Werner Weekly

Stay up-to-date with the Werner School Calendar

• Sept. 27- Fall Fun Festival, 4:30-6:30 pm
• Oct. 1- Read-a-Thon Kicks Off
• Oct. 7- No School, Staff Workday
• Oct. 8- PTA Mtg., 9:05-10:05 am, Staff Lounge
• Oct. 9-11-5th Grade Eco Trip
• Oct. 17-18- No School, Parent/Teacher Conferences Exchange Day
• Oct. 23- Picture Retake Day
• Oct. 31-Halloween Parade, 3:15

Dear Werner Community,

Tonight is our Fall Festival! This is our biggest community event for the year. A BIG "Thank You" goes to our PTA for organizing this time together. Look for more details down below and we hope to see you there!

Next week, we will be starting a new fundraiser on October 1. Our very first Read-a-Thon, will last the month of October and will be a great opportunity to help encourage our students to read more and raise money for our school. Look for more information, from our PTA, coming soon!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your time with family!

Best,

Hayden Camp

Principal

• No School, Monday Oct. 7- This is a friendly reminder that there is no school for elementary students on Monday, Oct. 7 for a staff workday.

• Werner Fall Festival- Our Fall Festival is TONIGHT! We look forward to seeing our families and staff at our biggest community event for the year! The festival will go from 4:30-6:30 on the Werner playground. Adult supervision is required for your child.

• Fall Festival Help Needed- This year's festival will include bounce houses, pumpkin games and more! Below you can find a link for volunteer sign ups through evite. There are 30 minute slots available throughout the event so you're able to sign up for as little or as many as you would like. Any time that you can spare to help out would be greatly appreciated.
  

  https://evite.me/sDREHmBFCd
  

  Sincerely,
  

  Werner PTA
  

• Odyssey of the Mind Info Mtg.- RESCHEDULED -Odyssey of the Mind - If your student is interested in a fun and creative team challenge, attend the OM informational night on October 15th from 6-7pm in the Media Center. See the Info flyer and Problem synopses overview for more details. If you have questions, contact Butterscotch Culhane at bculhane@psdschools.org

• Read-A-Thon- Our BIG fundraiser for the year starts next week! Look for more details coming home soon with your child. Our goal for the fundraiser is to raise $20,000 to help with playground enhancements and supporting enrichment opportunities for our classrooms.

Classroom Volunteer Needs will communicated by teachers in the future. We do have some school volunteer needs for now. If you are interested in helping support in any of these areas, please email Mr. Camp (hcamp@psdschools.org).

• Garden Help- Do you enjoy gardening? We are in need of volunteers to help support the maintenance of our front garden. If you are interested, please email Mr. Camp (hcamp@psdschools.org).
• DAB (District Advisory Board) Representative Needed- The District Advisory Board advises the district on a number of issues and is made up of parent representatives from each school and acts as a link between the community and the district. If you are interested, please email Mr. Camp (hcamp@psdschools.org).
• SAC (School Accountability Committee) Representatives Needed- Our SAC meets about 4-6 times each year to discuss school improvement efforts. School Accountability Committees (SAC), which are made up of parents and staff, offer guidance on academic action plans, budget priorities, safety issues and other areas. If you are interested, please email Mr. Camp (hcamp@psdschools.org).
• Library Volunteers Needed (see flier below)

Paying for school fees and/or lunches is easy using SchoolPay. Below is the link for signing your student up, paying fees and/or adding funds to your student’s meal account.

PSD offers an easy and secure way to make payments to your child’s school on-line with a credit/debit card for fees and other charges as well as your child’s meal account through the District’s payment portal, SchoolPay.* The Pay Fees/Charges web page has information and instructions on paying fees and other charges online or go directly to the SchoolPay website.

Fees may also be paid in person at your child's school, paying with cash or check.

Throughout the year, we ask our community for photos that could be used for our yearbook and/or social media. This relates to school events only (e.g. classroom parties, field trips, school events, spirit days and enrichment opportunities). You can upload pictures to our 2024-2025 Werner Photo Album throughout the year. Please be mindful to not include photos of students that may not have permission.

Werner Weekly 9.27.24

Save the Date

October 1st- Read a Thon Kick Off! Special Guest Reader from Antoine’s Tale

Next Tuesday marks the start of our month-long Read a Thon fundraiser! Info packets will go home next week. This year we are raising funds for playground enhancements and teacher budgets!

The Werner Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) plays a crucial role in supporting our school, teachers, and most importantly, our students. We are dedicated to fostering a positive and enriching environment where every child can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

JOIN THE WERNER PTA

From our annual Fall Festival to this year's Read A Thon, we have some memorable events planned and would love your help. Although membership doesn’t obligate you to volunteer hours or attend meetings, we always love to meet more of our Werner community and have your support in any way you can give it.

