Whittier Weekly News
September 21, 2018
Notes from the Administration
We hope you and your family are settling back into the routine of school! Our first 14 days have gone very well and we thank you for your cooperation and assistance in preparing your children to return to the classroom.
Our Weekly News, will be sent out on Thursday evenings of each week- starting on September 27th. The newsletter will no longer be distributed via email- but through Find Out First. Thank you to everyone who has returned their yellow Emergency Cards. Find Out First will send communications to the email address that was listed on your Emergency Card.
This newsletter serves as an important communication between home and school. Please be sure to reach out to the front office, if you aren't receiving our Find Out First communications.
Please take the time to read our newsletter each week to get updated information about news and special events happening here at Whittier ES!
Missing school = Missing out
Research tells us that attendance in school is closely linked with academic success. While students can make up some work that is missed, it is impossible to recreate experiential learning and academic conversations between teachers and students. Please keep the following in mind regarding student attendance:
* Dismissal starts at 3:30
- We will closely monitoring the number of late arrivals and early dismissals for students. We will be sharing that information with our Pupil Personnel Worker (PPW) who assists us in enforcing mandatory attendance standards.
- If your child is having a difficult time getting to school on time, please reach out to Mrs. Reese or Mr. Francis for support.
Drop off
Whittier staff are on duty promptly at 8:30 to assume responsibility for students.
Thank you for your support!
Chess, Coding, and Robotics Club
Students brought home a flier for the clubs listed above. If you missed the flier, there is still time to register. Here are the links:
Parent Volunteers/Visitors to the Building
This year, FCPS has introduced a new systematic visitor management system called Raptor. Raptor compares visitors to our school against national data bases from all 50 states to ensure the safety of our students. Visitors to our school may be asked to show identification before entering the building. Parents wishing to volunteer for school events, chaperone a party, or chaperone a field trip will still need to complete our Volunteer Training. We will offer volunteer training once a month. Our next training will be on Monday, October 15 at 6:00pm.
Thanks to all of our WATCH DOG participants
Blessings in a Backpack
Hello volunteers and THANK YOU! Welcome to the 2018-19 school year!
My name is Candice Poska. I serve as Volunteer Co-Coordinator of Blessings in a Backpack-- together with Natasha (Nattie) Cleveland--at Whittier Elementary School.
We really appreciate your interest in helping to pack weekend food bags for our students at Whittier Elementary School (2400 Whittier Drive, Frederick MD 21702). We look forward to working together with you to help feed hungry children in our Whittier community.
PLEASE READ THE DETAILS ABOUT VOLUNTEERING BELOW AND USE THIS SIGN UP GENIUS LINK TO SIGN UP FOR DATES THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP (more dates and volunteer slots will be added to the link as the year progresses--and there are other volunteer roles available if packing is not an option for you):
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b49aea92ca0fe3-biab
We generally pack food bags on Fridays with an occasional Wednesday or Thursday pack if there is an abbreviated week of school. We start at 9:15 am in the school cafeteria, and packing usually takes between 45 minutes to an hour.
If this will be your first time at Whittier Elementary, here are a few things to note: Visitor parking is limited, but there should be ample parking along the street on the front and sides of the school (Whittier Dr., Independence St., or Wetherburne Way). All doors are locked during school hours, so please walk to the main door, ring the intercom, and state your name and purpose (that you are there for Blessings in a Backpack). After they buzz you in, you will go into the office to sign in and get your visitor/volunteer sticker.
When you are done packing, you will stop at the front office again to sign out.
Please know that if all volunteer slots are filled on the Sign Up Genius, we may still be able to use your help!!! We don't want to ever turn away anyone who wants to help feed hungry kids! Plus, we are growing in the number of children we are feeding, so our number of necessary volunteers will be growing throughout the year.
Please send Candice an email candiceposka@gmail.com or text 301-788-7511 to let us know that you're available and that you'd like to join us. We can always use helping hands.
If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Candice Poska via email candiceposka@gmail.com or phone/text at 301-788-7511 (cell).
Also, if you are unable to help on Friday mornings, but would like to volunteer in some other way with Blessings in a Backpack, I would be happy to chat with you about other ways that we could use your help.
We are also looking for reliable volunteers (with large vehicles!) who may be willing to pick up our food orders for us from either SAMS Club, Wegman's, or Food Pro and deliver the orders to our school on a bi-weekly basis. We should be ready to put volunteers to work in this way beginning some time in October. I can share more details about this via phone if you're interested and able to help us with this very important part of the job! CONTACT CANDICE 301-788-7511 ABOUT THIS VOLUNTEER POSITION!
We are looking forward to a fantastic year feeding kids in our community! We are so very grateful for your help.
MANY THANKS,
Candice Poska and Natasha (Nattie) Cleveland
TECH TREK
Our students in Grades 3 and 4 are starting the year with each student having access to a device for learning. Our goal for this year- to purchase Chromebooks for our students to be 1:1 in 5th Grade.
Labels due: Thursday September 27th
If you are able to assist with envelope stuffing, we could use your help. - Tuesday October 2nd @ 4pm. Can't get to WHES till later- don't worry- it goes on for quite a while. But many hands make light work!
Find Out First
In order for you to receive Find Out First notices, our school must enter the parent/guardian email address in eSchool.
- To get FindOutFirst (FOF) email such as emergency-closing notices and school newsletters, parents MUST provide a current email address to the school and notify the school if it changes.
- This means clearly printing any change on the Student Information Card parents complete at the beginning of the school year.
- For new parents, it means providing a current email address during enrollment.
- The new procedure for parent news uses the email address uploaded nightly from the FCPS Student Information System to FOF. Notifying the school is the ONLY way to update a parent's primary email address for FindOutFirst news.
Thank you for working with us so that we can communicate best with you!
PTA
Please take a moment and become a member of the PTA. Your membership entitles you to discounts in and around Frederick County. More importantly, your membership says that you are in support of our school. We would love to have you join us. ALL ARE WELCOME!
Follow the PTA on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/WhittierPTAFrederick/
Our next PTA meeting is Monday, October 15th @ 6:30pm.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday September 24th
Leadership Meeting - 4pm
Tuesday, September 25
Math Club - 7:30 am
Service Learning Club - 3:45 pm
Wednesday, September 26
Math Club - 7:30 am
Service Learning Club - 3:45 pm
Thursday, September 27
Tech Trek Labels Due
Boomshakers - 7:45 am
Whittier Music Makers - 3:45 pm
Young Rembrandts - 4:00 pm
Monday, October 1
Mobile Dentist to visit WHES
Just Dance - 7:45 am
PBIS Meeting- 4pm
Tuesday, October 2
Mobile Dentist to visit WHES
ELO Math Club - 7:30 am
Chess Club - 3:45 pm
Service Learning Club - 3:45 pm
Envelope Stuffing for TECH TREK- 4pm
Wednesday, October 3
ELO Math Club - 7:30 am
Robotics Club - 3:45 pm
Service Learning Club- 3:45 pm
Thursday, October 4
Boomshakers - 7:45 am
Whittier Music Makers - 3:45 pm
Young Rembrandts - 4:00 pm
Coding Club - 4:00 pm
Friday, October 5th
2 Hour Early Dismissal
Interims Distributed
Just Dance 7:45 am
Whittier Elementary
Thank you for supporting our school's success!
Email: whittier.es@fcps.org
Website: https://education.fcps.org/whes/
Location: 2400 Whittier Drive, Frederick, MD, United States
Phone: 240-236-3100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Whittier-Elementary-School-PTA-147186718711529/
Twitter: @WhittierES