• September 4th - No School | Labor Day
• September 8th - Outdoor Movie Night @ Avery (volunteer to help below!)
• September 9th - WGSD Family BBQ 11am-12:30pm at Ivory Crockett Park
• September 11th - Late Start
• September 19th - Picture Day!
• September 22nd - Fall Party @ 1:45pm (more information soon)
• September 23rd - Progressive Dinner (PTO Event - more information soon)
• September 25th - Late Start
• October 6th - Fall Festival 6pm-9pm @ Avery (more information soon)
• October 9th - Late Start
• October 19th - No School for Students (Teacher PD)
• October 20th - No School
• October 23rd - Late Start

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https://www.webster.k12.mo.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=4130&PageType=20&DomainID=89&ModuleInstanceID=6914

Good Morning!

It was a fantastic first week of school! Even with the sweltering heat - our students and staff made learning fun for our students.

Included in this edition of The Pulse is our first RSVP for the fall party on September 22nd. This year, we will be approaching visitors to class parties differently in order to ensure the safety of our students and staff.

If you are an existing family and have scanned your ID into our Raptor System, we should be able to search the database for your name and pre-print your name tag badge the day before the party. This badge will be sent home with your oldest or only child for you to wear to school during the party.

If you are a new family and are wanting to come to any of our classroom parties throughout the school year, please plan on coming to Avery in the coming weeks so that we can scan your ID into our Raptor System. This way, we can pre-print your badge the day before the party and send it home with your child. Should you not be able to come to Avery prior to the Fall Party - no worries. We just ask that you allow extra time on party day so that we can get you signed in.

If you plan on coming to the Fall Party, we kindly request that you complete the RSVP form below.

The day prior to the Fall Parties - we will be able to search the system for your ID, pre-print your badge, and send it home with your child. For subsequent parties (winter and spring), if you are already signed in - we will send your badge home with your child the day before the party.

Again, once you are signed into our system, we are able to quickly search for your name, print your badge, and it ensures a smooth process!

Please know we are implementing this new practice to ensure safety and appreciate your patience with us.

Please reach out if you have any questions,

Hannah Peterson, Ed.D.

Building Principal

Welcome Back to School! It is awesome to see ALL Avery All-Stars with us again! Exciting topics are being discussed all over Avery! What a successful first week learning our new routines and focusing on goals for the year.

You might be wondering:

How does school counseling work in elementary school?

What is SEL or Social Emotional Learning that I keep hearing about?

Let me help answer these…

At Avery our school counseling program focuses around “Avery’s 3 Big Ideas”

1. The Avery Way – our school motto for a positive school climate.

2. The Zones of Regulation- our way of discussing our emotions, how to regulate them, how they affect others, and how we ask for help with our emotions.

3. The 7 Habits of Happy Kids – 7 Social Emotional practices and life skills in order to solve problems, set and reach goals, and interact effectively with others. This year our entire school will put extra emphasis on Habit #2 Begin with the end in mind. This habit focuses on setting a goal and following a plan of action to accomplish this goal. Our goal will be to use the conflict resolution strategies we have learned last year through our focus on Habit #4. This habit focuses on how to be a win-win friend and solving conflict in a win-win way through I messages, possible solutions, and compromises.

These 3 Big Ideas guide the way we address social concerns and learning that is not strictly about academics.

Social Emotional Learning

Social Emotional Learning is a way to describe any type of learning that is fostering/developing relationships, civility, interacting, creating empathy and having genuine relationships with others in our building. Social Emotional Learning sometimes looks like play, or expressing feelings around a conflict. We do activities as a school that support students’ ability to feel connected and heard in their school and community. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) does not take away from academics. SEL helps create learners that are connected and confident. As a result, focus on academics is stronger because the student is invested in their class and knows they are cared for.

I visit classrooms every month and love getting to know our students.

If I can help your family with a question or concern please reach out to me:

Anna Wallace, MA, LPC

Counselor, Avery Elementary

Counselor Coordinator K-8, Webster Groves School District

wallace.anna@wgmail.org

If your child is interested in joining a FIRST LEGO League Explore (Grades 2-3) or FIRST LEGO League Challenge (Grades 4-5) Team this year, please join our parent information meeting on Wednesday, August 30 at 6:30 PM via Zoom (link here). We'll share more information about the program, hear from a fellow Avery parent and current LEGO League Coach (Kris Sontheimer) and discuss logistics.

Can't make the meeting? Reach out to christine.novalis@gmail.com for more info.

Introducing ParentSquare

We are excited to announce that we adopted a new form of school-to-home communication at Webster Groves School District called ParentSquare.

This unified communications platform is designed to keep parents and guardians informed and encourage greater engagement and connection with us. It provides a safe way for parents, teachers, school leaders and the district to:

• Send and receive school and class information

• Share pictures and files

• See calendar items

• Sign up to volunteer

• Schedule parent-teacher conferences

• and much more, all in one centralized place!
  
