Wasco Families,

Lately, I have found myself in various social conversations where I am asked about the effects of the COVID interruption. One of the biggest effects we see at school is the development of social skills. In response, our staff spends more time at school creating contexts so students understand their character, behavior, and how to interact with others. This was initiated by the school year focus of our district on Belonging. Also, our schoolwide SEL Calendar organizes our priorities. Our schools operate with the understanding that students need social emotional skills so we can facilitate optimal learning outcomes. Student’s ability to self-regulate enables them to be a ready and willing learner.

As we enter this break from school, I am asking for your partnership with our endeavors. Activities with you, your friends and family will be a rich experience for our students. They will learn from you and the other people in their lives and I treasure the resulting thoughts and expressions they share with us. It is the joy of the education profession- teaching kids to interact, explore and share. They surprise us with their perceptions and ideas! I want to encourage you to welcome these moments and harness them for their potential to teach and shape your child’s character.

Wishing you the happiest holidays and joy during your time together! We will miss the kids and look forward to their return. This place isn’t the same without them!

Kind Regards,

Principal Stephanie Brennan

stephanie.brennan@d303.org

331-228-6294

December 19 Band Concert at Thompson Middle School 7:00pm

December 21 End of 2nd Semester

December 22-January 9 No School for students (School Resumes January 10th)

December 19 Long Winter Nap-Comfy Cozy/PJ Day

December 20 Grinch Day - wear all green

December 21 Festive Day-Wear Red, Green, or Blue or a Holiday Sweater

The Grand Prize for our PTO pumpkin decorating contest was “Principal for the Day”. I am pleased to introduce, Lauren Jaeger! Lauren did morning announcements, had a “meeting” with her friends in the office- ok we played a game! She also did classroom rounds with me. It was great fun to hear the kids ideas for what she should do with her “power”. I am looking forward to more opportunities to share this treat with kids. It was a big hit.

It’s hard to believe that we are in the last few weeks of 2022! As we get ready to head into the New Year of 2023 we want to make sure that our school community closes the year out with all students trying their best to uphold our Wasco Expectations of: Be Safe. Be Kind. Work Hard. Do the Right Thing. One area that we would like to emphasize is our bus expectations.

Below are some bus safety tips and guidelines to go over with your child to remind them of our bus expectations to ensure student safety. We will be going over these expectations in our classrooms as well to serve as a reminder that bus safety is important and the Wasco Expectations also apply in this environment. Thank you for your cooperation as we ensure the safety of our students to and from school.

Absences should be called in by 7:45 AM if your child will be absent for any portion of the day. The number is 331-228-2900 and has voicemail. You can call during the evening or overnight and leave a message. Please leave your child’s name and the reason why your child is out. If they are ill, please indicate their symptoms. Even if you notify your child's teacher of an absence via email, we ask that you please still notify the office.

Also, if your child attends Baker Station, please remember to notify them if your child will not be attending.

Yearbooks are available for purchase through PushCoin or use the order form below. Yearbooks will be on sale now until March 17, 2022.

D303 Community,

We’re looking forward to a great night of hoops this Friday, December 16th as North takes on East in both girls and boys basketball at St. Charles North. The girls varsity game starts at 5:30 PM followed by the boys game at 7:00 PM.

In order to maintain a safe and enjoyable atmosphere for all of our spectators in attendance please take a moment to review some important reminders regarding the game:

-Gates will open at 4:45 pm.

-No backpacks, or outside food or beverages are allowed.

-All students under high school age must be supervised by a parent or guardian.

-No re-entry into the game is allowed.

-Use of profanity, taunting, including racial remarks of any kind, throwing objects, and possessing objects that block the view of other spectators are PROHIBITED.

We’re excited to welcome members of the Thompson and Wredling Pep Bands who will join the SCN Band in the home stands. We are expecting a large crowd, so our mezzanine seating will be open, but we encourage you to arrive early.

Tickets will be sold at the gate. Prices are as follows:

-General Admission-$5.00

-Students 6-10 years-$2.00
-D303 MS/HS w/Student ID-FREE

Please contact our athletic office at 331-228-6258 with any questions related to this event.

Come out and support our student-athletes this Friday night at St. Charles North!

District 303 will send notifications to families through the ParentLink system by text message, phone call and email based on your settings. Parents/guardians can view and edit their contact settings through the Home Access Center.
To receive timely emergency communications, we strongly encourage families to enable text notifications. For most people, this is the fastest way to receive and view important messages. Here’s how:

• From the HAC main menu, select the “registration” tab to view your contact settings
• Select the “edit” button to change your contact settings
• To enable text message notifications, enter your cell phone number in the SMS/text message field
• Select the “save” button

Users can only update their child(ren) and personal contact information. You will not be able to make changes to another parent/guardian's contact information. For updates to emergency contact people, please reach out to the school directly.

Ways to receive Wasco News

• The Principal sends a weekly newsletter on Fridays

• Wasco Elementary has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WascoElementarySchool

• Twitter account: @WascoD303

• Join Membership Toolkit on the PTO site for ways to connect with parent community