Wizards Newsletter

Hello Everyone!

We’ve officially wrapped up Parent-Teacher Conferences! A heartfelt thank-you to all the families who attended and to our incredible teachers for their energy and dedication during these long days. A special shoutout to our amazing PTO for providing dinner on Wednesday night—it was greatly appreciated! We’re also grateful to Jersey Mike’s Subs and Posy Bakery and Cakes for their generous contributions to the meal.

Next week, due to the short week, we will not send out a newsletter. I hope you all enjoy a restful and enjoyable break filled with good food, friends, and family. It’s hard to believe December will be here when we return to school!

In closing, thank you for trusting us with your child(ren) each day. I feel truly thankful to lead this amazing community of learners and leaders.

Enjoy your week ahead!

Recess Weather Guidelines

• 0 (and below) degrees temp and/or wind chill = INDOORS
• 1- 49 degrees = pants, coat, appropriate head & hands outerwear; must have boots & snow pants to play in the snow
• 50-59 degrees = long sleeve shirt or jacket, shorts optional
• 60+ degrees = jacket optional (student choice)

As long as there is snow on the ground, students need all of the following winter apparel below at school in order to play in the snow:

• Waterproof Snow Pants
• Waterproof Snow Boots (Students should bring these in addition to the shoes they are already wearing, as they are taken off when they get inside)
• Waterproof Gloves OR Mittens (the thin cotton gloves do not keep their hands warm or dry)
• A Winter Coat
• Hat OR Earmuffs
• Additional set of clothes. (Clothes sometimes get wet even when students wear snow pants.)

Our goal is for students to become independent when putting on their winter gear such as zipping his/her coat, pulling snow pants over boots, putting gloves on etc. Please practice this at home if needed!

Winter Gear Donation Drive: December 2nd - December 6th!

Help keep our community warm this winter! We are collecting gently used or new winter gear, including coats, hats, gloves, and scarves. Please send donations with your student or drop them off at the school office.

⭐Volunteers Needed for December 2nd, 3rd & 18th

We have our hearing van coming on December 2nd, 3rd and 18th starting at 8:30 am. We will need a few volunteers to walk our students to and from the testing location/their classroom. If you'd like to sign up for an hour, or a few, please contact Ms. MacLeod with availability.

You must use this link to sign up as a volunteer if you have not done so already. Ms. MacLeod will also be able to let you know if your volunteer status has been approved!

⭐Contact Ms. MacLeod: macleod.emily@iowacityschools.org or 319-688-1175

Student Leaving Early?

If you are picking up your student early from school please give the office a call when you are 5 minutes away so we have enough time to call your student down from class/recess/specials/lunch etc. This, in addition to using Infinite Campus or emailing us, helps us tremendously!

Attendance:

If your student will not be at school please make sure to let the office know! PLEASE use Infinite Campus to input your student's absence ahead of time or morning of. Thank you!

- Emily (macleod.emily@iowacityschools.org) & Susan (schepanski.susan@iowacityschools.org)

November 26th- PTO No Bake, Bake Sale Pickup at Wickham (3:30 pm - 6:00 pm)

November 27th-29th- No School/District Closed

🎵Save the Date:

December 20th- Winter Sing-Along (10:30 am - 11:00 am)

You are invited to join us for our Wickham Winter Sing-along on Friday, December 20th at 10:30 am in the Wickham gym. It will include all Wickham students from Preschool through 5th grade. This is not a performance, but a time to come together as a Wickham family and sing some familiar, some new, and definitely some fun songs as one big Wickham community.

Additional detailed information will be released in the weeks to come!

Linked here is our 2024-2025 District Calendar!

No Bake, Bake Sale

All items made fresh from Golden Delight Bakery in Kalona. Ordering is now closed. Pick-up: November 26th from 3:30 PM-6:00 PM at Wickham Elementary. Items will stay fresh through Thanksgiving and freeze well to be eaten at a later date. All items not picked up, will be donated.

Wizard Donation Drive

In lieu of having students sell anything to raise funds for the PTO, we are again doing the Wizard Donation Drive. The suggested donation is $75 for your first student and $25 for any additional students. As always, any donation amount is appreciated and can be made via check (payable to Wickham PTO) or paid online through our website www.wickhampto.org. Currently, we are about $2,000 short of our budget for the 2024-2025 school year. Don't forget Wickham PTO is a non-profit, so your donation is tax deductible! Make your donation before the year's end to get the tax benefits for 2024!

Volunteers Needed for continued support moving into 2025 and the following school year:

Wickham PTO will have two executive board openings for the 2025-2026 school year:

Clubs Coordinator: Our current secretary is the liaison between club parent volunteers and the PTO. We are looking for a parent to help coordinate Chess, Math, Chinese language, and Drama clubs for next school year.

VP of Communications: This person ideally will have experience in an email service (we currently use Mailchimp) and in social media (Facebook). This person will also communicate with Wickham's Secretary weekly to have PTO information included in the Principles S'more. The current volunteer holding this position will be moving to the president role, so she will be available for training and to help with the transition.

Wickham PTO is looking for parents/guardians willing to assist with a few events to finish this current school year:

Wickham's Got Talent- NEED 1 VOLUNTEER- All the information from last year will be provided and this event usually happens in January. This WILL NOT be held unless we have a parent volunteer step up to help organize.

The PTO Executive Board will provide direction, funding, historical information, marketing, and volunteer support for all events. You will not be left to figure it out all by yourself! Without volunteer support, we will not be able to offer these events. Please consider volunteering. Please reach out to a current executive board member or email wickhampto@gmail.com if you have questions or would like to volunteer.

Would you like to receive PTO newsletters?

We share information on events, meetings, & volunteer opportunities. Interested? Please sign up by clicking below!

Your voice matters! As we continue to implement Level One of High Reliability Schools (HRS), we're capturing feedback from families to improve how our school functions. Share your thoughts and help us create the best environment for our students by clicking the box above!

Looking for information on Securly, our web filtering tool?

Find all the information here www.IowaCitySchools.org/Securly.

It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this policy, please contact Eric Howard, Director of Equity and Employee Relations, 1725 N. Dodge St., Iowa City, IA 52245, 319-688-1000, howard.eric@iowacityschools.org.