Weekly Hoots

Dear Wise Owls Family,

Our mission at Whitesville Elementary School is to prepare students for their next adventure. We use education and the school environment as the vehicle to live out our mission. I am so thankful to work with an amazing staff who truly cares about children and are willing to grow and learn to be able to best support every "scholar" in our building.

It was great seeing all of the accolades our Wise Owls received in the first half of our Tags of Honor, and I look forward to them showing continuous growth and reaping the rewards of their hard work. As I speak of hard work, I must emphasize that our goal is to not only encourage our students to learn content (ELA, math, social studies, etc.), but we also emphasize our students learning to struggle, to set goals, to face adversity, and to know that they can conquer anything!

Hopefully, you will notice as we continue throughout this semester, that your students are encouraged to struggle, that they are encouraged to persevere, that they're encouraged to show their GRIT. I have tasked our teachers to push our students beyond where they think they can go. I want every single student at Whitesville to be able to set a goal that others may think is too much, too hard, or too big only to show them that THEY CAN DO IT!

We thank you for your continuous support and collaboration to ensure that your children are able to grow and thrive at WES.

B. Gantt

#AllforONE!

Our mission is to cultivate a caring community that utilizes a multitude of teaching and learning experiences to prepare children for their next adventure.

1. We believe that everyone deserves to feel safe, valued, and appreciated.
2. We believe that all children deserve a high quality education.
3. We believe in collaboration and making connections.

Staying Safe

Owning Your Actions

Acting Responsibly

Respecting Everyone & Everything

“South Carolina Compulsory Attendance Law requires that a parent or guardian shall require his child to attend regularly a public or private school or kindergarten of this State which has been approved by the State Board of Education, a member school of the South Carolina Independent Schools and Association, a member school of the South Carolina Association of Christian Schools, or some similar organization, or a parochial, denominational, or church-related school, or other programs which have been approved by the State Board of Education f rom the school year in which the child is five years of age before September first until the child attains his seventeenth birthday or graduates from high school.”

Please also submit any medical or additional excuses to the front office. We process our attendance forms once per week so you may not immediately see that the note has been accepted.

Monday, February 3rd (change from Jan 27th)

Tags of Honor Celebration for grades K, 3, & 2

• Kindergarten - 7:45 - 8:45
• 3rd Grade - 9:00 - 10:00
• 2nd Grade - 10:15 - 11:15

Friday, February 7th

Early Dismissal for Students (7:20 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.)

Saturday, February 8th

Sweetheart Dance @ WES (6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.)

Friday, February 14th

Staff Development Day

Monday, February 17th

President's Day (School & Offices Closed)

Monday, February 24th

Monday Morning Parliament

Thursday, February 27th

Boosterthon Kick-Off

Purpose of Tags of Honor Celebration:

The purpose of the Tags of Honor Celebration is to celebrate our Wise Owls for their accomplishments which include attendance, academic growth, academic achievement, and aWESome character.

Tags of Honor Criteria:

• Wise Owls Tag: Awarded to all Wise Owls at the first Tags of Honor or to new Wise Owls.
• Outstanding Attendance: Awarded to all Wise Owls who received perfect attendance during the second quarter.
• Most Growth: Awarded to Wise Owls in each class who are recognized as showing exceptional growth (behaviorally, academically, or based on attendance).
• Reading & Math Awards: Awarded based on grade level
• Kindergarten: Reading - all 26 letter sounds masterd; Math - read, write, represent, and count objects to 20
• First Grade: Reading 3's or 4's in reading foundation or i-Ready growth; Math - 3's or 4's on math report card or i-Ready growth
• Second Grade: Reading & Math: 50% or more growth towards Typical growth (i-Ready)
• Third Grade: Reading & Math: 50% or more growth towards Typical growth (i-Ready)
• Fourth Grade: Reading & Math: Quarter 2 average for students being an 80% or higher in i-Ready lessons.
• Fifth Grade: Reading & Math: 50% or more growth towards Typical growth (i-Ready)
• Additional Tags awarded:
• Kindergarten can award "Count to 100 tags"
• Grades 3-5 will award Honor Roll tags
• Related Arts Tags (awarded in the classrooms)

Parent Invitations:

Everyone is invited to help us celebrate our Wise Owls; however, we recognize the the inconvenience of taking a day off of work only to realize that your child did not receive any tags. To minimize this from happening, teachers have sent specific invitations to families of Wise Owls who will be receiving a tag.

We have noticed that there have been a number of families parking in front of the building (Front Car Rider Drop Off Line) to enter the school. If you need to park and come into the building, please be sure to park in one of our visitor parking spots or in one of the open parking spots in front of the school to allow the lane to continue moving for drop off.

We have to drop off locations: Front car rider line and Kindergarten Loop. Our Kindergarten Loop is primarily for our Kindergarten and Second grade students; however, it is also in clos proximity to our Third grade hall, so some third graders may be dropped off in that loop as well.

Our goal is to have a smooth process for drop off in the morning so that students are able to get to their respective classes before the tardy bell. If you are able, the ideal drop off times to ensure that you are not stuck in traffic and that your child is able to get to class on time is 6:55 - 7:08 😃.

Also... Please refrain from turning left in the Kindergarten Loop.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

The ACCESS for ML students testing window opens January 21 and closes March 7. Students will be tested at various times throughout that window. Families can reach out to Ms. Gallagher for more specific dates and times for their individual children.

If there is a change of transportation, a note with a parent/guardian's signature MUST be provided. Any student that tells staff that his or her parent/guardian told them to go home by another means will not be honored. For the safety of our students, a change in transportation must be submitted in writing to the student's teacher AND to the Front Office.

To ensure that our students remain safe while off-campus, we are asking families to purchase a WES School Spirit Shirt. Students will be able to wear their School Spirit Shirt on all of their Field Studies which has our 2024-25 AllforONE! logo and our school's contact information (on the front of the shirt). Also, 100% of the proceeds will go back in our field trip budget to ensure that we can keep costs down for families.

Shirts cost $10

Order your shirt using the link below

*shirts will come white with the blue logo or blue with the white logo

Show your school spirit and support our students by grabbing your WES Car Magnet! Every purchase helps fund exciting programs and activities, enriching your child's school experience. Plus, you are showcasing your WES pride in your community. Join us in making a difference—buy now and roll with school pride!

Car Magnets cost $10.

Friday, March 7th - Boosterthon Fun Run

Thursday, April 10th - Spring Fling (a part of STEAM Night)

Friday, May 23rd - 5th Grade Celebration

Box Tops is ALL DIGITAL and is still one of the easiest ways to earn money for your school on things you already buy! It’s easy: Simply download the app, select Whitesville Elementary and start scanning your receipts today. As a BONUS, connect your Walmart account in the app and earn automatically without scanning

Breakfast and lunch will be served on every day. If your student wants to eat breakfast at school, they should arrive to school between 6:50 a.m. - 7:18 a.m. Breakfast will no longer be served after 7:45 a.m.

• Our school's website is found at https://www.bcsdschools.net/o/wes
• WES Facebook page is Whitesville Elementary School Wise Owls
• The Weekly Hoots newsletter will be emailed & texted to families every Sunday evening. Please be sure to have your updated information in PowerSchool.
• Our PTO's website is wiseowlspto.com.
• Our PTO's Facebook page is Whitesville Wise Owls PTO.
• Schoology: Teachers will update their grades weekly.
• Rooms: Our two-way form of communication at WES. Every teacher at WES will use Rooms as a tool for communication.