School Starts at 8:00 A.M.

If your child is going to eat breakfast at WLC, please be sure to drop them off between 7:30 and 7:45 so they can be on time for the start of the school day.

Kindergarten Goals

• Our kindergarten goals this year are from the Minnesota State Standards:

  By May 2023 all kindergarten students will be able to:

• name all uppercase and lowercase letters in the alphabet.

• make all letter sounds.

• read, write, and represent whole numbers from 0 - 31.

• count with and without objects, forward and backward to at least 20.

Spring 2022 Results:

• 93% know all uppercase and lowercase letters. This is an increase from the fall at 34%.
• 98.7% know all letter sounds - this is an increase from 16.25% in the fall.

Read, write and represent whole numbers:

• Write: 98% - increase from 33% in fall
• Read: 96% - increase from 56% in fall
• Show a Set of Number Using Objects: 93%

• Count Forward: 100% - this is an increase from 85% in fall
• Count Forward Using Objects: 100% - this is an increase from 84% in fall

We are so proud of our staff who worked so hard with the students to help them reach this high levels of performance, for the students who did their best and demonstrated these results, and for the support of parents and community!

We are working just as hard this year to help our students make these same academic gains and prepare them for first grade.

Too Much Screen Time Can Have Lasting Consequences for Young Children’s Brains

"Growing data suggests that exposing young children to too much time in front of a TV or computer can have negative effects on their development, including issues with memory, attention and language skills."

PLEASE read the TIME magazine article linked at the top of this page. At WLC we are seeing the effects of children having too much screen time. When movies, television, phones, and video games are used to quiet your child they aren't learning the coping and social skills needed to adjust to their environment or expectations.

Parenting is hard work. Yet children need their parent's attention and are much more successful when parents have reasonable and age appropriate expectations, rules, and consequences. Children also need their parents teaching and reinforcing appropriate social skills outside of school as well. Let's work together to help all children be their best.

Thank you to all the "Trunks" who made our ECFE Community Trunk or Treat a huge success! We had about 1100 people come through on Saturday. It truly takes a community!

Join us for ECFE Free Family Gym Night on Friday, November 4 from 6:00-7:00 at the Washington Learning Center.

Grab your friends and stop by the New Ulm Women's Expo and Craft Fair on Saturday, November 5 from 9:00-2:00 at Jefferson School.

Preschool Information Night will be held on Tuesday, November 15 from 5:45-6:45 at the WLC. Do you have questions about preschools?Did you know that most preschools begin registration for the

following year shortly after January? Come to our Preschool Information Night where there will be displays, handouts, and a chance to visit with representatives from area preschools.

Autumn is the season when leaves turn red and brown.

When the wind starts blowing, the leaves fall to the ground.

When it’s time to rake them, we do it with a smile;

And when we’ve made a giant heap, we jump into the pile!

~Author Unknown

Kindergarten students have been busy learning about the weather and why the temperatures are cooling off. They know all about thermometers and how to read this interesting tool. These spectacular little scientists can also tell you why the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer. Planet earth is slowly tilting away from the sun causing very different things to happen to our weather, as the seasons change. The proof is on our monthly weather graphs as we compare the ever changing data.

During the month of October, the winds became quite strong and blew us right down the street! Kindergarteners spent a blustery day on October 12, walking to the fire station. Students explored the scenery along the way and were happy to point things out as we encountered them. They found things that began with the sound of the letters Cc and Gg (clouds, cars, cones, ghosts, geese,garages) and were letter detectives searching for Cc,Oo,Gg, and Aa on every sign in sight. The Superkids would be proud of all they have learned these past couple of months.

We ended the month of October with a Fall Festival. Students came to school dressed in a variety of different ways. It was fun to dress up and have a day full of fun learning activities centered around pumpkins, scarecrows and colorful fall leaves.

As the strong winds blow us into November, we will continue to build our knowledge of the weather, learn about teen numbers, 2-D shapes, patterns and how to read and write both nonsense and real words. It's amazing how much learning is taking place all over the school!

Literacy O'Lanterns

Students and staff were been busy making storybook character pumpkins in October. The pumpkins were on display in the Media Center for the students to enjoy and hear the stories during library time.

Check out this year's pumpkins below!

