Wolf Creek Weekly
Building Pathways To Success
From The Principal's Desk December 15, 2019
Greetings! Happy Sunday!
Happy holidays! We are wrapping up the end of 1st semester. It has been a great first half of the school year. As we celebrated with staff last week, we shared the theme "Let's Finish The Race Strong!" Staff, students and parents are moving WCES from Good To Great! Our wish is that each WCES family spend some time refreshing, relaxing and recharging this holiday season. Enjoy your holiday!
Please join the WCES staff in our Holiday Spirit Week Activities. See the outline below.
Safety First! Parents, we need your help! Please be reminded that students should be dropped off in the Car Rider Lane in front of the building. Drop off in the bus lane is prohibited. Parents are asked to use the parking lot near the bus lanes to escort students into the building only. Please do not drop students off in this area. It is also imperative that students are not dropped off alone before 7:10 AM. We have had a few students waiting alone prior to 7:10 AM. We are aware that our assigned police officer have been absent from a few of our posts. We are working on a replacement. Let's all pitch in and lend a hand. Be careful and look out for each other during drop off and pick up.
It will be a busy few days ahead. Please note your calendars so you will not miss any of the great happenings at WCES. Students will celebrate the holiday with Holiday parties on the following days in December. Please check with your child's teacher for confirmation of the party date chosen for your child's grade level. Be reminded of food allergies of many students. Store bought wrapped items are required. Some festivities include the current lunch block in the time window.
December 16th 12:00 - 1:30
December 18th 12:00 - 1:30
December 19th 12:00 - 1:30
We hope to see everyone on December 17th at the Holiday Program. See details below.
We are a uniform school. Students looked great in their uniforms last week. Let's keep it up! We are encouraging our 4th and 5th graders to LEAD the way. Our 5th graders are the "seniors" in the building and we want them to be positive role models for the student body.
We are a Leader In Me school! Staff, students and stakeholders will be engaging in the principles of the 7 Habits of successful people this year. See the 7 Habits Tree picture below. For more information see: http://www.theleaderinme.org/ . We are excited about teaching 21st century leadership and life skills to students, staff and stakeholders and creating a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader.
As you know, we also support our PBIS initiative with our PACK principles! They tie in seamlessly with the 7 Habits. Every day students will recite the Wolf PACK Creed. See the parent and student handbook online and in the front of your child's agenda. Help us by supporting them in learning the Wolf Pack Creed by hard! We are looking for the 1st class at each grade that learns the creed and can recite by hard.
Please check the school website often. We update the site regularly. The school calendar, handbooks, PTA and SGC information can be found there.
Check us out! https://www.youtube.com/c/WolfCreekESNewsandAnnouncements
We are looking forward to a great week!
Thanks for all you do! Let's Go Wolves!
In Partnership,
Principal Glass
WCES school website: https://www.fultonschools.org/wolfcreekes
Georgia Schools Climate Survey
Parents, the 2019-20 Georgia Parent Survey is open for this school year. The Georgia Parent Survey contains 24 questions. Parents may complete the survey using their personal computer, smartphone or tablet. For parents that do not have access to the Internet, you may use computers at the school. Please visit our Parent Resource Center.
Last year we reached our goal of 200 completed surveys! This was an increase from 2018-19. Let's reach 300+ this year. I know we can do it! Thanks in advance for your completion.
Be reminded, that this rating is open to the public and helps to establishthe overall climate rating for our school and our local community. These survey results often "paint the picture" of our residential areas and impact the story for prospective home owners. We want to ensure that we are supporting our school in the most positive way. As shared in our results from last year, we had an awesome 2018-19 school year and want to do even better this year! We are just .80 points away from 4 STARS. If there are specific school concerns, we ask that you contact the school directly and allow the school to address those concerns locally. Copies of the 2018-19 results are available in our Parent Resource Center.
