Wasco Families,

This week, your child’s report card was published on HAC. It is a summary of our work- student, staff, and parents for our first trimester. As I think through our learning environment and the observations I had at the beginning of the school year, compared to now, I admire the changes. Our classrooms embarked on a process to build communities of children who collectively work together, so they can learn together. Learning is best achieved when you feel a sense of belonging and the safety to take risks. This is true for each of us at Wasco, and these relationships are built day by day, step by step.

Day by day changes can be hard to identify, but our benchmarks such as report cards, invite an opportunity for all of us to reflect and identify the progress. I invite you to consider doing any one of these activities:

• Hold a collective conversation as a family about learning, noting what changes occurred and goals for the future.

• Connect with your child’s teacher if you have questions about progress.

• Acknowledge the changes in your child by celebrating and if you are inclined, share the celebration with staff here at school. We care deeply about your child, and we want to share in your celebrations.

Kind Regards,

Principal Stephanie Brennan

stephanie.brennan@d303.org

331-228-6294

November 21-25 No School for Students-Thanksgiving Break

November 30 Early Release for Elementary at 2:10pm

December 12 Orchestra Concert at St. Charles East HS 5:45pm

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

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

The District will start the second i-Ready diagnostic assessment for grades 1 - 8 between November 30th and December 16th. This is a mid-year check on how students are progressing towards their growth goal. Your classroom teacher will share the dates of your child’s testing. After the diagnostic assessments, your child will receive an update to their lessons assigned under the personalized pathway (MyPath). For additional information you can click on the link button below.

This week our school celebrated the students of bus 41 with a special announcement. Each and every student tells the bus driver thank you as they leave the bus each day. We also did a special announcement acknowledging the students of bus 23, because their bus driver reported his students are the best he has ever had. Many of our bus drivers have been working for D303 for a long time and they do so much more than just drive the bus. They build friendships, give reminders for school behaviors, and help the kids keep track of their belongings. Thanks to our students for showing appreciation to these very important people in our school community!

On November 15th and 16th, Wasco students participated in the 2022 STACK UP! Event sponsored by the World Sport Stacking Association. The goal was to break a world record for “The Most People Sport Stacking at Multiple Locations”. We will know the results in a few weeks. During PE class, students participated in letter building, tower building, cup stack bowling and learning the 3-3-3 stack. Below are several awesome YouTube videos that explain the sport and how to perform the different stacks. Also included is information about ordering sport stack cups if you are looking for a gift for the upcoming holiday season.

What are some traditions or superstitions you have for the First Day of School?
Miss Zima: No superstitions, but I love spending my first few days of school connecting with all of my students. We play games like “Jump in, Jump out” and “Pass the Beanbag” to really spend a lot of time having fun and getting to know each other in the music setting. Those days where we get to play and connect through music are my favorite!

If you could pass on any wisdom to your students, what would you share?

Miss Zima: The wisdom that I would pass on to my students is that while not every day may be good, there is good in everyday. Every day has challenges and celebrations, and it is important to highlight the good. I try to find at least one good thing in every day, and, while sometimes they are small, they are always there.

What would the students be surprised to find out about you?

Miss Zima: Students would likely be surprised to find out that when I was in 3rd grade, I joined the school orchestra to play the violin, and I quit right before one of our concerts because I found it to be too challenging. But, I still found my love for music and became a music teacher!

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