The Wellwood Globe

Wellwood International strives to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring students in an engaging, rigorous and multi-cultural environment to instill inter-cultural understanding and respect.

Hello Wellwood Families!

We have reached the second half of the school year and are excited to share some important updates and reminders. Report cards for students in grades 1-5, as well as progress reports for our Kindergarten and PreK students, will be sent home on February 6. This is a great opportunity to reflect on the progress your child has made so far this year. We encourage you to take some time with your child to celebrate their achievements and set goals for the remainder of the year. Reflecting on both strengths and areas for growth can help inspire them to finish the year strong!

Staying in close communication with your child’s teacher is essential for supporting their ongoing development. Our teachers are always busy planning meaningful and engaging lessons, and they are excited to begin planning upcoming field trips to enrich students' learning experiences.

As we look ahead, the end of the year promises to be filled with exciting school-based events, including Field Day and Reading on the Lawn. To ensure that field trips and school events such as these run smoothly and are enjoyable for all, we kindly remind all parents and guardians that volunteer training is required to participate. Please don’t wait until the last minute—sign up for training now so you’ll be ready to help when the time comes!

Thank you for your continued time, effort, and partnership. We can’t do it without you!

Warm regards,

Alonna Thompson

athompson8@bcps.org

Feb 6 (Th): Report Cards Distributed

Feb 11 (T): Wellwood PTA Meeting - Virtual - 5:30 pm

Feb 11 (T): Kindergarten Academic Parent Teacher Team #2

Feb 17 (M): Schools & Offices Closed - President's Day

Feb 18 (T): Third Grade Academic Parent Teacher Team #2

Feb 20 (Th): Shared Decision Making Team - Library - 5:30 pm

WIDA Access for ELLs:

In February students receiving ESOL services will continue the Access for ELLs assessment. ACCESS for ELLs (ACCESS) is the collective name for WIDA's suite of summative English language proficiency assessments. ACCESS is taken annually by English learners in kindergarten through grade 12 in WIDA Consortium member states. WIDA provides this flexible suite of tests because we know that no single test is suitable for all students. Educators use ACCESS results, along with other WIDA resources, to make decisions about students' English academic language and to facilitate their language development. Students' scores reflect proficiency levels ranging from Level 1 (Entering) to Level 6 (Reaching). Wellwood students will take the assessment in small groups with Ms. Nimer and Ms. Johnson throughout the month and score reports will be provided in the spring.

MAP:
All students in grades 2-5 are given the MAP growth assessment at the end of January and beginning of February in the area reading. This year only grades 2 and 4 will take the Math MAP Assessment in the winter. Information about your child’s performance on this assessment will be sent home at the beginning of spring. The assessment allows teachers to track student growth in each subject and provide targeted support based on these results. Students in grades 3 and 5 will pilot a new math assessment called the Star Math assessment this spring.

Students and families should strive to attend school every day. It is understandable that illnesses occur, and students must miss school time to time. However, we want our students to be learning as much as possible. The negative impact of poor school attendance starts early and has a lasting negative impact on students. Chronically absent kindergarten and first-grade students are less likely to read on grade-level by the end of third grade (Attendance Works, 2011). By the time a student enters 6th grade, chronic absence becomes a leading predictor that a student will drop out of high school (Baltimore Education Research Consortium, 2011).

Parents or teachers that have concerns with a student’s progress in school can refer the child to the student support team. Every school has a team of qualified professionals that meet with parents to discuss their child’s performance and develop a plan to address identified concerns. This allows any student to receive support and interventions through comprehensive coordinated early intervention services. Student support teams are for general education students to receive extra support. In some cases, students may progress to special education services to discuss a suspected disability. If you are interested in holding a student support team to discuss concerns regarding your child in school, please reach out to your child’s teacher or Michelle Moore mmoore18@bcps.org.

Let the Games Begin: Kids Heart Challenge Assembly a Huge Success!

