Wrightstown Elementary

Hello WES families,

We have had another great week here at WES!

There has been a lot of fun and excitement this week as we partnered with the WES PTO for the Apex Fundraiser. We are very appreciative and thankful for all donations!

In the past, the WES PTO has held smaller fundraisers to raise money to help our school. This year it was decided that we would partner together with one fundraiser at the beginning of the year so the WES PTO could focus on holding family events and continuing to focus on the school. Besides hosting family events, our PTO uses any funds raised to help and enhance the programs and curriculum at WES. To list a few, the funds are used for assemblies, author visits, additional library books, recess equipment, Flocabulary, and experiences including grade level presenters and the Bucks IU Fab Lab. The PTO also helps fund school improvements with interior/exterior banners and murals.

Apex's program centers on leadership, teamwork, positive choices, and inclusion. This is communicated to students during mini lessons each day. The message of fundraising and supporting our school is also included; however it is a small part of the overall message of positivity, lifestyle choices, leadership, and teamwork.

Recognition is a large part of Apex’s approach; however, the sole emphasis is not recognition for fundraising but also recognition of the character traits being promoted such as respect, responsibility, and safety. Having the opportunity to share this positive message consistently is the goal of the school and the program.

However, throughout the course of the week, we have received feedback that some children are focusing more on the competition aspect of the fundraising rather than the goals of the leadership traits and helping our school. This is not our intent. Along with the PTO, we will be re-evaluating this with future fundraising. We will also work to communicate more clearly as to what an event entails.

Regardless of donations, all students are participating in the classroom activities, all students can participate in the fun run, and all students will receive an Apex shirt.

We are looking forward to next week when the students will participate in the fun run on Thursday!

Finally, next Wednesday, October 11, is an early dismissal for students. Our AM Kindergarten students will attend this day, and dismissal will begin at 12:15. Wednesday will also be a Phillies spirit day! Students can wear their Phillies gear, red and white, or their favorite team gear to school.

Enjoy the weekend!
Sam

Monday 10/9

• Apex Fundraiser

• Ravens Running Club at 8:30am

• Fire Prevention Day Activities

Tuesday 10/10

• Apex Fundraiser

• Good News Club - 3:45pm-5:30pm - Gym

Wednesday 10/11

• Apex Fundraiser

• Phillies Spirit Day

• Ravens Running Club at 8:30am

• Early Dismissal - 12:15pm - AM Kindergarten Attends

Thursday 10/12

• Apex Fun Run (Due to the timing of this event, unfortunately only parents who have volunteered through the PTO signup will be able to come.)

Friday 10/13

• Apex Fundraiser

Monday, October 16th - Ravens Running Club at 8:30am/PTO Meeting at 6:30pm at the Village Library Community Room

Tuesday, October 17th - Picture Day/Good News Club at 3:45pm

Wednesday, October 18th - Ravens Running Club at 8:30am/4th Grade Field Trip/Young Rembrandts at 3:45pm

Monday, October 23rd - Ravens Running Club at 8:30am

Tuesday, October 24th - Good New Club at 3:45pm

Wednesday, October 25th - Ravens Running Club at 8:30am/Young Rembrandts at 3:45pm

Saturday, October 28th - PTO Trunk or Treat 4:30pm-6:00pm

Monday, October 30th - Ravens Running Club at 8:30am

Tuesday, October 31st - Halloween Parade at 9:45am

We had our first round of winners for the Raven Reward: Wyatt Ebert, Sophie Bullock, Abby Gursky, Declan Leser, Declan McDonnell, Mikey Antolino, Grace Wenger, Tommy Mitchell, Dominic Negrotti, and Dani Dillman. The Mystery Motivator this round is an extra recess with a friend. We have many students working hard to Be Safe, to Be Respectful, and to Be Responsible. I am so very proud of all of our students!

