.Welcome to April! How is it that time passes so quickly?

As you can see on our Upcoming Activities below, we have so many things planned for our students here at Woodward Elementary!

One of the big questions families are asking is about April 8th and the eclipse. As a district, we have decided to stay in school on the 8th for a full day. The last ten minutes of the day we will go outside, weather permitting, and we will give children the eclipse viewing glasses. Mr. Petruzzi will teach the children in STEM about safe viewing methods on April 2nd and 3rd.

Some families have asked about taking their children out of school for the day or part of the day to go somewhere to view it together. I can absolutely approve an educational trip form as long as your child hasn't missed too many days prior to the 8th. What a unique family experience it could be if you choose to do this!

April 8 - 3:07 Solar Eclipse (viewing glasses will come home with children); we are having a full day of school

*April 16th: K to Lewisburg Children's Museum

April 19th - Kent Fest

*May 3rd: 1st to Reptileland

May 6th - Special Olympics

May 7th - WSQV Morning Show 8:45 Radio Spot with Mark the Shark - "Profiles in Education"

MAY 9th: Last PTO meeting of the year will be - this is a change b/c of Showcase being on the 16th.

May 16th: Showcase

*May 17th: 4th tour Lock Haven

May 22nd: Career Day

*May 23rd: 3rd to Discovery Science in State College

May 24th: (Day A) Field Day

May 27 - No School

May 29th -4th grade to Clinton Lanes & Park

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Save the Date: 4th Grade Promotion - Monday, June 3rd, 9:00am

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Last Day of School - 1/2 Day - June 4th

Topic: Woodward PTO

Time: 6:30pm-7:30pm

Date: April 18, 2024

Location: In person in the Woodward Library or via Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/93261337815?pwd=ZG03UURMN2MwSS8xSjhyRmgwVUFVZz09

Meeting ID: 932 6133 7815

Passcode: 545829

Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 26th, for the 2024 Homecoming Parade! The theme for next year is "Through the Decades," and the question is, "Can Woodward make it 4 in a row first place victories?!" We need YOU to join PTO so we can make this special event happen!

For the month of March we focused on Keeping Your Hands, Feet and All Other Objects to Yourself in order to keep everyone safe. We celebrated at the end of each week with a 15-20 minute activity, and then for the last big celebration, students participated in a 30 minute "Battle of the Classes."

We met with a representative from the Intermediate Unit, Dawn Moss, on March 26th, to review our Tier 1 implementation of the Positive Behavior Schoolwide Interventions. Last year we maintained our banner status, and once again, for the 2023-2024 school year, we earned banner status!

What elements go into a school earning banner status? A school has to do the following:

• submit an action plan explaining their strengths, needs and plan to address the needs;
• have at least 80% of the certified staff in the building respond to the PBIS survey (we had 23 faculty and staff respond!),
• earn at least a 90% (we earned a 93%) on the Fidelity Tool used to measure how well the entire building is following and using the Positive Behavior Schoolwide Interventions.

We still have improvements to make in our communication of our interventions to family, faculty, staff and students. We will continue to work toward making sure everyone is very clear on our expectations and on the positive outcomes that result from everyone working together to follow our four school rules:

• Be safe.
• Be responsible.
• Be respectful.
• Be kind.

KCSD has moved back to ClassDojo as our messaging app. Please be sure to connect (or reconnect) so you don't miss any important information from your child's school or teachers.

Stay informed about:

• School events and activities
• Important deadlines and assignments
• Emergency alerts and school delays/dismissals/closures

You may be contacted by your school's Policy 917/918 team to participate in our Spring committee meeting. We are required to make sure that we maintain open communication between the schools and a variety of stakeholders to review federal programs information and receive feedback. If you are interested in participating, we are always looking for community members who want to be involved in reviewing our data and our plans and want to have input. If you are interested in joining our team, please complete this form to help us maintain a communication list of willing Stakeholders to turn to when we need input.

