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The Wall Primary Pups Press

WPS Pups Press

The Wall Primary Pups Press WPS Pups Press

Mid-January 2025

Hello Primary Pups!

A Note from Mrs. Bagarozza (Mrs. B)

Hello Primary Pup Families,


We hope you are having a great new year and are staying warm on these cold days! We had an awesome visit from Six Flags Wild Encounters on Wednesday. We got to see an owl, a snake, a ferret, a lizard, a parrot, and a sloth! Check out the pictures shared belowed! Next month a penguin will be coming to visit WPS and we can't wait!


We have a lot of awesome events coming up this month and next - so be sure to check out the dates below and read the weekly newsletters from the teachers for specific updates.


Important Dates Coming Up:

  • Monday, January 20th - No school for MLK Jr. Day
  • Thursday, January 23rd - Winter Festival at WPS
  • Friday, January 24th - Friday, January 31st - Parent-Teacher Conferences
  • Wednesday, February 5th- Penguin Visit at WPS
  • Wednesday, February 12th - No PM session
  • Friday, February 14th - Valentine Exchange
  • Monday, February 17th - No School for Presidents' Day


A Note from our PTA:

  • The PTA will be hosting another "Dine to Donate" at Anthony's Pizzeria on Thursday, February 6th from 11 am to 8 pm. You can enjoy food there or participate in take out. A flyer will be sent home with all students about this in the beginning of February.
  • Don't forget to log onto our next PTA meeting virtually on Wednesday, February 19th at 8 pm! The link is shared below, on the website, and will be set out the morning of the meeting. We hope to see you there (virtually)!


Valentine's Day Reminder:

One of the next big holidays coming up in February is Valentine's Day. Please remember, when purchasing or creating valentine cards, we ask that NO candy or food items are sent in as part of the valentine card. Regular valentine cards and/or trinkets (i.e. stickers, pencils, etc.) are allowed. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter. Please refrain from sending in goody bags, as again these can be difficult for our teachers to review prior to sending them home on a very busy day!


As always, should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at any time.


Sincerely,

Samantha Bagarozza

sbagarozza@wallpublicschools.org

Principal of Wall Primary School

Supervisor of Special Education, PK-5

732-556-2054

Upcoming Wall Primary Events

WTPS Kindergarten & Preschool Registration!

Kindergarten Registration

Opens 2.3.25

Preschool Registration

Opens 2.18.25

In the Classroom

Six Flags Wild Encounters Visit

Staff Spotlight

Nurse Amanda

WPS would like to give a warm welcome to Nurse Amanda Marschalk! She was previously the nurse at Wall High School and prior to that, the school nurse at OId Mill. This is Nurse Amanda's 13th year working in the district! She enjoys traveling with her family and watching her two daughters play soccer. Nurse Amanda also likes to spend time with her cavapoo named Cooper! She loves all italian food and recently learned to ski. We are so lucky to have Nurse Amanda with us at WPS.

Notes from Nurse Amanda

Nurse Amanda is available for questions about vaccinations, illnesses, or anything else regarding the health of your child. Please remember that all students need to be vaccinated in order to attend school. Click the link below for NJ Vaccination mandates for Preschool students. The due date was December 31, 2024. Please reach out to Nurse Amanda with any questions or concerns you may have.

Tips from the WPS Staff

From the Desk of our Occupational Therapist, Ms. Laurice Smith


Simple Activities to Build Fine Motor Skills


What are Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skills are the small movements involving hands and fingers. Movements such as grasping and pinching are foundational skills for everyday tasks such as zipping a coat, grasping a crayon, cutting with scissors, using utensils, and so much more. Research tells us that fine motor skills should be practiced every day. There are many simple activities you can do at home to build your preschoolers fine motor skills. Here are a few activities that our toddler and preschooler teachers recommended:


1. Draw, Color, or Write

Provide crayons, markers, pencils, and chalk for your toddler and preschooler and encourage them to get creative. The simple act of drawing, coloring, or writing (even scribbling) helps develop fine motor skills.

2. Play with Play Dough

Encourage your preschooler to roll, squeeze, pinch, pat, pound, and use rolling pins, cookie cutters, and other utensils as they play with play dough. Hide objects for them to find.

3. Finger Paint

Finger painting looks easy, but it is a wonderful way to help build both fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

4. Build with Blocks

Every child loves building with blocks, so provide your child with time to play with blocks. Stacking and building blocks provides fine motor development opportunities for your preschooler—not to mention, the development of imagination and scientific skills.

5. Play with Legos and Duplos

Legos and Duplos support the development of fine motor skills, early math skills, perseverance, problem-solving, color and shape knowledge, hand and eye coordination, and creative thinking, and they promotes the development of attention skills.

6. Plan String Activities

Use dry noodles, Cheerios, or beads and loop them onto yarn, string or pipe cleaners. Your child can make a noodle necklace for a family member or a backyard bird feeder.

7. Play with Containers

Encourage your preschooler to open and close empty containers with lids. This is a great activity to do while you are cooking. Your child can join you in the kitchen, and while you cook, your child can develop their fine motor skills.

8. Practice with Buttons and Zippers

Provide your preschooler with an opportunity to practice with buttons and zippers. While this may require extra patience on your part, when you offer your child time to practice with buttons and zippers, it can help enhance their fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and their self-help skills.

9. Peel and Place Stickers

Give your child stickers and have them peel the sticker from the sticker sheet and place on paper. The act of peeling a sticker and placing it onto paper develops the pincer grasp. This skill is critical for buttoning clothes, and it helps with eye-hand coordination, too.

10. Play with Tongs or Clothespins

Use tongs or clothespins to pick up and sort materials like cotton balls or pom-poms.

There are many powerful household tools that aid in the development of fine motor skills. Implementing these activities using materials around your home will help your child develop their fine motor skills and build a solid foundation for critical lifelong skills.

Wall Primary School PTA

PTA Google Meet Link
Click the link to join the virtual link.
Wall Primary PTA Membership Form!
Click here to complete the form

District News

Student Wellness

Finding Stability:

If your family is experiencing economic challenges or homelessness, visit the McKinney Vento webpage for essential information and guidance on available resources.


District Homeless Education Liaison

Tiffany Steiner
tsteiner@wallpublicschools.org
732.556.2647

Transportation

Bus Status
Families, here is the link to the document that shows the daily bus status.
Samantha Bagarozza
One Vision・All Students・Wall Together

Wall Primary School: 732-556-2114

sbagarozza@wallpublicschools.org

www.wallpublicschools.org