Wrightstown Elementary
September 10, 2021
Starting a new school year is always an exciting time with hope for new beginnings and memorable times ahead! Take for instance this evening's Annual Back to School Picnic hosted by the PTO. The gathering of our school community and being together is a great way to kick off the year for our students and families! I would like to extend a big thank you to the PTO for planning this event for all to enjoy!
This afternoon students in grades 3-5 enjoyed a musical instrument recruitment assembly. During this time students were introduced to string and band instruments. Ask your child about it! Students who were interested were provided with a take-home flyer. This information will also be posted to the website.
Please be sure to note the dates below, rescheduled Back to School Night for grades 1-3, information needed for demographic updates, and the District Mobile Device Agreement.
Enjoy the weekend!
Beth
Important Dates
September 14 - Bus Evacuation Drills conducted by Bus Drivers/School-Wide Shelter in Place Drill
September 16 - NO SCHOOL
September 17 - PTO Kindergarten Playground Social at 4:00pm
September 20 - PTO Meeting at 7:00pm
September 21 - BTSN for Grades 1-3 at 7:00pm; Selected Areas Specials at 6:30pm
September 22 - PTO 1st Grade Playground Social at 4:00pm
September 24 - PTO 2nd Grade Playground Social at 4:00pm
Rescheduled: Back to School Night/Gr: 1-3
Tuesday, September 21st for grades 1-3 at 7:00 PM
The Kindergarten Back to School presentations were held during our Kindergarten Orientation sessions on August 26th. The purpose of the evening is to see your child’s classroom, meet your child’s teacher and learn about grade-level curriculum. Teachers will also review the policies and procedures for their classrooms. Please make child care arrangements for your children so you may attend free from distraction. Teachers will not be able to confer about individual students during this time. If you would like an individual conference, please contact the teacher directly. Please note that Learning Support teachers will be available on the evening of their assigned grade.
Special area staff members will be available in their classrooms to meet with parents beginning at 6:30 PM. Please note, some of our specialists will be attending Back to School Nights at other district schools where they are assigned this year. If you are not able to meet a specialist during one of these two evenings, please contact him/her directly to schedule a time to talk.
Tuesday, September 21st
6:30 PM: Special Area teachers will be available in their classrooms to meet with parents
7:00 PM: Grades 1-3: Teacher Presentations in classrooms
8:00 PM: Program concludes
The following special area staff members will be available to meet with parents in their classrooms beginning at 6:30 PM. Building maps will be provided to help you navigate the building.
Special Area Staff attending on 9/21:
Mrs. Pfannenstiel, General Music/GYM
Ms. Ortendahl, Physical Education/GYM
Mrs. Ludwig, Speech & Language Therapist/B1
Mrs. French, Humanities/D12
Mrs. Etgen, Literacy Specialist/D9
Mrs. Keen, Instructional Support Teacher/D7
Mrs. Aiello, School Counselor/D9
Mrs. Staffieri, General Music/GYM
Additionally, this is an adults-only event. Please make child care arrangements for your children so you may attend free from distraction. The staff and I genuinely look forward to seeing you on Back-to-School-Night.
IMPORTANT! Demographic Updates
Please be sure to update your demographic information in the Home Access Center (HAC). HAC. Updates must be provided individually for each child.
It is important to know that District/School Notifications, Emergency Contacts, Medication Authorization information, etc. are directly dependent upon your completion of this process.
Please have only 1 parent/guardian complete this demographic form in Home Access Center by Friday, September 17th.
- Login to HAC.
- Click on Update Registration tab and look for the word NEW in the middle of the screen.
- Click on that to open the Demographic Update Form 2021.
- You can review information on the form by expanding the + sign in each area, but must add the required fields for Medication Authorization (do you authorize the nurse to give medication to your child, if they need it, while they are in school) and Publicity Exclusion (do you authorize the district to use your student’s information).
- Check "I Agree" box at bottom of form when done.
- Click Submit button.