• Sign up for the PTA HERE to receive a free Werner yard sign & notifications of upcoming events.
• *****New this year***** Wildcat Spirit Wear is launching with new shirts, hoodies, and stickers! Visit our Givebacks website HERE for a one stop shop for everything your PTA has to offer.
• For any questions please email the PTA at ptawernerelementary@gmail.com

FREE MONEY FOR YOUR SCHOOL! Did you know there are ways to donate money to the school by doing things you already do? - If you shop at King Soopers with a loyalty card they will donate to Werner when you sign up here.

- If you like to eat out, the PTA hosts Werner Dines Out once a month and the restaurants we partner with will donate back to the school anywhere from 10-15%!

- American Warehouse is now offering rewards back to Werner for any purchase you make throughout the whole year. Just mention Werner at checkout!

Your Werner PTA

Follow us on FACEBOOK to stay engaged with school events, Werner families, and see what the PTA is up to!

Your 2024/2025 PTA Board

PTA President | Gladys Kanode

PTA Vice President | Caitlin Papp

PTA Treasurer | Patti Haswell

PTA Secretary | Juliana Potts

PTA VP of Community Programs | Marissa McNulty

PTA Past-President | Nicole Kidd Connect with us at PTAWernerElementary@gmail.com

There Is No Wrong Way to PTA. How Do You PTA?

Thank you for supporting the Werner Elementary PTA!

Sept. 24, 2024

Dear PSD community:

Attendance in PSD is off to a great start in 2024-25! Our district attendance rate is currently 91.9%. We want to thank our students, families, staff, and community for their efforts to improve student attendance.

Monthly automated attendance notifications mentioned in our previous message on Aug. 19 will start on Friday, Sept. 27, when students reach chronically absent and habitually truant thresholds set by the state.

We know that children will get sick and need to stay home occasionally. We also know that our students and families have a variety of experiences and circumstances that are challenging, and that doesn’t mean they don’t understand the importance of attending school. If you receive one of the notifications mentioned above, please know your school is here to support you and your child.

Excused Absences Update

Following our last communication about attendance, we heard concerns from families and members of our community about which situations qualify as excused or unexcused absences. After listening to your feedback, we want you to know that your voice was heard, and adjustments have been made. In addition to the reasons listed in Attendance Policy JH/JHB, the following reasons can also be excused as pre-arranged/excused absences in PSD for K-12 schools:

• Appointments with a doctor, dentist, or therapist

• College or university visits

• Funerals

• Non-school organized competitive activities

• Serious illness or death of immediate family member

• Vacations

• VISA expiration/renewal from home country

• Weddings

Barriers to Attendance

Our school and district staff want to support our students and families when they are faced with obstacles and challenges that impact attendance. School staff can partner with families to create exclusions that would remove their absences from the attendance counts that generate the automated notifications for instances such as:

• Documented medical conditions

• Mental health impairments

• Disability-related conditions

• Foster care placements

• McKinney-Vento support

• Religious or cultural events

• Other documented barriers

What to do Before a Planned Absence

We understand that it is not always possible for families to make travel plans and appointments after school, during district breaks, or days off from school. When possible, please report pre-planned absences as early as possible to your school or through ParentVUE. Schools may reach out directly to families when there are high numbers of absences and there are concerns about student academic performance, social development, or connection to school culture. Again, please know we are here to partner with you in addressing underlying causes for these absences. Together we can address the specific needs of your child and reach our goal of 95% attendance.

Students in our secondary schools should also talk with their teachers when they know they will be absent. This may allow students to get work ahead of time or arrange a plan for support when they return.

Video Message from Superintendent Kingsley

Thank you for allowing us to serve your students and welcome your family as an integral part of the PSD community. Please watch the video below featuring our superintendent, Brian Kingsley, to learn more about why attendance counts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GDUmU140gs&feature=youtu.be

• PSD sends frequent emails to currently registered volunteers, but those are getting lost in some recipients' junk mail folders. If you are registered as a volunteer with PSD, please check your junk mail & mark those sent by "Volunteer Coordinator" as safe to receive.

• For those who are not yet registered to volunteer but want to help in our schools please visit - Volunteer Registration

One of many ways information is shared is through the PSD Now community newsletter, which features timely information about the latest happenings in the district. This is emailed to families and interested community members about every other Thursday.

Here is the most recent newsletter of PSD Now. For archived newsletters and information about how to sign up, go to: https://www.psdschools.org/department/communications.

An award-winning neighborhood school in Fort Collins, Colorado

Email: hcamp@psdschools.org
Website: https://wer.psdschools.org/
Location: 5400 Mail Creek Lane, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Phone: (970) 488-5550

Attendance: (970) 488-5551
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wernerwildcats/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/werner_elementary/
X (Twitter): @WernerWildcats