The Puma Pride
November 9, 2020
Principal's Message
Hello, Willow Dale Families,
I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful warm weather. This week, we celebrate Veteran's Day on Wednesday, November 11. A special thank you goes out to all of our veterans, especially those who are part of the Willow Dale and CSD communities. Happy Veterans Day!
Per the Pennsylvania School Code, we are required to conduct at least one fire drill per month while school is in session. On Friday, November 6, we held our regular monthly fire drill for students in Cohort B. On Monday, we will do the same for the students in Cohort A.
Friday, November 13, is a scheduled half-day in-service day for teachers. Both in-person and virtual students will be dismissed at 11:45 AM. Breakfast and lunch will be served.
We are excited to share that our school will be using a program to help organize the school dismissal process and improve safety. This program is a phone application downloaded onto your smartphone (found in the app store) and will allow you to notify the school of pick-up changes and authorize others to pick-up your child from school, alert you when your child has been picked up or sent home on the bus, as well as help, organize the car line during pick-up.
More information will be coming home over the next few weeks. If you want to know more, go to this link.
As a reminder, for our hybrid (blended) instructional model to be safe and sustainable, it will take all of us to do our part in following the established mitigation strategies. We all must follow the health and safety plan and mitigation strategies to keep everyone safe. Please review the reminders from our school nurses below in the newsletter.
The STAYING SAFE: PROTOCOLS FOR RESPONDING TO COVID-19 can be found on the CSD website, which includes COVID-19 Student and Family Scenarios to help our families make safe decisions regarding sending students to school. Please review the entire document by clicking here.
Thank you for your continued support! We look forward to seeing you at the Home & School Meeting on Monday, November 9, at 6:15 PM. The link for the meeting can be found below.
Stay safe, stay well, and have a PAWSome week!
Dr. Perkins & Mr. Julius
Phone: 215-441-6093
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WillowDaleEl
Twitter: @Willow_Dale_ES
Welcome Alyssa Benner as our New Security Monitor
Parent Involvement in Early Literacy. Why reading with your child every night is not enough.
By Erika Burton
January 8, 2013
Parent involvement is the number one predictor of early literacy success and future academic achievement. However, according to a 2007 report by National Endowment for the Arts, there are more literate people in the United States who don't read than those who are actually illiterate. How do we change that pattern for the future of our children?
PreK/Early Childhood Development Domains
Educators and parents alike know that preschool-age children need a lot of modeling to navigate through social/emotional, cognitive, and gross/fine motor skills. Many experts in the field of education in the last decade have emphasized the importance of a play-based curriculum and its vital role in developing a child's imagination and social skills. Learning to get along with others is modeled and developed throughout the PreK years and a child's formative years through programs under the umbrella of SEI (Social/Emotional Skills): anger management, problem-solving and empathy skills. Kindergarten teachers are thankful for the beginning role that PreK teachers play in this initial modeling and development. Fine and gross motor skills are honed through everyday PreK learning activities such as cutting, drawing, sorting, painting, catching, throwing, kicking, hopping, jumping, and writing one's name.
Cognition Domain: Early Literacy Needs Today
However, recent PreK research has focused specifically on cognition within early childhood development and on how parent involvement fits into PreK literacy development. Past early literacy research emphasized the importance of daily adult/child reading time, as well as having 100 or more books in one's home, and its link to a child being academically ready and successful in kindergarten. Recent research has proved that reading as a stand-alone activity will not help children with pre-literacy skills (Phillips et al., 2008). Unfortunately, the latest research on parent involvement in early literacy has stressed that children need to be given more specific skills while being read to in order to be successful with early literacy skills (Roberts, Jurgens, & Burchinal, M., 2005).
Parent Involvement: What Skills Need to be Part of a Daily Routine?
Parent involvement in early literacy is directly connected to academic achievement. Children need parents to be their reading role models with daily practice in order to navigate successfully through beginning literacy skills. According to research, parents should focus on the words on the page while reading with their PreK reader (Evans, Shaw, Bell, 2000).
Here are some strategies for beginning and seasoned readers' literacy success:
Point to each word on the page as you read. This beginning literacy strategy will assist children with making print/story/illustration connections. This skill also helps build a child's tracking skills from one line of text to the next one.
Read the title and ask your child to make a prediction. Beginning and seasoned readers alike need to make predictions before reading a story. This will go a long way to ensure that a child incorporates previewing and prediction in his or her own reading practices both now and in the future.
Take "picture walks." Help your child use the picture clues in most early readers and picture books to tell the story before reading.