Wellwood International School kicked off its Kids Heart Challenge with an engaging and informative assembly, in partnership with the American Heart Association. Students had the opportunity to learn about the importance of heart health and develop healthy habits through interactive games and activities.

The event was led by our partner, Kate Poole, from the American Heart Association, who brought energy and expertise to help students understand how to stay active, eat well, and care for their hearts. A special shoutout to our very own Mr. Burrows, who is spearheading this incredible event and ensuring its success within our school community.

The assembly was a fantastic mix of education and fun, leaving students excited and motivated to embrace healthier lifestyles. We are thrilled to bring programs like this to our school community, furthering our commitment to student wellness and success. Thank you to the American Heart Association, Kate Poole, and Mr. Burrows for their incredible support!

As your Community School Facilitator, I’m here to connect you with resources like emergency food, health services, afterschool programs, housing support, and more. Feel free to reach out at mfriedberg@bcps.org.

Your Community School Facilitator,

Miriam Friedberg

Our school has partnered with Amira Learning in support of our readers. Amira is a digital reading tool that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to assess students’ reading mastery and coach them through new reading skills.

Students will also use Amira to strengthen their reading skills. They will read out loud, receive interventions and support, and talk about the story they’ve read to build their comprehension skills.

Amira is a program committed to AI safety for students. Amira uses AI to select from a predetermined set of interventions and responses. Amira does not pull from the internet and cannot respond to students outside of the curated options vetted by humans. All student data is protected and owned by the district.

Starting Wednesday, October 30th, when students bring their computers home to charge, they should spend at least 20 minutes reading with Amira at home. Wednesdays are now all about Amira at Wellwood!

Please support us at home by:

• Helping your child set up in a quiet space.
• Not helping your child read the words - let Amira do the helping!
• Making sure your child reads to the end of each story so the data will be saved for the teacher to view.
• Celebrating when your child completes a story! (We will celebrate them at school too!)

Hi Wellwood Families!

Welcome to the Counseling Corner, where we will showcase helpful tips and information about Social Emotional Learning.

As part of our School Counseling Program, your child’s class will have the opportunity to engage in a counseling core curriculum lesson each month based on a different theme. It is our hope that the core curriculum counseling lessons will help to promote the social emotional, academic, and career development of our students. We hope that you can help your child reflect on these lessons by discussing their content together.

The theme for the month of February is celebrating differences. Students will engage in classroom lessons focusing on diversity. Students will learn about the importance of respecting and accepting differences in others. All students will also participate in a whole group discussion to deepen their appreciation of our unique school family.

Hello Wellwood families! My name is Kaliyah Sharp, and I am completing my practicum internship supervised by Mrs. Delis. I am currently working towards my master's degree in School Counseling at Loyola University Maryland, and I am excited to be here supporting students, staff, and families in any way I can. Some of you may recognize my name, as I previously worked as a substitute teacher at Wellwood. I have enjoyed getting to know the students and community over the past year, and I am thrilled to now be contributing to this new role as a counseling intern.

A Little About Me:
I am originally from Delaware, and before starting my internship, I taught middle school choir and music for two years. I have always had a passion for helping students, and that passion has led me to pursue school counseling. In my free time, I love spending time with my husband and our dog, Chance. We also enjoy exploring new restaurants and trying out several types of cuisine—something I always look forward to!

I look forward to working with your children and supporting their emotional and academic growth. If you ever have questions or want to connect, please reach out!

Best regards,
Kaliyah Sharp
ksharp2@bcsp.org

* Lunch & Learn – Lunch & Learn – Giving the Gift of Bilingualism

February 14th- 12:30 PM

Virtual- Center for Family Success

For registration click here!

