Weekly Hoots

Dear Wise Owls Family,

We are nearly one month into the school year. Our students understand our S.O.A.R. Expectations. They know that we are going to Stay Safe, Own Our Actions, Act Responsibily, and Respect Everyone and Everything. Our teachers have begun to build their small groups and we are tiering instruction to meet our students where they are while pushing them to where they can be.

We have had great parental involvement through our Meet the Teacher Night, Car Rider Line Clean Up, Room Parent Sign Up, PTO-Sponsored Movie Night and countless additional opportunities. There are so many exciting things happening around campus. Stay posted and know the best has yet to come!

Further, we have increased our enrollment by about 10%. We are working with our HR Department to add classes in multiple grade levels to reduce the number of students in each class.

The process for adding new classes during the school year.

1. Our school leadership team composed of our administrators, coaches, and teachers will review student data to include (but not limited to) test scores, behavioral data, and (current) teacher feedback to determine which students would be potentially moved to the new classroom.
2. New class rosters will be shared with school counselors, grade level teams, special education, special service, and special areas providers for feedback.
3. After feedback, any and all adjustments will be made and then approved by the Principal.
4. The Principal will communicate with impacted families (by letter).

Our plan is not to completely uproot our students from their current classes, but to pull students to their new class during the day to gradually begin developing relationships, classroom expectations, and community. We will establish a meet & greet for all new teachers.

B. Gantt

#AllforONE!

Our mission is to cultivate a caring community that utilizes a multitude of teaching and learning experiences to prepare children for their next adventure.

1. We believe that everyone deserves to feel safe, valued, and appreciated.
2. We believe that all children deserve a high quality education.
3. We believe in collaboration and making connections.

Staying Safe

Owning Your Actions

Acting Responsibly

Respecting Everyone & Everything

Thank you all for your feedback regarding morning and afternoon traffic. We have had a number of discussions trying to establish a process that will allow you all to have a better experience during those times of the day.

A few things we have noticed that we can change on our end that could potentially assist:

• During the Morning Drop Off, we are asking all families with a 2nd grader to drop their students off in the Kindergarten Loop (near the basketball court).
• 2nd grade families will still pick up (in the afternoon) in the front car rider line.
• We will pay more attention to allowing families (coming from HWY 17 side) to be able to enter the campus for drop off.
• We are seeing that traffic is backing up all the way to HWY 17 and even Black Tom Rd. Our goal is to keep that side moving.
• We will work to increase the number of staff members on duty in the morning.

A few things we have noticed that could potentially assist on your side:

• Please be sure to pull all the way up at the drop off and while in the car rider line.
• Please be sure to ONLY make right turns after drop off.
• Please be kind to each other. We have over 500 cars entering and exiting our campus, dropping off and picking up students in a 30 minute window. I know that it can be stressful, especially when you're in a hurry to get somewhere. Our students have gotten so much better and even support each other when entering and exiting the building, reminding each other of their numbers, walking students they don't know to class, and greeting each other with a "Good morning" or a "Have a great day." We have become more efficient (with the many obstacles that we are facing at this point in the year), and I know that we will only get better.

Knowing that you are "in the trenches" and probably have some time to consider how we can be more effective, please use the form below to share possible solutions and suggestions for how we can improve.

Monday, September 9th

3rd - 5th Grade Grandparents Lunch

• Third Grade Lunch: 10:10 - 10:55 a.m.
• Fifth Grade Lunch: 11:00 - 11:45 a.m.
• Fourth Grade Lunch: 11:50 - 12:30 p.m.

Wednesday, September 11th

3rd - 5th Grade Curriculum Night (5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.)

Thursday, September 12th

Preschool - 2nd Grade Curriculum Night (5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.)

PTO Meeting (6:00 p.m.)

(3rd - 5th Grade) Progress Reports sent in Thursday Folders

Thursday, September 19th

Pirate Day

Friday, September 20th

Early Release Day for Students (10:50 a.m. Dismissal)

We would love our grandparents to join our Wise Owls for lunch in celebration of Grandparents Day on September 8th.

Adult prices for lunch is $5.75. Please bring cash or check if you intend to eat lunch at WES.

