The Monthly Mustang
The Official Newsletter for Wedgwood School Families
October 2019
Help Wedgwood Fill Up Phillip The Cart
Our Wedgwood Pantry has been offering a helping hand to our families in need for nearly a year now. Open from 9:00-11:00 a.m. every Thursday, our Wedgwood Pantry provides families going through financial hardships with basic non-perishable essentials for their homes.
This year, we are expanding the Pantry's impact by introducing Phillip The Cart, an ongoing service learning opportunity for our students. Each month, we're asking Wedgwood Families to help us fill up Phillip The Cart! If your family is able, you can simply send non-perishable food items in with your child. It's our hope that Phillip The Cart can provide a chance to learn the power of being a member of a community and serve as a reminder for our students of how other people matter. This now-regular feature in our school lobby was graciously donated by our friends at Bottino's ShopRite of Washington Township.
Please check out the short video below and help us fill up Phillip The Cart!
School Violence Awareness/Red Ribbon Week
Beginning Monday, October 21, Wedgwood will participate in School Violence Awareness/Red Ribbon Week. During this week, our school will focus on age-appropriate discussions about how to prevent school violence and live a healthy lifestyle by being drug-free. Students are encouraged to join the conversation by participating in each of the day's activities:
Monday, October 21
Pajama Day – Wear your pajamas! "Don't sleep" on how important it is to say no to drugs and violence!
Tuesday, October 22
Crazy Hat or Crazy Hair Day – Use your head! Don't do drugs!
Wednesday, October 23
School Closed - Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thursday, October 24
Favorite Team Gear Day – Wear your favorite team gear as we "team up" against drugs and violence!
Friday, October 25
Red Out Day – Wear RED as we dedicate ourselves to being Drug and Violence Free!
Parent-Teacher Conferences: October 23-25
Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for a full day on Wednesday, October 23, 2019, and beginning at 2:15 p.m. on October 24 and 25. School will be closed on October 23, and students will be dismissed at 2:05 p.m. on Thursday and Friday of that week. These conferences are scheduled to provide opportunities to discuss students’ progress in school. The direct contact between home and school is mutually beneficial for analyzing and understanding your child’s academic, social, and emotional growth.
To simplify conference planning, Wedgwood School is pleased to offer online scheduling so parents can pick days and times that best fit their needs. The online scheduling link can be found here: https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/Wedgwood_Elementary_School. Simply follow the link and reserve your times with your child's teacher. Fourth and fifth grade parents should schedule a conference time with the student's homeroom teacher. At all grade levels, intervention teachers (Read 180, BSI, etc.) will push in to conferences with your child's classroom teacher whenever possible.
If you are unable to log on and sign up electronically, please fill out the form sent home with students to designate what time period would work best for you to schedule a conference time and return to your child’s teacher by Friday, October 18, 2019. Please feel free to contact your child's teacher with any questions regarding parent-teacher conferences.
Annual Halloween/Harvest Day Parade Information
Our annual Halloween/Harvest Day Parade will take place on Thursday, October 31. In the interest of ensuring the safety of all students, our parade route will again take place along the playground side of the new fence, from the building down to the basketball courts. Parents are invited to watch the parade from the parking lot side of the fence. No spectators will be permitted in the playground or on the basketball blacktop area. For security purposes, only room parents will be allowed into the building before and after the parade.
- Our Halloween parade will begin promptly at 3:00 PM. For the safety of all involved, please try to arrive early as we expect plenty of foot traffic in and around our parking lot.
- Parade spectators are encouraged to find additional parking at Church of the Holy Family and walk to the school via the trail connecting the two properties. The school’s parking lot will not support the expected volume of visitors that afternoon. Please do not park on Hurffville Road.
- For the safety of all, spectators are asked not to wear costumes to the parade.
- Parents are asked to consider allowing their children to go home on the bus rather than signing them out following the parade. This is in the interest of allowing students to participate in end-of-the-day activities in their classrooms.
