Iowa City Music Auxiliary Raygun T-shirt Contest!

We're raising funds to support the performing arts in ICCSD.

Student submissions due by Sunday, February 26.

Winning design gets a free shirt! More info and to submit: https://forms.gle/V5wMJ1KPBiRAYHwo9

This is just a reminder to continue to send your students with appropriate winter clothing for recess. If you need help with hats, mittens, gloves, snow pants, boots, or more please reach out! We can help get these items if you need them. I know we have not had much snow, but the temperatures are still pretty cold and it can get muddy at times.

Thank you for your help with this-

Hello Families,

We were contacted by the City (see communication below and picture attachment) early this week about some changes they are making to Wild Prairie Drive in the near future. This change is being made to create a safer experience for our students as they arrive and dismiss each day.

Thank you for your attention to this as we work to keep all of our students safe on and off school property each day.

Emily and Travis

City Information:

“In the next week or two, new signs will be posted that state NO PARKING, STOPPING, STANDING: Mon-Fri, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. This means that parents should drop off and pick up children outside the prohibited area to allow more visibility for those pedestrians entering the crosswalk. (See diagram below.) In other words, no “waiting” in the prohibited area.”

Attachments:
messages/attachments/041d8524eec09b643ee9c8e46653167d/No_Parking_Area.jpg (86.6 KB)

Girls on the Run will be at Weber Elementary this spring!

First Practice: Monday February 27

Schedule: Monday & Wednesday 3:00-4:15pm

At an age when girls’ confidence begins to decline, they need a program that reminds them of their excellence. Compared to organized sports or other clubs, Girls on the Run uplifts the whole girl – mind, body and soul. Take the first step to igniting your girl’s spark by signing her up this season. You won’t regret it!

Register by January 29th & learn more: www.girlsontheruniowa.org/3rd-5th-grade-program-details

¡Girls on the Run estará en Weber Elementary esta primavera!

Primera práctica: lunes 27 de febrero

Horario: lunes y miércoles 3:00-4:15pm

En la edad en la que la confianza de las niñas comienza a decaer, necesitan un programa que les recuerde su excelencia. En comparación con otros deportes organizados o clubes, Girls on the Run impulsa a la niña en general: en mente, cuerpo y alma. Toma el primer paso para encender la chispa de la niña a tu cargo e inscríbela esta temporada. ¡No te arrepentirás!

Regístrese antes del 29 de enero y aprenda más: www.girlsontheruniowa.org/3rd-5th-grade-program-details

Please see below to learn more about our PTO and how you can get involved.

The purpose of the Parent Teacher Organize is to support the Weber Teachers, Staff and Community through planning: activities/events, providing volunteers, and promoting a positive supportive school community. Plan and host special events like: ice cream social, popsicles on 1st and last day of school, back to school night, fall & spring carnival, book fairs, winter read-in. This group also supports fundraisers like: McTeacher, Dine-out for Weber, school supply sales, spirit wear sales, yearbook sales. In addition they provide snacks and meals for teacher appreciation week and Parent teacher conference meals.

Projects that money has been raised for in the past to purchase/provide were: Field trips, Drums for music, Ipads/chromebooks, Library furniture and Outdoor space - courtyard.

PTO Recruitment:

NEED A TREASURER FOR 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR

If you are interested in helping please contact Weber at 688-1170 and we will connect you with our PTO President Jamie Beedle.

Our PTO will meet the first Monday of every month from 6pm-7pm in the library. We would love to have you come here more about our PTO, how you can help, and learn more about what we have planned for the year.

Thank you for considering!

Next year the district is planning to send both 5th and 6th grades to School of the Wild. This is an incredible opportunity for our students and something very fun and special. However, sending both grades to this next year will be more expensive. To be able to make this happen, the Foundation is asking for help from PTO/PTAs. We will be discussing this and more at our upcoming carnival.

Look forward to seeing you at our next meeting.

We are seeing some general feedback on what areas you feel we are doing well and areas we need to improve upon. This feedback form is really general and we will use this to create more specific surveys in the future. The form should take a minute or two to fill out. We hope you consider completing it.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-ahXENY1DIi8wzZnySdKo4h_fuw6rgJUGoYYzF-0caa08pA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Weber Sunshine Cart News

Are you looking for a way to show some love to the Weber Staff? We are looking for more donations for our "Sunshine Cart" that will make rounds once a month to teachers and staff and give them a little boost to brighten their day.

