Weirton Elementary School
August 2023
W.E.S. Families - January Newsletter
Happy New Year!
We hope our families had a joyous holiday season. Looking forward to seeing our students back on Tuesday, January 2.
January lunch menus and calendar events posted below.
WES Families:
A special thank you to our AMAZING PTA for the holiday parties planned before break. The students loved all the activities. Thank you to all the families that volunteered.
Holiday Farmer's Market:
Below is information about our Holiday Farmer's Market. The students had a great time shopping for fruits and vegetables.
New HCS Wellness Policy:
Refer to the new HCS Wellness policy. This will be enforced starting in January. Please contact us if you have any questions. Thank you.
Cocoa & Curriculum:
Attention families' grades 3rd and 4th. Refer to information below regarding Cocoa & Curriculum.
Below are the activities and dates for January.
Read the entire newsletter. Lots of updates and information are included as you scroll down the newsletter.
W.E.S. January Calendar Dates
Mark Your Calendar
December 21 through January 1: No school, Holiday break
Monday, January 1: Happy New Year
Tuesday, January 2: Welcome Back
January 2 through January 26: Middle of the Year STAR Benchmark Assessments grades K-4
Thursday, January 4: January PTA Meeting at 6:00 in the cafeteria
Friday, January 5: Spirit Day (wear red and black)
Friday, January 12:
- End of the 2nd grading period
- Spirit Day (wear red and black)
Monday, January 15: No School
Tuesday, January 16: No school. Parent/Teacher conferences
Parent/Teacher conferences. Teachers will be scheduling conferences after the holiday break.
Friday, January 19: Spirit Day (wear red and black)
Tuesday, January 23: Report cards will be distributed.
Friday, January 26: Spirit Day (wear red and black)
Holiday Farmer's Market
HCS Wellness Policy
January Lunch Menu
Cocoa & Curriculum 3rd and 4th grade Families
Attention 3rd & 4th grade families: WES welcomes you to get a sneak peak into the West Virginia General Summative Assessment along side your child. Cocoa & Curriculum gives families an opportunity to come to school during their class's computer lab time and go through the testing process as well as work together on a math practice test. Each session is 45 minutes. Only1 to 2 adults are permitted to attend. Since the class will be working on an assessment, we ask that no children or toddlers attend. If you have any questions, please reach out to Monica Martich at 304-748-8370 or monica.pennacchio@k12.wv.us
Community in Schools
Community in Schools, Mrs. Kristin Bowman-Cross
With winter temperatures changing daily...
If your child needs a warm coat, please have them stop by my office. WES does not want to see anyone being cold in the freezing temperatures. Or email me at kristin.bowmancross@k12.wv.us.
PreK News
PreSchool had a wonderful turn out for a fun-filled Breakfast with Santa, even with the technical difficulties. Thank you, pre-k families, for joining us!
December was filled with learning through Heggerty practice and Creative Curriculum activities. The students were also very busy using their knowledge, fine motor skills and creativity making all of the crafts and gifts for their families for the holidays.
January will bring reviews of school expectations after the break, and new and interesting Creative Curriculum modules. Please be sure to check your child's class Dojo page for information on what they do while in school and any other information.
We will continue with Star Testing and Preschool will be contacting parents about the school wide conferences scheduled for January 16th.
Enjoy your break with family and friends.
Kindergarten News
Kindergarteners embraced the most wonderful time of the year! December was an unforgettable milestone that marked the beginning of our lifelong journey of becoming readers. We kicked off December by creating uniquely designed ‘ugly alphabet holiday’ vests. They were all well thought out and the creativity was unmatched! The kids became experts of identifying words beginning with each letter. With knowing the individual phonemes of every letter, we are learning to read. The transformation of applying all the phonics skills we’ve been exposed to this school year is truly magical. Students amaze themselves while decoding (sounding out) words throughout the day.
They are beginning to read the directions on their work, pages in storybooks and all the written language they see daily at school, home and within the community. The lightbulb is beginning to shine while encoding (spelling) words. They are mastering this skill by pulling apart the sounds within a word and matching the letters to the sounds. Kindergarteners are working hard to identify specific phonemes in words. (Ex., first, middle and last sound).
Within our daily Heggerty lessons, we work on phoneme isolation strategies to help develop students’ phonemic awareness. Once students are able to isolate and identify each sound, it will make reading and spelling CVC words much easier.
Identifying the medial (middle) sound in a word can be tricky for our students. Many of the short vowels often get confused, like /e/ and /i/. Our daily phonemic awareness lessons help students understand how to stretch out the word slowly to hear that middle sound. Repetitious daily practice is a part of our day that the kids look forward to. The kindergarteners’ efforts in processing these skills have definitely been a thrill to be a part of.
