The Puma Pride
Week of December 10, 2018
Principal's Message
This week marks the last week before Winter break. December 21 is a full day of school for students. We hope our families can join us for the Winter Concert on Wednesday, December 19 at 7 pm. Our music teachers, chorus, and band students have been practicing diligently over the last few weeks. You don’t want to miss their amazing performance.
Friday, December 21 is “Pajama Day.” Students and staff are invited to wear their favorite pajamas to school. We do ask for safety reasons, that students wear sneakers or other appropriate footwear to school before changing into slippers. Santa Claus will briefly visit the classrooms throughout the day. The day will conclude with the annual holiday sing-along in the gym. All students will be dismissed, as usual, beginning at 3:30 PM.
As the holiday season quickly approaches, I wish all of you the gift of health, happiness, and time with family and friends this holiday season. I am thankful and blessed to be working with dedicated educators, supportive parents and community members, and especially, our talented students. Each of you is instrumental in making Willow Dale Elementary School such a wonderful place to learn and grow. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate the holiday. To all of our families--Please take time to unplug, rejuvenate, and rest over the break.
WIth best wishes for the happiest of holiday seasons,
Cathy Perkins
What is Happening in Kindergarten?
Kindergarten is busy exploring the different December holidays. From playing the dreidel game with older buddies to writing about our favorite holiday adventure during our writing time. We have completed all of the lower case letters in the alphabet and are now using them to read and write three letter words. In math, kindergartners are arranging and analyzing quantities of 1 more. There has been quite a bit of academic growth since the beginning of the school year!
A big "Thank You" to our families for their support in helping us grow.
Silver Spoon Lunch
What's Happening in Digital Literacy Class?
During the month of December in Digital Literacy, students at Willow Dale participate in the Hour of Code. This gives students the opportunity to be exposed to computer science at a young age. Students in the primary grades learn block programming through different sites. They're asked to use their problem-solving skills and perseverance to solve puzzles. Third-grade students practice programming without a device. They use Ozobots, a line-following robot that senses color codes, to complete different tasks. Fourth and fifth-grade students have been coding for a few years and move onto Scratch and Khan Academy to learn more advanced skills. The goal is to give students the opportunity to find a passion or explore careers they may not have known even existed.
Family Reading and Writing Ideas for the Winter Holidays
Winter break means a well-deserved reprieve from homework and daily obligations. But before you know it, the holidays will be over and it will be back to the bus stop. To prepare for a smooth re-entry and a successful second semester, don't let school skills like reading, writing, and math slide completely during winter vacation. Try these family-friendly activities to keep skills sharp:
Read for pleasure. Whether your child is in the mood for holiday stories like The Night Before Christmas or the newest installment from his favorite series, winter break provides the perfect opportunity to stash schoolbooks and read for fun. Encourage relatives to give books as holiday gifts or gather in front of the fire (big kids too!) to take turns reading from classic tales.
Cook up an easy lesson. Invite your child into the kitchen to help you whip up a special dish — from Christmas cookies to potato pancakes. All of those half-tablespoon and quarter-cup measurements are great practice with fractions.
Write thank-you notes. Penning notes of appreciation to gift-givers teaches gratitude and helps polish writing and spelling skills. One final tip: a mug of hot cocoa can make this task feel more festive!
Make the most of car rides. Turn the drive to or from a holiday get-together into an opportunity to practice letters and numbers. You can look for license plates from different states, try to find the alphabet on the license plates, or count the number of red (or white or green) cars you see.
Maintain reasonable bedtimes. With no school to get up for in the morning, it can be tempting to let kids become night owls. A few days before school starts up again, ease back into the regular bedtime schedule so your child can start the year bright-eyed.
Have a family game night. Chances are many of your family's favorite board and card games reinforce skills such as counting, reading, and drawing. Gather the group to play games you usually don't have time for on school nights.
Below are some great electronic sites or apps that will reinforce what’s being instructed on in school. Your child’s teacher can supply you with passwords for any site that requires a login and password and he/she can’t remember!
