The Wellwood Globe
October 2023 Issue
Our School Mission
Wellwood International strives to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring students in an engaging, rigorous and multi-cultural environment to instill inter-cultural understanding and respect.
Principal's Message
Hello Wellwood Families!
Our school year is in full swing, and we are so happy to have our students in the building with us each day, learning new skills, making new friends, and having fun!
We are partnering with our PTA to make sure that this year is one to remember! Please keep an eye out for any emails that provide information about becoming a member and attending the meetings. The PTA is a great way to support Wellwood and to share your time and ideas on how to improve our school. The first meeting will be held at school on Tuesday, October 10th from 5:30-6:30 PM. I hope to see you there!
Please remember that school starts at 9:05 AM and that we do not permit students to enter the building early. Please refrain from dropping your students off and leaving them unattended as this is a safety issue - our staff are not on duty to monitor them! Early departures end at 3:45 PM to ensure an orderly and safe dismissal for all students.
Are you receiving my Sunday emails? If not, please contact me at athompson8@bcps.org to make sure that we have your correct contact information.
We are here to support and partner with you! Please reach out with any needs, questions, or concerns.
Mrs. Thompson
Dates to Remember
Oct 10 (T) - Wellwood PTA Meeting, 5:30 - 6:30pm
Oct 20 (F) - Schools Closed for Teachers and Students (MSEA Convention)
Oct 24 (T) - Magnet Showcase for Prospective Parents
Brennan's Buzz
SPECIAL EDUCATION:
Wellwood International has a new IEP Facilitator. Please Welcome Ms. Arrington! If you would like to schedule a meeting, you can reach Mrs. Arrington at marrington@bcps.org
We also have two new speech and language pathologists that will be offering services in person this year. Please welcome Mrs. Ariel and Mrs. Schiermeyer!
We would also like to welcome Mrs. Blue-Green to our special education team. Mrs. Blue-Green has been a general educator for a number of years but will now be teaching special education.
TRANSPORTATION:
Reminders about Dismissal at Wellwood:
- Early dismissal students must be picked up by 3:45pm. Any parents after this time can pick up their child from the walker door.
- Dismissal changes must be in writing and given to the teacher by the morning of the change. Teachers may not be able to check email while teaching so please send it before school if there is a change.
- Carpool and walker students need a carpool tag or walker tag to ensure students are dismissed with the correct person. Please call the office or email your childβs teacher to request one.
- Any adult that picks up a child early will be asked to show their I.D.
TESTING:
KRA:
All students in kindergarten were administered the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) by their teacher last month. The KRA helps teachers assess what students know when they come into kindergarten so they can adjust their instruction to meet student needs. More information about this assessment can be found on the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) website.
MAP:
All students in grades 1-5 are given the MAP growth assessment at the end of September and beginning of October in the areas of math and reading. Information about your childβs performance in this assessment will be sent home in November.
Counseling Corner π
Hi Wellwood Families!
Welcome to the Counseling Corner, where we will showcase helpful tips and information about Social Emotional Learning. In addition to Ms. Lindsey Delis, we are very excited to welcome Ms. Renee Best to the School Counseling team! Ms. Best has previously worked in both public and private schools as a counselor, at the elementary and high school levels. Ms. Best is part-time at Wellwood, and when she is not here at school, she sees children, adolescents and adults in private practice.
Theme of the Month
As part of our School Counseling Program, your childβs class will have the opportunity to engage in a counseling core curriculum lesson each month based on a different theme. It is our hope that the core curriculum counseling lessons will help to promote the social emotional, academic, and career development of our students. We hope that you can help your child reflect on these lessons by discussing their content together.
For the month of September, students participated in classroom counseling lessons centered around βGetting to Know the Counselor.β In addition to introductions, Ms. Best introduced the topic of Resilience for grades 3-5, discussing strategies for handling teasing and how to overcome challenges.
Coming up in October, our lessons will be conducted around the topic of Bullying, as October is Bullying Awareness and Prevention Month. This monthβs topic explores what it means to be a bully and how to respond when you or someone else is being bullied. Additionally, students will learn about what it means to be a social justice advocate through discussions about segregation, race, and stereotypes.
