The WES Parent Wildcat Weekly
Home of the Wildcats!
Week of December 14-18, 2020
Hello from Principal Holmes!
Dear Wildcat Parents,
The last week of school before our winter break. Oh my goodness...we could not have made it through this first semester of learning without your support. Our students are learning with the support of you, our parents, and the great instruction that is being provided by our teachers. Teamwork truly has benefited our wildcats and enabled them to continue to learn and grow.
Our Virtual Reading Night was a huge success. We had over fifty students attend to hear the holiday stories that were read by staff. We hope to have another reading night in the spring so those of you who were able to attend or who would like to attend next time, we would appreciate any feedback or suggestions.
At Wilderness Elementary School, one of our school goals is for students to be able to name and appropriately use 3 or more mindfulness strategies by the end of this school year. All of our students will be completing a survey to see what they already know about mindfulness and what strategies they are already using. We will be teaching additional mindfulness strategies throughout the school year. Their classroom teacher will be sharing this survey with them next week.
Thank you for your continued partnership as we move into the second semester of this school year in January. Winter Break is December 21st – January 1st for students and staff. Our school offices will be closed during this time and all school offices will be closed December 23rd – January 1st.
The next Parent Wildcat Weekly will go out on Sunday, January 3, 2021. We look forward to a great start to the new year with all of our wildcat families.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
With wildcat pride and spirit,
Dianne Holmes
Principal
A Message From our Superintendent Dr. Baker
As we begin the final week of the first semester, I thank you for your continued patience and support. We have completed a total of 16 weeks of instruction since August (8 distance learning and 8 hybrid in-person).
Below are a few brief reminders as we look to the week ahead:
Announcements & Reminders
After hearing feedback from our teacher advisory, parent leaders, and community, we will be maintaining our current schedule as set forth in the instructional calendar through this Friday heading into winter break. We are monitoring the potential for inclement weather in the middle of the week.
January 4th, the first day following winter break, will be a full hybrid-in person learning day instead of a ½ day as currently scheduled.
Please keep in mind that there can always be decisions made at a state level or inclement weather that can potentially alter our schedule moving forward. However, at this time, we are not making any other adjustments to the published instructional calendar.
As a reminder, our COVID-19 Dashboard is updated weekly and can be viewed in the Return to Learn section on each school’s website or by clicking this link: SCPS COVID-19 Dashboard. Also on our webpage is a link to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Dashboard. This site provides data and statistics regarding COVID-19 positivity rates and cases per 100,000 by locality, region, and state.
This past Thursday, December 3rd, we met with our Parent Volunteer Leaders representing school PTA/PTO presidents. As we did with the Parent Advisory, we engaged the group in a discussion regarding the development of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 school division budget. Following a short summary of the process and timelines, parent representatives were given the opportunity to weigh in on preliminary thoughts on upcoming budget priorities as well as information needed for a better understanding of the system budget.
Some individual hotspots are still available. We have provided about 800 to families throughout the county and have approximately 100 left. The mobile hotspots have been placed in the following location parking lots throughout the county:
7XPRESS (2976 Partlow Rd, Partlow, VA 22534)
Dollar General (5720 Courthouse Rd. Spotsylvania, VA 22551)
Belmont Community Center (7124 Belmont Rd, Mineral, VA 23117)
Super Value Inn (5321 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Fredericksburg, VA 22408)
Stay 4 Less (5308 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Fredericksburg, VA 22408)
Garden Inn (5308 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Fredericksburg, VA 22408)
Todd's Tavern (10719 Catharpin Rd. Spotsylvania, VA 22553)
Dollar General (1500 New Bridge Rd, Mineral, VA 23117)
Many thanks go to our community partners who funded the mobile hotspots and to the host sites for allowing us to place a mobile hotspot in their parking lot. Directions on how to connect to the mobile hotspot are posted on each mobile hotspot.
One week to go before Winter Break! Stay safe!
Dr. S. Scott Baker
What's happening at WES?
Early Dismissal at 12:30pm on Friday
Breakfast and lunch will be served on an adjusted schedule.
Virtual students will meet
a.m. morning group from 8:45-10:30
p.m. afternoon group from 10:45-12:30
Hybrid students will begin at 8:45 with dismissal at 12:30 ( asynchronous students will be expected to attend from 8:45-9:45 or another time designated by the teacher due to adjusted encore schedule.
Encore - hybrid students ONLY, no encore for virtual students due to limited staffing.
Reminders & Announcements
WES Spirit Night at Shawn's BBQ - Our next Spirit Night is on Tuesday, December 15 at Shawn’s BBQ (Harrison Crossing Location) from 4 - 8pm!! Come out and enjoy some great BBQ!! 15% of all proceeds go to the PTA!! The proceeds help to bring programs to the school community!! Hope you will be able to join us on our Spirit Night.
SCPS FREE FOOD DISTRIBUTION - THIS WEEK, Free Food Distribution will be on Wednesday from 8a-4p.
FREE FOOD PICK-UP DURING WINTER BREAK - there will be ONLY ONE Pick-up Day during Winter Break which will be TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22nd from 9am-7pm at the following 8 sites ONLY: Parkside ES, Smith Station ES, Battlefield MS, Chancellor HS, Courtland HS, Massaponax HS, Riverbend HS, and Spotsylvania HS. (Please note: WES will NOT be a pickup site on this day - families will be directed to another school). At this pick-up families will receive 14 days of meals.
Student Attendance - Attendance will be taken daily both in-person and virtually. On Wednesday attendance will be taken during Wildcat Connections from 9:00-10:00am. Students should email their teacher if they are unable to attend virtually due to illness or connectivity issues.
Yearbook News!!!! - The yearbook is looking for any pictures of your student working virtually. Please send any pictures you can share to lmoreyra@spotsylvania.k12.va.us
Directions for ParentVue - can be viewed using the following links: Directions in English and Directions in Spanish.
WES Facebook - Be sure to LIKE and FOLLOW the WES Facebook Page
COVID-19 Utility Assistance
On December 7, 2020, Spotsylvania County Utilities received award notification of $762,991.62 in CARES Act funds to assist with municipal utility customer relief. These funds allow the County to extend the offer of the COVID-19 Utilities Assistance Fund Program, through which customers may apply for bill assistance for those accounts unpaid between March 1, 2020, and November 30, 2020.
Customers who receive water and/or sewer bills from Spotsylvania County, whose accounts are in arrears and meet specified eligibility criteria, must submit an application for consideration. Customers will need to attest to experiencing economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the application process. Applications must be received by December 27, 2020, and applications meeting criteria will receive a bill credit reflected within the next billing period.
https://www.spotsylvania.va. us/2010/COVID19-Utility- Assistance
Our December Canned Food Drive is still happening all this month! See attached flyer for more details!
Contact Us!
Daniella Smith, Assistant Principal
Tori Elliott, School Counselor
Crystal Burton, School Social Worker
Email: dholmes@spotsylvania.k12.va.us
Website: https://www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us/Domain/23
Location: 11600 Catharpin Road, Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA, USA
Phone: 540-786-9817
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildernessWildcats
Twitter: @WESPrincipal