Wrightstown Ravens' News
January 15, 2021
It was great to welcome the combined cohorts together at school this week! Students were excited to see friends, in person. They are doing an excellent job following the safety procedures in place. Teachers took the needed time this week to introduce and review these procedures to their classes. I also visited each bus to remind students that face masks must be worn while riding to and from school. I appreciate your reinforcement of this expectation if your child rides the bus. As always, with any transition, we evaluate and assess our current procedures. Two areas that we continue to work on are lunches and afternoon car rider pick-up. The lunch lines are currently moving slower than we anticipated. It is important that students who intend to eat a school lunch place their order in the morning with their teacher. Last-minute decisions to get lunch from school is causing some delays. Thank you for your patience and flexibility during afternoon car rider dismissal. Each day the line seems to be moving a bit faster and we expect this improvement to continue with time and practice. Thank you for all you do to support your children and our WES Staff. Your partnership has never been more needed and important!
I wish everyone a safe and relaxing long weekend!
Beth
REMINDER: NO SCHOOL
MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2021
Dates to Know!
Monday, 1/18 - Schools Closed (Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday)
Thursday, 1/21 - PTO Dine & Donate at Dairy Queen Grill & Chill (Richboro) from 5pm-9pm
Friday, 1/29 - Early Dismissal at 12:15 p.m. (PM K attends)
WES Registration Process: 3rd MP In-Person/Virtual Learning Option Changes
Council Rock parents may change their child’s current learning option for the third marking period. Specifically, the window to communicate a change runs from Thursday, January 14th through the end of the school day on Thursday, January 21st.
During this time, you may formally change your child’s learning status from 100% virtual to 4 days in-person or from 4 days in-person to 100% virtual. This change will go into effect on Monday, February 1st, the first day of the third marking period. If you are making a change and selecting in-person learning, please also indicate whether your child will be a bus rider or a car rider.
To change your child’s learning option and transportation for the third marking period, please contact me directly at bfox@crsd.org. Upon receipt of your email, your child’s school registration, and transportation status will be modified. Please know that after this window closes, the next opportunity to make a change from 100% virtual to in-person learning will be at the end of the third marking period in anticipation of the fourth marking period.
CR MLK Day 2021 Kindness Counts Project
Council Rock School District is once again excited to celebrate and honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year, we will do so virtually through kindness.
From Saturday, January 16th through Friday, January 22nd, the entire Council Rock community is invited to honor Dr. King’s legacy by spreading acts of kindness within our community and beyond.
Beginning on January 16th, we encourage CR families and staff to share some kindness and service to others and document what you have done by posting photos and videos to Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #crkindnesscounts.
The District has developed a webpage that details this year's MLK kindness project. Please visit this site through the link provided below to see a comprehensive list of suggested community and home activities that have been specially designed to help you participate safely and virtually.
While there, you will also notice that Council Rock has created a participation survey that will allow you to indicate your relationship to the district and the location of your act of kindness. We are excited to see how far our CR community will spread acts of kindness.
Finally, the District has established a dashboard that will show this year's MLK kindness project progress in real-time. Visit the dashboard from January 16th through January 22nd to see how our collective acts of kindness are working to make a positive difference in the Council Rock community and beyond.
#crkindnesscounts
Geography Bee - 2/2/21
While National Geographic is not hosting their annual Geography Bee this year, Wrightstown Elementary will still be holding their own Bee!
On February 2, all 5th and 6th graders will take the preliminary test during their Social Studies block with their homerooms. The top ten finalists will then compete on February 25. The event on February 25 will be live-streamed to all 4th, 5th, and 6th-grade classrooms as well as to the families of the finalists. We are looking forward to another year of competition!
Valentine’s Day Celebrations
This year all CR elementary schools will celebrate Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, February 10th. Homeroom Parents and teachers can coordinate virtual celebrations and/or activities. Unfortunately, the guidelines in the school district dictate that there will be no physical exchange of items for Valentine's Day. This means that children will not be able to distribute items to their classmates.
