The Eagle Express
October 1st, 2017
From Your Plank South Leadership Team
Lots of updates in this week's Eagle Express- information on the P.S. Post Office, PTSA & BOE updates, and information on upcoming community events over the long weekend next week! We hope you're enjoying the beautiful fall weather!
Upcoming Dates
- Friday, 10/6: Superintendent's Conference Day. No school for kids.
- Monday, 10/9: Columbus Day. No school.
- Tuesday, 10/17 & Wednesday, 10/18: Picture Days.
- Thursday (10/19), Friday (10/20), Friday (10/27): Parent Teacher Conference Days. Half day for students with buses leaving at 11:20am (normal time is 3:20pm so students get home roughly 4 hours earlier).
- Sunday, 10/29, 2:45-4:00pm: Trunk or Treat
- Thursday, 11/16, 6:30-7:30pm: Open House & Evening Book Fair
Warm Regards,
Your Plank South Leadership Team
Scott Wilcox & Jen Sullivan
The Plank South Post Office is Open!!!
The Plank South Postal Service (PSPS) is open for business in the town of EAGLEVILLE! Fifth grade students are responsible for running the post office. This includes everything from the mailbox pick up to the delivery. These students filled out an application, took a postal exam and were interviewed for a position. A total of 24 students were hired for the 2017-2018 school year!
Our school, which is the town of Eagleville, is broken down into 11 streets and two postal routes. Teachers and students write letters to one another and we encourage parents to join in the fun! Your child’s teacher will be sending home a letter explaining how to send letters through the Plank South Postal Service. This letter, on green paper, will have your child’s individual address and some stamps made especially for parents. So write your letter today and drop it off in the large blue postal box in the school’s front entrance.
HAPPY LETTER WRITING!
From our Fabulous PTSA!!!
“Save Around Town – Rochester” Coupon Book Sales – Thank You!!!
Thank you to everyone who helped make our Fall Fundraiser a great success! With your help we more than met our budget for the year!
We have one last task and that is to distribute everyone’s coupon books. We are in need of only 2 volunteers help with coupon book distribution this Monday, October 2nd during the following times:
• 3pm – 5pm (1 volunteer)
• 5pm – 7pm (1 volunteer)
Please email nmau@rochester.rr.com if you are able to help. Thank you!
PTSA Meeting – Tuesday, October 10th at 9:30AM
We hope you can join us for our next PTSA meeting. We will be meeting in the Think Tank Room and an agenda will be added to the website very soon. We look forward to seeing you!
Trunk-or-Treat – Sunday, October 29th 2:45pm – 4:00pm
The planning has begun for the annual PTSA Trunk-or-Treat event. This is a rain-or-shine event and will be looking for some volunteers to help with coordinating the parking. Look for a flyer and an invitation to volunteer next week!
School 17 Gift Giving Project
In October, your students will be bringing home an invitation to be a part of a Plank South Holiday Tradition.
Many of our families generously donate a gift to a student at City School 17 in Rochester. A small group of Webster School faculty, students, and volunteers then deliver the gifts accompanied by Santa and Mrs. Claus!
Keep an eye out for more information and sign up to be part of something great!
Current Volunteer Opportunities
- Kindergarten Lunchroom Helpers –our newest students still need some help navigating lunch time, and we have opened the sign-up to Kindergarten parents. If you can volunteer to help, please click here.
- Can you help with the 5th Grade Orienteering field trip? Please click here to volunteer to help with this fun event.
- We have open positions on the steering committee and for coordinator positions. Click here for more information.
Upcoming Events
- Thursday 10/5 – 5th Grade Orienteering, Webster Park (Rain Date 10/13)
- Friday 10/6 – NO SCHOOL
- Monday, 10/9 – NO SCHOOL
- Tuesday 10/10 - PTSA Meeting; 9:30am
- Wednesday 10/11 – Roller Skating Grade 5
- Tuesday 10/17 – Wednesday 10/18 School Pictures
- Thursday 10/19 – Early dismissal 11:20 for Parent/Teacher Conferences
- Friday 10/20 – Early dismissal 11:20 for Parent/Teacher Conferences
From the Board of Education, October 2017
Mike Suffoletto, President msuffoletto@webstercsd.org
Klem Road South ES/Spry MS/Willink MS/Webster Schroeder HS/Webster Thomas HS Liaison
Tammy Gurowski, Vice President tgurowski@webstercsd.org
DeWitt Road ES Liaison
Sue Casey scasey@webstercsd.org
Schlegel Road ES Liaison
Linda Dioguardi ldioguardi@webstercsd.org
Plank Road South ES Liaison
Mike Gustin mgustin@webstercsd.org
State Road ES Liaison
Bill Kent bkent@webstercsd.org
Plank Road North ES/Spry MS/Willink MS/Webster Schroeder HS/Webster Thomas HS Liaison
Jan Strege jstrege@webstercsd.org
Klem Road North ES Liaison
- Follow us on Twitter: @WCSDProud
- @superwebstercsd (Superintendent Carmen Gumina)
- “LIKE” us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WebsterCentralSchools
- Visit us on YouTube: www.youtube.com/WebsterSchoolsProud
NYSED NAMES WEBSTER SCHROEDER & WEBSTER THOMAS HIGH SCHOOLS REWARD SCHOOLS
Webster Central School District is pleased to announce that Webster Schroeder and Webster Thomas high schools have been designated as Reward Schools by the New York State Education Department. State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia identified 185 high achieving and high progress schools that demonstrate either high academic achievement or the most progress with no significant gaps in student achievement.