Model fluency while reading, and bring your own energy and excitement for reading to your child. Both new and seasoned readers struggle with varying pitch, intonation and proper fluctuations when they read aloud. Older readers will benefit from shared reading (taking turns).
Ask your child questions after reading every book. Reading comprehension is the reason we read -- to understand. The new CCORE standards assessing U.S. children's readiness for the workplace and college ask children at all grade levels to compare and contrast their understanding of concepts. This takes practice. Help your child explain his or her understanding of any given story in comparison to another. Have your child share a personal experience similar to a problem or theme within a story. Higher-order thinking skills (critical thinking) are skills children are expected to use in both written and oral assessments in school. There is no way for a teacher to ask every child to use a critical thinking skill every day. Parents can.
Connect reading and writing if possible. The connection between reading, writing, and discussion should be incorporated with daily literacy practice. Have a young child dictate to a parent who writes in a journal or on a sheet of paper. Modeling the formation of sentences aligned with the words of a story is crucial for a child to begin making a neural interconnectedness between reading and writing. A child's process of drawing pictures brings his or her personal creativity toward the story. Sharing these illustrations of experiences and individual interpretations related to the sentence he or she has created on the page is yet another step toward this early balanced literacy approach.
Beginning and lifelong literacy is transformative and constantly growing. However, the process must begin when initially learning to read, and must be as intuitive to a child as when he or she learned to speak. This can happen through incorporating repetition, proper skills, and modeling.
What's Happening at the Willow Dale Library?
The Willow Dale library has been adapting to the changes in our school schedules, and students are encouraged to continue borrowing books. We have been adding many great new titles as well as enhancing our electronic book collection.
When students are ready to return books, there are labeled crates for library books in the following areas:
Kindergarten- On hallway table by the copier
1st and 2nd Grade- On tables by elevator
3rd, 4th, and 5th- On cart by bathrooms
Library books should be dropped in the crates. They will be collected at the end of each Cohort. Our library books need to quarantine for at least 4 days before they can be returned to our system.
Virtual students may pick-up and drop-off books on Wednesdays from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM.
Please encourage your students to place books on hold, and they will be delivered to the classroom.
Here are videos that explain how to place books on hold:
Important Message from the Nurse's Office
Parents, we need your help to keep our students safe and healthy.
Please remember to check your student for the COVID 5 every morning before they come to school.
If you answer yes to any of the following questions, please keep your student home.
- Do they have a temperature of greater than 100.3?
- Do they have an altered taste or smell?
- Have they been exposed to someone with a lab-confirmed case of COVID 19?
- Are they awaiting test results of a recent COVID 19 test?
- Do they have an unexplained cough or shortness of breath?
Thank you in advance for your support! We are all in this together!
- Mrs. Salita and Mrs. Kleinschmidt-Willow Dale Nurses
Picture ReTake Day - November 16 & 19
- Virtual students- Please call the office for an appointment time.
Please bring in your previous pictures to exchange for a new photo to be taken.
If you have not had your picture taken, please order online at http://mylifetouch.com Picture Day ID: EVTMMGCW2. The forms will be going home next week.
Counselors' Corner
Please visit our virtual office for more resources and information.
Willow Dale School Counselor's Virtual Office
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your child’s counselor.
Mrs. LaRose - Grades 1, 3, 5
X 17031
Mrs. Zemitis - Grades K, 2, 4
X 17030
Tech Support for Families
- Featured Videos -CSD Online Learning Resources - CSD STUDENT & FAMILY VIDEO TUTORIALS site.
- CSD Online Learning Resources
- Site contains videos and tutorials for students and families
- 1:1 Initiative Resource Center
If you have a technology issue, please submit a help desk ticket (link below) for the fastest response.
CSD Community Technology Support Desk Options for Support
- CSD Community Technology Help Desk: http://helpdesk.centennialsd.org/support/login (this option allows you to create an account, create and submit new tickets, view the status of your ticket, and leave comments on the ticket).
Willow Dale Elementary School's Technology Support Desk Contact
Please call Ms. Kwasniuk (215) 441-6000 and enter the extension 17020.
Attendance in Virtual Learning
Children who attend school regularly make the best academic progress, graduate, and go on to successful post-secondary education and/or careers. It is important, even on virtual days for students to join the classroom teacher for learning via Google Meet.
If your child is going to be absent, late, or leave early, please notify the homeroom teacher and the school to let us know. More details below.
Reporting Absences
SUBMITTING ABSENCE NOTES
Attendance Notes can be Submitted Electronically via email at WDAttendance@centennialsd.org. Please know you will still receive automated phone calls (to the primary phone listed in Skyward) if you have not submitted an absence note via email by 10:00 AM on the days your child is absent from school.