Want to donate goods to the cart? Click here: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/13D0HWFLV1V4K?ref_=wl_share

We have succesfully run our school store for the first few weeks and have worked out some of the details. Moving forward we are looking for help on Wednesdays for a 2.5 hour chunk of time from roughly 10:15-12:45 on Wednesdays.

Volunteer Sign Up - If you want to volunteer be sure to complete the district volunteer form well in advance. It can take up to 14 days to get approval to volunteer. Yout can find this form within this volunteer sign up spreadsheet or in the next section below: "Volunteering at Weber"

Weber Splash Store Volunteer Instructions

Thank you for considering and we look forward to seeing how this Splash Store supports our overall goals of creating an environment where our students are Safe, Responsible and Kind!

If you sign up - just check in at the main office and we will get you set up and ready to go! Please reach out to Travis Dyer if you have any questions at: Dyer.travis@iowacityschools.org

If you would like to volunteer at Weber, please make sure you complete the volunteer form. See the message below on how to complete the form.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with the Iowa City Community Schools. We appreciate your willingness to donate your time to any of our buildings. Please complete the online application. This provides us with basic information about you, your interests, and your availability. It also includes a Criminal Records check and Child Abuse check. You will receive an email confirmation when your application has been approved.

• Note: All previously approved volunteers for the Iowa City Community School District will be required to update their application for the 2021-22 school year.

  If you have any questions, please contact your child's school or the school you wish to volunteer with.

  Please note that application works best with Google Chrome. Feel free to contact Human Resources at (319)688-1005 with any questions or concerns.

What is your name, and what is your role at Weber Elementary?

My name is Beth Craig. I am a Title One Reading/Math Teacher for primary grades K-3. I teach several small groups throughout the day. I really enjoy setting goals with students and am excited to watch students grow and reach these goals!

What makes you want to work in an elementary school?

Weber's students, staff and families are wonderful! It is great to work in a school that is very supportive, inclusive and encouraging of all people.

What was your favorite subject while you were in elementary school?

My favorite subject in school was writing. I loved to write fictional stories!

If you could change the Weber mascot - what would you change it to?

I believe the Dolphin mascot represents Weber Elementary well, so I would not change it. Dolphins have great intelligence and learning abilities. This last year, while on a Dolphin Snorkeling Cruise in Hawaii, I was able to see first hand how dolphins are very social animals and stick together. Weber students are very similar. We have amazing, talented students that enjoy socializing and helping each other! The Dolphin mascot seems like a perfect fit for Weber!

Tell us about your family…

I am blessed to have a wonderful husband and 4 children ages 12, 14, 14, and 18. We are a very busy family with attending a variety of middle school, high school and college activities. My children are involved in football, wrestling, archery, volleyball, baseball and softball, and cheerleading. In the summer, we continue to be very busy with 4-H activities and take animals to the Johnson County Fair and Iowa State Fair. We also greatly enjoy the outdoors with gardening, fishing and being in the water.

Tell us about something exciting that happened to you…(at any point in your life)

When I was 17, I served as an ambassador on the Iowa State 4-H Council. As a council, we were on Good Morning America which was very exciting.

Most recently, I was excited to attend a non-political Herbert Hoover Humanitarian Award Celebration. George W. Bush was present to be recognized for his humanitarian work in Africa. It was an awesome experience to be in the presence of a previous President of the United States.

What is your name, and what is your role at Weber Elementary?

Lee Rabe - Band teacher

What makes you want to work in an elementary school?

Because you guys are fantastic and the students are fun.

What was your favorite subject while you were in elementary school?

Band! My favorite instrument was trombone

If you could change the Weber mascot - what would you change it to?

A tiger shark

Tell us about your family…

I have a wife named Glenda and two daughters named Kate and Emily. We also have two cats.

Tell us about something exciting that happened to you…(at any point in your life)

Having a baby and holding her for the first time! Also, getting a job.

Dear Weber Families,

Absences due to illness have been steadily increasing over the last couple of weeks at Weber and around the community in general. Please make sure you are doing your part to help keep our building healthy. Your student should stay home if they are vomiting, have diarrhea, or a fever >100.4. They should stay home for a FULL 24 hours after symptoms resolve without the use of medication. Consider checking your child's temperature before bringing them to school if they are complaining of any illness symptoms (such as a sore throat, cough, stomachache, headache, or body aches)

The most effective illness prevention is thorough and frequent hand washing. Hand sanitizer kills some germs, but often does not kill the germs that cause most diarrhea and vomiting illnesses. Remind your students to wash their hands often with soap and water—especially before and after eating, using the restroom, and touching their eyes, nose, or mouth.

Encourage “covering your cough” in your elbow, not your hand.

