Wrightstown Ravens' News
December 4, 2020
Last evening the board voted to postpone the 5-day return to school for elementary students on December 14th. Approved is the 4-day return to school at the elementary level beginning January 11, 2021. Wednesdays are planned to remain virtual days with synchronous and asynchronous instruction.
I would like to thank all of the families who have donated Amazon gift cards to support Pediatric Speciality Care this holiday season. To date, over $570 dollars has been donated! Thanks to the generosity of you and the WES staff, many children will have a very merry holiday. We are extending the deadline for donations to Tuesday, December 8th. If interested please visit the following link Pediatric Specialty Care Sign Up Genius More information is included below.
With the holiday season upon us, many travel plans are underway. Below I have included information regarding the revised out of state travel guidelines. If you have travel plans, as always please complete and submit the trip request form. Communication is critical and necessary to ensure we continue to do our part in keeping our students, families, and staff healthy and safe. THANK YOU for your continued partnership!
Stay well,
Beth
Revised Out of State Travel Guidelines
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. In response to this, CRSD is requiring students under the age of 11 to follow a modified quarantine in school upon their return- as per the CRSD health and safety plan.
Definition of a Modified Quarantine: This will require students to wear a facing covering at all times, eat/drink away from others, and wash their hands more frequently, as per the district’s health and safety plan.
Students under the age of 11:
For students who have not produced a negative COVID test result or quarantined at home will be required by the school to participate in a modified quarantine.
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.
Dates to Know!
Monday, December 7th - PTO Meeting @ 6:30 PM
Wednesday, December 23rd - Last Day before Holiday Break
Thursday, December 24th - Friday, January 1st - School Offices Closed
Monday, January 4th - Schools re-open
Monday, January 11th - Four Day in-person learning begins
Hats, Scarves & Gloves Giving Tree
Student Council is off to a remarkable start! Our first big project was a food drive that was held in November. All donations were given to the Wrightstown Food Pantry. Your donations were much needed and greatly appreciated. Way to go Wrightstown! Thank you for your continued support. Our Student Council Representatives are working hard to make it a successful year. We are currently planning some great Wrightstown Spirit Days for the 2020-2021 school year.
Our next community outreach event will take place in December. We will be collecting NEW hats, scarves, and gloves to be donated to a local organization. Students can bring the items into the school from December 10th until December 21st and place them directly on our Wrightstown “Giving Tree” located by the Gym. We will also have a box located in the front vestibule for any parents who would like to drop off their donations. Thank you in advance for your kind donations!
EXTENDED DATE!
Donations will be accepted until Tuesday, Dec. 8th
WES Supports Pediatric Specialty Care this Holiday Season!
Pediatric Specialty Care Sign Up Genius
For the past few years, our generous families and staff have supported an organization near and dear to one of our WES families, the LeDonni Family. We have chosen to support this organization once again this year! We have always received a positive response from our school community. Please know how much your generosity is appreciated! Pediatric Specialty Care is a facility, with 4 local locations, for special needs children. 75% of the children they house are orphans. WES will be accepting Amazon gift cards to benefit residents at four local Pediatric Specialty Care facilities beginning now and scheduled until Tuesday, Dec. 8th. Each year, the fundraiser raises thousands of dollars to benefit over 100 children that are medically fragile and/or technologically dependent. 70% of the residents are orphans.
Due to the current circumstances, we will be accepting Amazon gift cards. If you are interested, please can sign up through Sign Up Genius (Pediatric Specialty Care: WES). Once you purchase an Amazon gift card, drop it into the designated box in WES’s vestibule or, if you feel more comfortable, you can send an Amazon e-gift card to Kledonni@yahoo.com with the message "WES".
Thank you for your support and kindness in advance!
Mrs. Etgen's Reading Corner
At Wrightstown, whether you are hybrid or virtual, you are a Wrightstown reader! It is SO exciting to see our students get back into the swing of reading daily. We encourage all of our students to read 20 minutes a day. Even though 20 minutes does not seem like a lot of time, it truly makes a difference in how your child grows as a reader. Check out this link to see just what a difference it makes! Remember, it is OK to read with your child - you can share the book and each read a page or some nights they can just be the reader or the listener. Make it a fun family activity - build a fort, take out some flashlights, and read a book! Check out this link for some fun Thanksgiving stories and activities.
One last note, if you are struggling with book ideas for your children, Good Reads is a great site for you to get some. If you have a tough time finding a “just right” book for your child, Scholastic’s Book Wizard could be a big help. You can plug in your child’s approximate reading level, as well as the genres that they enjoy reading, and it will display leveled books appropriate for your child. As soon as children find a series or genre that they like, it is like eating potato chips – one won’t be enough!
CLICK ON MRS. ETGEN'S READING ROOM BOOKS BELOW!
