Wildcat Weekly
December 3, 2021
Hello Wildcat Families!
The holiday season is in full swing! Congratulations to our 4th and 5th grade students that participated in the winter concert last week. Under Miss Hess and Mr. Olmeda's direction, we were treated to the sounds of the season. Thank you to Miss Hess and Mr. Olmeda for their dedication. Keep up the good work boys and girls!
Tis the season for giving to others! Just a reminder that we are holding our annual Holiday Giving Tree virtually this year. There are still a lot of gifts remaining on the Amazon wish list. If you are in a position to do so, please consider purchasing a gift from the list to brighten the holidays of our WTE families. Gifts will be shipped directly to school from Amazon so it's never been easier to give back! Just click on the link below to view the gifts and make a purchase.
Lunches have officially been moved indoors for all grades for the winter however recess will continue to be outside as much as possible. Please send students in with coats and hats and gloves as needed.
The first trimester officially ended on December 3rd. Report card grades will be available online December 17th.
Kind regards,
Dr. Cruice
WTE Giving Tree
- Scan the QR code below to browse the Giving Tree Amazon Wish List, and make a Westtown-Thornbury child's holiday wish come true.
- At checkout, please select: Colette McLaughlin’s Gift Registry Address to ship items to Westtown.
- In addition to the items on the Amazon Wish List, we are also encouraging donations of ShopRite, Target, & Walmart gift cards.
- Please send all gifts to WTE by Friday, 12/17/2021.
WTE Courtyard
We are beginning to plan and design the renovation of our courtyard using the money that the PTO has raised. We are so excited with the ideas we have come up with so far! Before we start finalizing and ordering materials, we wanted to reach out to see if we had any families that would be willing to lend a hand and had more knowledge in this area than ourselves! If you are or know someone who is knowledgeable in hardscaping and landscaping we would appreciate your expertise! We were also hoping to get our scouts involved-boy scouts, girl scouts, eagle scouts-whoever would like to participate!
Our hope is to keep a grassy area around the tree and we would like to build or purchase some sort of circular bend around it for students to gather. We also would like to do some raised garden beds so we can plant a variety of produce that could be donated to the Chester County Food Bank. Finally, we are hoping to change up a good portion of the remaining grassy area into different stones, gravels, mulch, etc. for the students to work on with some sort of large stepping stone divider.
We aren’t sure if the scouts would like to do any of this as a service project, but we are open to anything! Our hope is to work with Mrs. Griffin to have each class create a large stepping stone to incorporate into the divider/pathway.
This is a project that we hoping to have complete this spring so that the teachers and students can take advantages of this space as soon as possible. Please contact Dr. Reilly (mreilly@wcasd.net) or Mrs. Worrilow (jworrilow@wcasd.net) if you are interested in helping out in the renovation of our courtyard.
Thank you!
Maggie Reilly
Jess Worrilow
Limoncello Restaurant Night
The PTO is hosting our next restaurant night but this time it will run for a whole week! The location is Limoncello in West Chester and it will run from Sunday Dec 5 thru Thursday Dec 9. This is for Dine In or Take Out (Family Style Only)
If you are ordering online, please use the code: Westtown Thornbury
Be sure to mention WTE when dining in!!
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!
PTO General Meeting
After School Sports Update
12/13 4th grade Girls
12/15 4th grade Boys
5th Grade Baby Photos Needed!
Attention 5th grade families!!
We are collecting baby pictures of our 5th graders to include in the 5th grade section of the WTE yearbook! It is always fun to play “guess that baby” with our 5th grade class! We don’t want to miss anyone! Please send a digital copy of your 5th grade student’s baby picture to: janicestief@gmail.com. Kindly include your student’s first and last name, as well as their 5th grade teacher! Thank you!!
¡Atención familias de 5º grado!
Estamos colectando fotos de bebés de los estudiantes de 5to grado para incluirlas en el anuario de fotos. ¡Es muy divertido todos los años jugar a “adivinar quién ese bebé” en el anuario! ¡No queremos olvidar a ningún estudiante! Por favor envíe una copia digital de la foto de bebé de su hijo(a) a janicestief@gmail.com lo antes posible. No olvide incluir en el correo electrónico el nombre de su estudiante y el nombre de la maestra de 5to grado! Muchas gracias.
Excellence in Teaching Award
Nominations are currently being accepted for the Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union’s Excellence in Teaching Award. Recipients of this award (and their schools) receive $1000! We have plenty of worthy faculty members so don’t hesitate to submit a nomination. Nominations can be done by former students, parents, administrators, coworkers, school staff and community members. Click on the link below to submit your nomination!
Rustin High School UNICEF's Holiday 5K
Nurse's Corner
We hope you find this information useful in keeping our students healthy this winter!
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.
Attendance
ABSENCES/LATE ARRIVALS/EARLY DISMISSALS
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. 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.
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!