The Disney Digest

Important phone numbers:

Main Office: 585-247-3151

Attendance Office: 585-340-5560

Health Office: 585-247-3177

Email: lamiller@gateschili.org
Website: www.gateschili.org/wds
Location: 175 Coldwater Road, Rochester, NY, USA
Phone: 585-247-3151
Facebook: facebook.com/gcwaltdisney
Twitter: @GCWaltDisney

Dear Disney Families,

It is hard to believe that we are almost done with the first semester of our school year already! We have so much to be proud of as a school community.

Our Dragons continue to make great academic progress! Report cards went live on SchoolTool in early December (click here if you need assistance accessing them online). Parent Teacher Conferences were very well-attended in December as well. When we come back from the upcoming Winter Recess our students will participate in various mid-year assessments that will allow us to further quantify their growth and make individualized instructional decisions. Families with students in grades 1-5 will be receiving an i-Ready mid-year growth report in late January that details your student's academic progress to date. i-Ready is one of the many assessment tools we use to guide our instructional decisions throughout the year. Do not hesitate to contact our main office if you ever have any questions about your student's academic progress or our instructional programming, 585-247-3151.

Our Dragons are emerging leaders! Our students continue to amaze us with what they are capable of each and every day. Members of our band and chorus worked overtime to prepare for their winter concert; numerous students just won art program scholarships through Nazareth University; our student newsletter just published their longest and most diverse publication yet; our safety patrol continues to go above and beyond by volunteering at school events hosted outside of school; our students continue to advocate for the clubs and extra curricular activities they want to be involved in; and our students continue to shine by demonstrating the Spartan Way at district events such as Elementary Football Night, Kickball Club Night, the district's Fall Fest, and more. When students feel connected to their school community we see higher rates of attendance and academic growth. Be on the lookout for winter club signups in early January.

We are so fortunate to have amazing community partners! One final point of reflection pertains to the success of our school events so far this year. Hundreds of Disney families attended events such as Open House, Fall Family Fun Night, Elementary Football Night, the Costume Parade, Chuck E. Cheese Night Out, Kickball Club Night, and more. We also had over 1,100 people attend the WDES PTO Craft Show we recently hosted in our school. None of these events would be possible without the support and generosity of our community partners. Whenever we ask for any sort of help our community partners such as Gates Police, Gates Fire, Gates Rec, Gates Public Library, Gates Federal Credit Union, the Gates Chili Teachers Association, Wegmans, local farms, and so many local small businesses step up to provide. We are all in it for our students, their school experience, and their continued success. Be on the lookout for information about our upcoming BINGO night in early February that our community partners have been working hard behind the scenes to plan for.

Proud to be your principals,

Dr. Z (dtzdanowski@gateschili.org) and Mr. T (cxtavelaris@gateschili.org)

Consider watching some, or all, of the 29-minute video posted below where Dr. Zdanowski and Mr. Tavelaris presented Walt Disney Elementary School's building goals for the 2023-24 school year. We understand many families want to know what's going on in our school but may not be able to attend meetings during the week after school. That's why we are committing to posting these videos after every School Improvement Team Meeting this year.

Our next virtual school improvement meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 5 p.m. Dr. Z and Mr. T will present the progress we have made towards accomplishing our building goals to date. A link to the meeting will be emailed home to all families the week of the meeting. A video of the meeting will be shared in the next edition of our Disney Digest.

Dec. 18-21: Winter-Themed Spirit Week (See details below)

Dec. 21: Half day for students

Dec. 22- Jan 1: Winter Recess, no school!

Jan 3: i-Ready winter assessments begin in grades 1-5

Jan 10: Grades 4 and 5 swim units in P.E. begin.

Jan 10: PTO meeting, 5:00 in the library

Jan. 12: Harlem Wizards vs. GC Faculty and Staff, 6:00 in GC Field House (See details below)

Jan 15: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no school

Jan. 16: Grades 3, 4, and 5 Junior Achievement lessons begin

Jan 19: GC Pride and Dragon Buddies Day

Jan 23. Virtual School Improvement Team Meeting (mid-year update)

Early Feb- WDES BINGO Night!!!!! (Date TBD)

Feb. 16: GC Pride and Dragon Buddies Day

Feb. 19-23: February Break, no school!

Feb 28: PTO meeting, 5:00 in library

Congratulations to Violet Messina and Nailah Rollins for winning Walt Disney Elementary's 5th grade Veterans Day essay writing contest! Violet is in Mrs. Austin's class and Nailah is in Mrs. Drzewiecki's class. They were selected to read their essays at the Gates Veterans Day Parade. We are SO PROUD of our Dragons!

Click here to read Violet's winning essay.

Click here to read Nailah's winning essay.

Click on the pdf below to read our most recent issue of our student newsletter, The Dragon Tales. We are so proud of our students' hard work to produce this publication!

Beginning in January snacks will be available to purchase in our cafeteria on Tuesdays (ice cream!) and Thursdays (chips and bars!). All snack items are priced between $0.65-0.90.

4th and 5th grade students can purchase a second entrée for $2.85. All students receive their first entrée free!

Please remember the cafeteria does not break change. All additional cash during a transaction is added to our students' meal accounts. Students are encouraged to keep money on their My School Bucks for additional purchases in our cafeteria.

Dental Clinic Partnership with the U of R

The Gates Chili Central School District has recently partnered with the University of Rochester to provide on-site dental clinics at Walt Disney Elementary throughout the 2024 and 2025 calendar years.

Pediatric Dentistry offices have some of the longest wait lists in Monroe County.

More information out this program and partnership will be shared in January. Be on the lookout for emails from the school and papers in your student(s)' take home folder!

Do not hesitate to call our main office if you have any questions about this program or partnership. The U of R has committed to helping everyone find and secure insurance coverage so that any of our families who are interested can participate in this program.

Please consider adding your name and email address to our 2023-2024 mailing list (click here). We use this list to advertise meetings, share minutes, and call for volunteers at school events. Please see the most recent contributions to our school community below. All are welcome to join our Parent Teacher Organization! Recently we...

• Sponsored the popcorn table, sack races, and petting zoo at Fall Family Fun Night
• Sponsored the popcorn table at Elementary Football Night
• Hosted a puzzle table at the district's Fall Fest
• Hosted a fun night fundraiser at Chuck E. Cheeses
• Ran a food, goodies, and donation letter fundraiser
• Ran a poinsettia fundraiser
• Hosted a craft show that over 1,100 attended!
• Hosted the Penguin Patch, a small school store for our students
• Sponsored an appreciation breakfast for faculty and staff
• Began planning BINGO night in early February

Our next scheduled meeting is Wednesday, January 10, at 5:00 pm in our school library. We hope to see you there!

Anyone can view our meeting agendas, minutes, and budget by visiting our website www.gateschili.org/wdespto.

Join us in welcoming the newest members to our Disney Dragon faculty! So many talented educators have joined our team this year. We are so lucky to have them all on our team. All of our faculty and staff work tirelessly to support our Disney Dragons each and every day.

In December our building's theme is "community". All grade-levels will be incorporating this theme into their morning meetings, community circles, and Dragon Buddies activities. Check out our K-5 counseling department's one-page newsletter in the link below!