Wiggin Street Parent Update

June 26, 2023

BETTER TOGETHER

Dear Wiggin Street Families,

I want to take this opportunity to welcome all new families for the 2023-24 school year including our new Kindergarten families. Hopefully, this summer update will give you lots of information about our school and the exciting things happening at Wiggin Street! You can expect updates like this weekly throughout the school year, and archived updates can be found on our website.

June has been a busy month at Wiggin Street! ESSER funds (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds) have provided some much needed renovations. Last week, all of our air duct vents were professionally cleaned improving the air quality for students, teachers, and visitors. Also, all Smart Boards have been replaced with Smart Panel TVs. Keeping up with technology can be challenging, and our Smart Boards were almost 20 years old.

Next week, our cafeteria floor will be refinished with a 3G Concrete coating. For years, the cafeteria floor has had to be painted every summer and now, this will provide a better surface for the cafeteria which also seconds as our music and art room.

There are other projects this summer including the playground which I've included pictures of the proposal below, and a new PA System. Check out the antiquated one that I use in this picture! The new system will provide a visual alert for fire drills, tornado drills, lockdowns etc. to assist those with hearing loss or in the busy gym when kids are having so much fun.

Before school starts, we will be having a new sound system installed in the gym including ceiling acoustic treatments and drapes for the back wall. If you have attended a program in our gym, you are well aware of the need for sound absorption, and Mr. Evans could not be happier since he works with happy, sometimes screaming, students in gym class!

With all that being said, we love our building that dates back to 1904 and is almost 120 years old. We are so happy that these improvements can be made for our teachers and students!

Please remember to send Mrs. Phillips a summer reading picture of your student over the summer. Also, encourage students to read and fill out their summer reading logs. It's easy to qualify for our Wet-N-Wild Water Day, but you must turn in your summer reading log to be part of the fun! There is more information below, and our website has links to the reading logs. Make time to relax in the sun with a good book this summer!

Class lists will be sent via Instant Connect on August 2nd and will be posted on our front doors. Click here if you need an Instant Connect account. All communication, including these updates, are sent by email and text through this method. Also, school supply lists can be found here. New parents, did I forget anything? If so, check out our website, and if you still don't find what you are looking for, email me at cgrandstaff@mvcsd.us.

Lastly, all students are invited to participate in the Village of Gambier 4th of July Parade and Festivities. More information can be found below regarding times and decorating anything with wheels. Don't want to ride? Walk with us! We can't wait to see you!

We hope you are having a wonderful summer! Thanks for entrusting your child with us.

Best,

Christy Grandstaff

Come join us in the parade!

We have been asked to be a part of the 4th of July parade this year, and we thought it would be fun to do it on wheels! Bring your bike or whatever you ride on wheels to Wiggin Street on July 4th at 10:00 am to decorate them. Supplies will be available at the school, and if you prefer, you can walk. The parade starts at 11:30 with lineup at 11:15.

Red, white, and blue can be worn. We will have a banner, but you could also wear Wiggin Street attire. More details about the festivities can be found in the flyer below. Can't wait to see you!

Playground Improvement and Needs

Playground landscaping will begin after the holiday. The soccer field and kick ball field will be reseeded, and plants and rock will be put in on both sides of the big slide and steps.

This is the first stage of playground improvements from our Math-a-thon fundraiser. Thanks to all that helped to make this happen!

Needs: We are looking to develop an outdoor classroom and are looking for large sandstones that could be used as seats. If anyone has any that they would be able to donate, please let us know.

Summer Reading Rewards

We are excited to announce the Summer Reading Goals and Rewards for this year! Everyone loves Water Day, and the goals are achievable! Please read this letter to learn more. Also, don't forget to send Mrs. Phillips pictures of you reading this summer.

Summer Reading Goals

Going into K&1 - 45 books
Going into 2nd - 400 pages
Going into 3rd - 800 pages
Going into 4th&5th - 1,000 pages

Lexia Summer Literacy Activities- Click here!

Summer Reading Book List from IMSE

Check out this Inclusive Summer Reading List from the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education. The books highlight diverse characters, covering themes like kindness, family, the environment, growth mindset, imagination, self confidence, and friendship. Hopefully, you can find some books appropriate for your child from this list of recommendations that also have questions for discussion as a family.

Your Kids Love Epic!

The free student account works when school is in session from Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. If you are interested in access for the summer, you can get three months for $11.99 at getepic.com/voucher/redeem, Code: SUMMER2023. Epic has over 40,000 books and learning videos, including “Read-To-Me books” and audiobooks.

Fun Summer Learning Opportunity

https://wonderopolis.org/ is a free online summer-learning destination with fun, interactive STEM and literacy-building topics boosted by Maker Experiments.