All parents are encouraged to participate in the Georgia Parent Survey. The data will be used as part of the calculation of the School Climate Star Rating. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. The Georgia Parent Survey is also available in Spanish. Parents may select the Spanish version within the survey. Results from the Georgia Parent Survey will not be available to the public and will not be posted online. The Georgia Parent Survey link is posted below.
https://gshs.gadoe.org/Pages/Parent.aspx
For more information on school climate ratings:
https://www.gadoe.org/schoolsafetyclimate/Pages/School-Climate-Star-Rating.aspx
Parent Survey 2018-19
Personnel Survey 2018-19
GADOE CCRPI Ratings
Mark Your Calendars!
Please see the school calendar on our school website here:
December 16th Holiday Gift Shop Closes/Last day to shop!
December 17th 11:45 AM and 4:15 PM TAG Screening Information Sessions with Ms. Charles
December 17th Holiday Programs 9:00 AM PK - 2nd 6:00 PM 3rd - 5th
December 20th Math Extravaganza Volunteers Needed
December 23rd - January 6th Holiday Vacation Schools Closed
***Check with your child's teacher for more information regarding field trips. Volunteers and parents attending field trips should complete the Volunteer online process for Fulton County prior to the field trips.
Book Drive - Please consider donating a barely used or new book to the school.
Holly Jolly Jukebox Performance
9:00am for PK-2nd Grade
6:00pm for 3-5th Grade
Join the WCES Staff in our Holiday Spirit Week Activities!
Holiday Gift Shop
Holiday Candygrams
Digital Learning Days 2019-2020
REMINDER: FC BOE has recently approved several Digital Learning Days this year. Please mark your calendars. See the news release here:
At its work session last night, the Fulton County School Board approved making April 21, 2020, and May 19, 2020, "Digital Learning Days" for students while maintaining them as regular work days for employees. A Digital Learning Day is an opportunity for students to engage in off-site learning instead of attending school.
Since April 21 and May 19 are state-wide election days, there is high-volume participation of the public at polling stations located in our schools, and this increases the potential for security concerns. By utilizing digital learning activities, students will be able to maintain their focus on instruction even though they are not on campus. This also allows staff the opportunity to participate in high-quality professional development to deepen their knowledge and skills.
Here is a summary of the recent calendar adjustments:
- March 13, 2020 remains a teacher workday.
- March 24, 2020 (GA Presidential primary election) will be a teacher workday.
- April 21, 2020 (state-wide election) will be a student Digital Learning Day and a teacher professional development day.
- May 19, 2020 (state-wide election) will be a student Digital Learning Day and a teacher professional development day.
Thank you for your continued support and flexibility.
WCES Literacy Corner
Did you know that increasing literacy is one of our BIG rocks at Wolf Creek? Lexile scores are important. Ask you child's teacher how you can help at home with increasing your child's score. Check out this free resource:
Tips
Build your child’s critical thinking
To truly understand the stories they hear, children need to use their critical thinking skills. These are skills like problem-solving, predicting, explaining and evaluating, and they are what allow your child to “read between the lines” to figure things out that are not actually stated in the book. Encouraging this kind of thinking early in your child’s life will prepare her for understanding the books she’ll read on her own later.
Here are some tips or promoting the E’s and P’s of critical thinking: Explain, Evaluate, Predict, Project and Problem-solve:
Explain
Talk to children about why things happen and encourage them to draw on their existing knowledge and reasoning skills to come up with explanations, as well as the reasons for their conclusions.
While pretending with stuffed animals, join in with your own animal and have your animal ask the other a question that could have many fun explanations. For example, "Why is your fur purple?" or "Why do you have such big teeth?"
Evaluate
Encourage children to offer opinions about their own preferences and the relative merits of different objects, events and experiences.
Using plastic food items, pretend you are judges in a food competition. Start by offering your own opinion with an explanation. For example, "I don't like this pasta because it's too salty" or "I like this soup because it has lots of carrots and they're my favorite." Encourage your child to offer his own opinions along with his reasons for them.
Predict
Make comments and ask questions that encourage children to make plausible predictions about what will happen next.
When finished reading a book, encourage your child to think about what might happen next if the story continued. For example, "What do you think will happen tomorrow night when it is time for Mortimer to go to sleep again?" Ask your child to explain why he thinks that.