Title I funds follow the students. When our students attend a nonpublic school, our school funds are allocated on a per pupil basis to the nonpublic school to support any students who have an academic need who would have attended a KCSD school. We work with our nonpublic schools to help support our students, because no matter where they attend, students who reside within the boundaries of KCSD are our students.

Our original allocation for this school year for Title I was $1,550,476. The reallocation just came out March 13, 2024, and that number was reduced to $1,549.039.

Title II funds are designed to support the teachers. We use Title II funds for professional development in areas such as mathematics, English/Language Arts, and social-emotional learning.

Our original allocation for this school year for Title II was $163,939. The reallocation just came out March 13, 2024, and that number was reduced to $160,680.

At all school levels, we use Title IV federal funds to purchase incentives for PBIS (our positive school-wide behavior supports) rewards, and we emphasize the goal of following school rules in all schools. Our original allocation was and remains $127,334.

Required documents for families:

Right to Request Qualifications of Teachers (see Annual Notices and Policy Review button above) - if you wish to request a paper copy, please contact rmurty@kcsd.k12.pa.us .

Note: If your child is taught for four or more weeks by a teacher who is instructing in a content area for which they are not currently certified, the district must notify you. Four-week notification letters will be added here if that becomes necessary.

Non-Discrimination Statement (see Annual Notices and Policy Review button above) - if you wish to request a paper copy, please contact rmurty@kcsd.k12.pa.us.

Title I District Parent Policy - Policy 918

Coaching Newsletter for Families - How We Teach Reading

Title I Complaint Procedure

School Improvement Plan

Math is everywhere! When you measure an ingredient for a recipe, tell time, pay a bill, or look at the daily temperature, you are using math. These activities offer ideas on how to make math fun at home and start building some math skills that kids will use as they get older. Click to learn more!

Video (Spanish Only)

Attendance a priority at KCSD!

Help us reach our Attendance Goal of 94.1%.

For the month of February, our students showed up 86.2% of the time.

As of March 1st, there are only 66 school days left. We want to see you all 66 days!!

Remember: Excuses need to be turned in within 3 days of an absence. Use your school's attendance email to make sure that the excuse notes get turned in on time.

Wildcats on the Prowl: AttendanceMatters Now!

If you are concerned about a student for any reason, you can make a SAP referral. The SAP referral can potentially lead to any needed services and/or supports the student may need to be successful.

Click on the picture to make a referral!

Dear Family,

We are using the Second Step Social-Emotional Learning program in your child’s class. The Second Step program teaches children important skills for getting along with others and doing well in school. It also helps our school be a safe and supportive place where everyone can learn.

To help make our school even more safe and supportive, we are also going to use the Second Step Child Protection Unit. In this unit, your child will learn the following skills to help him or her stay safe from dangerous situations:

• How to use the Ways to Stay Safe to recognize when something is unsafe, report anything unsafe to an adult, and refuse to participate

• How to always ask a parent/guardian or the person in charge first before going somewhere, doing something, or accepting something from someone

• How to recognize safe, unsafe, and unwanted touches

• How to refuse unsafe or unwanted touches and how to report to an adult

You also have an important role in helping your child stay safe. Go to Second Step Link, click on the “learn more” tab, and under that tab click on “Information for families.” The non-profit organization that brings us Second Step, Committee for Children also has some helpful resources to promote social-emotional learning on the Committee for Children Website and then click on the “resources” tab.

Thank you for helping us make our school a safe and supportive place where everyone can learn!

Respectfully,

Bonnie Owens

School Counselor-Grades K-4

https://www.smore.com/361wz-keystone-central-school-district#:~:text=VOLUNTEER%20INFORMATION,to%20Clearance%20Page

The link in the button above/QR Code should take you to our Volunteer Application.

You need to apply on-line at https://www.applitrack.com/kcsd/onlineapp/ instead of using a paper form.

