The WES Parent Wildcat Weekly
Home of the Wildcats!
Week of November 9-13, 2020
Hello from Principal Holmes!
Dear Wildcat Parents,
I hope all of you were able to enjoy this beautiful weekend. The colors of the trees along with the warm weather made outside time really enjoyable and a great break from virtual learning!
Interims are coming out this week. Hybrid students in K-2 will receive a paper copy to go home. Virtual students in K-2 will receive an interim via email unless you prefer to pick up a paper copy. Parents of students in grades 3rd-5th can see progress in ParentVue or you may request a paper copy. Please let your child's teacher know your preference.
Attendance counts every day...even on Wednesdays. Please make sure our wildcats are engaging in their learning activities and meeting the expectations to be successful. Our teachers have a filing cabinet in the front of the school for anyone who needs to pick up learning materials for our virtual students. Teachers will communicate with you when materials are available to be picked up. You can stop by the school any time to pick up the materials.
We continue to thank you for partnering with us to make this a successful year of learning for our wildcats. Together, we prepare our students for their future.
With wildcat pride and spirit,
Dianne Holmes
Principal
Message from our Superintendent Dr. Baker
SCPS has completed our first month of hybrid in-person learning and are about halfway through our second quarter of the school year! I continue to be deeply thankful for our dedicated staff and family partners who work together to engage our students in learning experiences during this challenging time.
Announcements & Reminders
The school board will have its general meeting on November 9th. It will again include updates on the hybrid model success and challenges. On November 16th, the board will meet to conduct the FY2022 pre-budget work session.
The instructional delivery model for Monday, November 23rd and Tuesday, November 24th is changing. As a school division, we will be providing asynchronous learning opportunities for both dates. At this point in the year, we will have completed nine weeks of distance learning and six weeks of hybrid instruction. Having these two days asynchronous will permit students, families, and staff a more flexible schedule to transition into the Thanksgiving break. It will also provide an opportunity for each of our buildings to be thoroughly cleaned prior to the return from the holiday. We do, however, expect students to be present with their learning opportunities on both days. Wednesday through Friday will remain student and staff holidays as reflected in the current Instructional Calendar. Further communication will be on-going.
We are finalizing the placement of the 11 mobile hotspots throughout the county. These mobile hotspots will provide another way for students to access online materials. An announcement will be shared next week with the locations. This information will also be posted in the Return to Learn section of our website. Many thanks to our partners in education S-Power, Atlantic Builders, and Spotsylvania Education Foundation who funded the construction of each of these mobile hotspots.
We emailed information about the annual Impact Aid Form to all parents. If you have not already done so, please complete the docusign form that you received by email. The School Division receives funding for students who have parents that are in the military or work on a federal government property based on the Impact Aid forms that are completed. Thank you for your assistance.
This week, we met again with the superintendent’s Parent Advisory Team. Updates were shared regarding our Return to Learn Health Mitigation Strategies. We are creating a video of the information that was provided to the Parent Advisory Team and will share that in next's week's message.
Be sure to save the date, our next Family Connection webinar will be live-streamed on Thursday, November 12 at 5:00 p.m. at www.regionalwebtv.com/family-connection. This month’s topic will focus on Student Support Services and community resources. If you are unable to view it live, it will be recorded and posted at the same link for viewing at any time.
As a reminder, our COVID-19 Dashboard is updated weekly and can be viewed in the Return to Learn section on each school’s website or by clicking this link: SCPS COVID-19 Dashboard. We have added to our webpage the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Dashboard link. This site provides data and statistics regarding COVID-19 positivity rates and cases per 100,000 by locality, region, and state. Along with cases identified in our own school division, we monitor this data in cooperation with the local VDH. We continue to remain in moderate ranges according to the 14 day averages.
As we navigate through the continued changes from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding COVID-19 mitigation and contact tracing recommendations, one thing remains constant - our commitment to provide a safe environment for our students and staff. To that point, we need your help. It is extremely important that if someone in your immediate family is diagnosed positive or is pending a test for COVID-19, even if your child has no symptoms, please keep your child home for 14 days and notify their school nurse. Taking these measures will help minimize the spread of COVID-19 and assist us with continuing the hybrid in-person instruction model.
Thank you so much for your continued partnership and support! Have a great week!
Dr. S. Scott Baker
What's happening this week at WES!!
Grandparents & Extended Family Raising Children Webinar Wednesday, November 11th from 10 - 11:30a.m. (flyer attached)
WES Staff Shout Out!
