**windrush Parents**

**Association**

**Community Guide**

![](media/image1.png){width="4.364583333333333in" height="3.0in"}

Ver. 2001.08.08

Windrush Parents Association

What is the WPA?

the Windrush Parents Association (WPA) was created in 1999 by the
Windrush School Board of Directors. Our purpose is to build a shared
sense of community through activities that encourage positive school
spirit and help support the goals of the school:

-   Helping our kids develop their fullest academic potential

-   Encouraging a love of learning and accomplishment

-   Building self-confidence

-   Fostering a respect for individuals and the diversity of the world

-   Instilling a sense of responsibility for others

The WPA does this by sponsoring programs that enable parents, students,
faculty, and staff to collaborate, learn, and have fun together while
strengthening and supporting our community. We communicate many of our
programs by the Windrush Wire, our weekly email newsletter.

Who is the Windrush Parents Association?

Every parent and guardian at Windrush is automatically a member of the
WPA. Membership is also available to extended family members of Windrush
students, such as grandparents.

The WPA is coordinated by a group of officers who are voted in by the
membership each May. If you have any questions, ideas, or just want to
shoot the Windrush breeze, here is this year's slate of fun-lovers:

-   [President:]{.underline} Baer Tierkel

-   [Vice-President:]{.underline} Karen King

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   [Treasurer:]{.underline} Hilary Hoynes

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   [Recording Secretary]{.underline}: Jen Villeneuve

-   [Communicating Secretary]{.underline}: Helen Levay

Meetings of the WPA are held every other month at the Windrush campus
and are a great place to get projects started, discuss issues and
network with other parents. Both the faculty and administration are
represented at WPA meetings, so it is a great place to dialogue with the
Windrush community. You can always contact the WPA by sending an email
or calling any of the folks listed above.

WPA Programs

The heart of the WPA!

This year we celebrate the 25^th^ anniversary of Windrush School. 25
years of helping our kids develop their fullest academic potential;
encouraging a love of learning and accomplishment; building self
confidence; fostering a respect for individuals and the diversity of the
world; and instilling a sense of responsibility for others. This is a
great time for all of our kids, parents, faculty, and staff to celebrate
Windrush! It is the involvement of the entire community, both in and out
of the classroom, that keeps the Windrush community thriving. One of the
WPA's most cherished goals is to have every parent and child involved.

WPA programs are focused on strengthening our community. Ours are
programs where we can share ideas and cultures, make new friends, help
and depend upon each other, and improve the world around us. This year
we are excited to add opportunities for our kids, parents, faculty, and
staff to work together to help those in our community who need our help
the most --homeless and elderly people, the environment, and animals.
The WPA will be working with local organizations on these programs where
Windrush families can feel the wonder, and the calluses, of working hard
to help others.

WPA programs are initiated and run by Windrush parents. Our programs are
supported by parents who do what they can, joining in with our kids,
faculty, staff, and extended community. Coordinating or assisting with
WPA programs counts toward your community hours, but just attending an
existing group does not.

It is [you]{.underline} and your involvement that keeps the Windrush
community thriving. Are you interested in helping with any of these
programs? If so, check the appropriate box on the volunteer form or give
us a call. Also, don't forget to come to the WPA meetings and have your
ideas, issues, and concerns heard!

Below is a catalogue describing our WPA programs. Next to each program
name is the parent who chairs the committee that runs that particular
program---the person to call. With so much to do, it sometimes takes us
a while to sift through volunteer forms, so if you'd like to help out or
have a new idea, please, don't sit by the phone, call a committee chair
or any of the WPA officers. We want to hear from you.

**Windrush Wire** (Helen Levay) -- The Wire is a weekly email sent to
all WPA members that serves as the WPA's primary communication tool. Any
Windrush family can contribute to the Wire. It's a great place to ask
for advice, post a garage sale, coordinate a car pool, share
child-rearing ideas, etc. Please make sure that the WPA has your current
email address! You can contribute your item to the Wire anytime by
sending an email with your content to Helen Levay.

**WPA Website** (Baer Tierkel/Karen King) - The WPA Website is part of
the overall Windrush website. Our goal is to provide a single portal to
information about the WPA. This is the place to come for up-to-date
information on WPA programs, minutes from WPA meetings, the school
directory, and an archive of the Windrush Wire.

**WPA Meetings** (Jen Villeneuve) -- WPA meetings are open to all
Windrush families. They are held every other month. This is the place to
get a program started, discuss issues, and have your voice heard. You
will always find the WPA officers, Windrush director and a
representative from the faculty in addition to many Windrush parents at
the WPA meetings. Please come and give us your ideas and counsel!

**Classroom Liaison Program** (Open) -- Each class at Windrush has a
parent who is a liaison between the class and the WPA. This important
program ensures every class at Windrush is part of the network of
programs that nurture and support our community.

**e-Communities** (Karen King) -- This year we will have e-communities
set up for each class. These are private web pages set up on Yahoo where
parents can organize group activities, compare notes on the latest bug
going around, support class events, and celebrate class milestones. It's
a great way, too, for parents to communicate with each other!

**Friday Lunch Program** (Natalie Lenz-Acuña) - The lunch program at
Windrush is a time-honored tradition! Your children can have a
nutritious and delicious lunch delivered to them every Friday. Yes, this
is a program for parents as well as children -- no more lunch making on
Fridays! These programs can always use volunteers!