Specials Color Rotating Schedule - 2nd Marking Period
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!
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.
December Lunch Menu
The December lunch menu is provided below and also posted on our website.
To avoid confusion, be sure to review the lunch options with your child each day.
School Counselor - Ms. Gulnac's Message about Mindfulness
Starting Monday (12/7), we will be adding "Moments of Mindfulness" to our morning announcements! Twice a week, the announcements will end with an optional Mindfulness exercise to get our day started. Mindfulness will be explained to students as our ability to focus on where we are, and what we are doing, without becoming overwhelmed by what’s happening around us. It’s about being aware of what’s going on in our heads and accepting of the emotions we’re feeling.
Practicing Mindfulness helps us to build confidence, cope with stress, and get us through challenging moments. By accepting and dealing with our emotions, we teach our brains to not overreact to our feelings but to use our tools to work through them. Students will be able to utilize mindfulness strategies throughout their days to manage nervous, anxious, stressed, or any other uncomfortable feelings.
Mindfulness practices can benefit anyone, of any age, and can be a great way to connect with your kids while teaching them coping skills. Check out the following link for more information and mindfulness activities you can do at home with your kids: https://positivepsychology.com/mindfulness-for-kids/
P.E. Class fun with Mrs. Hart
P.E. may look a little different this year with implementing COVID safety guidelines, but we are having just as much FUN playing games and learning new skills! As we navigate through new changes of not sharing equipment and being a good teammate at a 6' distance, soccer stations were a natural fit. The students demonstrated their foot and eye coordination throughout their weekly time in the gym!
The 1st and 2nd graders aren't shy when it comes to virtual Wednesday P.E., they jump right on the Google Meet, clear some space around them, and followed along to a Cosmic Kids Yoga Adventure. It makes Mrs. Hart so happy when I see everyone smiling and having fun!
Library News!
Families are able to apply for public library cards digitally. The public library has thousands upon thousands of ebooks for families to read. If you are interested in applying for the public library card here is the link: https://buckslib.org/onlinelibrarycardapplication/
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.
HOUR OF CODE IN THE LIBRARY
In honor of Hour of Code all students in grades 3-6 will be coding during their Library special. Students will be able to access the Hour of Code program from any device that has internet access at home and in school.
Vocal music class with Miss Staffieri
Kindergarten is continuing to learn about the Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint Saens and the different movements. This week they learned the Tortoise movement! They also started learning new songs called Little Snowflake and Cora's Cookie Bakery.
First grade finished reviewing the Tap Your Sticks song. They then started learning about the percussion family and how the instruments make sound. They are also learning a new song called Cora's Cookie Bakery.
Second grade is learning about a song called Chango Guango which is performed by a mariachi band. They have also learned about the instruments that are used to perform in mariachi bands as well as the culture surrounding performances. They also learned the song Cora's Cookie Bakery.
Third grade finished learning about the song Los Mariachi which is performed by a mariachi band. They have also learned about the instruments that are used to perform in mariachi bands as well as the culture surrounding performances. They also started a new song called Winter Walking and they will be composing their own winter songs in the next few weeks!
Fourth grade is continuing to learn about the treble clef. They started learning a Snow-Orff song which includes four different parts! Orff combines music, movement, play, speech, and drama. We have started with body percussion with the song and each week the song will gain another part making it more complex.
Fifth grade is finishing their form unit. Form is the structure of a musical composition or performance. They listened to the Flintstones theme song and found the form of the song! They also started learning a Snow-Orff song which includes four different parts! Orff combines music, movement, play, speech, and drama. We have started with body percussion with the song and each week the song will gain another part making it more complex. They have also started learning about the Nutcracker Overture by Peter Tchaikovsky.
Sixth grade started learning a Snow-Orff song which includes four different parts! Orff combines music, movement, play, speech, and drama. We have started with body percussion with the song and each week the song will gain another part making it more complex. They also started learning about the Hallelujah Chorus by George Frederic Handel.
Coverings/Chromebook Reminders
Please ensure students are prepared for school each day with a charged Chromebook. We no longer have Chromebooks to lend to students at the building. It is important that face coverings are washed and disposal coverings are discarded daily. Thank you in advance!
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!
IT Help Desk for Students/Parents
At the current moment, the only mechanism for parents/students in a virtual/hybrid environment to get help is via the email address chromesupport@crsd.org
Effective this week, we would like parents/students to start using our help desk system. The link is this one: 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 you use the system, you will need to setup an account. This will require a unique email address, the location where the student attends school (this is a required field), your first and last name, a phone number where you can be reached (if additional/different contact information/preferences are desired, that 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, you can click on that option, login with your email address and password (set during account creation).
IT will continue to monitor the chromesupport email address but will refer parents/students to the ticketing system if you 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.
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.
PTO Virtual Meeting via ZOOM
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