September 2024

Our first PTC meeting this school year will be on Thursday, September 5th at 3:45 pm. Meetings are held in our cafeteria. We hope you will consider attending and joining our absolutely incredible PTC!

Title I Family Night: Our Kindergarten and First Grade Families are invited to a 'Night with the Author' from 4:00-5:00 pm on Thursday, September 12th. We are hosting local author, Shannon Anderson. She will give a short presentation to inspire our young students to become authors, even at their age! She will have books for sale after the presentation!

Later this month we will be celebrating College Go Week! Take a look at our fun dress-up days during the week of September 23rd.

Title I Family Night: Our 3rd Grade Families are invited to 'Bingo for Books' at WES on Tuesday, September 24th. Flyers with more information went home last week!

Our School Picture Day is Thursday, September 26th. We will have more information about Picture Day and how to order your child's pictures when we get closer to the date.

Our 3rd graders will be taking the first of three ILEARN Checkpoints during the week of September 30th. Kankakee Valley students in grades 3 through 6 have opted in to pilot these new Checkpoints for the 2024-2025 school year. They will become mandatory next school year.

The ILEARN Checkpoints are shorter assessments which will take our students about 30-45 minutes to complete. There will be one Checkpoint for Math and one for Reading. Checkpoint #2 will be given in January and Checkpoint #3 will be given in March. This is a great opportunity for our school and students to see first what the future holds for all students in Indiana. The summative ILEARN assessment will still be administered in late April/early May.

Your child's 3rd grade teacher will communicate the days they will be testing later this month. As always, attendance is important!

On Friday, September 6th, your child will be coming home with their Fall NWEA Family Report. This report will show you how they performed on their beginning-of-year NWEA test that they took in the first weeks of school.

For the month of September, I will be focusing on the topic of Self Awareness.

Tips for Parents and Guardians:

Encourage your child to talk about the different emotions they experience throughout the day.

Model talking about your own feelings and how they’ve changed over the course of the day.

Parents, you can help your child understand that feelings go away with time by asking, "How do you think you'll feel about this problem tomorrow or next week?

Help your child learn the signs of their emotions by asking them, "How do different body parts feel when you're angry? Does your stomach hurt? Do you feel hot?"

** I will also be starting our Bullying Prevention Program: Recognizing Bullying

REMINDER: Please call the office if you need to make a change for your child's dismissal transportation. Please call in before 1:00 pm. For example: You will be picking your child up rather than riding the bus home. Please DO NOT message your child's teacher on Class Dojo. We want to make sure the message gets to your child and your child's teacher. Please call in at 219-956-3221. Please call in before 1:00 pm. Thank you!

A reminder that we dismiss at 3:25 PM for Parent Pick-Up. Due to safety concerns with traffic backing up to the highway, we begin releasing students 3-5 minutes before our scheduled dismissal of 3:25 PM for Parent Pick-Up students. We are asking for your assistance with arriving to pick-up your child closer to 3:25 PM. This will prevent the line from backing up into the highway. Your assistance with this request is very much appreciated!

If you are dropping your child off and/or picking them up at school, please follow these procedures:

· Please stay in the car line and have your child enter and exit on the PASSENGER SIDE OF YOUR VEHICLE.

· ALL cars that are parked along the curb will release their child to enter the school. There will be extra staff members to assist your child.

· Be ready to provide staff members with your child’s barcode.

· All parents who are dropping off and picking up their child should approach our school from the south (State Road 10). This will assist our bus traffic as they enter for arrival and dismissal.

· Parents must stay in their vehicle, no congregating by the school doors.

· Students must be fastened into their seatbelts before leaving. IF your child needs assistance with buckling up, please park in the parking lot to allow the line to continue.

· Your patience and cooperation are much appreciated.

Some Attendance Tips:

• Make sure your student keeps a regular bedtime and establishes a morning routine.

• Turn off all electronics including TVs, phones, and tablets at bedtime.

• Have backpack and clothes prepared the night before.

• Check with our school nurse or office staff if you are not sure about when to keep your child at home due to illness.

• Avoid scheduling vacations while school is in session.

• Make every effort to schedule doctor appointments around school hours.

• Talk to teachers and our social worker for advice if your student feels anxious about going to school.

• In the event that your student cannot get to school in their normal manner, develop a plan with another family member or trusted adult to get them to school that day.

If you have a pre-planned absence for your child, you will need to complete KV's Pre-Planned Absence Form. This needs to be completed at least 2 days prior to the absence(s). You can stop by our School Office for one or request one from your child's teacher. Thank you!

We are so excited for our annual Science Night at WES! This is a fun night of learning about all of the science that happens right here in our community! Flyers and RSVP forms will be coming home on Wednesday!

Parent-Teacher Conferences are in October! They will be held after school on Monday, October 14th and Wednesday, October 16th. Later this month, you will be able to schedule a time to meet with your child's teacher. More information will be sent home soon!

Title I's Family Night: Our 2nd grade families will be invited to our annual 'Locked in the Library' event held at the Wheatfield Public Library. Flyers to RSVP will be coming home several weeks before the event to RSVP to attend.

Have you "LIKED" our Wheatfield Elementary School Facebook Page yet?!

We post A LOT of great things on our Facebook Page!!!

Click HERE to take you there!!!

Location: 251 S Center Street, Wheatfield, IN
Phone: (219) 956-3221
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WheatfieldElementary