Welcome to Walnut Heights School! 

I am so excited to be joining this incredible community of learners! From our Early Intervention Program to our Grade 5 students; all of our specialists and our support staff...this is a special place to be! 

Teachers kicked off this school year by coming back a week early for Readers' Workshop training from staff at the Teachers College at Columbia University. This hands-on, minds-on curriculum matches students with books at the right level of challenge and promotes critical thinking in every unit. Readers Workshop is one component of our literacy program - which includes shared reading, read aloud, word work and phonics, and, of course, writing! This program and training goes hand in hand with the work teachers did last year for Writers Workshop. Our hope is that students develop a love of both reading and writing and understand the power of both as active citizens.

When you visit classrooms at Walnut Heights, you'll notice classroom libraries are rich in diverse texts; books are sorted organized in different ways - often more than one way within one library - to allow teachers to best match books to students. Our tremendous librarian, Alice Wong, keeps the school library stocked with a diverse collection where students select whatever is most interesting for them to read. We appreciate the Friends of the Library who choose to honor their child's birthday with a donation of a book. The library opens September 10th - eager readers are already waiting! Stay tuned for days when the library will be open at lunch for students to check out books or do a quiet activity!

To come to Walnut Heights is to join a community. We are able to provide the comprehensive, well-rounded program we do only with the combined efforts of school staff, our parent community, and the support of our Education Foundation, WCEF. We invite you to join us! Our PTA meets monthly; meetings alternate between morning & evening, and everyone is welcome to attend. For more information about WCEF, see https://www.wcefk12.org/. 

We appreciate your partnership with us to challenge your child to learn and grow and become an amazing, independent person! I invite you to say hello when I'm welcoming students to school in the morning or saying goodbye in the afternoon. Check our master calendar for casual, Q&A "Coffees with the Principal", periodic parent book clubs and other community events. And - you can always send an email. 

Here's to a great year of learning together!

Warmly,

Amy Romem, Principal