Wildwood Elementary School
October Newsletter
A note from your principal...
Dear Parents,
I want to thank all parents for your support of our campus as we navigate the challenges of a global pandemic and its impact on our students, staff and families. Our 2021-22 school year began with various mitigation practices in place to keep students and staff safe, while phasing in school volunteers.
Phase 1 included welcoming our parents back in our school building to volunteer in needed areas of our school operation. It has been so nice to see our volunteers assisting in the front office, shelving books in the library, making copies for teachers in the workroom, and many other tasks that we are so thankful for. In Phase 1, our mitigation strategy did not permit in-classroom volunteers to minimize unnecessary close contacts with individuals who are not students or staff. In Phase 1, Principals were also asked to leverage creative seating to maximize space in the cafeteria in an effort to physically distance when/where feasible. Creative seating arrangements, physical distancing when/where feasible and increased enrollment made additional seating availability for lunch visitors very challenging, which is why visitors were not permitted at the start of the year. As a result of these practices, among others, we are seeing a drastic decrease in COVID-positive cases across our District.
As a result of this drastic decrease in COVID-positive staff and student cases, we feel confident we can move into Phase 2 of our school volunteer reopening plan starting Monday, October 4th.
Phase 2 consists of welcoming parents back on campus to enjoy lunch with their children on assigned days to avoid overcrowding in the cafeteria and to ensure an enjoyable lunch experience with your child(ren). We are also going to welcome back classroom volunteers with Principal approval. Please be reminded that all school visitors must have their driver's license available upon entry and all school volunteers must complete a volunteer application.
Assigned lunch visitors are divided over 4 days, Monday through Thursday, with Fridays rotating each month for an assigned alpha. Assigned alpha days are as follows:
Monday: Last Name - A through E
Tuesday: Last Name - F through L
Wednesday: Last Name - M through P
Thursday: Last Name Q through Z
Fridays in the month of October: Last Name - A through E
When visiting for lunch, you must be on the child’s emergency contact list to be allowed the opportunity to sit with a child. Lunch visitors will sit at an empty table with their child only. If you choose to bring lunch for your child, please only bring food for your child and not their friends.
You are welcome to come eat with your child on their birthday, even if it does not fall on the scheduled day!
As always, staff and student safety is our number one priority and our mitigation practices remain a fluid situation. We will continue to seek guidance from our state and local healthcare providers and closely monitor COVID-positive cases in our District and respond accordingly. We thank you for your patience, cooperation and understanding throughout this school year. We look forward to seeing you on campus very soon and wish everyone a great weekend.
Thank you,
Dr. Letty Roman
Early Release
Please be reminded of our early release on Friday, October 8th. We will release students at 12:40. Our am Pre-K class will release at 10:40 and there will not be pm Pre-K on Oct. 8th.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Parent Conferences
However, if you are interested in a one-to-one parent conference, please reach out to your teacher. They are happy to schedule a meeting with you.
Watch Dogs
We are excited about bringing the Watch Dogs program back to Wildwood!
Information will be coming soon about how our dads can support our campus.
Picture Day is coming!
Retakes will be on December 3rd.
Attendance Reminders
Quality education requires good attendance. This requires your full support in ensuring that your child attends school every day and on time. In order to excuse any absence(s), the student must bring a note to school within 3 days of the student’s return to school. Any unexcused absences will result in attendance court warning letters.
· A doctor note or signed parent note must have the student’s full name, the date/s of absence(s) and the reason for the absence. We do not accept an email as an excuse because it must be signed by the parent/guardian. You can scan doctor notes to your child’s teacher and he/she will forward it to the attendance office.
· If your child has a doctor appointment for a partial day - Please provide an excuse note from your doctor upon returning to school.
· If a student is absent for more than five (5) consecutive days due to a personal illness, he/she must bring a doctor note verifying the illness or condition.
· See links below for more information concerning attendance.
COVID Handbook link: https://www.tomballisd.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=305696&type=d&pREC_ID=707241
COVID Reporting Form link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5PDTihDuixMs08ApDxLi864jztzmCGKX8vF3v7L3OpD7x6w/viewform
TISD Handbook link: https://www.tomballisd.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=305696&type=d&pREC_ID=707241
Good Attendance ROCKS!
Mental Health Awareness
Dear Tomball ISD Community,
Tomball ISD recognizes the impact of mental health challenges and intentionally works to provide a multi-tiered system of mental health supports throughout the district. October 4th through 8th is National Mental Health Awareness week. In recognition of Mental Health Awareness week, we will promote one of the district’s mental health support programs each
day of the week to increase awareness in our community.
Monday, October 4th
Emotional Backpack Project is TISD’s mental health training program for teachers and campus administrators. TISD collaborates with the Center for School Behavioral Health at Mental Health America of Greater Houston to promote mental health awareness at every campus across the district through high quality professional development.
Tuesday, October 5th
EVERFI is a digital learning platform that helps to foster students’ social and emotional learning (SEL) skills. EVERFI offers a range of online learning modules on SEL for all grade levels, including The Compassion Project, Character Playbook, Honor Code, and much more!
Wednesday, October 6th
Youth Mental Health First Aid is TISD’s targeted mental health initiative designed to equip all adults in a child’s life with the knowledge and tools around common mental health challenges for youth, typical adolescent development, and the five-step action plan for how to help young individuals in both crisis and non-crisis situations.
Thursday, October 7th
Tele-Health Services
-Presence Learning Tele-Counseling provides high quality real-time counseling to help students build their SEL skills, such as calming techniques for self-regulation and identifying emotions such as anger and stress.
-Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT): provides high quality real-time behavioral health services to children and adolescents who may be struggling with mental health challenges.
Friday, October 8th
Substance-Use Disorder
-Restore, Instruct, Support and Educate (RISE) provides substance-use screening and intervention by licensed drug and alcohol counselors in collaboration with Teen and Family Services (TAFS).
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about any our programs, please contact me at michaelwebb@tomballisd.net.
Best,
Dr. Michael Webb
Assistant Superintendent of Student Support
PTO Fall Festival
On the PTO website, from 10/1-10/22, you may pre-order a wristband for $8.00. Adults and children under 3 are FREE. The wristbands will be sold at the door for $10.00 on October 29th from 5:30-8:30.
I hope you and your family are able to join us at Wildwood for Fall fun and great school memories!
Here's what coming up next:
Oct 1-Oct. 27 - Candy Drive for the Fall Festival
Oct. 6 - Chick-Fil-A spirit night, 5-8pmOct. 8 - Early Release, 12:40 (10:40 for AM PK, No PM PK)
Oct. 11 - No School for students, staff development day
Oct. 18 - Early Voting Begins
Oct. 25-29 - Red Ribbon Week
Oct. 26 - Picture Day
Oct. 29 - Book Character Dress Up Day
Oct. 29 - PTO Fall Festival, 5:30-8:30 pm