WES Weekly Update

November 5 - NO SCHOOL (Election Day)

November 6 - WES WEDNESDAY! (wear WES cares shirt or other WES wear)

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

November 6 - PTO Math Night, 6:00pm

November 11-15 - Conference Sign Ups

November 12-15 - Fall Book Fair

November 12 - PTO Meeting, 6:00pm

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

November 21-22 - Kindergarten Conferences (during the school day)

November 25-26 - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS (Teacher Conferences)

November 27-29 - NO SCHOOL (Holiday)

Dear WES Families,

What a wonderful way to enter November! Even with only 4 days of school this week, we have a packed schedule and a lot to celebrate and look forward to this week! Following last week with the Halloween parade and festivities, as well as some learning about the Diwali holiday in 2nd grade with Mrs. Gaur, this week follows with our 3rd grade Veterans recognition program on Wednesday morning, and our PTO WES Math Night on Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm! There is certainly a lot happening! Thank you for all of the teacher and parent help in making these great events possible, as well as the celebrations, class parties, and support for our fun Halloween parade last week. It was certainly a sight to see!

Parent/Teacher conferences are coming! Conferences have been scheduled for Monday, November 25th (daytime and evening) and Tuesday, November 26th (daytime). Kindergarten conferences will also be held during the school day on November 21st and 22nd to accommodate the additional sections. This window of time has been specifically set aside for teachers to conference with families, and every attempt should be made to schedule conferences during this window. Teacher conference sign up links will be shared and made available starting one week from today on Monday, November 11th at 7:00 PM through a special eblast message. The sign ups will be open until 4:00 PM on Friday, November 15th. Please reach out directly to your child’s teacher after that point if you have not scheduled your conference time.

A reminder that there is NO SCHOOL for students tomorrow, Tuesday, November 5th for Election Day. And don’t forget to exercise your right to vote!

Mr. Stephen Krall

Acting Principal

Wallingford Elementary

skrall@wssd.org

Welcome to WES Wednesdays! On the first Wednesday of each month, we will celebrate our wonderful WES spirit! Show your school spirit by wearing your blue WES CARES t-shirt, any WES spirit wear or our school colors. Our first WES Wednesday will be November 6th!

Questions concerning online registration should be directed to Derrick L. Clements at dclements@wssd.org or 610-892-3470 ext. 1203. If you are unable to register online, please call the Educational Data and Registration Office at 610-892-3470 ext. 1304 to schedule an appointment to complete the registration online at the Administration Office.

Your child had guidance with Mrs. Schwam during the 10/24 to 10/29 library period.

Cold and flu season is upon us. In order to protect the health of our students and staff, we ask that you use the guidance available on our website to determine when to keep your child home.

We have recently experienced an influx of students arriving very early to school. Please note that our school day begins at 8:45 am with drop off beginning at 8:20 am. We do not have adequate staffing in the building in the early morning to accommodate drop off earlier than 8:20am. This applies to students arriving for the regular school day, not those participating in early morning programs such as orchestra, band, chorus, student council, etc. Thank you!

Food service is exited to announce that our website has been updated. We now have an ala carte drop down that includes all snacks for sale in the cafeteria, as well as how to set up restrictions for your students. This information can be found at https://www.wssd.org/Page/1049.

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.

The Department of Music at Swarthmore College is performing Peter and the Wolf on December 7th at 11am. A Swarthmore College student designed coloring pages and the college would love to have them colored by WES students to be displayed on the projector screen during the performance. Interested students should see Mrs. Haley for the packet or parents can stop by the main office to pick up a packet. Completed packets should be returned by November 14th.

Where is your sweatshirt? Many of us spend the fall and winter months wondering where our kid's articles of clothing have gone! In order to reduce the amount of sweatshirts, jackets, pullovers, hats and lunchboxes around the WES playground, we are encouraging families to please label your child's things. It will be easier to return lost items to students, if we have an idea of who they belong to. Please also remind your children to be responsible by bringing their items home. We try to collect most items and have them out to claim for fall conferences, but most of the items left outside for an extended period of time in poor weather conditions end up in the trash and that is something we would love to improve. Thank you for your support!

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.

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!

We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming Scholastic Book Fair. Hosted by our PTO, this event is an opportunity for students of all ages to build their home libraries and further their love of reading. As always, all purchases benefit our school. Here’s what you need to know about the Book Fair, which will take place from Tuesday, November 12th - Friday, November 15th during your child’s Library special day and time:

• Our Book Fair offers eWallet, a safe and secure alternative to cash. Simply create a free account to add funds and/or invite family and friends to contribute so your child can select their own books. Any unused funds can be spent at The Scholastic Store Online or to fund a future eWallet.
• Cash, cards and checks (made payable to WES PTO) are also accepted.
• If your child can’t make it to the Fair, they can also shop at our school’s Online Book Fair. All orders ship directly to your home, and shipping is free for book orders over $25. Your online orders will also benefit our school.
• Visit our Book Fair homepage to learn more and get started with eWallet and online shopping.
• Come and shop after school in the library on Wednesday, November 13th from 4:30-6:00pm.

If you are interested in volunteering at the Book Fair during your child’s class time, sign-up here. *Please note that all volunteers need their clearances already on file with the school district. No exceptions!

Girls on the Run is coming to WES this spring! If you’re looking to support a program that fosters physical activity within a positive, educational and inclusive environment for our 3rd-5th grade girls, join our coaching team! No running experience is necessary - just a desire to provide an empowering and inspiring experience for our girls at WES! The season will begin the last week in February, and run until the first week in May. Coaches would need to be available for practices twice a week (3:30-5pm) for 8 weeks and must have clearances on file with WSSD. Volunteers can sign-up here or reach out to Christine Greco for more information!

Print copies were sent home in backpacks for families who purchased the WES Student Directory. A limited quantity is still available to order here! Access to the app version has been sent by Directory Spot to the email(s) provided when purchased. Please reach out to Jen Griffin with any questions about App access. Thank you for supporting the WES PTO!