**Absence notes must be submitted within 3 days of the student's absence, otherwise, the absence will be recorded as unexcused.
E-Mailing Attendance Notes
- Parents with children in Willow Dale may e-mail attendance notifications/notes to the following address: WDAttendance@centennialsd.org
- E-mail notifications are encouraged on the morning of the absence day. However, e-mailed absence notes may be sent on the day following the absence.
- When sending an absence notification please include the following information:
- Child's Name
- Child's Grade
- Child's Homeroom Teacher
- Date(s) of Absence
- Reason for Absence
- Contact Phone # for Parent/Guardian
- Other Pertinent Information
Email: WDAttendance@centennialsd.org
Phone: 215-441-6093
Nutrition Services Information
All Students are Eligible for a FREE Breakfast & Lunch Daily
The USDA has extended the waiver to continue feeding under the Summer Programs which entitles all children 18 and under to eat for free. These programs have been extended throughout the entire school year.
Parents, please continue to apply for free and reduced programs, as this helps fund other programs in the district which could benefit families. Now more than ever, we need families to complete the Free and Reduced meal application even though all meals are currently free. Please complete the application today.
Home and School Meeting
Contact the WD H&SA mailto:willowdalehsa@gmail.com
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77314206475?pwd=aVdqSjBwRjdKWlU3MmptVnNqanhsdz09
Meeting ID: 773 1420 6475
Passcode: 6ZK3Ps
Monday, Nov 9, 2020, 06:00 PM
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NOVA Free Virtual Parent Workshop
Wednesday, Nov 11, 2020, 02:00 PM
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Early Dismissal - Teacher In-Service Day
Friday, Nov 13, 2020, 08:45 AM
Willow Dale Elementary School, North Norristown Road, Warminster, PA, USA
Picture ReTake Day
Monday, Nov 16, 2020, 09:00 AM
Willow Dale Elementary School, North Norristown Road, Warminster, PA, USA
Picture ReTake Day
Thursday, Nov 19, 2020, 09:00 AM
Willow Dale Elementary School, North Norristown Road, Warminster, PA, USA
All Schools Closed - Teacher Professional Development Day
Wednesday, Nov 25, 2020, 08:45 AM
Willow Dale Elementary School, North Norristown Road, Warminster, PA, USA
All Schools and Offices Closed - HOLIDAY
Thursday, Nov 26, 2020, 08:45 AM
Willow Dale Elementary School, North Norristown Road, Warminster, PA, USA
Help the Home & School Raise Extra Funds!
Buses and Bus Schedule Information
CENTENNIAL 2020-2021 BUS SCHEDULE INFORMATION
***You can access your child's busing information in SKYWARD
Information can also be accessed by clicking on the below link.
- Type in your address to access your child's busing information.
- Addresses with east, west, north, or south use the abbreviation E, W, N, or S with no punctuation. If that does not work, omit using it in your address.
If you have any questions, please contact us at 215-441-6000.
Child Care Arrangement Form
Please email completed forms to wdattendance@centennialsd.org by Monday, October 19, if bus transportation is needed for childcare purposes. Below is a link to the form.
School Safety Drills
We will practice fire, lock-in, lock-out, and weather emergency drills. These drills may or may not be announced. Unannounced drills more accurately indicate the preparedness of the school and the effectiveness of safety procedures. Your child's teacher will review the exercises and procedures with their classes. Please make the teacher aware of any concerns regarding your child's participation in the safety drills.
The Warminster Director of Emergency Management Services and the Warminster Police Department will be invited to observe our drills and provided feedback for improvement.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Perkins or Mr. Julius.
Family Trips Scheduled During the School Year
Dear Centennial Families;
The Centennial School District Board of School Directors approved Policy 204.1, Family Trips Scheduled During School Year.
Although the scheduling of family trips during the instructional year is not encouraged, the Centennial School Board recognizes that students may benefit educationally by accompanying their parent(s)/guardian(s) on trips. The revision to the policy will allow the schools to approve up to five (5) days instead of three (3). Any trip beyond five (5) days will need the approval of the Superintendent.
Parent(s)/Guardian(s) who are requesting approval for a family trip need to complete and submit the attached form to their building principal at least two (2) weeks before the trip.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Dr. Perkins or Mr. Julius.
Willow Dale Elementary School
Email: perkca@centennialsd.org
Website: www.centennialsd.org/Domain/692
Location: 720 North Norristown Road, Warminster, PA, USA
Phone: 215-441-6093
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Education/Willow-Dale-Elementary-School-331460017756772/
Twitter: @Willow_Dale_ES