The kids have loved all the holiday STEM activities in December. One of our favorites was the ‘Lit-to go’ lesson presented by WVU Extension. The students were able to think like a scientist by making observations and predictions. They learned about prisms and heard a story with new vocabulary before trying out the effects of wearing diffraction glasses to view the differences in white and colored Christmas lights. They’re still talking about it!
Our winter celebrations alphabet program was the perfect way to kick start our winter break. We showcased our knowledge of letter/sound association, rhyming, and repeated language by memorizing songs. The kids worked hard singing, learning motions and were so proud of their stellar performances in Christmas costumes.
We have a lot of learning experiences to look forward to in 2024!
First Grade News
We hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday! We are so excited to bring in the new year and see what 2024 has in store for us! Many of us will be learning about snow, ice and winter & how polar animals adapt to their environments. In Wit & Wisdom, we will continue to focus on our essential question, "What can we discover about animals’ unique features?" We are focusing more on specific animals & how they use their unique features to protect themselves. In math, we will be working on counting by tens and understanding place value for tens and ones. In Fundations, we will be continuing to work on our welded/glued sounds (ang, ing, ong, ung, ank, ink, onk, unk). Please make sure your first graders are reading to or with you every day & continuing to practice their trick words from Fundations! be on the lookout for conference sign ups from your child's teacher. Conferences will be held on
January 16th. The first grade team wishes you well in the new year!
Second Grade News
Happy New Year! We are excited to see everyone after our winter break. Second grade staff hopes that everyone is returning refreshed and ready to learn!
We are now in Module 2- The American West. Students will be learning about the Native Americans, Pioneers, and the American West. We will read Geodes that relate to these topics and will continue to work on reading more fluently every day.
Parents/Guardians, please continue to support reading at home by using Geode's, Fundation Story Passages, and AR reading.
In Fundations we will work on r-controlled vowels ar, or, ore, er, ir, and ur in Units 8 and 9. We will then discuss our Double Vowel Syllable type in Unit 10.
In Go Math students, are learning how to fluently add 2-digit numbers. Our Chapter 4 assessment will be the week of January 8th. Then we will begin Chapter 5: Subtracting 2-digit numbers. Students work at math fact fluency on Reflex Math and our Freckle App during our Math Center time and can go over facts at home to have quick recall of facts to 20.
On January 15th there is no school in Observance Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
January 16th students have no school as well, due to parent/teacher conferences. Teachers will be contacting you to schedule a conference on this day and plan to discuss your child and their progress in 2nd grade. If you have any questions, please feel free to message your child’s teacher.
We look forward to learning and growing more this New Year of 2024!!
Third Grade News
Our amazing 3rd graders have been working hard during the last three weeks before break. Remember, it is important to continue reading, writing, and math over the holiday break.
Here is a list of skills 3rd graders will learn during the month of January.
Wit and Wisdom- End of Modules 1 writing is wrapping up this month. Students will begin Module 2 - Outer Space. In this module, students will explain how people learn about space through technology, art, and literature. They will explain how scientists adapt to the challenges of space. Some goals for reading are determine main ideas and supporting details in informational texts and central messages or morals in literary text. Writing goals, students will write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting points of view with reasons.
Fundations- Students are continuing with unit six. Students will review the open-syllable and learn about open-syllable exceptions. They will also review that often y works as a vowel in open syllables. Students will learn the soft and hard sounds of c and g. Finally, students will learn open syllable exceptions in unstressed or unaccented syllables. This schwa occurs with an “a” at the beginning or end of a word, and with ”i” in the middle syllable.
Math- Chapter 1- In this chapter, students will review number patterns, rounding to the nearest ten and hundred, estimating sums, mental math strategies for addition and subtraction, break apart method for addition and subtraction, place value addition and subtraction.
It is important to continue working on their AR goal and beyond. Reflex, Freckle, and Prodigy are great resources to work on multiplication, division, fractions, and grammar.
Fourth Grade News
Time to say Goodbye to 2023 and HELLO to 2024!! We are halfway through their last year of elementary school, and we have lots of things to be proud of and so many more things to look forward to! We hoped you enjoyed Nutcracker Village!! We look forward to that project every year and watching to see how creative all the students are!!
The first half of the year we learned new ways to multiply and multiplying multi-digit numbers together. We reviewed all kinds of basic facts to prepare for the next half of the year with fractions and decimals. We have just about have long division down with minimal mistakes!! We have even started to dabble in fractions-- adding/ subtracting them and turning improper fractions into mixed numbers.
In Wit & Wisdom, we finished up Module 2 and wrote creative survival stories. Some of us chose to do them in book form, while others just wrote an essay. The next module we are doing is 3! The Redcoats are Coming! We will learn about the Boston Tea Party and other fascinating facts about the past. This is a first for us and we are super excited.
We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Enjoy the break and time with your family
WES School Counselors
Ms. Mary Ann Petrelle: Grades PreK & K
Mrs. Stacy Cullinan: Grades 1 & 2
Mrs. Sarah Aspenleiter: Grades 3 & 4
WES Health Center offers Social Emotional/Behavioral Therapy
http://www.changeinc.org/health/weirton-elementary-health-center/
(304) 797-5299
WES PTA News
WES PTA
PTA Meeting Thursday, January 4 at 6:00 pm.