Lunch on September 9th

Sausage Pattie

Breakfast Scrambler Pizza

Potato Smiles

Seasoned Green Beans

French Toast Sticks

Curriculum Night is an opportunity for families to come into the school and see a day in the life of their children.

Our teachers, individually or as a team, will share what your children are doing in class. They will share their daily schedule, the work your children are doing and give you a glimpse of what your children will be able to do by the end of the year.

• Families will park and enter the building through the front office.

• The night will start in the Multi-Purpose Room with a presentation from the WES Admin Team and then families will go to their children's class or assigned class for grade-level presentations.

Wednesday, September 25th

Watch D.O.G.S. Night (5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.)

Monday, September 30th

Monday Morning Parliament

Tuesday, October 8th - Thursday, October 10th

CogAT Testing

Thursday, October 10th

PTO Meeting

Friday, October 11th

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Saturday, October 12th

PTO-Sponsored Fall Carnival @ WES

We are the FIRST SCHOOL IN THE ENTIRE LOWCOUNTRY to be a part of Run Hard, an 8-week after school program to prepare our students to run (or walk) a 5K race. Click the link on the image (below) for more information. It's a great way for our students to set goals and get fit 🏃. If you are interested in volunteering as a coach, please let me know asap (email me 😁).

Our students will participate in the 5K run at the Reindeer Run in Charleston on Saturday, December 14th. Once we recruit at least 4 more schools, we (the schools) will be able to host our own 5K. This is going to be A LOT of fun and support our Health & Wellness initiative.

Sign Up is $90 per student. The sign up cost covers all Run Hard swag and entry into the Reindeer Run.

RUNNER REGISTRATION OPENS - September 1st @ 8AM
REGISTRATION CLOSES - October 7th @ midnight
FIRST WEEK - October 14th

RACE DATE: December 14, 2024
Location: Reindeer Run - downtown Charleston. *program participation fee includes entry into the 5k*
Start Time: 8:00 AM

Do you think you have a student that could be gifted in any of the arts? Please sign them up for STEP auditions coming in January 2025. The forms will be open from Aug. 23 through Nov. 22 to accept nominations.

The Special Talent Enrichment Program (STEP) serves Berkeley County School District students in grades four through 12 who have been identified through auditions as gifted in dance, music, theatre, visual art and creative writing. The program currently consists of a two-week summer session and Saturday programs at Goose Creek High School. Middle school STEP students are also eligible to enroll at Marrington Middle School of the Arts.

AUDITION REGISTRATION

FULL STEP DESCRIPTION

Dear Parents,

With the High School Football Season in full swing, we are reaching out to remind you about an important procedure regarding attendance at high school athletic events, specifically football games.

All elementary and middle school-aged students must be accompanied by a responsible adult to enter any high school athletic event. This means that any child who is not in high school will not be allowed to enter the game without an adult present, this person needs to plan to stay for the game and be over the age of 18.

This procedure was put in place due to safety concerns related to the large number of unsupervised younger students at these events. Our goal is to ensure a safe and enjoyable environment for all attendees.

Please remember to plan accordingly when attending events. Thank you for your understanding and support in helping us maintain a safe environment for our students.

Have a great day and GO STAGS!

Heather Ducker, Interim Principal at Berkeley High School

If there is a change of transportation, a note with a parent/guardian's signature MUST be provided. Any student that tells staff that his or her parent/guardian told them to go home by another means will not be honored. For the safety of our students, a change in transportation must be submitted in writing to the student's teacher AND to the Front Office.

To ensure that our students remain safe while off-campus, we are asking families to purchase a WES School Spirit Shirt. Students will be able to wear their School Spirit Shirt on all of their Field Studies which has our 2024-25 AllforONE! logo and our school's contact information (on the front of the shirt). Also, 100% of the proceeds will go back in our field trip budget to ensure that we can keep costs down for families.

Shirts cost $10

Order your shirt using the link below

*shirts will come white with the blue logo or blue with the white logo

Show your school spirit and support our students by grabbing your WES Car Magnet! Every purchase helps fund exciting programs and activities, enriching your child's school experience. Plus, you are showcasing your WES pride in your community. Join us in making a difference—buy now and roll with school pride!

Car Magnets cost $10.

Immunizations

Each year the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) provides the South Carolina Immunization Requirements for Childcare and School.