• BCPS Virtual Calming Room
• Baltimore County Crisis Response: 410-931-2214
• Crisis text line: Text the word "TALK" to 741741 for free 24-hour support
• Maryland Food Bank: 410-737-8282
• 211 Maryland: dial 211 or https://211md.org/
• Maryland Suicide and Crisis Hotline: dial 988
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK
• Trevor Lifeline: Text “START” to 678-678 or call 1-866-488-7386
• Baltimore County Department of Social Services: 410-853-3000
• Sheppard Pratt's Urgent Walk-In Clinic is available through virtual appointments. https://www.sheppardpratt.org/care-finder/virtual-crisis-walk-in-clinic/

ldelis@bcps.org

443-809-1167

According to the CDC, too many kids and teens have high blood pressure (hypertension) and other risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Some risk factors for hypertension in children include: family history, obesity, and excess salt or calories in their diet. The American Heart Association recommends that all children have yearly blood pressure measurements in order to allow for early detection and intervention.

Tips on Promoting a Healthy Heart:

• Maintain a healthy weight

• Eat nutritious foods, avoid foods high in salt

• Get regular physical activity, such as playing sports, riding bikes, or jumping rope

• Get plenty of sleep each night

Cavities, also known as caries or tooth decay, are the most common chronic disease of childhood, yet cavities are preventable. Untreated cavities can cause pain, infections, and can lead to problems eating, speaking, and learning.

Tips to Protect and Maintain Healthy Teeth:

• Brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste

• Eat fruits and vegetables for snacks rather than candies and cookies.

• Drink water at mealtime rather than juice or soda

• Visit your dentist regularly

Being able to quickly and easily add, subtract, multiply and divide is very important to math success. Encourage your 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders to memorize their facts each week so that they can be added to our Fact Star Wall of Fame!

For more information, read the parent letter here:

English Letter

Spanish Letter

Uzbek Letter

We are excited to invite you to join us in an important initiative that will help shape the future of our school community! The purpose of our Shared Decision Making Team is to bring together families, educators, and community members to learn about these funding opportunities, discuss the needs of our students, and collaboratively decide how best to allocate these resources to make a positive impact on our school community. Your voice is essential in helping us create a plan that meets the unique needs of our students.

Meeting Details:

• Date and Time: Thursday, February 20th from 5:30-6:30
• Location: Wellwood's Library
• Details: Dinner will be provided and interpreters are available to assist
• RSVP Here!

At our last meeting, parents, students and staff worked together to establish a Home School Compact. Please view this document to see the commitments we are all agreed to in order to maintain a positive, successful school environment!

Wellwood International's Home School Compact

Wellwood is a National Green Ribbon School and a Maryland Green School. In order to continue our efforts, we have several recycling programs available. Below is information on each of our programs. Please help us to continue our efforts to recycle as many materials as possible!

Sneaker Recycling: Do you have any old sneakers or tennis shoes and don't know what to do with them? Drop them off in our lobby in our collection bin to be recycled!

Ink Cartridge Recycling: We take LaserJet and inkjet cartridges. Drop them off in our bins in the lobby to support Green School activities at Wellwood!

As we begin the second half of our school year, I wanted to remind students and their families that you can check Library class grades on Schoology. You are also able to see what books you have checked out from our library using our online Destiny Library Catalog which can be found in your BCPS Apps – Digital Content.

I am proud of the progress that our students continue to make in Library class. Intermediate students have learned many skills to help them to be responsible and respectful digital citizens. Our second grade students completed a unit on how to use our Destiny Library Catalog to find books that they can locate in our library and “eBooks” that can be opened on their device and read online even at home. First grade and Kindergarten students have been learning about the two main genres of books (fiction and nonfiction) and how to explain the differences between these two types of books. PreK students have been learning about the parts of a book and what the author and illustrator do to help create a book.

*Ask your child about the underlined vocabulary words in this paragraph to engage them in a discussion about Library class at home.

I always appreciate recommendations for books that parents/guardians would like added to our library collection just as I always encourage students to recommend books for our book orders. I hope that you received my message on “Talking Points” asking for requests and that you will be able to find time to reply with your suggestions for our upcoming book order.

