The Monthly Mustang
The Official Newsletter for Wedgwood School Families
BACK TO SCHOOL EDITION - SEPTEMBER 2021
Meet The Teacher Next Week!
Updating Information in PowerSchool Unified Classroom
Please be sure to log into your child's PowerSchool Unified Classroom Parent Account to update his or her information for this school year, if you have not already done so. This process is critical to ensuring that Wedgwood School has current contact information, emergency contacts, and other necessary information to be updated annually.
If you need assistance creating or setting up your Unified Classroom Parent Account or would like in-person assistance completing your Annual Information Update Forms, please click here!
The First Day Of School - September 1, 2021
- Students will enter the building upon arrival and will be escorted by staff members to their classrooms.
- Buses will begin arriving in the parking lot at 9:20 a.m., and parents driving students to school should plan to arrive between 9:15 and 9:25 a.m.
- Once inside, students will maintain physical distancing as they proceed to their classrooms.
- So that staff can assist students and children in the primary grades, please print the name of your child, grade, and teacher on an index card in case they forget who their teacher is on the first day.
- Please take first day photos at home prior to coming to school. There will not be an opportunity to do so once you have dropped your child off at school.
- For the safety of all, no visitors will be allowed to enter the building.
Face Mask Update
Effective August 9, 2021, all staff, students, and visitors in New Jersey schools must wear a face mask while inside the school building, as mandated by Governor Murphy's Executive Order 251.
Exceptions to this mandate are consistent with those in effect last school year:
- When doing so would inhibit the individual’s health, such as when the individual is exposed to extreme heat indoors;
- When the individual has trouble breathing, is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove a face masks without assistance;
- When a student’s documented medical condition or disability, as reflected in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Educational Plan pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, precludes use of a face mask;
- When the individual is under two (2) years of age;
- When the individual is engaged in activity that cannot physically be performed while wearing a mask, such as eating or drinking, or playing a musical instrument that would be obstructed by a face mask;
- When the individual is engaged in high-intensity aerobic or anaerobic activity;
- When a student is participating in high-intensity physical activities during a physical education class in a well-ventilated location and able to maintain a physical distance of six feet from all other individuals; or
- When wearing a face mask creates an unsafe condition in which to operate equipment or execute a task.
Please feel free to contact Mr. Zimmerman at czimmerman@wtps.org with any questions about our state's face mask mandate.
NEW BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT DATE: SEPTEMBER 8
Signing Students In Late/Out Early
Please be sure to follow these important guidelines when signing student in to school late or out of school early:
- All students being signed in/out of school must be accompanied by an authorized adult.
- After being buzzed into the building, the parent/guardian will remain in the vestibule, asked to present ID, and will sign out the student out without entering the main lobby.
- Please know that students who spend less than four hours in school (not including lunch) due to arriving tardy or leaving early will be marked absent for the day.
Thank you for working to make every effort to have our students arrive and leave Wedgwood on time!
Teacher Requests and Teacher Assignments
This summer, Wedgwood received numerous requests for placement with specific teachers for the upcoming school year. While we can not guarantee placement with requested teachers, always welcome parent feedback as a way to help us continue to support our students' learning and personal growth.
Arrival and Dismissal Procedures
Please review the following information regarding Wedgwood School's arrival and dismissal procedures. For the safety of all, it is critical that both students and families practice physical distancing during arrival and dismissal at Wedgwood.
Walking Students
- Walking students are to arrive at the school not earlier than 9:20 AM
- The dismissal of walkers will be staggered in the afternoon. Students whose last name begins with letters A-L will be dismissed at 3:40 p.m. Students whose last name begins with M-Z will be dismissed at 3:45 p.m. 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.
- Cars are to move all of the way forward in the drop off line before releasing students for arrival.
- 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 9:15 a.m.
- 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.
- The dismissal of walkers will be staggered in the afternoon. Students whose last name begins with letters A-L will be dismissed at 3:40 p.m. Students whose last name begins with M-Z will be dismissed at 3:45 p.m. This includes those who will be picked up by a parent/guardian.
- 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 buses in the loading area at the front of the school. Parents who are picking students up must their child’s teacher and the main office prior to the start of that school day.
- Parents must personally sign their child out of school.
- 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.
Tech Support
Families in need of tech support with their district-issued laptop or iPad are asked to submit their request, including the child's name, PIN/ID number (if available) and a description of the issue to studenthelp@wtps.org.
PTO Reminders
SUPPORT WEDGWOOD WITH EVERY AMAZON.COM ORDER
Each time you shop with Amazon.com, It's super-easy to help raise funds for our Wedgwood PTO! Follow these simple steps to set it up:
- Go to smile.amazon.com.
- Click on the three horizontal bars in the top left corner to open your Settings.
- Scroll to the bottom of the Settings menu and click Your Amazon Smile.
- Under "Pick Your Own Charitable Organization, select Wedgewood School Parent Teacher Organization (and yes, it is misspelled).
- Be sure to bookmark smile.amazon.com in your browser. Note: Amazon Smiles will not work through your phone or tablet app. Amazon will donate to our PTO with every purchase made through the Amazon Smiles page.
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