for active intruder situations.  These discussions will take place in classrooms and provide age appropriate information.

Wednesday:  Schoolwide Earthquake Drill

Thursday & Friday:  Schoolwide ALICE Evacuation Drill - As a part of this practice with students, each class will be practicing alternate ways to exit classrooms on Thursday and taking a walk to our school's reunification location on Friday. 

More information about ALICE, including the teaching scripts that will be followed for the classroom discussions, can be viewed on the Willapa Elementary website.

Wednesday, October 21st and Thursday, October 22nd are Parent-Teacher Conferences.  Wednesday conferences are from 1:00-3:40 and Thursday conferences are from 1:00-5:40. If you have not signed up for a conference yet, please either reach out to your child's teacher or call the office at (360) 942-4850.

The Scholastic Book Fair will be taking over the Willapa Elementary Library from Monday, October 19th thru Friday, October 23rd.  Students will have time during the school day to shop the book fair throughout the week.  The book fair will also be open for parent and community shopping during Parent-Teacher Conferences on Wednesday, October 21st and Thursday, October 22nd.

Proceeds from the Scholastic Book Fair go directly to the Willapa Elementary Library to help purchase new library books and library materials.

With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year and no school on Friday, October 30th for a teacher in-service training day, we are trying some new events this year at Willapa.

On Thursday, October 29th we will be having a Fall Themed Learning Day for K-5 students.  Throughout the morning, students will rotate through learning stations with different teachers providing lessons/activities that center around pumpkins, leaves, harvest, and other fall concepts.  Groups will also visit the on-site school pumpkin patch on this day.

Thursday, October 29th will also be Spirit Day with the theme of wear Orange and/or Black. We will not be wearing costumes on this day.

We will have our October Student of the Month Assembly on this day at 1:35.