Immunization requirements are regularly updated by DHEC. The following changes have been made for the 2024-2025 school year for students in third grade, eighth grade, ninth grade and 11th grade – this information is also available on DHEC’s Childcare & School Vaccine Requirements website.

• Third grade: two doses of hepatitis A vaccine with both doses received on or after the first birthday and separated by at least 6 months.

View full state immunization requirements for childcare 2024-2025 here.

Medications

BCSD would also like to remind its families of the protocol for giving prescription and non-prescription medicines at school:

• In order for a child to be given non-prescription medicines at school, the child’s parent/guardian must sign a permission form. Schools may have special rules for non-prescription medicines and may require parents or guardian to sign additional forms.
• In order for a child to be given a prescription medicine at school, the child’s health care practitioner and the child’s parent or guardian should sign a separate permission form. Because the instructions for some medications require more space than is provided on the form, some health care practitioners may prefer to use a practice specific form.

In both cases, schools may have special rules for prescription medicines and may require parents or guardians to sign additional forms. A responsible adult should deliver the medicine and the permission form to the school. The medicine must be in the original container with the label on it.

For information, please visit BCSD’s Nursing Services page.

• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• 2nd Grade
• 3rd Grade
• 4th Grade
• 5th Grade

• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• 2nd Grade
• 3rd Grade
• 4th Grade
• 5th Grade

• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• 2nd Grade
• 3rd Grade
• 4th Grade
• 5th Grade

• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• 2nd Grade
• 3rd Grade
• 4th Grade
• 5th Grade

Friday, September 6th - Movie Night

Saturday, October 12th - Fall Carnival

Saturday, February 8th - Sweetheart Dance

Friday, March 7th - Boosterthon Fun Run

Thursday, April 10th - Spring Fling (a part of STEAM Night)

Friday, May 23rd - 5th Grade Celebration

What is a School Improvement Council (SIC)?

An SIC is a broad-based body intended to advise the principal and school, and is focused on helping to achieve school improvement.

What do SICs do?

SIC duties focus primarily on the school improvement process.

Whitesville Elementary School SIC:

• provides input and feedback during the development of the School's Five-year renewal (improvement) plan and annual updates;
• assists in implementation of school improvement programs and activities;
• monitor and report on progress toward improvement goals in the annual SIC Report to the Parents and with the principal in the narrative to the SC School Report Card;
• provide other assistance as requested by the principal.

Why take the time to serve on an SIC?

• Because when parents are engaged in their children's education, their children do better in school and the quality of the school improves.
• Because parents bring wisdom to the Council. They have in-depth knowledge about their own children's strengths and needs as well as the perspectives of other families in the school.
• Because community members who are NOT parent of children in the schools still benefit from good schools in the form of a stronger local economy and property values.
• Because citizens who are NOT parents of children in the schools also have unique contributions to make to School Improvement Councils. Senior citizens, business people, members of the faith community, staff of social service agencies, and others all have knowledge, experiences and resources that can benefit their community's schools.

Learn more about South Carolina School Improvement Councils here.

Breakfast and lunch will be served on every day. If your student wants to eat breakfast at school, they should arrive to school between 6:50 a.m. - 7:18 a.m. Breakfast will no longer be served after 7:45 a.m.

“South Carolina Compulsory Attendance Law requires that a parent or guardian shall require his child to attend regularly a public or private school or kindergarten of this State which has been approved by the State Board of Education, a member school of the South Carolina Independent Schools and Association, a member school of the South Carolina Association of Christian Schools, or some similar organization, or a parochial, denominational, or church-related school, or other programs which have been approved by the State Board of Education f rom the school year in which the child is five years of age before September first until the child attains his seventeenth birthday or graduates from high school.”

• Our school's website is found at https://www.bcsdschools.net/o/wes
• WES Facebook page is Whitesville Elementary School Wise Owls
• The Weekly Hoots newsletter will be emailed & texted to families every Sunday evening. Please be sure to have your updated information in PowerSchool.
• Our PTO's website is wiseowlspto.com.
• Our PTO's Facebook page is Whitesville Wise Owls PTO.
• Schoology: Teachers will update their grades weekly.
• Rooms: Our two-way form of communication at WES. Every teacher at WES will use Rooms as a tool for communication.