Wolf Creek Weekly
Building Pathways To Success
From The Principal's Desk September 9, 2018
Greetings!
Welcome back to another successful week ahead!
This will be another short week. Our first student release day is September 13th. Students are out of school on Thursday. Staff members will be involved in Professional Development throughout the South Learning Community, Be sure to mark your calendars for future days when students are out of school. We have a few this year.
Wolf Creek ES will be closed on the following days.
September 13, 2018
October 29, 2018
February 19, 2018
March 13, 2018
All parents are asked to complete the lunch application each year. Students enrolled last year will continue their pay status through the first 30 days of school only. All students will be charge the regular cost for breakfast and lunch on day 31. Our 30th day of the nutrition program for this year is September 17th. Lunch applications can be completed online at http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fulton.schoollunchapp.com%2F&h=AT31hmZEERq3WIUig7eCnVgGgEoVfKNIxt3lFNj99Lq602qf5jcx_h0n0HR-scJUsRGk9-DdXt-tYKYRfDDxxWNifh0rQY2p-FesYm5N4fBALrMmbXqmHVf9cnM1BRjVvfAs2zzaE0UeCN2PdYuJG-i8erff-2DLmXcfbIP1E-D2i5EovVkMOMcu
We are a uniform school. Students looked great in their uniforms last week. Let's keep it up! Our students wear kelly green, navy blue or white polo style tops and khaki bottoms. Many of them rock "funky" socks and shoes of their choice with their uniforms and it looks very cool! Try it to help engage your child in the uniform initiative. We appreciate your support in participating in our uniform initiative.
Parents we need your support. Our uniform participation at our upper grades can lead the way. Please join us in our uniform initiative at Wolf Creek ES. Let's push for school wide participation. Encourage our upperclassmen to lead the way.
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 have a school wide behavior system that includes a color chart. We are excited to see our wolves on RED or ORANGE daily! More information about our behavior system is included in the student agenda.
Please check the school website often. We update the site regularly. The school calendar, handbooks, PTA and SGC information can be found there.
We are looking forward to a great year!
Thanks for all you do! Let's Go Wolves!
In Partnership,
Principal Glass
Annual Title 1 Meeting - September 18th at 6:00 PM
Please join us for:
Title 1 Status
State of the School Address
School wide data - 2017-18 Results, 2018-19 School wide goals
Curriculum Expectations at each grade level
PTA Updates
EIP - Early Intervention Program - Stop by the EIP table for more information
TAG Parent Meeting - 5:00 PM
We look forward to seeing you there.
School Nutrition Program - Breakfast and Lunch Payments
FREE AND REDUCED PRICE MEAL BENEFITS
All families are strongly encouraged to complete the school lunchapplcation each year. Completed applicaitons and finalpercentages for students that meet the criteria for meal benefitsimpact our schoolwide Title 1 staus.
To continue free or reduced price meal benefits for students each household must complete a new application every year. Free and Reduced Meal Benefits will end on September 18, 2018, if the household has not reapplied for SY 2018-2019. If there is an interruption in benefits or the household does not reapply, the household is responsible for payment of meals until the Free and Reduced Application is approved. To help assure continuation of benefits, the household must have a paper application turned in to the school cafeteria manager before September 14th, 2018 or complete an online application by September 17th, 2018 atwww.fulton.schoollunchapp.com. Be sure to list all the students in the household on the application. Keep in mind, the application may take up to 10-days to process. If you have any questions,please call the Fulton County School Nutrition Program – Meal Eligibility Desk at (470) 254-2220.
Cluster Night at Westlake High School - September 14th
Friday Night Schedule:
For the game Friday, September 14th
o We will have a mix and mingle at 5:45pm for faculty and staff of feeder schools.
o We are asking students to arrive at 6:45pm
o We are asking all of your students to wear a your school shirt or color.
o After entering the stadium, they will line up on the side of the stadium by the score board.
o We will have a parade around the track of the stadium before the game at 7pm.
o After, the parade we will have a designated seating for students
Tickets can be purchased online through the Westlake High School OSP.
Stay tuned for more information...
Increasing Literacy at WCES
Let's READ!
Developing reading comprehension skills is important for absorbing story books as a young child. As children get older, this skill will help them understand textbooks, newspapers, and other more complex texts. Here are six tips to improve reading comprehension in your early reader:
- Have him read aloud. This forces him to go slower, which gives him more time to process what he reads, which improves reading comprehension. Plus, he's not only seeing the words, he's hearing them, too. You can also take turns reading aloud.
- Provide the right kinds of books. Make sure your child gets lots of practice reading books that aren't too hard. She should recognize at least 90 percent of the words without any help. Stopping any more often than that to figure out a word makes it tough for her to focus on the overall meaning of the story.
- Reread to build fluency. To gain meaning from text and encourage reading comprehension, your child needs to read quickly and smoothly — a skill known as fluency. By the beginning of 3rd grade, for example, your child should be able to read 90 words a minute. Rereading familiar, simple books gives your child practice at decoding words quickly, so she'll become more fluent in her reading comprehension.
- Talk to the teacher. If your child is struggling mightily with reading comprehension, he may need more help with his reading — for example, building his vocabulary or practicing phonics skills.
- Supplement class reading. If your child's class is studying a particular theme, look for easy-to-read books or magazines on the topic. Some prior knowledge will help her make her way through tougher classroom texts and promote reading comprehension.
- Talk about what he's reading. This "verbal processing" helps him remember and think through the themes of the book. Ask questions before, during, and after a session to encourage reading comprehension. For example:
- Before: "What are you interested in about this book? What doesn't interest you?"
- During: "What's going on in the book? Is it turning out the way you thought it would? What do you think will happen next?"
- After: "Can you summarize the book? What did you like about it? What other books does it remind you of?"
Reading is FUN!
What are Lexile Levels?
How can I help at home?
Reading Comparison Chart across various assessments
Leader In Me Habit #1 ... Be Proactive!
Responsible for behavior, results and growth.
Habit 1: Be Proactive is about taking responsibility for your life. We can't blame others. Proactive people recognize that they are "response-able." They don't blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. They know they choose their behavior. Reactive people, on the other hand, are often affected by their physical environment. They find external sources to blame for their behavior. If the weather is good, they feel good. If it isn't, it affects their attitude and performance, and they blame the weather.
The Freedom To Choose
Instead of reacting to or worrying about conditions over which they have little or no control, proactive people focus their time and energy on things they can control. The problems, challenges, and opportunities we face fall into two areas--Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence.
Proactive people focus their efforts on their Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about: health, children, or problems at work.
Reactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern--things over which they have little or no control: the national debt, terrorism, or the weather. Gaining an awareness of the areas in which we expend our energies is a giant step in becoming proactive.
Discuss Habit #1 with your child this week! Share examples of how you are being proactive in your daily life and how they can be proactive too.
Let's go!
Reminders...
Please be sure to review the parent/student handbook in your child's agenda as well as all back to school correspondences.
Please note a few important date changes:
At last week's Board meeting, a revision to this year’s school calendar was made. Here is a link to the Board item.
- Change Tuesday, November 6, 2018 to a Teacher Work Day. No school for students. This is currently a regular school day.
- Change Friday, March 8, 2019 to a regular school day. This is currently a Teacher Work Day. This will be a regular school day for students. This revision will not change the total number of instruction days for students.
Please note your calendars.
Recently students were distributed 2018-19 school agendas. We use these daily for home school communication. The calendar in the agenda book is incorrect. The company has reprinted our 2018-19 agendas. Students will receive new ones this week.
PTA Fundraiser begins Otis Spunkmeyer is underway! This was one of two largest fundraisers last year. We collected approximately $19,000 last year and received, at minimum, a profit of 40%! You ROCK!! Let's do it again. PTA sponsors two major fundraisers per year, this one and the FUN RUN Boosterthon. Please join us and support these efforts. Proceeds from PTA events came right back to WCES! You did it!
Wolf Creek Elementary PTA News
Please join me in thanking our PTA for an awesome year !!! It was an amazing second year.
Thanks PTA for helping us make a difference this year at Wolf Creek Elementary. We could not have achieved our goals without you! Your dues and support have helped us to accomplish an incredible number of things this year, including:
- Being recognized as a unit in good standing with Georgia PTA
- Raising over $25,000 with our Otis Spunkmeyer and Wolf Pack Fun Run Fundraisers
- Hosting two Screen on the Green Family Fun Night events
- Awarding 12 Classroom and Grade Level Grants to teachers and staff members worth nearly $6,500
- Providing support for Leader In Me, the Reading Carnival, GMAS testing snacks, Teacher of the Year Celebration, and Teacher Appreciation Week
- Helping purchase take-home summer reading books
- Enabling teachers to raise funds for their grade levels and campus organizations through Chick-Fil-A Chicken Biscuit and Cookie sales
- Partnered with the Parent Liaison and Title 1 Team to host parent workshops
- + and many other things
The time has come to RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP for the 2018-2019 school year! According to our PTA bylaws, every member has to rejoin the PTA annually, and our fiscal year runs from June 1 to May 31. To renew your membership for the 2018-2019 school year, please visit our online membership form and complete payment via PayPal.
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. We hope you will support us!
WCES PTA on-going fundraising opportunities below:
1. Boxtop: The first collection will take place September 15th. Mrs. Fitzgerald will distribute envelopes by the 31st of August.
2. Publix: We have a few cards left up front, however, Publix finally switched to phone number only. Here are the instructions...
In order for schools to earn money, customers must register for a Publix.com account, sign up for the Program and then select the school that they want to support. Each time the customer shops at an eligible store, they can help earn money for their chosen school by entering their phone number in the PIN Pad during check-out.
All purchases are eligible with the exception of:
(i) gift cards, alcohol, lottery items, money services, postage stamps and prescriptions;
(ii) purchases from Florida stores; and
(iii) purchases from GreenWise Market locations;
(iv) purchases made through Publix Delivery powered by Instacart and Publix Curbside powered by
Instacart
3. Kroger Partners for Education
Registration complete. Instructions for registering your card are below.
TO USE THE KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM:
Register online at krogercommunityrewards.com
Be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.
1. Click on Sign In/Register
You must click on SIGN UP TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box.
2. Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account by entering your zip code, clicking on favorite store, entering your email address and creating a password, agreeing to the terms and conditions
3. You will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email.
4. Click on My Account and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.
5. Click on Edit Kroger Community Rewards information and input your Kroger Plus card number.
6. Update or confirm your information.
Enter NPO number 17869 or name of organization Wolf Creek Elementary, select organization from list and click on confirm.
6. To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see your organization’s name on the right side of your information page.
REMEMBER, purchases will not count for your group until after your member(s) register their card(s).
Do you use your phone number at the register? Call 800-576-4377, select option 4 to get your Kroger Plus card number.
Members must swipe their registered Kroger Plus card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Kroger Plus card when shopping for each purchase to count.
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.
For uniform vendor information, please see the school's website at http://school.fultonschools.org/es/wolfcreek/Pages/default.aspx or the Wolf Creek PTA Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/wolfcreekelementarypta/ .
Landsend: The custom shopping experience for Wolf Creek Elementary is live and may be viewed here:
http://www.landsend.com/pp/SchoolSearch.htmlaction=landing&selectedSchoolNum=900187196
Thanks PTA!
School Communication Tools
Agendas - Each child has a school issued agenda book. We use this as a home-school communication tool. Teachers should be communicating regarding school updates, behavior and homework. Please sign the agenda each night. Agendas are treated as textbooks. Replacement cost is $5.00 if lost.
School Communication Folder - Each student has been provided a folder that contains options for items to keep at home and items to send back to school. Teachers may use this folder in various ways. This year, our folders are green.
Class Dojo - Each teacher will be communicating through Class Dojo this year. If you haven't signed up for your child's teacher account, please inquire with your child's teacher. Class Dojo is a communication app for the classroom. It connects teachers, parents, and students who use it to share photos, videos, and messages through the school day. They use ClassDojo to work together as a team, share in the classroom experience, and bring big ideas to life in their classrooms and homes.
Newsletters, websites, and other technology tools - Each grade level will send home, at minimum, monthly newsletters to inform parents of classroom assignments, projects, and class/school events. Some teachers will also use other creative technology tools to stay in touch with parents. Each teacher will communicate with parents regarding their communication system.
Home Access Center (HAC) - Parents have access to the Fulton County School system Home Access Center. Please visit the Fulton Schools website for more information at http://www.fultonschools.org/en/sp. Parents are able to access information regarding grades, attendance , discipline, etc. Teachers are required to enter final grades in the system as they are assigned. Our school Data Clerk and classroom teachers can assist parents with the access codes for their children. Access codes have to be signed out, they are considered highly sensitive since they allow access to your child's records.
Please Note: Home Access Center (HAC) is the authorized web portal and
only authorized provider of online access to student information in Fulton County Schools
Safety First!
Thanks for your support during the first weeks of school! The last few days of drop off were more seamless and traffic is flowing. Thanks for working with us to ensure safety for the students.
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.
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.
Identification Required: Please remember to bring your identification in with you when you visit the school. Parents that wish to move pass the front lobby/atrium area will need to sign in and receive a visitor's badge. Any persons checking out a student must also have an ID and be listed on the child's records for check out. Beginning August 13th, parents will be asked to return to the front office to sign in if they do not have a visible visitor's badge. All parents must have their liscenses scanned for the 2018-19 School year by the front office staff before being able to use the kiosk for signing in.
Volunteer Registration: To begin the volunteer process, please visit www.fultonschools.org and complete the child abuse reporting training and the online registration process. When registering, one must use their legal name as it appears on your government identification. The process is self-paced. On your first visit to the school, your government identification will be required.
http://www.fultonschools.org/en/community/Pages/volunteerfaq.aspx
Thanks for your support!
Tilte 1 News
Wolf Creek is a Schoolwide Title 1 school this year. See more information regarding Title 1 at : http://www.fultonschools.org/en/divisions/acd/supportserv/TitleI/Pages/default.aspx
What is Title I?
Title I is a federally funded program designed to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic standards and state academic assessments.
The Title I mission is to ensure that each child successfully meets or exceeds Georgia's proficient and advanced levels of student performance and meets or exceeds expectations on local, state, and national assessments.
Our Title 1 funds have afforded us the opportunities to:
Host Extended Learning Program for at risk students
Purchase technology for students - iPad Carts, Virtual Learning tools
Add teachers, Math and Literacy Instructional coaches and a Parent Liaison to the staff
Purchase classroom resources to enhance learning for all students
Our Parent Involvement Plan and School Home Compact will be sent home soon. Please read, sign and send the compacts back to school Our goal is 100% compacts signed.
Let's do it again! Last year we had 100% of parent compacts turned in! You rock!
***Sign up for Three For Me Volunteer program with our Parent Liaison, Ms. Sims!
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