- Khan Academy www.khanacademy.org
- Lexia www.lexiacore5.com
- RAZ kids (for K-2) www.kidsa-z.com (see teacher for log in information)
- ST Math (‘Gigi’) (for K-1) www.stmath.com
- Epic www.getepic.com
- Starfall www.starfall.com
- ABCya www.abcya.com
Service Project Opportunity, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for all Willow Dale students & families
Between now and January 21, 2019, our school will be holding our annual used children’s clothing and equipment drive for:
Cradles to Crayons
Cradles to Crayons is a local organization that provides, free of charge, the basic essentials that low-income and homeless children need to be safe, warm, valued, and ready to learn.
Here’s how you and your whole family can help:
Bring in gently used or new items (see list);
Come to WDES on Monday, 1/21/19, 9 – 12 noon, to sort and bag all the donations; and/or
Volunteer to drive to the C2C local site to drop off our school’s donations that same day.
We need to know who can help on MLK Day, (all children must be accompanied by an adult), and who is willing to drive to the drop-off site. If you would like to volunteer for either or both, please let Mrs. Kerber know at: kerbha@centennialsd.org.
Sponsored by Willow Dale’s No Place for Hate Committee.
Cold Weather Guidelines for Recess
Below 60 degrees—Jacket or long sleeves
Below 50 degrees—Coat and long pants
Below 32 degrees—Gloves and hats to go outside
Below 20 degrees—Shortened recess (5-10 minutes)
Below 10 degrees—Indoor recess
All temperatures represent the “feels like” number
*If you you are in need of coats, hats, gloves- Contact the School Counselors:
Ms. Hopkins: hopkle@centennialsd.org
Ms. O'Brien: obride@centennialsd.org
Feeding Everyone at Special Times
In 2012 NJS Charity Fund was founded for the sole purpose of helping local people in need have a nice holiday meal at Thanksgiving. The thought of doing more expanded to the Christmas Holiday as well. The focus is to supply nice holiday meals for people in need predominantly in the Bucks and Montgomery Counties. The name has now been changed to FEAST. Feeding Everyone at Special Times. Special times has been defined by FEAST as any time people are in need of a good meal. Our primary focus is but not limited to Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. What started as a little bit of a whim, has started to gain some traction and grow in size. Give people a hand up not a handout.
What do we do?
Individual Meals are prepared. As people are identified they are added to our list. Privacy is respected as most of the people we serve come from local schools and churches.
If you are interested in participating in the FEAST program go online to https://tug21959.wordpress.com/meals/
Simply fill out Name, Email, Phone, Number of Meals
or Text (267) 225-8589 Name, Email, Phone, Number of meals
(Please no calls)
FEAST will also be offering FREE coats at meal pick up.
St. Robert's Bellarmine Church
826 Euclid Rd
Warrington, PA 18976
*Sunday 12/23 3pm-7pm
A Message from the School Nurse
Cold and Flu Season
We are entering cold and flu season! The best prevention against
illness is of course vaccination so don't forget your yearly flu shot!
The flu vaccine is also available as a nasal mist for some patients.
The best way to prevent the spread of germs is, of course, hand
washing. Stress the importance of this to your children in order to
keep them healthy and able to learn! Make it fun for them and sing
songs to make sure they are doing a good job!
The Willow Dale Nurse’s office does not keep cold and cough medicine in stock. If your child requires over the counter medicine, we advise they take it prior to the school day. Please be careful when administering any medication that may make your child drowsy.
If your child is having any fever or vomiting, they should stay home
until symptom-free for 24 hours. We are trying to keep all of our
students happy and healthy during this time of year!
If you have any medical questions, please contact Mrs. White - whitde@centennialsd.org or 215-441-6093.
Winter Concert
Wednesday, Dec 19, 2018, 07:00 PM
Willow Dale Elementary School, North Norristown Road, Warminster, PA, USA
Winter Break
Saturday, Dec 22, 2018, 08:45 AM
undefined
December Rotation Calendar
Willow Dale Elementary School
#Puma Pride
Email: perkca@centennialsd.org
Website: https://www.centennialsd.org/Domain/692
Location: 720 North Norristown Road, Warminster, PA, USA
Phone: 215-441-6093
Twitter: @Willow_Dale_ES