The Wildcat Yearbook
- Please put "baby picture" in the subject line and include the student's name in the body of the email. All photos must be emailed by December 20th! Thank you.
And for the virtual/asynchronous learners...
- Even though we are not all in the classroom together, we are still learning together! We are a Wildcat family and would like to capture these moments of strength and unity! Please email any pictures you may have of your little Wildcat to lmoreyra@spotsylvania.k12.va.us
- The pictures will be added to our yearbook collection. Also, please be mindful of the backgrounds of any pictures sent in. Thank you!
Extra Care for Student Devices
Extra Care of Student Take Home Computers
As students head off to school, many days they need to add their school-issued computer to their backpack. Parents are asked to remind their students to handle the backpack with extra special care. It may take several reminders to get the students used to the responsibility of handling a delicate device in the backpack/carrying case. Please remind the student of the following:
(1) Do not sit on, stand on, toss, or drop the backpack/carrying case as these actions and others may cause damage to the computer inside.
(2) Gently place the computer in the backpack/carrying case.
(3) Place the device in a separate pocket that provides cushion from the heavy items such as books and notebooks, and away from items that might leak such as lunch box items.
Parents, please read the attached list of Basic Care – Student Take Home Technology to your student. Under the signed Technology Take Home Agreement, repairs and replacement costs due to lost or damaged equipment is the responsibility of the parent/guardian.
Unfortunately, we have had some devices damaged and parents have been held accountable for the cost of repairs. Thank you for your support.
Parent Teacher Conferences
Teachers will also be scheduling virtual conferences on Thursday, November 19th from 4pm-6pm. Teachers will reach out to you if they feel a conference is necessary at this time or you may reach out to your child's teacher to schedule a conference on November 19th or on a Wednesday.
Encore Changes Effective November 9, 2020
Thank you for your support of the Encore programs for the last 12 weeks. As we have transitioned from 100% virtual to a hybrid setting, we’ve made a few adjustments to the Encore schedule. Our goal is to provide quality Encore lessons for all students- in person and virtual. We also want to minimize the amount of screen time for all students.Therefore, beginning on November 9th, we are adjusting the encore schedule. Please see the attached for the specific schedule.
Thanks for all of your support as we continue to navigate this new way of learning.
Update from Food Service
- On the week of Thanksgiving, food distribution will take place on Tuesday, November 24th (since Wednesday November 25th is a holiday). Please note that distribution will take place only at the current high school and middle school distribution sites from 3:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. (Chancellor High, Courtland High, Massaponax High, Riverbend High, Battlefield Middle, Post Oak Middle and Spotsylvania Middle).
- Breakfast and Lunch are free for ALL SCPS students!
- Students can order breakfast and lunch on their in-person learning days.
- Snacks and extras are available for purchase.
- Families can pick up FREE Meal bags for ALL SCPS Students and Children 18 and Under is on WEDNESDAYS from 8am-4pm at the 13 elementary and middle schools sites and 8am-7pm at the 4 high schools and Post Oak MS. For additional information, please view the attached fliers: English flier & Spanish flier.
Counselor Corner
Kindergarten and First Grade students have been working on bucket filling in classroom lessons. Being a bucket filler is someone who spreads kindness to others without being asked. Ask your child “Have you filled a bucket today?” Bucket fillers make WES the best place to be!
The holidays are coming fast! Please reach out Mrs. Elliott if you need some holiday assistance.
Interested in food support? At Wilderness on Thursday’s from 12:30 pm - 2 pm our food pantry is available for you. You can also schedule an appointment with Mrs. Elliott or Mrs. Burton (school social worker). To learn more: Food Distribution
Stop by our Wilderness counseling site for resources:
Wilderness School Counseling Website
If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me. I am happy to help!
Tori Elliott
School Counselor
Social Worker Spotlight
School social workers serve as liaisons between the school, home, and community. In addition to assisting families with meeting basic needs, school social workers also provide critical mental health support to students and their families.
Crystal Burton, MSW
Supervisee in Clinical Social Work
School Social Worker
Wilderness Elementary School
540-786-9817 x8667
Contact Us!
Daniella Smith, Assistant Principal
Tori Elliott, School Counselor
Crystal Burton, School Social Worker
Email: dholmes@spotsylvania.k12.va.us
Website: https://www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us/Domain/23
Location: 11600 Catharpin Road, Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA, USA
Phone: 540-786-9817
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildernessWildcats
Twitter: @WESPrincipal