Sunday Message from Mr. Burns
February 4, 2024
Full Week of School
Message from Mr. Burns
Hi Wims Families,
Although February is the shortest month, we have a lot of great things happening around Wims. Please see below for all the events occurring throughout the month.
Thank you to the PTA and all the families who came out to Bingo night on Friday evening. The money raised goes to our fifth grade class to minimize the cost of all our end of the year activities for all students . Thank you for all your support!
-Mr. Burns
New School Counselor Intern
Ms. Jamia Purchase will be working with our Counselor, Mrs. Ioli, this spring on Thursdays and Fridays. She is studying to be a School Counselor at The George Washington University and we are thrilled to have her join our Wims community.”
PRIDE Recognition Assembly
On Friday, February 9th we will have our Marking Period 2 PRIDE Recognition Assembly. Emails were sent out on Friday, 2/2/24 to families of students who will be recognized during this assembly. We hope to still keep this as a surprise to our students, so it would be wonderful if you do not tell them ahead of time if they are being recognized. There will not be a paper version of the letter sent home like in the past. If you have any questions, please reach out to your student’s teacher
Read Across America Week
We're excited to announce that we are celebrating Read Across America Week at Wims from February 26-March 1, 2024. The media center staff are reaching out to families to see if anyone would like to come to Wims and read in a classroom for 20-30 minutes. Please complete THIS Google Form and to access teachers' schedules for the week (You do not have edit access to the Google Doc). Mrs. Hall will update the schedule based on when responses from the Google Form are received.
Kids Heart Challenge
Registration for the Kids Heart Challenge is now open! Our community counts on lifesavers like you. Please sign your student up for our Kids Heart Challenge so they can learn how to keep their hearts and brains healthy while raising funds to help kids with special hearts. By completing Finn’s Mission, they’ll also learn the lifesaving skill of Hands-Only CPR and how to recognize a stroke. You will also earn money for new PE equipment for our school by donating. All donations will be done online; no cash or checks will be accepted at school. Our school goal this year is to raise $14,000. If the goal is reached, those students who donated will get to tape Mr. Smith to the wall with duct tape! To sign up, click the link below!!! If your child is in grades 3-5, please use their block two teacher they go to specials with as the teacher when registering. Donations will be accepted through February 29th. Lastly, the classes in K-2 and 3-5 who raise the most money will get a free choice PE day! Thanks for your support!
http://www2.heart.org/goto/WilsonWimsElementarySchool1
Mr. Smith
Information about Damascus High School
As you may be aware, additional budget cuts and delays are being proposed for the Damascus High School Renovation project. This significantly impacts the well-being and safety of our families and community. This was announced at Community Meeting #3 on January 23, 2024. Click here for the presentation. Your continued advocacy is needed! Opportunities for advocacy include: 1) Signing onto the group letter by completing this form; 2) Writing an individual letter to the county council; 3) Signing up to testify at county council public hearing. We encourage you to engage in all ways feasible for you. This is the time to have our voices heard!
Group Sign-On Letter: Please see the full letter here and complete the form below. Names and Addresses of individuals who sign on will be included at the end of the letter. Let's work to get signatures from all families impacted.
Personal Letter: Please use this template to draft a personal letter and send to County Council members individually via email. Copy and paste the text into a new document and edit. Access the list of County Council members and their email addresses here.
Public Hearing Testimony: The Montgomery County Council will be holding public hearings on February 6th at 1:30pm & 7pm. If you are interested in providing testimony, please see this site on How to Testify. Visit the project’s website for more information on our DHS major capital project. If you have questions about the project, you are welcome to email project managers, Patrick_M_Schmidt@mcpsmd.org and Robbie_S_Badstibner@mcpsmd.org from the Division of Design and Construction.
Let's join together as a unified voice in advocating for our children and community.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Denise James-Smith, Snowden Farm Elementary, PTA President, president@sfespta.org or Arti Varanasi, MCCPTA Clarksburg Cluster Coordinator, artivpta@gmail.com.