Happy reading!

Mrs. Garde

In January, students in exploratory music built their own percussion instruments from recycled materials! They practiced creativity by making instruments that they could strike, scrape, or shake to create sound.

Mrs. Sherman

Instrumental Music

adickerson3@bcps.org

Bonjour!

The first week of January students in French classes experienced the Galette des rois (King’s Cake) and decorated crowns. In some classes the child with the sticker on the correct slice was king or queen for the class! We sang “J’aime la galette.”

Kindergarteners are working with syllable telescopes and locating sounds (Thank you, staff, for all those special TP rolls!) We will count elephants soon: Un éléphant, ça trompe, ça trompe !

First and second graders went ice fishing for Olaf’s body parts and heard him sing En été -summer! Our Bonhomme de neige (snowman) song book led us to turn our Galette cakes into four season cycles.

3rd-5th grade students are exploring a song from Congo and the different seasons near the equator. We then travel to Canada to ice fish for some seasonal words. Students will virtually explore this year’s ice hotel from the Carnaval de Quebec in February.

French club is snow-man building indoors. Do you want to build a snow man? C’est magnifique!

We’ve been having SNOW much fun in PK! The chilly winter weather invited lots of conversations and inquiries about snow and snowmen. We loved exploring the cold snow and using our fine motor skills to use eye droppers to make our own snow art with paint and water.

This month we've been jumping into gymnastics!

Primary grades have been working on tumbling and gymnastics with a focus on balance.

Intermediate grades have been working on tumbling and gymnastics with the purpose being to create a routine.

Have your students show you their moves at home!

Mrs. Berkun's 5th grade class came and helped our PreK 3 students build toys for their Unit 3 projects.

Pre-K 4s classes followed step by step directions to make a flavored milk! We loved tasting our experiment afterwards.

Kindergarten finished their fourth reading module on making healthy choices. Students worked on writing what they do to get ready to sleep.

This month, students are using the Engineering Design Process to try to build a tall and sturdy tower with only 1 yard of tape, 20 index cards, and 20 paper clips. They had 20 minutes to work as a team.

Students have shown a growing interest in Chess and our amazing assistant, Ms. D, is teaching them how to play!

Second Grade has been making the most of their indoor recesses while the weather stays cold! They've been working together as a team to come up with original building designs!

Our third-grade scientists are off to the race's literally! Students have kicked off an exciting STEM challenge where they will design and build vehicles using recycled materials. Their creations will be put to the test in a thrilling competition to see which can travel the farthest and survive a crash test. This hands-on project encourages creativity, problem-solving, and engineering skills. Stay tuned to see which designs go the distance!

Empathy has been our guiding theme this month, as 4th graders used their reading and writing skills to deepen their understanding of the world around them. By synthesizing ideas and drawing inferences, students explored how empathy helps us become better thinkers—and better people.

We analyzed charts to investigate the decline of oysters in Maryland, sparking discussions about the environmental impacts of agriculture and industrialization, and how we can show care for even the smallest and most vulnerable creatures on our planet. In literature, we examined the world through the Beatles’ perspective, considering how their journey to success was fueled by persistence and teamwork. We also explored history through the lens of a renowned photographer and a museum curator, gaining new insights into different perspectives and storytelling.

Finally, students wrote essays about extraordinary individuals, celebrating the ways they inspire us to be more empathetic and impactful in our own lives. It’s been a powerful month of connection, reflection, and growth!

The fifth graders have been busy learning. Having recently started our science unit, Where's the Water, students created water distribution models, exploring how much of our water comes from the oceans, lakes, and rivers, etc. We also wrapped up our second Social Studies. Students learned about the what led up to the Revolutionary War, the war itself, and when we declared independence from Great Britain.

Wellwood International School

2901 Smith Avenue

Baltimore MD 21208

Phone: 443-809-1212 | Fax: 443-809-1213