Hello Wildcat families,

I hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break, and enjoyed some restful time with family and friends! We hosted the holiday at our home, and got a great idea for a new tradition. All of our guests wrote a little note on a page of paper, and we'll frame it for the year. Each year, we will put a new page in, keeping the old page behind. I loved this idea as a way to remember who was at our house for the holiday, and to have a little memory of their handwriting (something I wish I had from my grandfather, before he passed).

Our annual Aja Calhoun Thanksgiving Dinner was a fantastic event- we had over 600 people join us for some delicious food, an AMAZING performance by our 3rd grade students, led by Mr. Herrera, Mrs. Amaro, Ms. Gomez, and Mrs. Montiel, and another beautiful performance by the local Santa Maria Ballet Folkorico dance company. This is one of the best events we host at school, as it brings so much of our community together. For me, it kicks off the holiday season like nothing else!

We hope you can join us this Thursday for the PTO's Movie Night. We'll be watching "IF" and PTO will have some pizza, popcorn, drinks, and snacks for sale. This is not a drop-off event, but we do encourage you to bring a blanket, and to come spend the evening with your kids!

This week, we start our DIBELS mid-year testing. See below for some info about the different tests our kids take, and how that information helps us to guide our instruction.

We are almost at our goal of completing the Income Eligibility Forms! School lunch is free this year for all students, but the state decides how much Title 1 funding schools receive based on these forms. Title 1 pays for reading intervention programs, math intervention, after school tutoring, instructional assistants, full day Kindergarten, and so much more! If you have not yet completed this form, please do so right away! This closes out this Thursday! We are only missing 89 students!

Have a great afternoon,

Jennifer Quirk

At WVE, we guide learners to reflect, communicate, and grow, to strengthen ourselves and our community.

WVE engages learners in a growth mindset to reach their potential while being accountable to their role within the community.

WVE is a place where everyone believes students can learn and grow as individuals. Effort is valued, teaching is intentional, progress is shared, and ideas are welcomed.

Not sure if you completed it already? It's OK- we can filter out duplicates, so we'd rather have you fill it out twice than not!

Last year, our school was able to collect over 1,300 food items for the FESD Food Pantry! This important service provides assistance to members of our community in need. Classes will be collecting shelf-stable food for 2 weeks. Please see the flyer below for more information, and thank you!

We give many different tests at school, each of which gives us different information on where our students are, and how we can best help them. It can get a little confusing, so here's a quick 'Cheat Sheet" that explains them.

***Please note that payment must be received by the Friday before, or the order is not considered complete and will not be put on the marquee!***

As we head into cooler mornings and days, and kids are wearing sweatshirts, please remind your child that they may wear the hood up while outside, but not in the classrooms. Logo-free is best, but if it can't be helped, please be sure your child's sweatshirt is appropriate for elementary school. We'll have them turn it inside out if not.

Also, we're starting to find many sweatshirts and jackets on the playgrounds when the kids get hot. PLEASE put your child's name on the tag of their sweatshirts or jackets so we can return them to your student if they forget them outside.

We'll have the sweatshirts and jackets that kids have left behind outside at dismissal this week. Please look through them to find your missing items. Anything not claimed by Winter Break will be donated.

Don't forget, our PTO has some uniform sweatshirts available for sale!

Water refill stations are all around campus when they run out. Sending your child with a water bottle ensures they are never without a quick drink of water! We do not have disposable cups for water, and the drinking fountains are mostly in classrooms, so their own water bottle is best!

And don't forget to write their name on their water bottle!

We had some parent volunteers last year for making copies, Book Fair, field trips, and in the cafeteria to help students open packaging and keeping tables clean. It was a HUGE help! We would like to extend the invitation again this year. If you are interested in volunteering at school,

please fill out this form.

https://forms.gle/dwDkf4kz3My2vBV19

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Our students will all receive free lunch this year (no lunch applications needed), but we do need families to please complete the income eligibility form as well- this helps to pay for our Reading Intervention services, after school tutoring and clubs, summer school, Instructional Assistants, and so much more!

https://linqconnect.com/public/income-form/new?identifier=TARLF2

Our arrival and dismissal procedure will be similar this school year. For the safety of your children, please only use the parking lot and 63rd Ave to park and walk WITH YOUR CHILD to the crosswalk. Children may not be dropped off in the parking lot or along 63rd Ave to walk by themselves. It is simply not safe for them.

As a reminder, the drop-off area is along the fire lane curb, and the parking lot is ONLY for families who want to park and walk up their student. Students MAY NOT be dropped off in the parking lot. This creates an unsafe situation for children, which of course, no one wants. We will have signs up as reminders, but please be safe, and drop off children only in the designated areas.

**For the parent pick-up area, we will have grade levels wait under the shade structure (as best as will safely fit). A change this year is with older siblings meeting younger kids. They will NOT meet them in the classroom this year. Instead, upper grade siblings will meet their younger siblings outside, and will wait with them under the shade structure. This allows students to exit more quickly, and to meet up with the parent or guardian who is picking them up.

Use your Dashboard card for a faster Parent Pick Up! Ask your teacher or the front office for one.

Kids get breakfast in the classroom starting at 7:55, and we are into the start of instruction by 8:10 every day, so arrival any later than that means students are missing important learning time. And it adds up!

Students may now wear a WVE Spirit Shirt on Thursdays with uniform pants.

Order your Spirit Shirt now! You can pay cash or Zelle to jreeser@fesd.org

Dollar Dress Down Day (formerly known as Buck-a-Jeans Day) = Hosted once a month as a PTO fundraiser, students may pay $1 and wear a non-uniform outfit. You can purchase the Annual Pass for this for $10, and you don't have to dig around for $1 each of these days.

Spirit Shirt Thursday (new this year) = Every Thursday, students may wear a WVE Spirit Shirt and uniform bottoms. This free event is to drum up our Wildcat spirit, and to be a fun way to show our school pride!

Free Dress Down Days (these are for special occasions) = Fall Picture Day, a pass earned by a grown-up when they attend a PTO meeting, Curriculum Night, or other school event that we advertise parents coming to campus.

All students who ride the bus have been issued a bus ID, and those IDs have been zip tied to their backpacks to prevent loss. They will scan on and off the bus each time. The first bus ID is free, broken or lost replacements will cost $5.

If your child will need to take medication at school, please bring it (in the prescription bottle/box) to the Health Office. Children may not bring medication to school themselves. This includes even cough drops. When in doubt, DO NOT send medicine to school with your child!

Also, if your child has a Chronic Illness, and may miss school often due to an illness or condition, ask the office or Mrs Reyes about a Chronic Health Form.

Learn a new skill, or continue to grow in a field you've worked in before! Keep the same work schedule as your kids!

Check out some other openings around the district here- https://fowler.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx

Our office is open 7:30am-4pm Mon-Fri.

Our administration & office staff are happy to help!

*12/4 Phoenix Public Library Bookmobile at WV

*12/5 PTO Family Movie Night! 5pm

*12/6 November Student of the Month Breakfast @ 8:30am

*12/10 Governing Board meeting @ 4pm, District Office

*12/18 Phoenix Public Library Bookmobile at WV

*12/23-1/3 Winter Break, No School

*12/12 Shop with a Cop event

*12/13 Dollar Dress Down Day

*12/13 PTO Meeting @ 8:15

*12/18 WVE Spelling Bee

*1/14 Governing Board meeting @ 4pm, District Office

*1/17 100th Day of School

*1/20 No School, Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day

*1/22 FESD Spelling Bee

*1/31 Dollar Dress Down Day

*1/31 PTO Meeting @ 8:15

*2/21 WVE Carnival!