We are all committed to the safety of all the students in Council Rock and Wrightstown Elementary. We continually work with local police to learn and implement best practices in school safety and security. Council Rock has adopted a set of federally endorsed protocols for an intruder on campus situation, known as ALICE. The acronym stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. All Council Rock staff and administrators have been trained in the ALICE protocols. One difference between our past "traditional lockdown" and "enhanced lockdown" is our classroom doors will be barricaded. This will look different depending on the grade level and the age of the children.

We are conducting an ALICE Intruder Drill Monday morning, October 16th. This drill will be no different than drills conducted in the past. Specifically, WES will use the all call intercom to signal the drill. Some classrooms will lockdown in their classrooms with their classroom teacher while others will evacuate the building. We will use the intercom to end the drill. Newtown Township Police and CRSD Security personnel will be on site.

It’s always a good idea to review this information with your children prior to the drill. The attached social story is a resource parents can use to help children understand how we are approaching our added safety measures. The social story helps put these procedures in "kid friendly" terms! All teachers shared this story and reviewed it with students.

Click on Here for the Intruder Social Story

The Council Rock School District believes in the vision of “Students First. Always.” In elementary school, student learning and mastery build a solid foundation for future success. We are committed to ensuring that each individual child has their academic and behavioral needs met by providing research-based programs and support. This year we are beginning a program of Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), Kindergarten through grade 6.

The system of MTSS begins with all students being assessed with universal screeners in reading, mathematics and behavior. A universal screener is a short assessment that measures a student’s proficiency in different skills and is administered three times per year to monitor student growth. These universal assessment tools are very similar to tools we already use. The data provides teachers with information regarding how well students are responding to instruction and identifies students who may need more support. In the first year of building our MTSS program, we are using the data to focus on the “core instruction” that takes place in the classroom with all the students. This is referred to as “tier one” support.

Data is used by the teachers:

• To review unit and lesson plans alongside student assessment data to determine instructional strategies to address student skill deficit areas.

•To differentiate instruction for students using resources from the reading and math programs in centers or for targeted work in specific skill development.

•To provide classroom lessons, teacher consultation, small-group support, and appropriate resources to improve the emotionality, student skills, and behavior of our students.

• To incorporate instruction in foundational skills into homogenous small-group instruction.

Families will be contacted when more support is needed outside regular classroom instruction. Our goal is to put our students first, and to build their academic, social, emotional, and behavioral success by meeting their needs. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact us.

I am asking for parents to help us by speaking with your children about how to be a safe bus rider. I have received many reports from bus drivers and students about behavior on the bus. Students are jumping over seats, screaming, and using inappropriate language. I have had conversations with the students about the bus being an extension of school and our rules are the same on the bus.

Our teachers have continued to review our Raven Rules with the students. We ask that you please help reinforce these concepts at home as well. Below are the expectations of our bus riders:

• Use friendly and kind words with other students and the bus driver.

• Find your seat and sit down immediately.

• Keep your body in your own spot in your seat. Remain sitting down and facing front.

• Please keep arms and legs out of the aisle and inside the bus at all times.

• Use an inside, quiet voice when speaking.

• Listen to the bus driver.

• Electronic devices are not to be used on the bus.

In order to help make the bus a safe environment for all students and the driver, some students on a bus, or an entire bus, may have assigned seating.

Please note that our new Attendance Secretary is Karen Paulk and her email for any attendance, transportation or dismissal change is kpaulk@crsd.org Mrs. Paulk's phone number is (215) 944-2308.

Please note that Mrs. Ricciardi has retired and her email is not being forwarded.

Picture Day is Coming to WES!

School Name: Wrightstown Elementary

Picture Day Date: Tuesday, October 17

Picture Day ID: EVTTDBR6X

Congratulations to our 2023-2024 Student Council Representatives: Gabe Pabisz, Michael Antolino, Isla Natalini, Brielle Holmes, Chase Tang, Charles Laufer, Aubrey McConnell, Emma Hearn, Tyler Lapides, Ivan Martinez, Alan Boretskiy, and Aislynn Hrabyk

Our first meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 18th at 8:15am Mrs. Keen’s room.