- Following the parade, only those parents who have been approved as volunteers by classroom teachers will be allowed to visit our classrooms on that day. Parents/guardians who do not appear on that list will not be granted access to our classrooms.
- Any costume make-up must be applied at home before the beginning of the school day.
- While some popular costumes may come with swords, knives, guns, blood, etc., please make sure those items are left at home.
Please feel free to contact your child's teacher via email with any questions regarding this event.
Junior Achievement Day
Volunteer forms have been sent home with students. An electronic copy of this form can be found here. Please return those completed forms ASAP if you’d like to volunteer. Feel free to reach out to our event coordinator, Nicole Palena, at wedgwoodjuniorachievement@gmail.com with any questions you may have.
Nominations For Teacher and Educational Services Professional Of The Year
In addition, nomination forms for the 2019-2020 Educational Services Professional of The Year are available here. This award recognizes those adults who impact students outside of the classroom setting, including instructional media specialists, nurses, counselors, speech-language therapists, etc.
All forms must be completed and returned by Friday, November 29, 2019.
Wedgwood School Feels Like a Million!
Wedgwood School students have solved over 1,400,000 problems using the First in Math online program since the start of school!
First in Math was designed with focus, coherence and rigor as its cornerstones. Self-paced activities target mastery of procedural skills and fluencies that are essential for internalizing and demonstrating conceptual understanding in mathematics. Students earn stickers for each problem solved correctly.
Every Wedgwood School student has a First in Math login and password to utilize at home. Students can go to www.firstinmath.com to play and earn stickers to compete for Player of the Day.
Pictured are some of the Wedgwood School Players of the Day.
Back row left to right: Mykaela Fogg, Alec Aguila, John Waysome, Luke Ridgeway, Vincent Nuzzo, Hayden Kopicko, and Justin Taylor.
Middle row left to right: Ralph Aversa, Tanner Burns, Andrei Penaverde, Liam Gillespie, Catherine Aversa, Colin Flannery, and Lydia Krueger.
Front row left to right: Devansh Purohit, Emily Schmidt, Kiera Seymour, Charlie Goodman, and Justin Olson.Wedgwood's Change To Dismissal Process
In September of this school year, Wedgwood announced a change to our dismissal procedures that will help ensure that all students are dismissed in a safe and orderly manner. This revision to our daily routines provides parents with a clear path to communicate any changes to their child’s departure from Wedgwood School.
All parents/guardians are asked to complete a Change To Dismissal Form every time there is a change in their child’s regular dismissal procedure. For instance, if your child normally rides the bus in the afternoon but needs to be picked up, you would submit a Change To Dismissal form for that day. Hard copies have been sent home with students, and are available both in our main office and at Kids’ Choice. We have also posted a PDF copy on our website, available here.
Please contact our main office at (856) 227-8110 with any questions you may have concerning this process. Click here for a complete list of our arrival and dismissal procedures for students.
Wedgwood PTO Update
Candy Bar Bingo
Fall Spiritwear Sale
Our Spiritwear Sale was a huge success! Orders will be delivered to the classrooms in November.
Aversa's Bakery Hoagie and Stromboli Sale
The PTO is selling hoagies and stromboli made by Aversa's Italian Bakery. Don't cook on Halloween...buy a hoagie or stromboli! Orders will be picked up during the Wedgwood Halloween/Harvest Day Parade at 3:00 p.m. on October 31. Be sure to send your order and payment in before October 25. All sales must be pre-ordered. No orders will be taken at that time. Extra order forms are available in the main office, or download one here.
Mark Your Calendar
Our next PTO meeting will take place at Wedgwood on Tuesday, October 22, at 9:30 a.m.
Get Involved in the Wedgwood PTO
We have many ways in which parents/guardians can volunteer. Whether you have 30 minutes or an hour, your ideas and time are truly needed. Please consider volunteering, as it really does make a difference in the lives of our children! Click here for a list of the various volunteer opportunities for the 2019-2020 school year. Volunteers can sign up online here.