**Pizza Day**

**Viva Burrito Day**

**Americana Day**

**Mama Mia Spaghetti Day**

**Asian Celebration Day**

**All School Picnic** (TBA) -- October 14^th^ brings us the All-School
Picnic -- a fall tradition. Held on the Windrush campus, this is a great
way to reconnect with the Windrush Community on what is always a
beautiful day of fun and surprises! This year was a special celebration
for the 25^th^ anniversary of Windrush. Helping with the picnic is a
great way to kick off the new year and reacquaint you with all the
families. Give Beth a call and join in the fun!

**New Family Welcome Dinner** (TBA) -- In September the board of
directors and the WPA welcome new families to Windrush at a wonderful
spaghetti dinner in the world famous Windrush Café.

**Solano Stroll** (Patti Barni) -- The Solano Stroll is one of the most
wonderful family events in the East Bay. Windrush began a tradition in
2001 with an information table and Windrush students and parents walking
in the parade -- tossing candy to the sidelines! Be sure to come out
donning your Windrush garb!

**Spring Sing Picnic** (Open) -- You know it is spring when the Windrush
voices take to the air. Before the sing the WPA sponsors a family picnic
in anticipation of the return of our perfect weather!

**Kite Festival** (Darril dela Torre) -- April brings us the Windrush
Kite Festival. Students spend the week prior perfecting their kites.
Families then converge on Cesar Chavez Park at the waterfront in
Berkeley to go fly a kite! The highlight for the kids is a candy-drop!

**Staff Appreciation Program** (Open) -- Where would we be if not for
the dedication, vision, and love of the Windrush faculty and staff? In
the spring Windrush families thank the Windrush staff with a lunch of
tasty home-cooked treats. Throughout the year we also organize small,
but heartfelt thank-yous for the Windrush faculty and staff such as free
Windrush shirts and other goodies.

**Book Fair** (Jean Reynolds) -- Support the Windrush Library by
attending this wonderful Book Sale in the fall.

**Windrush Family Camp Week** (Tom Hoynes) -- The WPA will be
coordinating an annual week at Berkeley's Tuolumne Family Camp in the
summer of 2002 for Windrush families.

**New Family Buddy Program** (Natasha Beery) -- As new families join the
Windrush community, the New Family Buddy Program gives each new family a
direct connection with an existing Windrush family. New Family Buddies
are assigned in the spring after the admission process is complete.

**Community Service** (Baer Tierkel) -- An important aspect of Windrush
is our commitment to our larger community. Throughout the year Windrush
students and families participate in projects that help the elderly,
economically disadvantaged, or physically challenged people in our
community as well as animals and our environment. If you have ideas for
community service programs that Windrush can help, give Baer a call.

**Family Support Network** (Jen Villeneuve) - Windrush families support
each other informally in a multitude of ways.  However, when a family
goes through\
a crisis that goes beyond the day-to-day challenges we all face, the WPA
has created a more formal mechanism to lend support.   The family
support network organizes support starting with the individual class and
moving on to the greater Windrush community, as appropriate.

**Parent Education Forum** (Open) -- The Parent Education Forum works
with other independent schools in the East Bay to bring interesting
speakers and panel discussions focused on issues that are common to the
Windrush Community. Recent topics have included safety skills for
children, diversity, etc. Let us know your ideas for topics or if you
know a great speaker on a relevant topic for the Windrush community.

**Windrush Store** (Ida Baldonado) -- The Windrush store is where you
get your beautiful Windrush sweatshirts, t-shirts, hats, mugs, decals,
wooly pullovers, and other Windrush logo items. Besides keeping you
warm, this is a great way of showing your Windrush spirit to the
community.

**SchoolPop/eScrip** (Jen Villeneuve) -- This group works with the
Windrush development office to rally WPA families into Schoolpop and
eScrip. These programs can generate over \$50,000/year for the school
with no extra expense for participants. Sign up now! Yes, sign up your
grandparents, friends and colleagues too! (www.schoolpop.com and www.
escrip.com.) It's safe and powerful for our school! [There is no reason
every parent should not be enrolled in these programs.]{.underline}
SchoolPop and eScrip are a great way to turn your everyday shopping into
\$\$\$ for Windrush!

**Running Group** (Julie Rogers) -- For those Windrush families who are
avid runners, this group gets together throughout the year for runs
through the community.

**Astronomy Group** (Open) -- Reach for the stars! Join Windrush
families to gaze and study all of the galaxies out there.

**Dust Devils Bike Rides** (Open) -- This group is for all bike riders
of all abilities! 3-4 rides are scheduled throughout the year at various
sites in the East Bay.

**Windrush at the Ballpark** (Open) -- Nothing like a day at the
ballpark for sun, fun, and a win for the home team!

**Ice Skating Afternoon** (Hilary Hoynes) -- One day each year Windrush
families converge on the Berkeley Iceland for an afternoon of ice
skating.

**Bowling Afternoon** (Catherine Cheyette) -- The Albany Bowl gets to
see the power of the Windrush bowlers for an afternoon each winter.

Are there more interests out there? Come on down to a WPA meeting and
get an interest group started!