Parent University Events
*Northwest Elementary School Boundary Study 1
October 11 & 25 β 6:00 PM β 8:00 PM
In Person- Pikesville Middle Cafeteria, 7701 Seven Mile Ln, Pikesville, MD 21208
*Lunch & Learn: The Power of Play: Fun Activities for Parents and Children October 20th- 12:30 PM
Virtual- Presented by the Center for Family Success
Click here to register for any of the events
Resources
o BCPS Virtual Calming Room https://scs.bcps.org/departments/social_emotional_support/office_of_student_support_services/mental_health_services/virtual_calming_room
o Baltimore County Crisis Response: 410-931-2214
o Crisis text line: Text the word "TALK" to 741741 for free 24-hour support
o Maryland Food Bank: 410-737-8282
o 211 Maryland: dial 211 or https://211md.org/
o Maryland Suicide and Crisis Hotline: dial 988
o National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK
o Trevor Lifeline: Text βSTARTβ to 678-678 or call 1-866-488-7386
o Baltimore County Department of Social Services: 410-853-3000
o Sheppard Pratt's Urgent Walk-In Clinic is available through virtual appointments. https://www.sheppardpratt.org/care-finder/virtual-crisis-walk-in-clinic/
Lindsey Delis
Renee Best
Nurses Notes π©Ί
Welcome back to a fun and healthy school year!
As we get underway this school year, please make sure your student has turned in their discretionary medication form.
And don't forget! Cold and flu season is approaching! Washing our hands is one of our best defenses. The CDC recommends scrubbing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds. Make sure to review good handwashing with your student!
If you are looking for any medical forms, please check out the Nurse Suite section of our school website.
International Baccalaureate Spotlight π
Hello Wellwood Families! Wellwood Wildcats are proud members of the International Baccalaureate community representing 5,600 schools in 160 countries. We became an authorized Primary Years Programme in February of 2020 and continue to offer our IB PYP to all Wellwood students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. We continue to propel the IB mission βto develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.β
The BCPS Magnet Programs Application for 2024-25 is now available! BCPS offers magnet programs at all three levels, elementary, middle, and high school at various schools across the county. Applications can be submitted online and are due on November 3, 2023. If you have a student in the 5th grade and have questions regarding middle school magnet programs please do not hesitate to reach out. Additional information can be found at www.tinyurl.com/BCPSmagnet and the Magnet Office can be reached at magnet@bcps.org or 443-809-4127.
Wellwood is hosting our Magnet Showcase on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 5:30pm for prospective Wellwood families, please share this information with family and friends who are interested in applying to Wellwoodβs magnet program for a seat in Kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade for the 2024-25 school year. I look forward to another wonderful year at Wellwood supporting our students becoming internationally minded citizens of the world.
Mrs. Katie Lugli
Library Land π
After establishing our Library class Essential Agreements and learning more about how our library is organized, students began checking out books this past week. We also discussed the importance of taking care of our library books. Please remind students to avoid having food and drinks around their books. Students will be able to exchange their library books each time that they have library class, which is once a week. They are allowed to renew books if they did not have a chance to finish reading them.
Please contact me if you have any questions regarding book check out notices that I send home as reminders when students have not returned their library books. There are no late fees, however paying to replace lost or damaged books greatly supports our library collection.
I would like to thank all the families who were able to donate supplies to support our library classes. Tissues, pencils, and crayons are always appreciated at any time during the school year.
I am very proud of how safe, respectful, responsible, and caring the students have been in library class. Itβs been a great beginning of the school year.
I would love to have the support of a library volunteer to help with reshelving our books. If you are interested, please email me: dgarde@bcps.org.
Thank you for your continued support,
Mrs. Garde
Library Media Specialist
Spotlight On: Third Grade π£
On Thursday, September 14, third grade students celebrated International Dot Day! Inspired by author Peter H. Reynolds (who also happens to be one of the illustrators of a book in our first reading unit), this day serves to celebrate creativity, courage, communication and collaboration. All students were invited to wear dotted clothing. We started the day listening to the story The Dot and talking about having a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. We created our own dots and wrote our names in Braille (a system of dots for written language used by blind people around the world). Then in math, we graphed the different colors of dots found in a box. We also had to figure out how to stack them as high as we could! We had a great day being open minded risk takers.
What can you create with just a dot?
Wellwood Green School π
Recycling Program
Wellwood is a National Green Ribbon School and a Maryland Green School. In order to continue our efforts, we have several recycling programs available. Below is information on each of our programs. Please help us to continue our efforts to recycle as many materials as possible!
Sneaker Recycling: Do you have any old sneakers or tennis shoes and don't know what to do with them? Drop them off in our lobby in our collection bin to be recycled!
Ink Cartridge Recycling: We take LaserJet and inkjet cartridges. Drop them off in our bins in the lobby to support Green School activities at Wellwood!
About Us
Wellwood International School
2901 Smith Avenue
Baltimore MD 21208
Phone: 443-809-1212 | Fax: 443-809-1213