The annual PTO Membership fee is only $5.00 per family! We are inviting all our Wedgwood Families and Staff to become members of the Wedgwood PTO. The tax-deductible donations are used to support the many functions the PTO provide during the year such as: assignment books and folders for all students, staff appreciation, fifth grade event(s), classroom technology, field day, assemblies and many other events. This year ONE classroom per grade with 100% membership participation will receive a pizza party to be used for a designated holiday class party. Due by: October 25, 2019. An electronic copy of our membership form can be downloaded here.
We hope you will share your thought and ideas to makes this a wonderful year at Wedgwood! You can always reach us at WedgwoodPTO@yahoo.com or find us on Facebook.
We are looking forward to seeing you at school, meetings, events and fundraisers. We are looking forward to getting to know you!
Sincerely.
Elizabeth Schmidt, President
Renee Watson, Vice President
Christina DeLuca, Treasurer
Pamela Burns, Secretary
Be sure to "Like" Wedgwood PTO on Facebook and Instagram
Changes To Wedgwood Remind
Due to changes with the Remind system, we have archived our old Remind account from which we used to send text message reminders. We are now limited in how many people we can have in a group, and therefore we must create individual grade level groups. In order to stay connected using this text messaging app, you will need to sign up for your child’s individual grade level group. School-wide messages will go out to all groups.
It is important to note that the old Remind account has been archived, so please sign up for the new accounts as soon as possible.
WHAT TO DO:
Please identify your child's grade level for 2019-2020 and sign up for that specific group. If you have children in multiple grade levels, feel free to sign up for each group. The information is as follows:
The phone number to which to send the text is 81010.
In the body of the text message, type the following information (PLEASE BE SURE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CORRECT GRADE LEVEL FOR 2019-2020!):
- Grade 1 @1wedgwood
- Grade 2 @2wedgwood
- Grade 3 @3wedgwood
- Grade 4 @4wedgwood
- Grade 5 @5wedgwood
Get Connected with Wedgwood On Social Media
Dates At A Glance: October/November 2019
October 16 - Family Night - No Homework!
October 18 - Wedgwood PTO Candy Bar Bingo - 5:30-6:30 & 7:00-8:00 p.m.
October 21 - Red Ribbon/School Violence Awareness Week Begins
October 21 - WTBOE Work Session - Eileen Abbott Central Administration Building - 7:00 p.m.
October 22 - Wedgwood PTO Meeting - 9:30 a.m.
October 23 - School Closed - Parent-Teacher Conferences
October 24 - Early Dismissal - Parent-Teacher Conferences - 2:05 p.m.
October 25 - Early Dismissal - Parent-Teacher Conferences - 2:05 p.m.
October 29 - WTBOE Public Meeting - Eileen Abbott Central Administration Building - 7:00 p.m.
October 31 - Wedgwood Halloween/Harvest Day Parade - 3:00 p.m.
November 1 - Junior Achievement Day
November 7-8 - School Closed - NJEA Convention
November 11 - School Closed - Veterans' Day
November 13 - Marking Period 1 Ends
November 13 - Make Up Picture Day
November 13 - Family Night - No Homework!
November 18 - WTBOE Work Session - Eileen Abbott Central Administration Building - 7:00 p.m.
November 21-22 - American Education Week Activities
November 22 - Marking Period 1 Report Cards Issued
November 25 - Wedgwood PTO Meeting - WW Library - 7:00 p.m.
November 26 - WTBOE Public Meeting - Eileen Abbott Central Administration Building - 7:00 p.m.
November 27 - Early Dismissal - Thanksgiving Break
November 28-29 - School Closed - Thanksgiving Break
Wedgwood Elementary School
Email: czimmerman@wtps.org
Website: wtps.org/wedgwood
Location: 236 Hurffville Road, Sewell, NJ 08080
Phone: (856) 227-8110
Facebook: facebook.com/wedgwoodwtps
Twitter: @wedgwoodwtps