January

1/13 - Full implementation of weapon detectors

1/16 - Coffee and Conversation with the Principals - Please RSVP through the flyer QR code below. More information below.

1/17 - PK field trip to Children's Museum

1/21 - PTO meeting @ 5:30

1/23 - 6th grade informational night - NKMS 5-7pm

1/27 - Middle School visits GWES

1/29 - Kids Challenge Student Activity

1/30 - Report Cards Come Home

1/31 - Spotlight celebration from 1st semester

Starting in January - Based on your feedback we are going to try increasing family lunch days to see how it goes. Families will be able to eat lunch any Wednesday or Friday and will no longer be grade specific. Just a reminder that you cannot share food with other students and if you are sitting at a separate table, only your child can sit with you. This will help with allergy safety and keep things manageable. Thank you.

Coffee and Conversation - To better answer your questions and promote a stronger cohesive community relationship, Mrs. Sutton and myself are hosting a Coffee and Conversation to have more face to face time with parents. This is a great time to get answers to questions, find out what is happening in the school and address concerns. We want this to be a positive dialogue, so please provide any questions ahead of time so we have time to research answers if needed. Even if you cannot attend, please submit questions and we will send out responses to everyone. We look forward to talking with you!

Here is a link to the VQB5 Newsletter VQB5 parent info

Looking for ways to volunteer

Dear Parents,

As a token of appreciation, Lifetouch is offering discounts on school photography!

• 25% off a purchase of $29.99+ with code THANKFUL25

Valid through 12/31/2024

To order, please click here.

Thank you!

We appreciate the support of our wonderful parents. Thank you for everything you do for our staff and students!

https://www.facebook.com/NKCPS

Twitter- @GWESwildcats

Instagram- gweswildcats

https://gwes.newkentschools.org/

http://www.gwespto.com/

*Due to a lot of misunformation being posted on social media we have updated the handbook on guidelines for lice and chronic student dieseases. These guidelines are state mandated and apply to ALL schools.

New Attendance Policy - Due to state requirements, principals can nolonger excuse vacation days. If a parent has not used their 10 parent contacts, vacation days will be coded as a PC if the school is notified. If all parent contacts have been used, they will be considered unexcused.

Drop off and Pick Up Procedures

Due to the increased number of students, our parking lot will not be able to handle a larger number of parents waiting in our parking lot for an extended time in the mornings or afternoons. This prevents us from having safety access as well as staff mobility to come and go.

Morning Drop Off - We are asking parents to help by waiting until 8:30 to enter the drop off line in the morning. Otherwise, our staff will not be able to park. We will start allowing students in at 8:40. Please do not park and wait in the front either as those spaces are also for staff (who are not required to be there until 8:30) and people visiting. Students are not considered late untill 9:00.

Afternoon Pick Up - In the afternoon we will continue with creating a line in the back row of the parking lot closest to the bus loop first and then a second row in the front. Parents will be asked to pull forward starting at 3:20 starting with the back row. The front parking lot will be closed until then. If the lines reach the road, parents will be unable to enter and have to circle back. By coming only when it is time to dismiss (3:30) we will hopefully prevent a backlog of traffic. Our lines take approximately 12 mins from beginning to end, so there is no need to be extremely early. If everyone follows these guidelines, we can effectively and safely get you in and out in a timely manner. (Give a week for everyone to learn the system.) 3:15 is the latest students can be picked up from the office and dismissal is usually finished around 3:45.

Attendance

There are new accredidation standards starting this year. Part of the new standards continues to be attendance. Last year our chronic abseentism rate increased from 7% to 12%. A student is considered chroncially absent if they miss 10% or more of the academic year for ANY reason (excused or unexcused). Based on 180 day school year this amounts to approximately 18 days per year. 12% of our students fell in this category which was reflected in their struggle to master the curriculum. Coming late or leaving early every day causes your child to miss the same content repeatedly. Learning is happening right up until 3:20-3:30. Our accredidation impacts everyone. Please make every effort to have your students on time and present every day unless they are vomiting or running a fever. Vacation requests can be excused up to 3 days if a request is emailed to the principal ahead of time. Please use our several longer breaks for vacation. All other days are considered unexcused.

Lunch

Please make sure to put money on your child's account on a regular basis. Any money not paid by the end of the year must be paid by the school which will decrease the funds for fieldtrips and other school events. Please fill out the free & reducted lunch form to see if you will qualify.

Medications - All medications (including cough drops, allergy medicine, Tylenol, etc) must be brought into the nurse and not sent in with the student. If your child needs a medical plan, has allergies, asthma or other type of condition that requires us to have medication/inhalers on hand, please make sure that is taken care of Monday.

Let's make this the best year ever and welcome to all of our new families. We are so happy that you have joined the Wildcat Family!.

Ms. K

Parents - Please read through the handbook to find more detailed information about policies at GWES. Pay close attention to dress code, attendance, lunch visits and pick-up/dismissal policies.