Dear Families,

I am pleased to announce that the duties of starting our school day on Thursdays and Fridays have now been assumed by the 5th grade. Our Librarian collaborates with fifth graders to create and deliver “the Wasco News” to our whole school during morning announcements. As the leader of this learning community, this agency excites me, as it is our ultimate purpose to inspire children to want to create and share their knowledge and experiences with others. The 5th grade students are doing a terrific job with their new responsibilities. Their writing and delivery adds a distinct youthful flavor to our daily announcements that frequently brings chuckles and smiles to our whole school. It is a great way to start the day!

Kind Regards,

Principal Brennan

March 12 Spirit Day - Dress Patriotic

March 26 School Improvement Day - NO STUDENTS

March 29-April 2 Spring Break

We have nine buses that service Wasco Elementary. MANY of our students spend part of their day with our bus drivers and we count on their cheerful disposition and attention to safety. Our bus drivers have been known to circle back to the school when a snow equipment bag is left on the bus or remember important days in our student’s lives. This week our students showed their appreciation for bus drivers by creating signs and presenting signs. All members of our Wasco School community contribute to the success of our children’s education!

Families, while many of us appreciate pets, unfortunately on school campus we need to be considerate of all, including those with allergies. We also recognize that not all students know how to safely approach unfamiliar animals. For these reasons, and perhaps others, we ask that you do not bring pets to our campus during school hours.

Every year our school, parents, students, and staff take the 5Essentials Survey. It is a survey administered to most Illinois schools by the University of Chicago. Schools have the responsibility to provide an opportunity to hear from their parent community and your thoughts and reflections on our work is important to me and the staff. Currently, 22% of our parents have taken the survey. Would you please take a few moments to participate in our school community by answering this survey? The link is below.

Save the Date!

The first meeting of the D303 Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (D303 SE-PAC) will meet virtually via Zoom on Tuesday March 23, 2021 from 7:00-8:30 pm. If you are a parent/guardian of a student entitled to special education services in D303, we are excited for this partnering opportunity. Participants will engage in small and large group discussions focused on our parent survey results. Please complete this short survey to support our planning. If you have any questions please contact Patti Palagi, Director of Instructional Interventions (patti.palagi@d303.org or 331-228-6457)

Hi Wasco School Families!

In the link below you will find the Week 4 (March 22-24) ASE schedule and class descriptions. You will see a mix of live Zoom calls and take home kits available. Registration is open for week 4. There are also classes for week 3 that still have availability and also kits that you can still sign up for.

To register, head on over to FreshSchools and you'll find all the classes under Enrichment.

Email us - WascoPTO@gmail.com - with any questions.

Hi Wasco School Families!

In the link below you will find the Week 3 (March 15-19) ASE schedule and class descriptions. You will see a mix of live Zoom calls and take home kits available. Registration will open at 12pm on Wednesday, March 3rd.

To register, head on over to FreshSchools and you'll find all the classes under Enrichment.

Email us - WascoPTO@gmail.com - with any questions.

We are in the process of registering students for kindergarten- be sure to tell your friends!

The District 303 Kindergarten enrollment process for the 2021-2022 school year will be virtual! Between January 19 and March 12, families will be able to enroll their kindergarten-age children by visiting the Kindergarten Registration & Information page of the District 303 website. On the site you will find:

• The New Student Intake Form (coming January 19, 2021)

• The Kindergarten Step-by-Step Guide for registration

• Health and Dental exams and immunization information

• Contact information for all elementary schools

• Information about Full Day and Half Day Kindergarten

Covid

This is just a reminder that D303 is still following the same guidelines from the CDC and KCHD concerning Covid-19.

If Anyone in the household has the following symptoms described below All Siblings need to stay home from school until the one with symptoms is cleared from their physician with an alternative diagnosis stating the symptoms are not related to Covid or a negative Covid test.

Fever(100.4 degrees or higher), new onset of moderate to severe headache, shortness of breath, new cough, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain from unknown cause, new congestion/runny nose, new loss of sense of taste or smell, nausea, fatigue from unknown cause, muscle or body aches.

This is very important to keep everyone in the school safe and healthy during this pandemic.

Masks

The students are outdoors for recess now and their masks can become moist from breathing in the cool air. Moist masks cause a decreased barrier to protection from germs. Please provide a couple of masks stored in baggies to be replaced after recess. We do have extra masks but only for emergency use only. We do not have enough masks for every student with a moist and/or broken one.

Kindly,

Nurse Tina

Mrs. Therrien, our Music Teacher, has been including an SEL song of the month at the end of some of her music classes. If you are interested in listening with your children, you are welcome to use the links below. These songs are offered through one of our curricular resources, Quaver, and if you visit their youtube channel (QuaverED) you'll find many SEL songs appropriate to share with our learners.