As may have heard from the students, our music teacher Mrs. Elban, is pregnant. Yesterday was Mrs. Elban's last day before her little girl arrives in December. Under the guidance of her doctor, Mrs. Elban started her maternity leave early. I will let our families know when Mrs. Elban's permanent, long term substitute is selected. Until then, there will be no chorus rehearsals in the morning.

Third graders enjoyed exploring our new VOX Books in the WES Library this week. Funded through a Council Rock Education Foundation grant, these books have an imbedded recording that can be listened to while students read the book. The new collection has been curated into ten sets of VOX Books that will be shared between all 10 CR elementary schools. Beginning in November the sets will rotate between the buildings, giving students the opportunity to explore many different nonfiction topics, award-winning picture books, favorite characters, and more. This month we are exploring multilingual book that are written and recorded in English as well as a second language. Students were excited to find that there are books in Ukranian, Russian, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Hebrew and more! Be on the lookout for more detailed information as each grade level learns how to care for and operate these fabulous books!

As we move toward October, I want to give families a couple quick details about Halloween. We will be sending more detailed information in the weeks to come.

• We will celebrate Halloween with a parade and classroom parties on Tuesday, October 31st.
• Like previous years, the WES Halloween Parade will take place at 9:45am and the parties for grades K-5 will follow immediately after.
• 6th grade will have their party in the PM and teachers will be in touch with details.
• PM Kindergarten will have the parade and party in the afternoon. Mrs. Stahl will communicate to her parents about the times in a couple of weeks.
• Selecting the right costume is very exciting for our children and is a very important decision for some students to make. Please remember that costumes incorporating weapons and/or depicting violence are not appropriate to bring to school. Please be selective when helping your child choose a costume to bring to school. Your support is greatly appreciated!
  
• WES PTO will host Trunk or Treat on Saturday, October 28th - 4:30pm-6:00pm

Mondays and Wednesdays 8:30am

Please register using

bit.ly/WES-RunningClub

For any student to be considered for free or reduced-price meals for the 2023-24 school year, an application must be completed to determine eligibility.

• Visit https://www.compass.state.pa.us/compass.web/Public/CMPHome to apply online (includes language options other than English)
• Click on this link to download a paper copy of the 2023-24 Free and Reduced Lunch Application
• Pick up a paper copy of the application at Chancellor Center or at any school office
• More eligibility information is available on the Council Rock website

If not applying online via COMPASS, please email your completed application to kmoody@crsd.org or mail to Council Rock School District, Attn: Free and Reduced Lunch Program/Karen Moody, 30 N. Chancellor St., Newtown, PA 18940. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English. Additional support is available for internet access. Please click the links below to learn more.

• To apply for affordable Comcast Internet access, click here
• Information about affordable Comcast Internet access is here

To help families with their planning for the school year, the list of early dismissal days is provided below. On these days, students will be dismissed at 12:15pm and there will be no lunch so children should pack at healthy snack.

These are the early dismissal days for this school year:

• Wednesday, October 11th
• Monday, November 20th
• Tuesday, November 21st
• Thursday, January 25th
• Friday, March 8th
• Friday, June 11th (projected last day of school)

Do the twist! Friday Philadelphia Pretzels are returning soon. Sign up today!

For $20, your child will receive a soft pretzel from Philadelphia Pretzel Factory every Friday morning October through May, excluding half days, for a snack.

Program starts Friday, October 6th. Sign-up on the Toolkit HERE by Monday, October 2nd.

Follow WES on Instagram @wrightstown_ravens for fun pictures and WES news.

Email: ssmith@crsd.org
Website: https://www.crsd.org/wrightstownes
Location: Penns Park Road, Wrightstown, PA 18940
Phone: 215-944-2300