Dear Wasco Families,

This last week of school, we have managed to insert a good amount of fun amid our learning! If you didn’t know, St. Charles Mayor Ray Rogina and Superintendent Dr. Jason Pearson not only served as our morning announcers, but also delivered messages of support and encouragement to the Wasco school community. Their messages are posted on the Wasco School Facebook page. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed spending my lunchtimes with each grade level. During the lunches, the kids and I shared favorites and played some fun games.

We are bidding farewell to 2020. Though the year had it's share of difficulties, it is also the year I met, or virtually met, you. Thank you for embarking on the school year with me. Together we have built relationships and succeeded in building and maintaining an educational environment for the kids. As the instructional leader of this building, I am very proud of the obstacles we have overcome in order to conduct school. A mark of our success is learning progress and as you observe and review your child’s progress, I hope you too, share pride in our partnership. You can use our tools, classroom or i-Ready reports to understand this progress.

Looking forward, I am here to build the quality learning community you desire. As part of my process, I am requesting your input on this survey (link below). I wish to identify my strengths and areas of growth as your school leader. I would appreciate it if you could complete the survey by December 31st. In January, I will publish the results and my action steps in response.

I hope you enjoy the break in the schedule and your holidays. I wish you and your family peace and joy in the coming new year.

Kind regards,

Principal Brennan

331-228-6294

Stephanie.brennan@d303.org

Upcoming dates:

December 18 Winter Class Party 1:00-1:40 and Spirit Day Holiday wear day

December 21-January 1 Winter Break

January 4 No School -Teacher Work Day

January 5 School Resumes

The PTO would like to announce our next meeting which will be held virtually via Zoom on January 7th at 7pm. Any member of the PTO who would like to submit an agenda item for consideration is asked to please send your request no later than December 28th to WascoPTO@gmail.com. The agenda and zoom link for the meeting will be published January 2nd. The PTO Executive Board always encourages open communication and with that in mind we have attached our PTO Bylaws. We look forward to another great year working with the Students, Parents and Staff of Wasco Elementary.

Happy Holidays - The PTO Executive Board

Emily Varsho - President

Carrie Selusnik - Vice President

Leslie Brennan - Treasurer

Parents,

At this time of the year, teachers will receive many expressions of your gratitude. Recently, our teachers received written notes from one of our families. The family provided a personal thank you letter to each teacher, describing the impact of the teacher on their child. Parents, you and I have the same unique position, we have an opportunity to admire the efforts of teachers. As a former teacher and a lover of teaching, I can tell you that the best teachers actively respond to the needs of their students. It is complex and draining work, but the rewards are thrilling and transformational. Thank you for taking time to recognize and appreciate the teacher's hard work. It contributes to our learning community in such a meaningful way.

This week our musicians premiered the Winter Virtual Concert 2020! I am so very proud of them and their hard work. Thank you for all your support of the band program.

Please enjoy our virtual concert!

Winter Band Concert

Happy Holidays!

Marianne Rice

Virtual December Orchestra Concert Viewing Party!

You, and your family, friends - whomever you would like to invite -- may watch the premier of our Wasco/Bell Graham Virtual December Orchestra Concert 2020. Snuggle up with some cookies and cocoa and enjoy the culmination of many hours of work by your musicians!

Here is the link for viewing the concert. Enjoy!

Wasco/Bell Graham Orchestra Virtual concert 2020

Our music department has provided some fun holiday activities for our families. Check out the "Nutcracker Cup Game"! This activity will also be featured on our Facebook page.

Mr. Carter and Mrs. Therrien

Dec. 10-Jan. 3

Homes are best viewed from dusk until 10pm.

View displays from your vehicle. If exiting your car, please wear a face covering and follow physical distancing guidelines of 6 feet. Be respectful and courteous to homeowners’ rights and properties.

Free Tour Guides Available

PDF version: click here

Google Maps version: click here

i-Ready

Students have completed their winter i-Ready diagnostic. We will send home paper copies of diagnostic reports during winter break, but if you would like to access your child's i-Ready diagnostic information in the i-ready student portal as well as additional family resources, please watch the video below.

i-Ready Family Video

The informative video below will walk you through steps to access your child's progress on our most recent iReady test. You will be able to view the diagnostic scale score information and a record of your child's independent iReady practice.

i-Ready Family Video

D303 has a Substitute Teacher's Handbook to show you the ins and outs of the job.

If after reading this, you are interested, please reach out to Julie.Wenger@D303.org. Julie is our substitute coordinator. If you hold a Bachelor's degree, she can walk you through the process of applying for a substitute license with the state. This license affords you the opportunity to sub for teachers and teacher's assistants. If you hold a high school diploma or Associate's degree, you can apply for a Paraprofessional License. This license affords you the opportunity to sub for teacher's assistants.

After you get your license, you can apply to substitute teach in D303.

Click HERE for the application if you hold a Bachelor's degree and Substitute license.

Click HERE for the application if you hold a high school diploma or Associate's degree and Paraprofessional license.

Thank you very much for your consideration on becoming a substitute and helping us out. Have a wonderful weekend with your favorite people, and stay healthy and well!

Starting November 10th, Organic Life will be offering breakfast at all Elementary Schools. Breakfast meals are free for all students just like the lunches.

Students will have the option to order breakfast in the morning as they already do for lunch. Organic Life will prep the breakfast bags and deliver them to the classrooms by 1:20pm each day for students. This helps to support students eating a breakfast before coming to school the next day.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact our office.

SST appreciation-

All of us at Wasco are grateful for our Student Services Team! This team supports students, parents, and teachers by providing specialty services and being our resident academic and behavior consultants. Any teacher will tell you, having a guide on the side to provide suggestions, ideas, and extra help advances all the students’ learning. This team of specialists shares their expertise so we can all achieve more and they are always willing to step in and provide assistance to our whole Wasco school community.

As you know, we are using the Second Step program in your child’s classroom. The Second Step program teaches children important skills for getting along with others and doing well in school. It also helps our school be a safe,

respectful place where everyone can learn.

To further help our school be a safe and respectful place, we are also using the Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit. In these upcoming lessons, your child will learn specific skills to help stop bullying. Students will learn how to:

• Recognize when bullying is happening

• Report bullying to a caring adult

• Refuse to let bullying happen to themselves or others

• Be a bystander who stands up and is part of the solution to bullying

For bullying prevention to work, everyone needs to be involved. Get involved in making our school a safe and respectful place by letting us know if you hear about bullying at our school. Make sure your child knows to tell you or someone at school if he or she is being bullied. And give your child the clear message that it is never okay to bully others.

Rebecca Schroeder, Wasco School Social Worker

Nurse Tina Ahrens, Administrative Assistants Heather Kudabeck and Candace Thoke,

Lunch room Kelly Nelms, Fiona Galvan, Lucy Caraba, Jennifer Selvik, Faiza Memo

Custodian Rafael Sanchez

Not Pictured: Jennifer Selvik, Annie DeLapaz

Our school contains many different people groups whose work benefits the whole and they help us build a supportive network to facilitate the students’ school day. This week, I would like to recognize our school bus drivers. These men and women greet our students, become familiar with their interests, families, and friends. The bus drivers and students often share smiles and exchange support for one another.

Recently our school building was inspected for safety. It is a yearly inspection done by the Regional Office of Education in partnership with community safety officials such as the fire department. This team visits schools throughout the county during a school year. The inspector's appointment coincided with the arrival of our students and they had an opportunity to view students approaching and entering Wasco school. The inspectors admired how orderly our students approached and entered the building respecting the space of others. It was a fine compliment, because this is something that the students do ON THEIR OWN. Aren't all adults happy when the kids demonstrate the skills of cooperation and self sufficiency?

-”Quality is everyone’s responsibility.” W. Edwards Deming

Thank you to the PTO for hosting a Pumpkin Decorating contest! Our Wasco Wolves are a creative bunch and I think you are all winners! Did you see the Ghostmallow? The Wasco Wolf pledge pumpkin really caught my attention- we say that pledge everyday! What a great way to connect our whole school community. The PTO is currently hosting a Butter Braid Fundraiser and orders are due by November 10th.

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce this year’s Wasco Spirit Club Members!

Abby Poss - 3P

Natalie Wilton - 3A

Daniel McCauley - 3G

Graham Showalter - 3K

Meryl Kaplan - 4D

Joseph Barton - 4M

Julia Grawender - 4He

Andrew Leigl - 4Ha

Abeile Edwards -4th Remote (Erin Smith)

Sierra Horniacek - 4th Remote (Kerri Furlong)

Reese Full - 5R

William Showalter - 5R

Sydney Steib - 5E

These students were chosen from over 40 applicants for their leadership qualities and their unique ideas for promoting Spirit within our school and community! Stay tuned for more news from our Spirit Club and be prepared to show your SPIRIT!

Co-Coordinators: Amy Corda and Rebecca Schroeder

Last spring, Mrs. Misner, our Wasco Physical Education teacher, was awarded two grants from the Greater St. Charles Education Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting excellence in education within Community Unit School District 303. The group provides grants to teachers and several scholarships each year to our St. Charles High School students. Mrs. Misner received a grant for $274.98 for a Gopher Ignition Pro Interval Trainer that will be temporarily mounted on the wall in the gym. The timer can also be placed on a table so it is moveable. This will provide a great visual for station work and fitness training.

A second grant was written by Mrs. Misner for $990.31 on behalf of the D303 Elementary Physical Education team for new bowling equipment. The bowling equipment travels to each school throughout the year with all of our elementary students using it. The purchase was for 3 new bowling lanes including a rubber bowling ball and 10 pins and 6 new lightweight bowling balls for our primary and students with special needs to use.

Mrs. Misner would like to express her gratitude to the Greater St. Charles Education Foundation for their continued support of education and students in D303. If you are interested in learning more about the Foundation or would like to make a donation, the website is http://stced.org/

Here's an opportunity to admire the work of an entire grade level. Third grade is making the most of our schedule! These pictures show conferring, creative math word problems, and independent reading and writing. It's Spoooooktackular!

There is a chill in the air and the weather is turning colder. Please dress your students appropriately for P.E. and recess with coats, hats and gloves. Please put your name on things so they don't get lost! If you are missing an item please stop by our lost and found inside the vestibule.

Please feel free to contact me if you have additional questions at julie.misner@d303.org.

Julie Misner

Physical Education teacher

Our school library is here to provide reading materials for your child. We have three ways to access fiction and nonfiction books: Print books for In-Person Learners, Digital/eBooks for In Persona and Remote learners, and Book Pickup for Remote learners. Please use this link below to access the pathway you choose. Happy reading!

Book Checkout procedures

It is important to us at Wasco that we provide a community of care and support to our families, especially when faced with financial hardship.

The current situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some families to experience a need related to job loss, medical bills, child care, etc. District 303 has several supports available for families through our schools.

The supports available include: Thanksgiving Meal Support and Big Hearts of Fox Valley Holiday Support Program. If you are interested, please complete this survey.

Parents we really appreciate your attention to safety you are when you arrive on campus. As inclement weather approaches, we are working to make sure we move traffic as smoothly as possible. Here are some suggestions:

• Please pull up AS FAR AS POSSIBLE in available space, without occupying the crosswalks (marked with white stripes). This will enable us to place more students in cars.

• Please be aware of loading quickly so that we can exit cars in the pickup line as quickly as possible.

• Take care to limit social interactions while driving. During arrival and dismissal, there is a lot of activity and we want to ensure all adults are watchful for moving students.

• Encourage your child to watch for your vehicle.

Parents and other visitors to a school campus are expected to be wearing a mask when at the school. Our school community goal is to be as safe as possible and following the precautions such as wearing a mask when sharing space with others or when we are unable to keep our distance is a community practice that decreases the spread of germs. Your help modeling mask-wearing and spacing from others demonstrates our commitment to the health of one another.

We realize there is much information to digest, especially if you are a parent new to Wasco. Please use this link to access a plethora of information about the daily operation of our school. We hope this guide answers all of your questions. When in doubt, please reach out to our office. We are happy to help! Even if you are a returning family, you might want to keep the link handy.

Transportation route information is accessible to families using this link: Bus Routes. You will need your HAC number to access the information. Transportation route information will not be sent home through the mail and can only be accessed online. Please note that for the first two weeks of the school year, the district will not make adjustments to the transportation routes. Our transportation department will collect suggestions about the routes and make adjustments where necessary after the first two weeks of classes.

Since March, District 303 has collaborated with our food service vendors to provide grab and go meals for students to enjoy at home. We want to make you aware of the procedures for making sure that students continue to receive meals, whether they are learning in-person or remotely.

Families who choose to purchase meals for their children will have their PushCoin accounts debited, unless eligible for free lunch. For more information about eligibility for free and reduced lunch, please contact Patricia Townsend at 331.228.6529.