Wildcat Weekly
March 6, 2022
Hello Wildcat Families!
It's hard to believe but the second trimester ends this Wednesday, March 9th! Report cards will go live online March 23rd. Please be sure to take a moment to read through the report card information below prior to receiving your child's report card so that you can better understand the differences in grading.
Between Black History Month and Read Across America, the past few weeks have been busy! Over the course of the month, students participated in various activities to learn more about the many influential Black Americans throughout history. This included virtual visits with prominent black figures, book studies, and daily quotes on the announcements just to name a few. We wrapped up the month with the week-long celebration of Read Across America. In addition to the school-wide spirit week and virtual staff read-alouds from books across the country, students engaged in classroom activities including a special visit from a guest author with our second grade.
As we enter into the third trimester of the year, please remember to bring your name placards to display from your cars during parent-pick up. If you no longer have the one provided, please just write your last name down on an index card/piece of paper. Although Mr. Davis does a great job recognizing most of the names by vehicle, it is also helpful for the rotating staff that escort students to the cars to ensure a safe and efficient pick up line. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!
Finally, parent-teacher conferences are coming up on March 16th - March 18th. The schedule is below.
March 16 - Half-day for students/Afternoon Conferences
March 17 - Half-day for students/ Afternoon AND Evening Conferences
March 18 - NO SCHOOL for students/Morning Conferences
Make it a great month!
Dr. Cruice
Parent Teacher Conferences
Report Card Information
HOW TO UNDERSTAND REPORT CARDS
Grades K-2 - WCASD utilizes standards-based reporting. Each child will receive a 1, 2, 2+, 3, or 4 for each standard addressed this trimester. N/A means that the standard has not yet been assessed. This year, your child may also receive N/A if we do not have enough data/information to accurately assess your child. Please remember the goals are end of year standards/expectations. In December, you may see many 2’s and some 1’s which is appropriate for this time of year. The expectation is that students meet the standards with a 3 by the third and final report card in June. In addition, please know that 4’s are rare to receive, even at the end of the school year. For a child to reach that level, he/she is performing significantly and consistently above the standard expectations.
Grades 3-5 - WCASD utilizes numeric grades (45-100) that correspond to letter grades (A, B, C, F) for core subjects. Please know that standard grading (1, 2, 3, 4) does not correlate to a letter grade. Teachers utilize various assessments and assignments to determine an overall grade. Parents are encouraged to stay abreast of progress via Parent Portal over the course of the entire trimester. Click here to set up parent portal weekly emails if you have not already done so. This will help you stay on top of your child's grades.
Learning support students and reading support students will receive progress reports at the same time that report cards go live on Parent Portal in December.
LRBS- Learning Related Behaviors are assessed for all students: (NI) needs improvement, (P) progressing, or (DC) demonstrates consistently. This year, your child may receive N/A if there is not enough data/information to accurately assess the LRB.
Special Area Subjects - For grades K-5, we utilize standards-based reporting as noted above for K-2.
A Note From Mr. Davis
Congratulations to UCLA and Stanford on winning the Wildcat Volleyball League Championship! UCLA repeated as champions and Stanford finished their season undefeated. Throughout the entire season, our teams displayed great effort, team spirit and sportsmanhip, while competing very hard in every match! Great job, Wildcats!”
Ready for the Franklin Institute!
Shootin hoops!
4th Grade Memories
SEL at WTE
●Objective 1: To develop awareness and self-management skills to achieve school and life success
●Objective 2: To demonstrate social-awareness and interpersonal skills to create and maintain positive relationships.
●Objective 3: To demonstrate decision-making skills and responsible behavior in personal, school and community contexts.
Here at WTE, we focus on a different objective each trimester. This is not only embedded to our teachers lessons and activities, but also done purposefully with scheduled classroom meetings and grade level meetings where the students work on these skills. The final months of school from March - June will be spent focusing on decision-making skills and responsible behavior. Be sure to talk to your kids at home about these important life skills that they are learning!
Nurse's Corner
Important Attendance Reminders
ABSENCES/LATE ARRIVALS
For all absences or late arrivals, please call the Safe Arrival phone line at 484-266-1810. This answering system can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to leave messages.
