The Monthly Mustang
The Official Newsletter for Wedgwood School Families
March 2020
Stay Connected
If you are without wifi or a laptop/tablet for your child, and have no other district-issued devices in the house (i.e. an older sibling in middle school or high school with a laptop), please contact me ASAP so that I can help get those resources in your hands.
Voicemail Access
The Kids Are Home...Now What?!?!
This is a time like no other in our lives. Whether you're a parent or guardian, a student, a teacher, or a principal, you're certainly trying to figure out new ways to accomplish most aspects of your day. In the last week, our staff has worked to turn our fifty-year-old brick and mortar school into an online center for distance learning. While our staff are reaching out daily to provide meaningful activities for and interactions with your children, the days are long when school is canceled. This unique issue of The Monthly Mustang is devoted to providing you with resources and some suggested schedules to help the days pass more productively.
It's important that we remain patient during this time. We are all utilizing technology to share and communicate in ways that we never have before. Lags and glitches are inevitable. It can seem like nothing is working as we want it to, but all parties involved are working to make it better each and every day. As a father of three school-aged children and the husband of a third grade teacher who is creating a virtual classroom culture of her own, I need to remember the importance of patience and understanding as much as anyone. Despite the challenges and worries that very naturally emerge during this time, I'm confident that the best way through it is by working together, helping one another, and remaining connected in every way we can.
Charlie Zimmerman
Principal
Wedgwood School Is Working Together!
Resources From our School Nurse and Counselor (UPDATED March 20)
Mrs. White, our school counselor, is always available to support your child’s social and emotional health. She has created a page on our school website dedicated to providing support on how to help families navigate these challenging times. You can find those resources here, on our school’s Counseling webpage. Feel free to reach out to her directly at krwhite@wtps.org. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow her @wwelemcounselor to access additional resources and support.
Our school nurse, Mrs. Sernicola, has compiled a series of COVID-19 related resources to provide information, ways to stop the spread of the virus, and healthy activities for families to engage in during school closure. Those resources can be found here as part of our school’s Health and Wellness pages. Mrs. Sernicola can be reached with any health-related questions at dsernicola@wtps.org.
Important Links and Resources
- Clarification on Use of District Devices With Multiple Children: Guidance on how to get the most out of district-issued laptops for all of your children.
- Parent Resource: Talking to Children About COVID-19: Provides guidance for those challenging moments in which we struggle to make the Coronavirus something that our kids can understand.
A Sample Schedule With Ideas To Make The Day Go By
School won't be closed forever. At some point, we will all return to our regular daily activities. It's important that we all keep routines of some type to help with that inevitable transition back to school and work. Here is a sample schedule of a day at home with time for remote learning and enrichment activities that would allow for parents to get their own work done.
*Disclaimer: What follows is a pretty packed day with a lot of transitions. The purpose here is not to impose a strict structure but to offer ideas for how to break up the time. Think of it as a menu of options; pick and choose what works for your children and your family.
8:00 - Make breakfast together
9:00 - An hour of schoolwork
10:00 - DIY Science project
11:00 - Exercise! Here are some Indoor suggestions
12:00 - Creative lunch-making
1:00 - Second session of schoolwork
2:00 - Round 2 of physical activity - we all need it...
3:00 - Healthy snack & DIY Crafts project
4:00 - Write, rehearse, and perform a play or mock commercial, or dress up time.
6:00 - Prepare, eat, and clean up dinner; everyone helps.
8:00 - Board Games/showers/read aloud before bed
Baking Makes For Great STEM Learning
After you've done all the measuring, then you can think about the chemistry of cooking. At what temperature does butter melt? Or water boil? You and your child can generate hundreds of questions and answers about math and science by the simple act of making cookies.
Then, once those cookies are made, there are all kinds of story problems! If everyone in the family gets an equal number of cookies, how many cookies does each person get? What about the ethical dimensions of cookie-making? Who should get the most? The person who cooks? Who cleans? Who buys the groceries? Or should everyone get an equal amount?
Changes To Wedgwood Remind
Due to changes with the Remind system, we have archived our old Remind account from which we used to send text message reminders. We are now limited in how many people we can have in a group, and therefore we must create individual grade level groups. In order to stay connected using this text messaging app, you will need to sign up for your child’s individual grade level group. School-wide messages will go out to all groups.
It is important to note that the old Remind account has been archived, so please sign up for the new accounts as soon as possible.
WHAT TO DO:
Please identify your child's grade level for 2019-2020 and sign up for that specific group. If you have children in multiple grade levels, feel free to sign up for each group. The information is as follows:
The phone number to which to send the text is 81010.
In the body of the text message, type the following information (PLEASE BE SURE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CORRECT GRADE LEVEL FOR 2019-2020!):
- Grade 1 @1wedgwood
- Grade 2 @2wedgwood
- Grade 3 @3wedgwood
- Grade 4 @4wedgwood
- Grade 5 @5wedgwood
Get Connected with Wedgwood On Social Media
Wedgwood Elementary School
Email: czimmerman@wtps.org
Website: wtps.org/wedgwood
Location: 236 Hurffville Road, Sewell, NJ 08080
Phone: (856) 227-8110
Facebook: facebook.com/wedgwoodwtps
Twitter: @wedgwoodwtps