Recess Outdoors!
It's cold outside! Please be sure your child is dressed appropriately for outside weather. Warm jackets, hats, sturdy shoes, pants, and gloves are essential for the children to safely enjoy their recess. Unless the weather is extreme (rain or excessive cold – 22 degrees or below), children will have recess outside. Please send your child in with appropriate clothing daily so they are prepared.
Ms. Gulnac's Counselor Corner
The start of a new year is a great time to do activities with your child (ren) that will spark conversation and reflection. Below, you will find a link to 7 fun goal setting and growth mindset activities that you can do as a family. You will also find a worksheet that will prompt you and your kid(s) to reflect on the past year while looking forward to the year ahead. Happy New Year, WES!
PTO Dine & Donate
WES PTO CLOTHING DRIVE HUGE SUCCESS!
The Wrightstown Elementary School PTO held a clothing drive from January 6-9. WES families and the community cleared their closets and nearly filled the collection truck with all of their bags of clothing, shoes, linens, stuffed animals, and bicycles. Donations will be shipped to developing countries that have a need for used clothing. Stuffed animals will go to children who do not have much to play with in other parts of the world.
REMINDERS!
Car Rider Drop Off and Pick Up Procedures
If you are new to Car Pick Up Only: During the first week of school, every car rider family received two (2) placards. Students will be given these placards to take home. Please note, these placards will be distributed per family, not students. We appreciate your patience as we transition to these new procedures. It will take some time for this new process to become routine.
- Two (2) placards will be provided per car rider family.
- Placards must be displayed in the car windshield in full view for staff to see when picking up students.
- Remember to remain in your car during this process. Staff members assigned to this area will assist your child to your vehicle.
- If you don’t have a placard displayed and the staff doesn’t recognize you, you will be asked to park and visit the main office in the front of the building to provide identification to sign your child out.
Here is how car rider dismissal procedures will work:
-Display your school-issued placard in your car windshield so that it is visible.
-Upon entering the school site you will turn left (there is a sign on the right of the driveway indicating this) and drive through the front parking lot.
-Once you come to a stop sign you will cross over the bus lane into another parking lot and turn right.
-You will proceed down toward the gym entrance and pull your car up as far as you can go. Cones will be stationed in this area.
-Please remain in your car.
-A staff member will write down your child’s name and radio the office to call for your child/ren to be dismissed from their classroom to the gym doors.
-Depending on the time that it takes your child to exit the building, you may be asked to move your car out of the line and park in a parking space. Staff will direct you.
If your child is a car rider, you will no longer be permitted to park in the staff/visitor parking lot, walk up and receive your child. You must remain in the car line to pick up your child/ren. No child will be released to a parent/person outside of their car.
Car rider procedures for morning drop off remain the same.
-Once on site follow the signs for car rider drop off located on the gym side of the school.
-Parents pull their car up to the gym side of the school where you will remain in your car.
-Children exit the car from the passenger side only and enter the school through the gym doors.
A directional map is provided below for your reference.
WES Student Screening Information
The Pennsylvania Public School Code requires certain school health services for all children of school age, regardless of the school setting.
School nurses perform the following screenings annually:
Height and Weight (BMI) Checked annually in grades K-12
Vision checked annually in grades K-12
Hearing checked in K,1,2,3,7, and 11
Required Physician and Dentist exams
Physical Exam - upon initial registration grades K-1, 6 and 11
Dental Exam - upon initial registration grades K-1, 3 and 7
Please note that your child will be scheduled with their school nurse to conduct their annual screening while they attend in the building. If your child is enrolled virtually and you wish for them to receive their annual screening, please email the building nurse to arrange a day/time. Elementary students may make appointments during Virtual Wednesday.
Parents who wish to opt-out of their child’s annual in-school screening may do so by providing a copy of the screenings completed by their child’s private health care provider or by completing the below and returning it to your building nurse via email.
