Willow Springs School District

Due to miles of county roads still covered in snow and ice, there will be no school in Willow Springs on Thursday, January 18.

Lady Bears Game tonight at Salem!!!

There will be no school on Monday, January 15th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Reminder!✨ The Willow Springs School District is teaming up with other area SCA schools to take part in the Change for Change Challenge that will benefit the work of a local non-profit, Fields of Dreams Uganda that is headquartered in Cabool. During the month of January, all classes and grade levels across our district will be collecting change that will be used to assist with educational scholarships at FoDU's partner schools in Uganda. There will be an overall SCA winning school district and then our school district will do a winning grade level per building! Read the flyers below for more information.

It’s #TeacherProud and #BearProud Tuesday! Willow Springs is excited to join other school districts across the region in celebrating teachers and district staff on the second Tuesday of each month. Our nominees for the month of January are: 🐻 Courtney Foster - Willow Springs Elementary School Computers Teacher 🐻 Kayla Drake - Willow Springs Middle School STEM Teacher 🐻 Andrea Simandl - Willow Springs Middle School SPED Teacher 🐻 Russell Jackson - Willow Springs High School Math Teacher 🐻 Ethan Leighty - Willow Springs Schools Head Maintenance Congratulations to this month's recipients, we are so grateful for all the hard work and dedication you give to our district and students! #OneWillow

January 2024 Regular Session Board Meeting https://youtube.com/live/8QKPlPMwRE8?feature=share

On Friday, students in Mrs. Solik's class enjoyed the snow by collecting snowflakes on construction paper and looking at them with microscopes!❄️ #OneWillow

Mrs. Dowden's 5th grade math students recently played The Unfair Game and LOVED it! ✨ The prizes in the mystery bags were definitely random. They had potatoes (surprisingly popular), chicken hats, rubber ducks, candy, chips, flamingo pens, Ramen noodles, toothbrushes, and much more! #OneWillow

Mrs. Lewis' 5th grade science students recently learned about electrical circuits!🔋⚡️ #OneWillow

❄️ Inclement Weather Reminders! ❄️ With the possibility of inclement weather approaching, here are a few reminders: • If you are a parent or guardian in the district, you will receive a call, text, and email informing you of any weather-related closures, bus route changes, or schedule changes. Please ensure your contact information is correct in your parent portal account. • The district will also place a pop-up message on our website at www.willowbears.com, send out a notification through the Willow Bears App (free for anyone to download in the Apple and Google Play stores), and post on the district's social media pages. Make sure your push notifications are on in the Willow Bears App - to do this, open the app and select "menu", then click "settings", then you will click "push notifications" and select each building you would like notifications for. • The district will also share closure information with area radio and television stations, but please rely on district channels as your primary source. You will be informed as soon as a decision is made. We always work to make the best decision in the most timely manner with safety as a top priority.

Please help us welcome our next new teacher feature, Mrs. Earls! About Mrs. Earls: "I served as a paraprofessional in the elementary building for ten years before becoming the 6th-grade Writing teacher in Willow Springs for eight years. I left the district these past two years to teach online before deciding to return! Teaching is my passion, and I am delighted to be your teacher this year!" Welcome back to Bear Nation Mrs. Earls, we're so glad you're here!🐻 #OneWillow

The Willow Springs School District would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Paul family for their generous donation to the Willow Springs High School Career and Technical Education Programs! Roland "Pig" and Donna Paul moved to Willow Springs from Iowa in the 1960's and established a Pork Plantation which operated for roughly 30 years. The couple were big proponents of agriculture in many aspects. The family felt Pig and Donna would be happy with this donation to promote students in the many opportunities that Career Tech Education offers. The generous donation will benefit all of our CTE programs. "The entire Paul family have been lifelong supporters of Willow Springs and our hometown school," said Superintendent Dr. Marty Spence. "This incredibly generous donation will absolutely give the kids in our community the resources to succeed. Bear Nation is humbled and grateful to carry on the Paul legacy." #OneWillow

Join our team!🐻 The Willow Springs High School is looking for a 9th Grade Physical Science Teacher for the 2024-25 school year. • The successful candidate will demonstrate knowledge of the content area, research-based instructional strategies, and technology, as well as possess strong communication and collaboration skills. For more information or to apply, visit this link: https://willowspringsschool.tedk12.com/hire/ViewJob.aspx?JobID=119 #OneWillow

Happy New Year! 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣ Reminder, tomorrow is a teacher work day and classes will resume on Wednesday, January 3rd.

The elementary library had some very special guest readers come read a Christmas book to first through fourth grade students! Thank you to Coach Bunch, Coach Colley, Officer Cunningham, Mr. and Mrs. Gum, Dr. Johnson, Coach Miller, Coach Payne, Dr. Spence, Officer Turnbull, and Mr. Webb for giving the students so much of your time. The students enjoyed the visits very much! #OneWillow

Students in Mrs. Eden’s 8th grade English class recently created an Anne Frank Museum! Each group was assigned a person from the Frank Secret Annex and an artifact. Students had to recreate the artifact and provide research on the person and artifact. Students showcased their projects during Bear Time and had other classes and teachers visit them and ask questions! #OneWillow

Mrs. Solik’s 4th grade class recently became published authors!📖 Each student wrote from the point of view of a turkey who was going to be eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. The kids had to persuade their reader to choose another dish/food of some kind to eat instead. The students got to be silly while also working on their persuasion skills through their writing. Each of Mrs. Solik's students received their own personal copy of the book that they all worked together to write. Mrs. Solik says she is so proud of them and all of their hard work! #OneWillow

Students in Mrs. Lewis’ 5th grade science classes recently took their knowledge of how energy transfers from object to object to make scientific observations in a toy car collision lab!🚗 #OneWillow

Mr. Wilson's 7th grade students recently wrote and illustrated a children's book!📖 They then visited Preschool, Kindergarten, and 1st grade classes to read their stories! #OneWillow

Merry Christmas Bear Nation!❤️💚 #OneWillow