January song: Feel the Same Way

February song: I'm Only in Control of Me

Students will need to have a balance on their accounts to cover the items they wish to purchase from the Ala Cart menu. Our school has water bottle fillers throughout the building and students are welcome to refill their bottle at any time. As a reminder, all school lunches come with a milk. If you would like to check the balance on your account, the link for Push Coin is below.

Our school library is here to provide reading materials for your child. We have three ways to access fiction and nonfiction books: Print books for In-Person Learners, Digital/eBooks for In Persona and Remote learners, and Book Pickup for Remote learners. Please use this link below to access the pathway you choose. Happy reading!

Book Checkout procedures

The informative video below will walk you through steps to access your child's progress on our most recent iReady test. You will be able to view the diagnostic scale score information and a record of your child's independent iReady practice.

i-Ready Family Video

Starting November 10th, Organic Life will be offering breakfast at all Elementary Schools. Breakfast meals are free for all students just like the lunches.

Students will have the option to order breakfast in the morning as they already do for lunch. Organic Life will prep the breakfast bags and deliver them to the classrooms by 1:20pm each day for students. This helps to support students eating a breakfast before coming to school the next day.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact our office.

As you know, we are using the Second Step program in your child’s classroom. The Second Step program teaches children important skills for getting along with others and doing well in school. It also helps our school be a safe,

respectful place where everyone can learn.

To further help our school be a safe and respectful place, we are also using the Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit. In these upcoming lessons, your child will learn specific skills to help stop bullying. Students will learn how to:

• Recognize when bullying is happening

• Report bullying to a caring adult

• Refuse to let bullying happen to themselves or others

• Be a bystander who stands up and is part of the solution to bullying

For bullying prevention to work, everyone needs to be involved. Get involved in making our school a safe and respectful place by letting us know if you hear about bullying at our school. Make sure your child knows to tell you or someone at school if he or she is being bullied. And give your child the clear message that it is never okay to bully others.

Rebecca Schroeder, Wasco School Social Worker

Last spring, Mrs. Misner, our Wasco Physical Education teacher, was awarded two grants from the Greater St. Charles Education Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting excellence in education within Community Unit School District 303. The group provides grants to teachers and several scholarships each year to our St. Charles High School students. Mrs. Misner received a grant for $274.98 for a Gopher Ignition Pro Interval Trainer that will be temporarily mounted on the wall in the gym. The timer can also be placed on a table so it is moveable. This will provide a great visual for station work and fitness training.

A second grant was written by Mrs. Misner for $990.31 on behalf of the D303 Elementary Physical Education team for new bowling equipment. The bowling equipment travels to each school throughout the year with all of our elementary students using it. The purchase was for 3 new bowling lanes including a rubber bowling ball and 10 pins and 6 new lightweight bowling balls for our primary and students with special needs to use.

Mrs. Misner would like to express her gratitude to the Greater St. Charles Education Foundation for their continued support of education and students in D303. If you are interested in learning more about the Foundation or would like to make a donation, the website is http://stced.org/

Parents we really appreciate your attention to safety you are when you arrive on campus. As inclement weather approaches, we are working to make sure we move traffic as smoothly as possible. Here are some suggestions:

• Please pull up AS FAR AS POSSIBLE in available space, without occupying the crosswalks (marked with white stripes). This will enable us to place more students in cars.

• Please be aware of loading quickly so that we can exit cars in the pickup line as quickly as possible.

• Take care to limit social interactions while driving. During arrival and dismissal, there is a lot of activity and we want to ensure all adults are watchful for moving students.

• Encourage your child to watch for your vehicle.

Parents and other visitors to a school campus are expected to be wearing a mask when at the school. Our school community goal is to be as safe as possible and following the precautions such as wearing a mask when sharing space with others or when we are unable to keep our distance is a community practice that decreases the spread of germs. Your help modeling mask-wearing and spacing from others demonstrates our commitment to the health of one another.

We realize there is much information to digest, especially if you are a parent new to Wasco. Please use this link to access a plethora of information about the daily operation of our school. We hope this guide answers all of your questions. When in doubt, please reach out to our office. We are happy to help! Even if you are a returning family, you might want to keep the link handy.

Transportation route information is accessible to families using this link: Bus Routes. You will need your HAC number to access the information. Transportation route information will not be sent home through the mail and can only be accessed online. Please note that for the first two weeks of the school year, the district will not make adjustments to the transportation routes. Our transportation department will collect suggestions about the routes and make adjustments where necessary after the first two weeks of classes.

Since March, District 303 has collaborated with our food service vendors to provide grab and go meals for students to enjoy at home. We want to make you aware of the procedures for making sure that students continue to receive meals, whether they are learning in-person or remotely.

Families who choose to purchase meals for their children will have their PushCoin accounts debited, unless eligible for free lunch. For more information about eligibility for free and reduced lunch, please contact Patricia Townsend at 331.228.6529.