If you encounter any issues please reply to this email with a detailed explanation. (HACsupport@crsd.org)
EMERGENCY DRILLS
Within the first 60 days of school, we must conduct emergency drills within our building. These drills help us practice what we should do in the event of an emergency. Fire Drills are practiced monthly. We practiced two fire drills, one in the morning and one in the afternoon since the start of school. Students and staff did an awesome job with exiting the building quickly and safely.
We also practice Lock Down Drills for an inside & outside threat and Shelter-In-Place. Lock Down Drills are designed to protect our children in the event an intruder enters the building (inside threat), dangerous incidents in the surrounding neighborhood, or intruder on our school grounds (outside threat). Safe Shelter is designed to protect our children from weather-related emergencies. Teachers review these procedures with students at the beginning of the year.
IMPORTANT: CRSD MOBILE DEVICE USER AGREEMENT
As you are aware, CRSD is now a one-to-one device district. For the upcoming school year, elementary students will once again be issued a district Chromebook. Devices will be distributed to students at the start of the school year. Please review and complete the electronic CRSD Mobile Device User Agreement. Both the student and a parent must sign the form. Failure to submit the form shall result in usage restrictions, loss of access privileges, disciplinary action, and/or legal proceedings.
Counselor's Corner
It has been great meeting many of you at the Open House and Back to School night. Currently, I will be visiting each classroom to introduce myself to the students, teach them about the role of a school counselor, and discuss how I can help them succeed in school. This month, I also have started to meet with students for a “Minute Meeting” to briefly get to know each student at WES.
All the best,
Mrs. Barbara Aiello
REMINDERS!
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM CHARTWELLS REGARDING STUDENT GETTING LUNCHES AT SCHOOL
Please take a moment to read the following letter from Chartwells at this LINK. It includes information about what IS and IS NOT included in the free lunch program. Specifically, the letter states:
A student receiving a free meal must choose at least 3 items for the lunch to be considered complete as per the Department of Child Nutrition regulations, one of which must be at least a half-cup serving of a fruit or vegetable. Anything less than this will be considered an a la carte purchase and must be paid for by the student.
A NOTE FROM NURSE
Please note that medications cannot be accepted without a medical order or action plan signed by both your child’s health care provider and parent/guardian. All medications must be in a pharmacy labeled container in accordance with our medication policy. Extra copies of all forms may be found on our district website under Department/Special Services/Health Services-Medications/Medical Procedures in School:
· https://www.crsd.org/site/default.aspx?PageID-237
If you have any medical concerns regarding your child, please do not hesitate to contact the health office.
HELLO FROM THE WES PTO
The WES Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) would like to wish a warm welcome to all of our new families and to welcome back all of our returning families to a new year at Wrightstown Elementary School! We are looking forward to making this a fun and exciting year for our students, staff, and families!
What does the WES PTO do? The PTO sponsors lots of fun events to promote a sense of community at WES and within the Council Rock School District. The PTO also provides financial and volunteer support to teachers and staff to enhance the educational experience of WES students.
How can you help? Parents can help by attending monthly PTO meetings, signing up to help at PTO-sponsored events, volunteering to be a Home Room Parent, and/or making a monetary donation to the PTO to help us do all of the great things that we do for the WES community.
We will be in touch soon with more information about each of these opportunities. Please stay tuned, and feel free to reach out to us at any time with questions, ideas, or offers to help!
Best wishes for a great school year!
The WES PTO
Julie Shilane, President
Heather Heckathorn, Vice President
Lyndsey Halderman, Secretary
Danielle Smith, Treasurer
http://www.wrightstownpto.org/
FROM THE COUNCIL ROCK TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT
The FirstView Bus Tracking App will be available for the first day of school, student IDs and "security codes" will be available in HAC at the same time as bus information. Bus information is now live in HAC. You can find information for the Tracking App at the bottom of the page at the following LINK.
Similar to last year, there will be a black out period for changes at the beginning of the school year.
- Blackout period will be 8/16/21 to 9/13/21. No change requests will be processed or implemented during that time frame.
