WES Weekly Update

October 22 - WES Night at Swarthmore Pizza (PTO fundraiser)

October 26 - Pancake Breakfast & Halloween Carnival

October 31 - Halloween Parade, 2:00pm & Class Parties (throughout the day)

November 1 - School Picture Re-Take Day

November 5 - NO SCHOOL (Election Day)

November 6 - WES Veterans Day Assembly (3rd grade)

November 6 - PTO Math Night, 6:00pm

November 12-15 - Fall Book Fair (during Library)

November 12 - PTO Meeting, 6:00pm

November 13 - Reveal Mathematics Information Night, 7:00pm

Dear WES Families,

This afternoon our 2nd grade had the pleasure of welcoming special guest Mr. Steve Clarke (father of our own school psychologist, Miss Stephanie Clarke). Mr. Clarke holds the Guinness World Record for fastest pumpkin carver! He carved several pumpkins with us, including a cow for Mrs. Gaur's class. Thank you, Mr. Clarke for sharing your talent with us!

Friday, October 11th was the sweet and delicious Apple Crunch Day! A big thank you to all of the parents who helped cut, slice, deliver, and present the tasty treats, taking a tally of the most preferred variety! The winner was clear, with a decisive victory by the Ambrosia Apple, the medium sized sweet and crisp, yellow and pink blush apple! It was great to see the interest and watch the student’s reaction to the taste testing and voting processes, in addition to encouraging them to snack on healthy foods. Thank you Nurse Costa and the PTO for another great Apple Crunch Day! See below for photos from the event.

Last Tuesday at the October PTO meeting, our PBIS Tier 1 Coaches Mrs. Jeanette Kaplan and Ms. Jenny Conahan presented on the WES PBIS framework utilized here at school. The framework used creates systems for schoolwide behavior intervention, as well as supports to individual students in a tiered approach. PBIS is a research based intervention program that originated from the work of Dr. George Sugai and Dr. Rob Horner from the University of Oregon. It is one of the most widely used approaches nationally. Click here to view the WES PBIS Presentation shared at the October 8th PTO meeting.

After a few postponements, the PTO Movie Night was held last Thursday, and was a great success as children and families watched the Lego Movie! Coming up in November is WES Family Math Night on Wednesday, November 6th from 6 to 7:30 PM! See below for more information.

Mr. Stephen Krall

Acting Principal

Wallingford Elementary

skrall@wssd.org

A huge thank you to our entire WES community of parents, teachers, staff and students for

helping us to bring a day of fall fun and healthy eating to the students of WES! We sliced, sorted,

tasted and voted on three types of locally grown apples from Wolff’s Apple House: Ambrosia,

Crispin and McIntosh. After a long day of taste testing, the votes are in! WES’ favorite apple of 2024

is…drumroll please…Ambrosia! The sweet and crisp variety wowed the crowds with a tally of 259

votes! Crispin came in as a close second at 238 votes and last but not least, McIntosh, stole the

hearts of 73 students! Thank you to all who participated in this fun and festive Friday to make it

such a success! Click on the photo below to view a video slideshow from the day. Until next year...The WES Wellness Committee

October is Pedestrian Safety Month! We want to remind everyone to stay alert, follow traffic rules, and always use crosswalks. Whether walking, biking, or driving, let’s work together to create safe routes for everyone. Let’s make this month—and every month—safe for our community.

Your child had guidance with Mrs. Schwam during the 10/8 to 10/11 library period.

Questions about bussing schedules and transportation should be directed to chighfield@wssd.org and pdiaferio@wssd.org or 610-892-3470, ext. 1701 or 1702.

Please feel free to reach out to Kate Rittler, Director of Food and Nutrition, with any questions! krittler@wssd.org, 610-892-3470 ext. 2151 or visit the WSSD Food Services website.

We are urging parents/guardians to complete the process for clearances if you have not already done so. Clearances are mandatory, are good for 5 years, and are kept at the district level. Volunteer clearances are required for anyone volunteering to work with our students or be present in our school; whether that is in school, on a field trip, or at an athletic event/practice, etc. Essentially, everyone who is volunteering with our students or in a school is required to obtain volunteer clearances.

You will not be permitted to volunteer without valid clearances on file with the district.

WES Night at Swarthmore Pizza is a perfect answer to your busy fall schedules! Eat in, take out, or order delivery from Swarthmore Pizza on Tuesday, October 22 between 4pm and 9pm. A portion of the proceeds goes back to support our school - be sure to mention WES Night!

You're invited to the12th Annual WES Halloween Carnival on Saturday, October 26th from 9am-12pm! Have a spooktacular time with Trunk-or-Treating, our Haunted Hallway, Pumpkin Decorating, Carnival Games, Photo Booth, Cake Walk, Sensory Room, Raffle Baskets, Prizes and so much more! Costumes are encouraged! Wristband admission is $10/child or $25/family (3 children or more). Adults are free! Find more details and pre-order your wristbands and raffle tickets here. Questions? Please contact Jessica Diamond.

We need your help to make the Halloween Carnival a wickedly wonderful time! Please consider signing up here to donate baked goods (homemade or store-bought) for the Cake Walk - the sweet & spooky WES version of musical chairs! Families can also sign up here to host a spot for Trunk-or-Treat or to provide candy and trinket donations. Thank you so much for your support!

Mark your calendar for the annual WES Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, October 26th from 9:00 am — 12 noon. We need volunteers to flip pancakes, work the food line and serve as cashiers. We are also looking for food donations. We are so excited to continue this fun and beloved tradition where some of our teaches will be in the kitchen volunteering to cook your pancakes! Deadline for donations is 10/25. Please see the sign-up here to volunteer and donate. No tickets necessary — you will pay cash only at the event. Can’t wait for a sweet morning together!

Calling ALL 5th Grade Families! The WES Halloween Carnival is one of the most fun events of the year, and it's also the biggest fundraiser for our 5th Grade Class - supporting activities throughout the year including field trips and graduation. We need lots of help from our 5th graders and their families to make this event a spooky success! Please consider signing up here to volunteer your time - and to be a part of this special 5th Grade tradition!

This fun WES tradition should not be missed! Students will arrive with parents (siblings welcome too, of course!) and spend the evening visiting engaging math-related stations. Families will take part in each math-related station with the volunteer station facilitator‘s guidance. You and your children won’t want to miss shopping at the WES Mart, building marshmallow toothpick structures, making origami, playing dice and coin games, and so much more! Students will receive a passport and after they travel with their families to 6-8 stations, they will earn a homework pass. Families will travel together, play together and have fun doing math together. We hope you can make it!

We need your help to staff over 25 math-related stations to make math night a success! No prep work needed and you must have your volunteer clearances submitted with the district. Please click on this sign-up for more information. We are 100% sure you will have fun!

Digital access to the WES Student Directory is included with the purchase of a print copy. Please look for an invitation from Directory Spot, which will be sent to the email(s) provided when you purchased your WES Student Directory. Print copies are in production and will be sent home with your child once published. Thank you for supporting the WES PTO!