EW Cougar News
Volume 11 Issue 3, November 2022
We are Thankful
Dear EW Caregivers,
There is so much for us to be thankful for at East Ward!
This week we had conferences. I want to thank all parents and guardians who took an opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss their progress this year. Working with teachers to support children’s learning is the best way to ensure their academic success, and I find that meeting with teachers gives us a perspective we do not have.
When you met with your child’s teachers, I am sure you heard about their strengths and a few areas to work on, along with how your child has been progressing. You may have also heard about work ethic, peer relations, and other information connected to Habits of Mind (indicators on report cards). With the information we gain at conference time, we can talk with our children about their learning. Goal setting is a great way to boost children’s achievement. As parents, we can work with our kids to bring to light something that can be targeted for improvement. We can converse with our kids to monitor an area of need, celebrating each step along the way!
Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I am so very thankful for our wonderful students and families, along with our faculty and staff. Each and every one of you matter at East Ward, and I want to thank you all for contributing to our school community! We are so fortunate to have the support and involvement of so many in this area. I am sure you will have many conversations around thankfulness with your children over the holiday.
Best regards,
Nick Argonish
Thanks to our Indian Heritage Day Team
On November 4, we had an interactive assembly for third graders to learn about Indian heritage. Many thanks to Ms. Meena Chakravarthy who took the lead, along with our other parent volunteers: Parul Desai, Deepa and Pankaj Jamwal, Preeti Deepak, Ramu and Seema Kizhakkey, and Medha Kamat to assist in planning, organizing, and making this event a reality. The event was an hour, but so much more than that to make it the special event it was. Students learned so much in such a short time. Thank you all for teaching us all about your heritage!
Family Heritage Night
For those who participated, it was a great evening of learning about the many heritages that make up our school! Many thanks to our school team for coordinating this amazing event: Mrs. Kessler, Mrs. Rastetter, Ms. Dowdy, Ms. Yacovett, Ms. Reilly, and Ms. Brostowicz. Our school was filled with so many families heritages for us to experience! Thank you to all who joined in. We look forward to expanding this for years to come!
Reading Corner- Creating Holiday Learning Traditions
This holiday season consider adding some new traditions for your family that will make meaningful memories and strengthen foundations for reading and learning success.
Listen, laugh, learn
- Listen to audio books while you're traveling to visit family, wrapping gifts or cooking for the holidays.
- Lyrics to holiday songs are fun to read and sing together. It is also good fun and good collaborative writing practice to make up your own lyrics to familiar tunes.
- Start a story-telling tradition by revisiting holidays of the past. Old family photographs at holiday gatherings will help prompt stories about your own life and family traditions.
Read, relax, respond
- Put reading and writing skills to practical use. Plan holiday meals by reading cookbooks together, writing the shopping lists and finding the needed items at the store by reading signs and labels. Read the recipe and cook together. During the simmering and baking, kids can write and decorate menus or place cards for special holiday meals.
- Set aside time just for reading. Curl up on the couch together and read aloud an old favorite or check out books about another culture's winter celebrations.
- lWork on those letters. Improve writing skills with notes or letters to relatives and friends, thanking them for their holiday gifts.
Need some ideas for books to give as gifts this season? Browse our 2018 Gift Guide: http://www.readingrockets.org/books/buyingguide
Counselor's Corner
This October, Counselor lessons will focus on the following topics:
- · Kindergarten: Managing Anger
- · 1st: Feelings and Empathy
- · 2nd: Growth Mindset
- · 3rd: Inclusion
- · 4th: I-Messages
- · 5th: Goal Setting
·
Coping Strategy of the Month:
Use your five senses. What can you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste at this exact moment?
What is my school counselor up to this month?
- Running Fall small groups including:
- Social Skills
- Zones of Regulation
- Worry Group
- Girls’ and Guys’ Group
- Teaching monthly counseling lessons in the iDesign classroom. See topics above.
- Meeting individually with students.
- Collaborating with teachers and parents.
- Putting together our Holiday Support program. See column to the right for more information.
From the desk of Mrs. Rastetter:
As the weather begins to get colder and the holiday season for some begins to approach, this time of year is one of lots of excitement but can also bring anxiety. The holidays can be a financial burden on many families, especially after the difficult past few years we’ve had.
We will be running our Holiday Support program again this year, as we have done over the past 6 years. You may have seen an email from Dr. Argonish recently with some information. If you need some help this holiday, please reach out to me at krastetter@dasd.org with gifts requests for your East Ward children. These could include both wants (toys, games, etc.) and needs (clothing, shoes, etc.). This information is confidential and is only known by Dr. Argonish and myself.
Our East Ward community is here to help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need some support this year!
From the Health Room
November is diabetes awareness month. Diabetes is a long-lasting health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. If you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use the insulin it makes as well as it should.
You or someone you know may be battling this disease. Once you learn more about the disease, you will find the effects it can have on your body and the importance of keeping it under control. There are plenty of resources to help you manage this illness.
Visit www.cdc.gov to learn more about diabetes and ways to control it.
School Attendance
School attendance is very important (even while online), and our Cougars want to be in attendance as much as possible! There is a strong correlation between a student’s attendance and learning. We encourage students at East Ward to come to classes, on time, each and every day, unless there is a health related reason for their absence. The DASD carefully tracks each student’s attendance daily, and is required to notify parents once their child has reached 3 illegal absences. An illegal absence is defined as an absence with no note received within three days. An attendance improvement plan will be developed if a student reaches 6 illegal absences. The plan will include interventions that will be put in place to improve school attendance.
As you can see, attendance is very important, so if your child is absent from school, please email our attendance line at ew_attendance @dasd.org prior to 9AM. Doing this will serve as your absent note rather than having to send in a written note. If you do not have email, we will need a written excuse. Please know that the email or written note serves as written documentation for your child’s absence from school and is filed accordingly. If you know your child will be late to school due to an appointment, an email will also help to eliminate your written note upon arrival.
Student/Parent Handbook
Our 2022-2023 Parent Handbook is posted on the East Ward Elementary School website. When visiting our homepage, please scroll down to the lower left portion of the page. In the “Backpack” you will find the Parent Handbook posted. It is very important that each parent/guardian read through the handbook. Important information such as attendance regulations, communication protocols, health and medical guidelines, activity fees, student expectations, calendar, instruction and assessment is included. Also featured is a section about our Home and School Association; officers, committees, and events are included.
East Ward Elementary School
Email: ewinfo@dasd.org
Website: https://ew.dasd.org/
Location: 435 Washington Ave, Downingtown, PA, USA
Phone: 610-269-8282
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dasdew
Twitter: @dasd_ew