President: Stephanie Baumgardner
Vice President: Arrissa Cochran
Vice President: Brittney Holloway
Vice President: Taylor Anderson
Secretary: Maria Rhoads
Treasurer: Lindy Dunlap
Contact: weirtonelementarypta@yahoo.com
The electronic Link to sign-up for PTA Membership is below "Givebacks."
Notes from Nurse DeCaria
Don't hesitate to contact Mrs. DeCaria for any medical concerns.
Attendance Reminders:
Going Bananas for Attendance:
WES students earned the school-wide hat day. Students are now working to earn a school-wide pajama day. When WES earns 4 weeks of school-wide attendance at or above 93% all students will earn a pajama day.
Going Bananas for Attendance video:
Go Bananas for Attendance: https://youtu.be/bYiR6YPKCao
Please remember to call the office or email Ms. Stephanie for any missed days.
304-748-8370
or
W.E.S. Information
We consolidated the up-to-date information you will need into 4 easy locations. DOJO (school announcements/stories posted daily), electronic monthly family newsletters, W.E.S. website, and W.E.S. official Facebook page. Below are the links to our W.E.S. Website and W.E.S. Facebook page.
W.E.S. Family Handbook 23-24
School Calendar 2023-2024
Arrival & Dismissal Procedures
CAR RIDER TRANSPORTATION
Arrival
Car rider door is located at the pre-k/kindergarten entrance.
Car rider door opens promptly at 7:50am. Tardy Bell 8:15am.
Cars should not line up before 7:00 and cars should not park in the drop-off area.
Students must remain in cars until a staff member opens the car door.
Cars that arrive after 8:15 must park car in a parking spot in front of the school. Guardian must walk child in the building to the main office to receive a tardy slip.
Parents/Guardians must remain in their vehicles at all times during drop off and pick up.
Please work with your child to learn to buckle/unbuckle themselves in their seatbelts/booster seats/car seats as this will help traffic to flow smoothly.
Dismissal
Car/Bus Dismissal is at 3:00.
All car riders must have a red car rider tag on their book bags. Bus riders must have a yellow car rider tag on their book bags.
Please do not line up before 2:55 as the area in front of the dismissal door is a fire lane.
iDismiss is utilized for car rider dismissal.
Each student is assigned an iDismiss number.
iDismiss number must be displayed in the front widow of the car.
Cars without the iDismiss numbers displayed or readily available will be asked to park until all cars and buses are dismissed.
Parents/Guardians must enter the front office and present identification before the child can be dismissed.
Replacement copies of iDismiss numbers may be obtained by presenting identification in the main office (ask for Ms. Stephanie).
Bus Safety
Please remind your child about good behaviors on the bus.
- Students are to stay seated the whole time.
- Students are not to walk in the aisles or jump seat to seat.
- Students are to refrain from touching each other.
- Students are not to yell or argue.
- Bottom to bottom, Back-to-Back, Bookbag on lap.
Students are to refrain from creating any type of safety issues for anybody on the bus.
Contact Mrs. Carinci-Bell if you have any bus concerns or questions.
Mrs. Martich (3rd & 4th) Mrs. Carinci-Bell (1st & 2nd) Ms. Miller (Head Principal) PreK & K Principal, Chris Hill
WES Title Services
Meet our WES Title Teachers:
Mrs. Orwasky
Ms. Paull
Mrs. Donna Carnes
Mrs. Davidson
WES Related Arts
WES HEALTH CENTER
WEIRTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HEALTH CENTER
Our licensed healthcare staff is on site in a safe, child-friendly environment. We closely work with the school nurse and faculty to provide convenient care to your child. We closely work with the school nurse and faculty to provide convenient care to your child.
We provide the following services:
Well check exams, sick visits, injury treatment, immunizations, allergy shots, ADHD evaluation and treatment, sports physicals, behavioral health, dental care, chronic health care maintenance - like being on site to assist with Diabetes, Seizures, and Asthma. Just think of us as a doctor's office inside the school.
Please contact the WES Health Center at 304-797-5299 if you have any questions or medical needs.
WES SPEECH THERAPISTS
WES Speech Therapists
If you questions regarding speech screenings or speech services, please contact one of our speech therapists.
Mrs. Lockerbie (Kindergarten)
Mrs. Gianvito (First Grade)
Mrs. Hinzman (PreK & 4th)
Mrs. Burdette (2nd & 3rd)
Mrs. Edie (Special Education Classes)
Special Education Staff
Bank at School
Our Partners in Education, First Choice America, will be setting up a program called "Bank at School". Families were able to sign-up at Open House. Students will be able to do banking at school during breakfast once a week on Tuesdays. More details to come.