“Being named a Reward School is truly an honor and reflection of the outstanding support we receive from our families and community,” said Webster Thomas High School Principal Glenn Widor. “It is a team effort in Webster with students, families, teachers and community all working toward a common goal.”
“Webster Schroeder High School celebrates this designation with our entire school family and all of WCSD,” said Webster Schroeder High School Principal Paul Benz. “We salute our students, families, faculty and staff for their ongoing commitment to educational excellence.”
Both schools received certificates that celebrate the success of WCSD in supporting educational excellence and helping students achieve college and career-ready standards.
“CLASS, STYLE, PRIDE” ON DISPLAY DURING AUTUMN FANFARE ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7
Webster Central School District invites all families to attend the Webster Marching Band's 32nd Annual Autumn Fanfare. You won’t want to miss a beat of this premier field show and competition hosted by the Webster Marching Band that features performances by six Greater Rochester area marching bands, including The Pride of Webster, on Saturday, October 7, at the Webster Schroeder High School stadium, 875 Ridge Road.
The Webster Marching Band will perform their 2017-18 program, “froZEN." The program features the music of Mark Ford and Madonna, and takes a unique approach to the sounds and imagery of a Chinese winter. Webster Marching Band Director Steve House and 64 middle and high school student musicians and color guard performers have been hard at work since August to share this captivating music and visually stunning program with our entire community. You’ll experience first-hand why the Band’s motto, “Excellence through Class, Style, and Pride” is part of all that they do!
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. with the National Anthem performed at 6:50 p.m., and the show starting at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $6 in advance at Hegedorns and $8 at the gate. Webster CSD student and staff tickets are just $2 with a Webster student or staff ID. Children under 5 are free. Make sure you come hungry, too, and sample the offerings at the Marching Band’s mini Food Truck Rodeo. If your children are interested in learning more about how they can be part of the Webster Marching Band, please e-mail director Stephen House at Stephen_House@webstercsd.org or visit webstermarchingband.org. You can also follow the band on Twitter, @W_H_S_M_B, as they continue sharing their musical program during their busy fall competition season!
STAY INFORMED WITH YOUR BOARD OF EDUCATION
You can stay informed on your board’s activities by visiting http://www.websterschools.org/board. There you will find board agendas, minutes, and even the latest meetings, which run live (and taped) on WETV, Spectrum Cable Channel 15. As a reminder, if you ever have any questions, comments, or suggestions for your board of education, be sure to reach out to your school’s 2017-18 BOE liaisons (liaisons are noted above in the BOE directory).
Public attendance at meetings and workshops is encouraged and welcomed. Be sure to join us for these upcoming meetings:
Thursday, October 5 - BOE Regular Meeting: Humanities (6:30 p.m., Spry Middle School auditorium, 2nd floor)
Thursday, October 19 - BOE Workshop: Technology Update - coding and 1:1 initiative (Time typically 6:30 p.m. – please refer to WCSD web site, websterschools.org, Conference Room B, District Offices, 3rd floor of Spry Middle School)
First LEGO League- Adult Mentors Needed!
Parents of 4th and 5th Grade Plank South Students,
Here is some exciting news - Plank South has an opportunity to start a First LEGO League team this year. For those of you who are not familiar with the program, First LEGO League is an alliance between First Robotics and LEGO, where teams of up to 10 students (grades 4-8) develop solutions to challenges based on real world problems. The teams then design, build, and program a robot using the LEGO MINDSTORMS system, and compete against other teams on a table-top playing field to solve the challenge. For more information, see the following link.
https://www.firstinspires.org/ robotics/fll/what-is-first- lego-league
This year, we are looking to run an off-season team, starting in the January/February timeframe, and lasting about 8 weeks. The program would culminate in a competition with teams from other elementary schools in Webster who are also running off-season teams. Based on the experience of this 'building year', Plank South would be ready to enter the main cycle of First LEGO League competition starting in the Fall of 2018, and those students leaving Plank South would be better prepared to join teams at Spry Middle School.
Key to the success of the First LEGO League teams are adult mentors that guide the students through the challenge - and that is why I am reaching out to you! Each team requires at least two adult mentors, and we are looking for volunteers. Depending on the response, we may be able to field more than one team, which would be fantastic. The typical time commitment for the adult mentor over the 8 week period is 1-2 meetings per week, lasting 1-2 hours each. The time, location, and frequency of the meetings is left up to the mentors, but typically meetings are done at night or on the weekends at a school, church, or similar type of location. Plank South is fortunate to have a staff member who is very involved with Webster's SparX Robotics team, and she is willing to provide some guidance to the adult mentors. A link to the mentor/coach handbook is below.
If you are interested in becoming an adult mentor for Plank South's First LEGO League team, or would like to learn more, please respond through the following link.
https://goo.gl/forms/s1lGDtwvFyOi843W2
Have a wonderful week!
Flyers, Flyers, Flyers!!!
- Put Friday, October 6th on your calendar. It is homecoming at Webster Schroeder and they will be recognizing kids who attend from the various elementary schools. There is a Food Truck Rodeo before the game begins and the games themselves are a blast. Here is the flyer with all the details!
- On Saturday, October 7th(evening) is the Autumn Fanfare Marching Band competition. It is a fantastic event for musicians and non-musicians alike!
- One last flyer: Learn Spanish through Webster Community Education.