Clearances and Mandated Reporter training are also required. Here are the links:

· Clearances

· (Act 34) PA State Policehttps://epatch.pa.gov/home

· (Act 151) PA Child Abuse https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home

· (Act 114) FBI https://www.identogo.com/locations/pennsylvania

Use service code to receive the correct clearance: 1KG6XN

Mandated Report Training http://www.reportabusepa.pitt.edu/

Elizabeth Nace is our Personnel Secretary & Volunteer Specialist, you can use the information below to contact her, and she said she is happy to help you and answer questions!

570-893-4900 x 2319

https://www.kcsd.k12.pa.us/en-US/human-resources-32e72bfe

enace@kcsd.k12.pa.us

86 Administration Drive, Mill Hall, PA 17751

General Link to Clearance Page

Position Volunteer (Board Approved w/Clearances, no escort needed) as of January 2024:

1. Elaine Barth

2. Kass Bitner

3. Keisha Conway

4. Marissa Crawford

5. Emily Duck (Champions)

6. Brenda and Keith Fornwalk

7. Joey Fortesque (Champions)

8. Malarie Hastings

9. Skylynn Hummer

10. Mary Jane Isenberg

11. Brittanie Jones

12. Ashley Koser

13.Amanda Liedtka

14. Carey McCloskey

15. Debra Moore

16. Bobbi Moser

17. Jessica Neff

18. Taryn Polk

19. Jade Schneider

20. Elizabeth Snyder

21. Barbara Svederus

22. Alexa Weissert (Champions)

23. Hope Winslow

Guest Volunteers (Principal Approved, escort needed)

[See Samantha Hardy to see if there has been a paper application for this level of volunteer for a specific activity.]

If your family speaks a language other than English, the district has access to translators and interpreters that can accompany you in meetings with teachers and school members. If you would like to be connected with a translator or interpreter please reach out to your child’s teacher or the school guidance counselor. The accessibility features in the top right corner of this Smore allow you to translate this page.

Keystone Central School District has School Resource Officers throughout our district for safety and security.

Officer Scott VanGorder - Central Mountain High School

Officer Cory Beaver - Bucktail High School & Renovo Elementary

Officer Luke Motter - Central Mountain Middle School

Officer Mike Fetzer - Elementary district-wide and District Attendance Officer

Officer Todd Brian - District-wide

April 2024 Newsletter

Please use the following link to read the upcoming events and information for April.

https://www.smore.com/n/at9zg

Upcoming Assessments

Save the Date for State Assessments!

Spring PSSA- All students in grades 3-8 ELA and Math, Science Grades 4 and 8

ELA: Window April 22-26

ELA District Testing April 22,23,24

Math/Science/Make ups: Window April 29-May 10

Math District Testing-April 29,30

Science District Testing- May 1,2

Spring Keystone Exams - All students enrolled in Algebra 1, Literature and Biology Keystone Trigger courses

May 13 – 24 - Spring Testing Window

May 13-14 - 10th grade Literature District Testing

May 15-16 - Biology District Testing

May 20-21 - Algebra 1 District Testing

Local District Assessments

All students in grades K-8 will be participating in our upcoming local district assessments which will be administered in the Fall, Winter and Spring. Students in K-2 will be tested using the Acadience assessment and students in grades 3-8 will be tested using NWEA MAP assessment. These assessments are administered in the Fall, Winter and Spring and will provide you as well as their teacher valuable information on academic growth. To learn more about our assessment please click the links below.

NWEA Family Toolkit

NWEA FAQ

About Acadience

Need to take the SAT, Click here for upcoming dates and registration

Many questions can arise concerning your child's laptop, internet access, busing information or maybe you'd like to volunteer in your child's school. These links below can help you get answers or point you in the direction of who to speak to.

School Phone Number: 570-893-4900

Mrs. Murty is the building principal (ext. 3102).

Ms. Hardy is the building secretary (ext. 3101).

Mrs. Owens is the school counselor (ext. 3104).

Please let us know how we can help and support your family.