- During that time, the completed routing is transmitted to First Student who will complete dry runs and allow our drivers time to learn and acclimate to the routes without having to adapt to changes.
- Only urgent safety concerns will be evaluated during that two week period when our drivers perfect the routes.
- Students should arrive 10 minutes prior to the time indicated in HAC until a routine is established. The pick-up time may differ slightly from the time noted on HAC as stops or the order of bus stops may need to be changed.
We ask parents to be patient during the first two weeks of the new school year. Our drivers need that time to settle into their runs and adjust to the needs of their passengers. We are especially mindful of the kindergarten and first-grade students during this time. Additionally, individual schools extend the time for loading each bus to ensure that all students are placed on the correct bus. While afternoon drop off times are provided, these are the optimal (earliest) estimations. For more information please visit the CR Transportation Webpage under the Transportation heading.
STUDENT TRANSPORTATION SLIP FOR CAR RIDERS
If you are planning to pick your child(ren) up from school, please complete the attached form and return it to Mrs. Winslow at gwinslow@crsd.org by August 27th. This will help us best prepare for the first day of school.
CAR RIDER PROCEDURES FOR ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL
CAR RIDER PROCEDURES FOR ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL
During the first week of school every car rider family will receive two (2) placards. Students will be given these placards to take home. Please note, these placards will be distributed per family, not students.
- Two (2) placards will be provided per car rider family.
- Placards must be displayed in the car windshield in full view for staff to see when picking up students.
- Remember to remain in your car during this process. Staff members assigned to this area will assist your child to your vehicle.
- If you don’t have a placard displayed and the staff doesn’t recognize you, you will be asked to park and visit the main office in the front of the building to provide identification to sign your child out.
Arrival procedures for car riders:
-Student drop-off begins at 8:50 AM. Supervision is not available before 8:50 AM.
-Once on-site follow the signs for car rider drop off located on the gym side of the school.
-Parents pull their car up to the gym side of the school where you will remain in your car.
-Children exit the car from the passenger side only and enter the school through the gym doors.
-Students should report directly to their homerooms. We will have staff available to assist students as needed.
Dismissal procedures for car riders:
-Display your school-issued placard in your car windshield so that it is visible.
-Upon entering the school site you will turn left (there is a sign on the right of the driveway indicating this) and drive through the front parking lot.
-Once you come to a stop sign you will cross over the bus lane into another parking lot and turn right.
-You will proceed down toward the gym entrance and pull your car up as far as you can go. Cones will be stationed in this area.
-Please remain in your car.
-A staff member will write down your child’s name and radio the office to call for your child/ren to be dismissed from their classroom to the gym doors.
-Depending on the time that it takes your child to exit the building, you may be asked to move your car out of the line and park in a parking space. Staff will direct you.
-You are asked to remain in the car line to pick up your child/ren.
A directional map is provided below for your reference.
REMINDER! BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
Beginning last school year (2020-2021) we implemented the following practice:
We will celebrate birthdays in school ONLY in ways that do not include food while in school. We have chosen to move in this direction due to the safety of all of our students. With 1 in 18 of our children having at least one food allergy, anyone serving food to children needs to be aware of food allergies and the potential for a life-threatening allergic reaction. The safety and welfare of all students is our top priority and accommodations for students’ medical and food allergy needs must be considered.
We can still mark these special occasions with non-food items such as stickers, pencils, themed erasers, or other small trinkets rather than food. Such items can be sent in with the student or will be accepted in the Main Office.
Please note that any food birthday treats sent in with students, for distribution, in grades K-6 will be sent back home. We need to ensure that we are consistent with this policy and therefore exceptions will not be considered. We thank you, in advance, for your compliance and understanding of this needed change.
Wrightstown Elementary School
Principal
Email: bfox@crsd.org
Website: https://www.crsd.org/wrightstownes
Location: Wrightstown Elementary School, 729 Penns Park Road, Newtown, PA, USA
Phone: (215) 944-2300
Twitter: @BethFox_WES