  

Signup is not required to receive communication from the district, school or teachers.

Learn more about ParentSquare here

Thank you to those who have already donated to the Fund-a-Teacher campaign! Our teachers are hard at work getting their classrooms ready for the first day of school and we'd love to help them out!

Donate Today:

Our Parent-Teacher-Organization (PTO) has so many fun ways to get involved and meet other families! Click here to see some that are happening soon!

Enrollment is open for all third grade students in Webster Groves, regardless of what plan they chose for their child. Our class sizes are limited to the first 18 to enroll for each session. If we have a significant number over 18 to enroll in a school, two teachers will be assigned to the school and we will take the first 36 students.

SIGN UP LINK HERE

It is important that we have the most updated contact information for each family. K-12 families can update their family profile online here.

Beginning last school year, the Webster Groves School District added late start days to the school calendar.

Late start days will allow additional time for our teachers to use data and collaboratively plan to continue to address the needs of all of our students.

The schedule for late starts is below:

Late Start Supervision Program - 7:40am-8:50am

School Day Arrival Begins - 8:50am

School Begins - 9:05am

Families who need help with student supervision on late start days can participate in a program available at each building. On Friday, July 28th the district sent out information for families to sign up for the late start supervision program. Registration will remain open until August 7th. Please see this email for additional details.

Members of the Avery staff will manage the Late Start Supervision Program, including instructional aides and substitute teachers. Families who participate in the morning Adventure Club Program will automatically be enrolled in the Late Start Supervision Program.

Late Start Dates for the 23-24 School Year:

• September 11th
• September 25th
• October 9th
• October 23rd
• November 13th
• November 27th
• December 11th
• January 8th
• January 22nd
• February 12th
• February 26th
• March 11th
• March 25th
• April 8th
• April 22nd
• May 13th

For additional information on the late start program, please check out our district website: https://www.webster.k12.mo.us/domain/4244

Starting this year, we are shifting our classroom parties to better reflect our curriculum. Instead of hosting parties on holidays that some may/may not celebrate, we have decided to shift classroom parties to recognize seasonal changes. This aligns nicely with science units on seasons and/or seasonal changes. Please note, other elementary schools in our district have or will be making this change as well.

This upcoming school year we will host classroom parties on:

• Friday, September 22nd - Fall Party 1:45pm - 2:30pm (first day of fall is on Saturday, September 23rd)

• Thursday, December 21st - Winter Party 1:45pm - 2:30pm

• Thursday, March 14th - Spring Party 1:45pm - 2:30pm (first day of spring is on Tuesday, March 19th)

We will continue to maintain our standard that was established this school year that any food item brought in for the classroom party will be sent home with students for parents to determine if it is something their child can consume.

In addition, we are going to be requiring adults to RSVP for our classroom parties so that we can ensure the safety of our students and staff during parties. This will allow us to pre-sign in adults using our Raptor system. In order to sign into Raptor, we will need your license. Once you are signed into the system, we can pre-print your badge and send it home prior to parties. If you have not signed in previously, you will need to add extra time prior to the party so that we can get you signed in. We will send the RSVP form for the fall party out closer to the date.

We thank you so much for your partnership and understanding in this switch.

Hannah Peterson, Ed.D | Principal

Aaron Winkler, PhD | Assistant Principal

Arrival from 7:40-7:50 AM

• Bompart Avenue

• Carpool drop-off only in front of school – parents to remain in vehicles with staff members assisting students

• Families walking students to school will say goodbye at the external doors

• No parking during arrival

• Staff members will supervise at the curb

• Marshall Avenue

• This entrance will be utilized for bus arrival

• Atalanta Avenue

• We strongly encourage families to travel only from Bompart towards Glen to alleviate congestion and increase safety

• No parking on sidewalks

• Staff members will supervise at the curb

Dismissal 2:50pm-3:00pm

• Bompart Avenue

• Kindergarten and Fifth grades will dismiss out front

• Atalanta Avenue

• First and Fourth grades will dismiss along the side

• Blacktop

• Second and Third grades will dismiss on the back blacktop

• Back Parking Lot

• Staff parking only

• No entrance or exit from 2:20-2:50

To qualify for direct distribution to students and families, the
information must be:

• district-sponsored information
• something from a group affiliated* with the district.
• curriculum-related, as determined by the principal, including programs, events, contests and other activities.

*Affiliated is defined as a group recognized by the Board of Education and working

If you are a non-profit organization that doesn't qualify for direct distribution to students and families, you can contact Derek Duncan (duncan.derek@wgmail.org) who is our Director of Communication and he will ensure that your flyer is posted on the community electronic bulletin.

If your information fits the above criteria, you can make a submission to theaverypulse@gmail.com

Submissions are due on Thursdays at 5pm

Location: 909 North Bompart Avenue, Webster Groves, MO, USA
Twitter: @avery_allstars