If a response is not received by 1/18/2021, your child’s in-school screenings will be scheduled by their school nurse.
_______ I do not give permission for my child’s state-mandated screenings to be performed during the 2020-2021 school year.
StudentName:_____________________Grade:_______Date:_______
Parent Signature:_____________________________ Date:________
Please contact Mrs. Stephanie Mallee or Mrs. Dianne Mullin at 215-944-2309.
Update from the Transportation Department
This message is for all families of K-6 students planning on using Council Rock Transportation starting Monday, January 11th.
Outside of valid safety concerns, beyond the close of business Friday, January 8, we cannot implement changes again until February 1st when the third marking period begins. The deadline to request changes for the 3rd marking period is Friday January 22.
If your student is assigned transportation but you do not plan on using it, please email us directly at Transportation@crsd.org, and we will remove them from the bus roster.
As a reminder, siblings are encouraged to sit together and students are required to wear masks at all times while on the bus.
Updated CR Health & Safety Plan
On 12/3/20 the district's Health and Safety Plan was updated. Please CLICK HERE to read the updated version of the plan.
Face Covering Requirement - PA Revised Order
Please be advised that based on the recently revised PA Department of Health's face-covering order put into effect on November 18, 2020, all staff and students must wear face coverings while on school district property or riding school buses. A plastic face shield may NOT be worn in place of a face-covering unless wearing a face covering is not possible. Families should contact their building principal if their child must wear a plastic face shield due to an inability to wear a face covering. Staff should contact their supervisor for the same circumstance.
From the Governer’s November 17, 2020, Face Covering Order
“Face covering” means covering of the nose and mouth with material that is secured to the head with ties, straps, or loops over the ears or is wrapped around the lower face. A “face covering” can be made of a variety of synthetic or natural fabrics, including cotton, silk, or linen. A “face covering” may be factory-made, sewn by hand, or be improvised from household items, including, but not limited to, scarfs, bandanas, t-shirts, sweatshirts, or towels. While procedural and surgical masks intended for health care providers and first responders, such as N95 respirators, meet those requirements, these specialized masks should be reserved for appropriate occupational and health care personnel.
“Alternative to a face covering” may include a plastic face shield that covers the nose and mouth, extends below the chin and to the ears, and leaves no exposed gap between the forehead and the shield’s headpiece. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised there is currently not enough evidence to determine how much protection a face shield provides to individuals around the person wearing the face shield, because of gaps where respiratory droplets may escape. The CDC does state, however, that face shields may still be an option in situations where wearing a cloth face covering is not otherwise feasible.
Revised Out of State Travel Guidelines
Please refer to the following link for updated information related to the Travel Order:
Guidelines for Students Traveling
As per Governor Wolf, it is no longer necessary for a child who is under the age of 11 to quarantine for 2 weeks or produce a negative Covid test result following out of state travel.
Students who are 11 years old and over:
Students who are 11 and over need to produce a negative COVID test or quarantine for 2 weeks prior to returning to school.
Family Trip Request Form
Please ensure the Family Trip Request Form is completed prior to the start of your trip. This form is located on the front of the WES website and is also provided directly below.
PTO Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for
Monday, February 8th at 7 pm
Zoom information to follow!
Yearbook Photos Needed
Families, we need your help! We would like to provide students with a memorable yearbook this year. Due to the restrictions that prevent parent photographers from being in the building, we need your pictures throughout the year. These photographs should only include students at Wrightstown Elementary School. Please upload your photos below. Thank you in advance for your help to create a memorial yearbook for our students!
Library News for Virtual Students
Virtual students are able to check out Library books. If you are interested in learning about how to do this please visit your child’s Library Google classroom. The link is in the classroom under the heading Virtual Book Check out or click the button below.
Specials Schedule for 2nd Marking Period
Free Lunch for Every Student in CR Extended through End of School Year
CRSD has communicated information to families about our free lunches for all students. It really is FREE and it is for ALL students! Through a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CRSD will be able to provide all students in the District with lunch on school days at no cost to families. The free lunches are available to both in school students and 100% virtual students.