Project
Encourage children to project or put themselves into other’s minds with questions like, “How do you think he feels?”, “What do you think she’s thinking right now?” or “Why do you think he wants to do that?”
During pretend activities, take on a role and make comments that show your child that you're thinking about how your pretend character feels. For example, "I'm just a little teddy bear in this big department store all by myself. I feel really scared."
Problem-solve
Take advantage of daily opportunities to encourage children to solve problems. Help the children to describe the problem and draw on their knowledge and experiences as they think of alternative solutions and decide on the best option.
Draw your child's attention to problems as they arise and provide her with opportunities to think of solutions. For example, "Uh-oh. Your lunch bag is missing. What else can we use to carry your lunch?"
Reading ROCKS!
Wolf Creek Elementary PTA News
Happy holidays!
Thanks PTA for creating a staff holiday wish-list for parents. Find out more about what your child's teacher enjoys here: https://bit.ly/2tfuHJW
Boosterthon is coming soon! The deadline for sponsorship is December 28th. See the link here for sign up.
Please see more PTA information at their Facebook page and on our school website under the PTA tab. Let's make this year another great year with increased membership and support. Join us with just a minimum commitment of PTA dues of $20.00. There are also options for making monetary pledges on the PTA membership form. Dues are $20/person, or $50 at the Pack Pride level which includes 2 memberships, a donation, and a thank you gift.
Volunteers needed for all upcoming events! Please contact PTA!
Coming soon:
- Boosterthon Fun Run February 13th
- March General Body Meeting - March 24, 2020, 6PM
- Virtual April General Body Meeting – via Facebook Live - April 21, 2020, 7PM
- Teacher Appreciation Week - May 4-8, 2020
- May General Body Meeting + Elections - May 12, 2020, 6PM
We are looking for volunteers to serve in leadership positions on the Board and on Committees. If you are interested in being apart of the PTA, please contact PTA at:
wolfcreekelementarypta@gmail.com
Follow us: Instagram @wolfcreekpta and Facebook @wolfcreekelementarypta
and let the team know.
Thanks PTA!
Leader In Me Habit #4 Think Win Win
Think Win-Win is the belief that everyone can win. It’s not me or you—it is both of us. It is a belief that there are enough good things for everyone; it is an abundant way of thinking. Think Win-Win is being happy for others when good things happen to them.
As a parent, not everything is negotiable, but if you go into discussions with your child with a win-win mindset, you’ll find a lot less resistance. December/January’s habit is ‘Think Win-Win”. This habit refers to the idea of working together. Think Win- Win isn’t about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique. It is about working together.
Most of us learn to base our self-worth on comparisons and competition. We think about succeeding in terms of someone else failing–that is, if I win, you lose; or if you win, I lose. Life becomes a zero-sum game. There is only so much pie to go around, and if you get a big piece, there is less for me; it’s not fair, and I’m going to make sure you don’t get anymore. We all play the game, but how much fun is it really? Win-win sees life as a cooperative arena, not a competitive one. Win-win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win-win means agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial and satisfying. We both get to eat the pie, and it tastes pretty good!– Put First Things First!”
Younger-Child Activities
1. Play a game with your child(ren) that has a definite winner. Explain how competition is okay when you play a game, but it is not okay in relationships. Discuss how tense it would be in your home if every situation had to have a winner. A better way to think is win-win. This means we think of solutions that we can all feel good about when there is a problem. The more we Think Win-Win, the fewer problems there will be. You may want to display a chart listing the days of the week. When someone is “caught” thinking win-win, he or she gets to write his or her name on the chart for that day.
2. Encourage win-win solutions to sibling disputes. Don’t always be the mediator; let them work out a solution and be sure to be lavish children with praise when they do.
Teen Activities
1. Say you are sorry when you yell, overreact, or accidentally blame one of your children for something he or she didn’t do. Modeling this behavior will set expectations for how your child should behave.
2. Set clear expectations with your children about chores, curfew, grades, car privileges, etc. It’s hard for you both to win if you are playing by different rules.