Ms. Hoek

Respiratory Illnesses in Children: RSV, Colds, Flu, and COVID-19…

With fall well under way and winter steadily marching in, respiratory illness season has also officially arrived. We continue to hear about COVID-19 in the news often, and while COVID-19 continues to be a big concern this respiratory illness season, “the regulars” have started to make their rounds as well. So, what should we be keeping an eye out for to help us know if our child has a cold, the flu, RSV, or COVID? How can we tell what’s what? And how can we prevent these illnesses? For a quick view of how the four viruses differ, see below:

https://www.chla.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/chart_covid_vs_flu_v2_printable.pdf

Looking at the symptoms column in the above chart makes clear that distinguishing between these viruses may be very difficult. Testing is the only way to know for sure what is causing symptoms in your child and connecting with your child’s regular doctor is the best way to determine if testing for any of these viruses is needed. No matter the virus that may be the cause, if your child is having trouble breathing, is not responding to you, or is not able to eat or drink, get them medical care right away.

The good news is that prevention for all four of these viruses also looks similar.

-avoid being around those who are sick and being in crowds during respiratory illness season

-wash your hands often and well and have your children do so also

-practice good respiratory etiquette: sneeze and cough into elbows rather than hands, place used tissues in the trash, and wash your hands after blowing or wiping your nose

-talk to your child’s doctor about getting vaccinated as early in the season as possible

What do these illnesses mean for school? Overall, we encourage parents to keep their children home when they are sick with a respiratory illness or with any other illness. If they have a fever (temp of 100.0 or greater), they will need to stay home until they have been 24 hours fever free without taking any fever reducing medications, like Tylenol (acetaminophen) or ibuprofen, and they should feel up to participating in their normal school day activities before returning.

Second Step

Our kindergarteners are continuing to strengthen their social emotional skills through our Second Step lessons! Social emotional skills are crucial for connecting with others, managing emotions, and developing empathy for others. During the month of October, we have learned about:

• Identifying physical and situational clues related to emotions

• Identifying anger

• Understanding similarities and differences among other people’s feelings

• Understanding accidents versus intentional actions

• Showing empathy for others

Your gently worn sneakers can help Eagles Preschool!

Did you know that Eagles Preschool collects old sneakers as a fundraiser and to keep them out of landfills? We are going to do a district-wide collection of sneakers! Our hope is to reach more people which will hopefully result in more sneaker donations. We will be collecting sneakers during fall conferences at Jefferson Elementary and the Middle School.

Drop the athletic shoes you no longer wear in the blue bin outside the WLC entrance or bring them conferences on one of these days:
Nov 10: New Ulm Middle School or Jefferson Elementary School (3:30-7:30 PM)
Nov 15: Jefferson Elementary School (3:30-7:30 PM)

Details of shoes we can accept:

• athletic shoes only (please no sandals, dress shoes, crocs, etc.)
• must be a pair of athletic shoes (no shoe missing its match)
• must be at least 4.5" from heel to toe (about a size 4T)
• any condition; from like new to falling apart (please be sure they are clean; i.e. not caked in mud, etc.)

Did you know that Eagles Preschool collects old sneakers as a fundraiser and to keep them out of landfills? We are going to do a district-wide collection of sneakers! Our hope is to reach more people which will hopefully result in more sneaker donations. We will be collecting sneakers during fall conferences at Jefferson Elementary and the Middle School. This is where we need 2.5 hours of your time.

Would you please be willing to work a shift at a donation table during conferences? All you need to do is put pairs of sneakers into a donation bag. It’s an easy role and a way for you to volunteer outside of a typical school day.

Here’s when we need your help:

Nov 3: 3:00-5:30 PM (Middle School)

Nov 10: 3:00-5:30 PM or 5:00-7:30 PM (Jefferson Elementary & Middle School)

Nov 15: 3:00-5:30 PM (Jefferson Elementary)

Preschool parent cars will be lining up along Franklin, the length of the parking lot, as they wait to turn right onto 14th N Street.

Kindergarten parents will continue to line up along the WEST side of Franklin just north of the parking lot entrance.

Thank you for your efforts in following these plan to keep everyone safe.

Please review the 2 maps below for preschool and kindergarten traffic plans.

We want to keep Franklin Street free of parked cars during drop off and pick up so parents waiting in cars can line up there and not block the street.

Thank you for your efforts in following these plan to keep everyone safe.

Please see the maps and contact the office with any questions. (507) 233-8300