It is important that your child is well rested and eating healthy foods to help their immune system work properly.

Please notify the school when your student is ill. When reporting an absence for your child due to illness, please state the nature of their illness or symptoms they are experiencing. This will help us to track excess absences in a specific room – for notification of families as necessary and/or to encourage extra cleaning from school staff.

Here are some resources that may be helpful:

District COVID Guidance: COVID-19 Stay-At-Home Guidelines

ICCSD Illness Guidance: Is your Child Too Sick to Go to School?

CDC Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) for Parents of K-12 Students: https://www.cdc.gov/nonpharmaceutical-interventions/school/parents-childcare-k-12-students.html

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any health related questions and thank you for your help in keeping our school healthy!

Chelsey Lenz, RN-BSN

Weber School Nurse

319-688-1170

Lenz.chelsey@iowacityschools.org

Please call the office to let us know. If we do not answer - please leave a message. You can also send an email directly to our secretary, Darla Kraske, at kraske.darla@iowacityschools.org

Thank you to all of the families who took the time to complete the HRS survey. We wanted to share the data that we will be sharing our staff in the upcoming weeks. Here is a link to our presentation that includes the survey results and our next steps with the work.

Thank you for all of your support!

HRS Survey Data

Breakfast is available each day beginning at 7:30a.m. We offer lots of student friendly options and each meal contains a serving of fruit and a carton of milk. Breakfast menus can be found at Meal Viewer. Cost is $2.15 for full priced students, $0.30 for reduced students and free for students who have qualified for free benefits.

Two years ago, COVID-19 forced us to rethink many of our practices within the school day including our classroom celebrations, such as fall, winter, and spring parties. The decision to do away with elementary classroom celebrations two years ago provided time for us to reflect on the overall classroom party concept. Our work around equity is at the forefront of everything we do, and in recent years we have looked at participation in our classroom parties through an equity lens. For cultural or religious reasons, many of our families opt for their students not to participate in one form or another. For those that do participate, access for all students is not the same (i.e. lack of costumes, food, cards, etc.). It is for those reasons that we will continue with the practice of no classroom parties moving forward. We understand that celebrations are an important part of our students’ school experience. Each of our schools will continue to find inclusive ways to have classroom and school-wide celebrations, that don’t fall around holidays, throughout the school year. While these may look different, they will continue to be part of our system of support. We strive to make all students and families feel welcome and included in all aspects of our school day and our school community.

Join the Monthly Meetings of the District Parents Organization

The Districtwide Parents Organization (DPO) promotes active engagement and awareness at the school and district level through monthly open meetings that include speakers on matters related to education as well as opportunities to interact directly with the ICCSD administration, foundation, and school board.

The DPO meets on Zoom during the school year at 6:30-8:00pm on the second Wednesday of each month, unless otherwise noted at this DPO General Meeting Zoom Link.

When you join a DPO meeting, you can:

• Connect with parents and caregivers from other schools’ parent organizations

• Find out what is happening in our district directly from the school board and administration

• Learn from experts about important matters related to children, youth, and education

• Exchange ideas and gain information on local, state and national legislative issues

DPO 22-23 Calendar

We would like to share information with you regarding meal costs for the 2022-23 school year. Unfortunately, the government-funded free meal program for all students that was established during the COVID-19 pandemic will come to an end at the conclusion of the 2021-22 school year. This means that there will now be a cost associated with school meals for all families who do not meet the Free & Reduced Meal requirements when school begins next fall.

We understand this change may cause concern; however, there are important steps you can take today to make sure your student receives the meals they need next year.

1. Complete an application for Free & Reduced Meals. If your student qualifies for free or reduced meals, they can still receive them next year, but you must take action to make it happen. The 2022-2023 online application will be available on our District’s website after July 1, 2022, at https://www.myschoolapps.com/Home/PickDistrict. Even if you completed the 2021-2022 application, you will still need to complete the 2022-2023 application as well. If you need assistance completing this form, please contact the Nutrition Services Department at (319) 688-1021.
   
   
2. Families that do not qualify for free or reduced meals can begin depositing money into their student’s meal account by logging into MySchoolBucks.com to prepare for the cost of school lunches next year. Information on meal prices for the 2022-2023 school year can be found at www.iowacityschools.org/MealPrices. If you have questions about adding money to your student’s account or if you need assistance accessing MySchoolBucks, please contact the Nutrition Services Department at (319) 688-1021.

How do I translate a Smore newsletter?

It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identify and socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this policy, please contact the Director of Equity, 1725 N. Dodge St., Iowa City, IA 52245, (319) 688-1000.