Yeehaw! Kindergarten is getting ready to visit the farm! On October 21st, the kindergarten classes will visit Green Meadows Farm.  We will get to see and learn about animals and their young, pick a pumpkin, and go on a hayride! When we return, we will extend our learning by writing and reading about animals and their needs.

We would like to thank our wonderful room moms and parents who helped us have a “Pawsome” time practicing reading and math skills on our Pip the Pup Transformation Day! The kids were overjoyed and called it the best day ever!

October 31 will be our Fall Fun Day! Children may wear a storybook character costume (no masks) and we will do four fall themed rotations. 

Dear Families,

This newsletter features a picture of Mrs. Lipp’s friends on Rock Your School Day! We started the month with Rock Your School Day. This year the children dressed up as chefs and spent the day with fun-filled activities all about donuts. They finished the day with a special donut treat. On October 31, we will have Book Character Dress Up day. Start reading to help your child decide what book character to be. Our first grade students had many opportunities since school began to participate in our special area classes, and media. Be sure to ask your child which specials class is their favorite! We are so grateful to all of you… our caring WES community! We would not be able to have so many fun activities without the support of our PTO. Windermere Elementary is an amazing school due to our wonderful families!

Your First Grade Team, Mrs. Beavin, Ms. Knight, Mrs. Lipp, Mrs. Moore, and Ms. Shreves

 

🧪 Science Explorers: States of Matter

Our scientists are exploring the properties of matter:

●      We are discovering facts about the states of matter (solid, liquid, gas), exploring its key properties, and identifying the difference between physical changes and chemical changes.

🎉 Class Highlight: Transformation Day!

The students had a blast on transformation day! Thank you for helping to make this fun activity possible. We love seeing their creativity shine!

We had so much fun in third grade with our Symphony Field Trip and Jungle Transformation Day. We worked on reading informational passages and identifying key supporting details. In Math, we worked on Jungle multiplication and division word problems. We are now in the middle of our Poetry Reading unit and continuing to learn about properties of multiplication in Math. For Science, we are learning about the properties and stages of matter. Finally, in Social Studies we are continuing to learn about Geography. We look forward to our upcoming field trip to SeaWorld on December 12!

Hello Fourth Grade families!

Our safari themed room transformation was a huge success! The kids worked in groups to complete a variety of activities to help strengthen their math, reading, and science skills. Thank you SO much to parents who sent in items and helped decorate our classes and hallways. Our team is very appreciative! 

Parent conferences are coming up. This will be a great opportunity to meet and discuss your child’s progress so far. Please use the sign up genius link, sent out by your child’s teacher, to select a date/time. We’re looking forward to talking with each of you!

Please help remind your child that they should be using strategies on their math and reading homework. We reinforce this daily in the classroom. Homework will not be accepted without these strategies. Thanks for your help from home!

Building stamina is one of our focuses for writing this year! As we plan and write our first essays, it’s important that students learn how to synthesize information from sources, cite text evidence, and elaborate on it. Our first essay is about how animals communicate! Feel free to ask your writers about what they’ve learned from the sources we’ve read! 

Hello 5th Grade Families!

I can’t believe we’ve reached the end of the first quarter! Report cards will be sent home Oct. 23.  

 

In math, we are working on volume, multiplying whole numbers, and multiplying decimals. Khan Academy is a great resource that is aligned with the Florida BEST standards that has both video tutorials and practice problems for each unit.   

 

In science, we are learning about space. Field trip forms for Kennedy Space Center need to be returned asap. Please reach out to your teacher directly if you would like to chaperone and make sure you fill out the annual OCPS Additions form which can be found on the OCPS website, and the Windermere Elementary website.

 

In ELA, we moved on to our nonfiction unit. We are focusing on identifying the author's claims and central ideas as well as finding relevant details that support those claims and central ideas. We continue to focus on morphology as well. Students have a morphology dictionary in their binders that we add to each week. They should be studying that sheet regularly. 

We are looking forward to a great second quarter. 

 

Thanks for all of your support, 

5th Grade Team

Students in 3rd-5th grades are working on their self-portraits and 2nd grade is completing their collage cityscapes. First grade is painting their Paul Klee cats. Kindergarteners are cutting, gluing, and painting to make a scary shark.

Art can be messy! Please dress accordingly so clothes don’t get ruined.  

Congratulations to the Mustangs whose poems were chosen for the 2025 Young American Poetry Digest! Dylan Ekins, Jake De Leon, Adyanth Mukkera, Joanna Strickland, Nora Sewell, Nina Zyzanski, and Vera Astrup! We are so proud of you!

🎶 Welcome to Mrs. Frank's Music Class! 🎶

Hello, wonderful families! This week in music class, we took a wild adventure into the jungle for Rock Your School Day! Our music room was transformed into a vibrant jungle where every grade explored exciting musical activities that made learning fun and interactive. Let’s dive into all the musical magic that happened and what’s coming up next!

For Rock Your School Day, the music room became a jungle paradise! Kindergarteners explored a variety of percussion instruments, learning to identify and play them while moving to the music with colorful scarves and using their singing voices. First graders started reading, writing, and playing rhythms, plus they enjoyed moving with scarves and a parachute while playing instruments. Second graders sang and played more complex accompaniments on our Orff instruments, all while connecting music to stories. Our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders focused on melody, the musical scale, the music alphabet, and practiced performing rhythms using our super cool light-up drumsticks. What a fantastic week of musical growth!

Next week, we’re celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with music and movement activities from various Hispanic countries! Students will get to experience the rich rhythms and dances that make this culture so vibrant and inspiring. Get ready for some lively beats and colorful celebrations in our music room!

This week the news from Mrs. Tidmus is WHERE ARE THE ANIMALS!

Many students have been asking about the animals--where are they and most importantly--Can we take them home?!? Yes, you can check out an animal for the weekend. They are now living in Room 306 and being cared for by the lovely Zoo Crew!!! Parents, you can message me through email or Parent Square to reserve an animal. Or you can use the form attached. A hard copy is available in front of Room 306, down from the Art Room. These animals need your love! Lynn.tidmus@ocps.net

Tech Week: Thank you to all the families who made the 2025/2026 Tech Week such a huge success. Because of YOUR generous donations and the support of our local community, the Mustang Education Fund was able to raise a little over $40,000. We’ll soon be sharing exciting updates about new technology and programs that the fund is helping to bring to life, so stay tuned for more details!

Newsroom Upgrades: The Newsroom makeover is underway! All equipment has been ordered, and we are waiting for a confirmed installation date. We can’t wait to share the new space our student reporters will get to utilize. 

Spirit Nights: Save the date for a Spooky & Sweet Spirit Night at West Orange Creamery. Tentatively scheduled for October 23rd from 4-7:00 PM. Details will be sent home the week of 10/13.