Works for All Ages
1. Think of an ongoing conflict you tend to have with your child (homework, cleaning his or her room, feeding the dog, putting gas in the car) and then discuss a win-win solution to the conflict. Write down the solution and then remind each other of it the next time the situation arises.
2. Remember not to compare your children in front of each other. Try not to say to Marcelo that “Juan always remembers to clear the table.” That’s win-lose thinking. Instead, just concentrate on praising Juan for a job well done. Marcelo will get the message.
3. Think about your relationship with your child. Is it generally win-win? If not, how is that affecting your family life? What should YOU do differently?
Title 1 News - Compact Approved!
Our Parent and Family Engagement Plan Plan and School Home Compact have been sent home soon. Please read, sign and send the compacts back to school Our goal is 100% compacts signed. We have been 100% each year. Let's do it again!
We have great resources for parents to be used at home. Don't forget to visit the Parent Resource Room. See Ms. Sims for more information.
See more information regarding Title 1 at : http://www.fultonschools.org/en/divisions/acd/supportserv/TitleI/Pages/default.aspx
Thanks for your support.
Safety First!
Thanks for your support! It is important that everyone adhere to sign in and out procedures, volunteer procedures and procedures for receiving a visitor badge daily. When buzzing into the school, be prepared for additional safety questions regrading your visit before entering the building.
***Please note: entry through the cafeteria during dismissal still requires parents to report to the front desk for sign in.
Thanks for working with us to ensure safety for the students. Remember to bring in your state ID or license when visiting the building. All visitors will be asked to sign at the front desk. Instruction begins at 7:40 each day. Parents are asked to say their goodbyes and exit timely so that we may begin the instructional day.
We still need your patience and support as we execute the morning drop off process. The cafeteria doors close at 7:35 AM each morning. Breakfast ends at that time. Students are tardy at 7:41 AM. Parents are asked to sign their children in and get a tardy pass prior to reporting to class. Parents who wish to walk their child to class must also sign in at the front desk.
Dismissal procedures - All parents entering the building for pick up should check out their child through the front desk. Be sure to stop at the front desk and allow the front desk personnel to manage the check out process. Students should be called to the front desk to meet their parents for check out. Students that require extra support will be escorted to the office by school personnel.
Please help us by using the car rider loop in the front of the building for all student drop-offs in the mornings. The car rider loop moves fast but it does require some wait time and patience. This is the safest area for student drop offs. We have assigned staff to support students as they get out of cars. The bus ramp in the back is reserved for buses only. If parents are using the parking lot near the bus ramp area for parking, they are asked to park their vehicles and escort their child into the building. Students should not be dropped off and allowed to run across the bus ramp to enter the building. We want students to be safe. We had a few cars moving fairly fast in this area. This is a safety concern. Remember, the doors open at 7:10 AM for student arrival. Thanks in advance for your support. If we have parents that can volunteer in the bus ramp area, please let us know. We could use the extra hands and eyes to ensure safety for the students.
Thanks for your support!
Our School Day Start/End Times
Thanks in advance for your support in ensuring that our students get to school each day on time and ready for instruction. Breakfast begins at 7:10 a.m. and ends at 7:35 a.m. daily so that we can ensure that students are in class on time to begin their instructional day. School instructional hours are from 7:40 a.m. —2:20 p.m. each day. Parents are asked to escort their children inside and sign them in if they are tardy. Help us protect the instructional day. Please limit early dismissal/check-outs. If needed, please do so before 2:00 PM. Remember keep your child’s pick up and emergency contacts updated and to sign in during each visit. ID is required for anyone visiting or checking your child our of school.
Wolf Creek Elementary School
Check out our school website for our school calendar and school updates.
A. Nicole Canty, Assistant Principal
Website: http://school.fultonschools.org/es/wolfcreek/Pages/default.aspx
Location: 4440 Derrick Road, Atlanta, GA 30349, United States
Phone: 470.254.2760
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wolfcreekwolves/
Twitter: @wolfcreekwolves