Summer things to do in and around Mount Vernon:

1. Bike, walk, climb the tower or fish at Ariel-Foundation Park

Sun. June 18th Father’s day Fishing Event 12-4

Wed. June 28th Touch A Truck Event 1-3

2. Play at Riverside, Memorial, or Phillips Park

3. Storytime at the Public Library of Mount Vernon & Knox County

4. Public Library of Mount Vernon & Knox County Summer Reading program-

June 2- July 14th

5. $1 movies at Premier Theater- Wednesday’s at 10:00 am June- July- Movie dates and titles to be announced.

6. Summer events at Ariel-Foundation Park

7. Mount Vernon Farmers Market--9-12 Saturday mornings on the square

8. MVNU Summer Quests www.mvnu.edu/summerquest

9. Science and Art Camps https://www.spi-mountvernon.org/

10. “SpiSpot Camps” at the Science & Play Center 400 S Main St, Mt Vernon, OH

11. Children’s Garden at Knox County Career Center--306 Martinsburg Road, Mount Vernon Open 8a.m.- dusk

12. Honey Run Waterfall, Millwood- 11416 Hazel Dell Rd, Howard, OH 43028

13. First Fridays downtown

14. Visit the Brown Family Environmental Center 9781 Laymon Road, Gambier

15 . Visit the Knox County Historical Society 875 Harcourt Road, Mount Vernon

16. Mount Vernon Music & Arts Festival in August 11-13, Downtown Mount Vernon

17. Heart of Ohio USA Days, June 22-24 at Centerburg Memorial Park ( 24th-USA Days Parade 10:00 a.m., Fireworks! 10:00p.m.)

18. Knox County Fair, July 22-29, Knox County Fairgrounds

19. Great Mohican POW-WOW-September 15-17, Mohican Reservation Campgrounds & Canoeing

20. Take the Historic Mount Vernon Walking Tour www.mountvernonwalkingtour.info

21. Visit Ramser Arboretum in Danville

22. The Gund Gallery at Kenyon College

23. The Schnormeier Gallery-221 South Main Street, Mount Vernon

24. MTVArts--Sister Act! July 8-16

25. Go for a hike at Wolf Run Regional Park (they also have a 2 acre dog park!)

26. Cruise-ins at Southside Diner, 620 South Main Street, Mount Vernon (3rd Monday of each month)

27. Go swimming at Hiawatha Water Park And Pool

Sockman Lake, Fredericktown, 740 694-6391

28. Fireworks!

July 4 at Ariel Foundation Park, Parrots of the Caribbean Band before Fireworks

June 24 at Centerburg Memorial Park

July 4th at Sockman Lake Park, Fredericktown

29. Get ice cream!!!

Round Hill Dairy-300 Wooster Road, Mount Vernon

Dairy Queen-1600 Coshocton Avenue, Mount Vernon

Martinsburg Dairy Isle-18 South Market Street, Martinsburg

Twist & Shake -3940 Columbus Road, Centerburg

Velvet Ice Cream--11324 Mount Vernon Road, Utica

Whit’s Frozen Custard-500 South Main Street, Mount Vernon

Young’s Drive-in-206 Wooster Road, Mount Vernon

Riverside Dairy--1 Fountain Street, Mount Vernon (across from Riverside Park)

30. Kokosing Gap Trail (be sure to visit the train in Gambier)

31. Visit Schnormeier Gardens Thursdays-Sundays June 1st-25th

32. Weavers Farm and Furniture - 29217 Mickley Road, Danville, Petting Zoo and Free Soft Pretzels on Wednesdays

33. Hang out at the Dog Fountain (downtown Mount Vernon)

34. Kokosing Splash Pad in Fredericktown

35. Trampoline Parks in the region

Altitude Trampoline Park

Ontario- 567 303 8883

Heath- 740 915 4045

36. YMCA Summer Enrichment Programs

Academic Corner

Just arrived! Our teachers will be utilizing the Wilson Reading System this Fall with your students. The structured literacy program is grounded in the science of reading. The instruction emphasizes highly explicit and systematic teaching of all the foundational elements including phonemic awareness, phonics and word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension and written expression.

Hold onto Brag Tags!

Please save your student's Brag Tags to add to their new backpack for next school year. Some new tags have been purchased, and the kids love to collect them!

2023-24 Class Lists

Class lists will be posted August 2nd on our front doors as well as being shared through Instant Connect. They will not be going home in their report card envelopes. A lot goes into creating class lists. Teachers meet with the next grade level as well as other staff that work closely with the grade level to make sure the classes are well balanced. Students' academic levels and Social Emotional needs are just a couple of ways that teachers look at to balance the classes. This continues into the summer as we are made aware of new enrollment. For these reasons, we feel it is important to wait till August to share the final lists. Thank you for understanding.