A maximum of ten (10) days absence for students verified by a parent note will be considered an excused absence. All absences beyond the tenth day of absence will require a note from a licensed practitioner of the healing arts. The caveat to that is the five vacation days students are permitted each year that can also be used as parent notes instead, which brings the total to 15. After that, you’ll need doctor notes or they will be unlawful.
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Early Dismissals
- For all early dismissals, you MUST send in a signed note with your child on the day of the early dismissal. Only if it is a last-minute emergency change, please CALL the office at 484-266-1802 or 1803.
- Doctor notes will excuse the time that your child is being absent from the school day.
- Early dismissals that are 60 minutes or more before the end of the school day without a doctor's note, will be considered an unlawful early dismissal.
- Early dismissals that are less than 60 minutes before the end of the school day, will require a parent note to be excused and will not count as a full day absence.
Volunteers Needed for Track Meet
Is your child in 4th or 5th grade? We are excited to share that the 4th and 5th District-Wide Track Meet is back! Our students will enjoy a day at the WCU track in a friendly competition against other WCASD elementary schools. WE WILL NEED YOUR HELP!!! The success of the track meet rests heavily on the parent volunteers. YOU WILL NEED YOUR CLEARANCES. You can visit this link on the district website for information for information about obtaining your clearances. We suggest you put in for your clearances now as they do sometimes take a bit of time to receive them back.
Save the Date below to attend as a parent volunteer. More information will come with specific times.
May 18, 2022 (rain date – 5/20)
Volunteers Needed for Pretzel Fridays
Help make pretzel Friday's successful by volunteering to sort pretzels by class and prepare the pretzel bags for pick up. Please click on the sign-up genius below for more details and to sign-up for a slot. Thank you in advance!
Supporting Reading, Writing and Math at Home
Grades K - 2
Listed below are the areas in grades K - 2 that are integral to learning beginning math and reading, k-2.
· In K-1, phonological awareness and phonics.
· In 1-2, practicing high frequency words and addition concepts.
· In K-2, understanding story elements( character, setting, events, problem and solution) , reading/writing numbers, and skip counting.
In the link below, please find fun ways to practice these with your children at home.
Supporting Reading, Writing & Math at Home
Attached below you will find a wealth of resources with ideas on how you can support your children at home in the areas of reading, writing and math. Providing additional support at home can have a tremendous impact on student learning.
Drop Off
The school day begins at 9:10 which means students must be in their classroom by 9:10.
This year the gate to the parent drop-off will be closed at 9:00 a.m.
Please be sure to drop your child off with enough time to get to their classroom by 9:10 so that they are not marked late.
- ACP uses the cafeteria and the back playground. If you are later than 8:30 for ACP drop off, continue all the way to the back in the regular CAR LOOP with the rest of the parents, please.
- Buses are able to transport more kids than last year, so that should help alleviate our large car line from last year (hopefully).
- If the gate is closed when you arrive, please park your car and walk your child to the door to be let in. If it is after 9:10, you will need to sign them in, too. If it is later than 9:00 but the buses are also still emptying, you are able to drop them off at the walkway as we will still have staff out front.
Update and Reminders About Parent Pick-Up at Dismissal
Starting with ACP and parent pickup, dismissal begins at 3:35 daily.
Please do not arrive before 3:00 for car line as this causes a backup on Westbourne Road. When you arrive for car line, please do not park directly in front of the gate as we have students playing outside for recess. The car line should start at the flag pole.
Once the gate is opened, you will be directed to pull all the way down to the lower lot and loop around. Cones will once again be out to designate the spots where students will be walked to their car. See the pictures as well as additional reminders below.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
1. PARENTS MUST STAY IN CARS during pick up. Staff members will assist students in getting into the cars.
2. NAME CARDS (provided on the first day of school) MUST BE DISPLAYED IN WINDSHIELD. If you need a new one, please notify the office.
3. CARS MUST STAY IN THE CAR LINE. Please DO NOT try to cut around a car that is still loading in front of you.
4. If you need to pull over to get situated after picking up your child, please pull all the way up to the basketball hoops parallel to Westbourne road and pull over to the side out of the car line.
Thank you for your cooperation!