How Do I Activate My ParentVue Account?
Wilson Wims Facebook Page
Community Fliers
Clarksburg Lil Futures Clinics
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From the PTA Board
Dear Families,
Thank you to all our Wonderful Wildcat Families who attended Bingo Night on our rescheduled date last Friday and supported the event through raffle ticket purchases, concession donations, prize donations, and concession purchases. Thanks to you, we raised over $2,000 for our 5th grade class! These funds will support their promotion to middle school through the 5th grade bowling trip, bus transportation, special t-shirts, and their promotion ceremony. Extra thank you to the volunteers who worked SO hard at Bingo - we cannot provide these events for our school community without the help of our volunteers. What an amazing community we are a part of!
Congratulations to our 5th grade class for raising the most funds during our fall Fun Run TWO of the three weeks of fundraising! The PTA was proud to celebrate them on Friday by providing a movie, popcorn, and water. Next up on February 16th, we will do the same for our 3rd graders who swept week 2 of Fun Run!
It really feels like the school year is winding down, especially through a “PTA Events” lens. We only have a few left until we wrap up the year. Please be sure to join us for our February PTA Meeting on Tuesday (2/6) at 6:30pm in the Media Center to see how you can help support our students through the PTA. A virtual option will be provided through Zoom, though we highly encourage you to join us in person to facilitate our family environment. Free childcare is provided through Global. If you cannot join us in person, please join via Zoom Meeting ID 836 8824 9939; Passcode 440427 (dial-in 13017158592).
Have a Wonderful Wildcat Week!
~ The PTA Executive Board
PTA Reflections: Congratulations to Our Artists!
The PTA is pleased to announce our Wims honorees whose original artwork highlighting this year’s theme “I am hopeful because…” advanced to the Montgomery County Council of PTAs (MCCPTA) Reflections Art Program competition. The honorees include kindergartner Zarina Khan (photography), 2nd grader Caleb Cole (visual arts), 2nd grader Elaine Ma (dance), and 5th grader Verraj Sandhu (visual arts). There were 164 submissions this year from 23 MCPS schools and as usual, the judges struggled to select just 3 entries per category and grade to move forward to the State Competition. We are proud to share that two of our artists, Zarina and Elaine, have advanced and received Awards of Excellence in their categories! Congratulations to ALL our Wims students for sharing their talents with our community. The PTA will recognize these artists during our S.T.E.A.M. Expo on March 15.
VALENTINE’S DAY GOODIE BAGS: WEDNESDAY, FEB. 7
A few more adult volunteers are needed to stuff over 500 goodie bags on February 7th at the school. The SSL spots have been filled - thank you to all who have signed up to volunteer. These goodie bags are provided to each student from the PTA for Valentine’s Day. If you are able to help out, please sign up here to volunteer.
YEARBOOK COVER CONTEST: SUBMISSIONS DUE FRIDAY, MARCH 1
Attention 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders! Show your artistic abilities and have a chance for your art to be featured on the front or back cover of the yearbook! Submissions should be bright and colorful, showcase our Wims P.R.I.D.E. or school motto “Together We Will,” and incorporate our school colors (navy blue/ lime green/ white). ORIGINAL ART ONLY (no photos or email files) on an 8.5 x 11 sheet in “portrait” orientation should be turned into the front office by March 1 for consideration. All submissions will be displayed in the yearbook. Please be sure to check spelling and grammar before submitting. If you have any questions, please contact yearbook@wwespta.org.
S.T.E.A.M. EXPO: FRIDAY, MARCH 15
WE NEED YOUR PHOTOS!
EARN FOR THE PTA AT HARRIS TEETER!
CONNECT WITH US
We want to hear from you! If you have any questions regarding the PTA or our supported activities, please reach out to us at pta@wwespta.org and you are also welcome to contact Ashley Zuraf at president@wwespta.org.
Please “like us” on Facebook for the most updated information on our upcoming events and volunteer opportunities: https://www.facebook.com/wilsonwimspta