In addition to the great choices available for children, each day they have the option of pizza or a fun lunch. Also, all meals come with fruit, vegetables, and milk.
A la carte items (e.g., snacks, ice cream, and certain drinks) are NOT included as part of the free meal and must be paid for the student’s lunch account. A la carte purchases will be deducted from the account after purchased.
Please contact the cafeteria manager at Wescafeteria@crsd.org if you have any questions.
If you would like your child to purchase snacks or additional menu items, you may add them to your child's lunch account using the button below. Please note, you do not need to add to this account to take advantage of the free lunch program for all students.
Chromebook Support
Students/parents should use our help desk system at the following link: https://crsdstudent.sherpadesk.com
The system will allow students/parents (student ID is required to submit a ticket) to submit a ticket for help. It will also allow them to see the status of existing tickets.
The first time they use the system, they will need to set up their account. This will require a unique email address, the location where the student attends school (this is a required field), their first and last name, a phone number where they can be reached (if additional/different contact information/preferences are desired, they can be included in the body of the request), the type of issue (called class on the form - this is also required), the student ID (this is required), a subject or brief description of the issue, and then the details about the issue.
To see the status of a ticket that was submitted, they can click on that option, log in with their email address and password (set during account creation).
We will continue to monitor the chrome support email address but will refer parents/students to the ticketing system if they have an issue or problem that needs to be resolved.
The two biggest advantages to this system are that the ticket will go directly to a technician, and the parent/student will be able to see the status of the tickets they have entered.
WiFi Issues: Contact your provider (Comcast, Verizon, Xfinity, etc.)
Password Issues: Contact our Librarian Assistant, Kristi Marino at kristi.marino@crsd.org
COVID-19 Daily Screening Tools for Parents
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a disease capable of rapidly spreading to other persons with whom you come in contact. If you have been infected, you are capable of exposing other people to COVID-19, even if your symptoms are mild, such as a cough. Symptoms of COVID-19 may include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Early symptoms may also include chills, body aches, sore throat, headache, diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, and runny nose. Given that COVID-19 is a threat to the public’s health, staff members are asked to perform the following self-symptom assessment prior to entering school. Similarly, guardians are asked to conduct symptom assessment of children each morning prior to the students entering school.
Symptom assessment:
Do you or your child have any of the following?
Fever (body temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or 38.0 degrees Celsius)
Cough
Shortness of breath
New loss of/altered taste or smell
Fatigue
Chills
Body aches
Sore throat
Headache
Diarrhea
Nausea/vomiting
Runny nose
If you answered yes and do not have another explanation for that symptom (e.g., allergies), please remain home until symptoms improve or medical documentation for alternative diagnosis is provided and notify the school nurse of the reason for remaining at home. If you have any questions or concerns, contact your primary care physician and/or school nurse.
Thank you for helping to keep our entire Council Rock community healthy and safe!
Elimination of Schoolwide Letters for Positive COVID Cases
The district will no longer require principals to issue schoolwide letters when we learn of one or more positive cases amongst students and/or staff. Rather, we ask all stakeholders to stay abreast of trends in positive cases via our CRSD COVID-19 Dashboard. This dashboard is updated on a daily basis for each of our schools. Regarding the above stated, please know that we will continue to issue classroom-specific letters where contact tracing was needed/needs to occur so that families are informed of situations that directly impact them.
Struggling at Home with how School has Changed?
Having trouble managing your school day? Struggling with emotions and feelings related to COVID? You’re not, but you know someone who is? Don’t do it alone! Let’s work through it together! We want to help! Please contact your school principal, counselor, teacher, or another trusted adult in the school so we can talk.
Wrightstown Elementary School
Principal
Email: bfox@crsd.org
Website: http://crsd.org/wrightstownes
Location: 729 Penns Park Road Wrightstown PA 18940
Phone: (215) 944-2300
Twitter: @BethFox_WES