The Monthly Mustang
The Official Newsletter for Wedgwood School Families
September 2019
Wedgwood Earns Silver Level Future Ready Certification
Wedgwood School has once again been certified as a New Jersey Future Ready School! Following a rigorous application process, our school was granted Silver Level Certification--the program's second year level award--recognizing our school's efforts in the areas of using technology integration as a way to enhance students' learning activities.
The evaluation of our status as a Future Ready School took numerous factors into consideration, including our commitment to providing meaningful and authentic educational experience for our students, our students’ access to technology through our use of iPads in Grades 1-2 and our 1:1 laptop initiative in Grades 3-5, our ongoing efforts to provide continual professional development to our staff, and our integration of concepts like digital citizenship and responsible use of technology throughout our various grade levels.
Future Ready Schools - New Jersey is a certification program designed to support the organization of schools' and districts' efforts through the national Future Ready Framework. The initiative assists teachers in changing their instructional and educational practices, while preparing their students for success in the digital age. The certification program was created to support schools with resources needed to implement digital learning and to promote the skills, abilities and capacities essential for student success in college, career and citizenship. The program is a coalition of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA), and the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE).
Wedgwood School's staff is proud to be recognized by Future Ready Schools - New Jersey, and continues to use the certification process as an ongoing opportunity to improve as a community of learners!
Band and Orchestra Back To School Night
Student Attendance Matters
Chronic absenteeism is defined as the percentage of a school's students who are not present for 10 percent or more of the school year--including both excused and unexcused absences. To put it in perspective, a child who is absent two days per month from September through June is chronically absent according to New Jersey's definition. It's important to note that a student must be present for a minimum of four hours (not including lunch and recess) of the school day in order for it to count toward their attendance.
At Wedgwood, we recognize that attendance in school benefits our children in so many ways. Students will learn and have the opportunity for academic growth when they are present. Equally as important, students who don't attend school regularly often struggle in building strong peer relationships and social connections that are critical for success in school.
In plain language, chronic absenteeism is a big deal. It's factored into the summative rating used to rate our schools. It's used to compare schools to those with similar student populations. It affects how our school is rated on websites used to drive local property values.
At Wedgwood School, your child's attendance matters. We want to welcome your child to school every day, the entire day, ready to learn and grow. We encourage all of our Wedgwood Families to help our students and our school by making daily attendance a priority.
Wedgwood's Change To Dismissal Process
In recent weeks, 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.
Wedgwood PTO Update
Welcome back students and staff!
The Wedgwood PTO would like to welcome you to a new school year at our school. For those who are unfamiliar with us, we are a volunteer organization made up parents who are dedicated and hardworking. The Wedgwood PTO works hard to help make the school year both enjoyable and exciting for students, teachers, staff, and parents/guardians.
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
Arrival and Dismissal Procedures For Students
Please review the following information regarding Wedgwood School's arrival and dismissal procedures.
Walking Students
- Walking students are to arrive at the school not earlier than 9:20 AM, which is five minutes prior to the start of our school day.
- Walking students, are dismissed at 3:40 PM, five minutes earlier than the other students. This includes those who will be picked up by a parent/guardian.
- Students walking home will exit down the walkers' path at the back of the school, toward Dorado Avenue.
Students Dropped Off
- All traffic must enter the Wedgwood parking lot through the entrance designated in the diagram above.
- Students who are dropped off to school will enter the building via the door by the playground.
- Students are to be dropped off to school no earlier than 9:20 AM, which is five minutes prior to the start of our school day.
- Parents/Guardians who are dropping students off must do so by allowing them to exit the vehicle along the sidewalk on the side of the building. Please do not park your car and drop off your child from the parking lot. Once your child has exited the vehicle, please continue on the drop-off loop as detailed in the illustration above.
Students Picked Up
- Students who will be picked up by a parent will exit the school from the door by the playground. Wedgwood staff will supervise all students until a parent comes and personally escorts the child to the vehicle.
- All parents/guardians who wish to pick up their students at dismissal or who require alternative arrangements for pickup must notify the main office in writing. All written notification should be directed to your child's classroom teacher as well as our main office secretary, Mrs. Crosby, so that your child's needs can be met. She can be reached at bcrosby@wtps.org. Students are not permitted to verbally tell Wedgwood staff that they require alternative arrangements for pickup; all requests must be made in writing by the student's parent/guardian. If a teacher does not receive a note about the change in the child’s regular dismissal, the child will be sent home on his/her assigned bus.
- Students who are scheduled to be picked up and do not have a parent/guardian present at the time of dismissal will be brought to the main office. As per district policy, we will attempt to contact the parent(s) and/or emergency contacts on file. If no contact can be made within 30 minutes following school dismissal, the main office will coordinate efforts with the Washington Township Police Department to make contact with the student's parent/guardian.
- Parents/guardians are responsible for reviewing the school calendar and complying with all school dismissal times and procedures.
Regular Dismissal
- Students will board the busses in the loading area at the front of the school. Parents who are picking students up must send a note to their child’s teacher that morning.
- Parents must personally sign their child out at either the nurse’s or main office.
- If a teacher does not receive a note about the change in the child’s regular dismissal, the child will be sent home on his/her assigned bus. Students are not permitted to ride any other bus but the one that is assigned to them.
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 2019
October 10 - Fall Picture Day
October 14 - WTBOE Work Session - Eileen Abbott Central Administration Building - 7:00 p.m.
October 15 - Early Dismissal For Staff Inservice - 2:05 p.m.
October 16 - Family Night - No Homework!
October 18 - Wedgwood PTO Candy Bar Bingo
October 21 - Red Ribbon/School Violence Awareness Week Begins
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.
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