Hello, Bulldog Families!

We hope you're enjoying warmer weather in the second semester. We are confident that we will continue to have a successful school year together. To achieve this, we would like to share a few highlights:

Academic Growth: WZES is a school that works together to improve all students' academic success. Our goal is for all students to make personal growth. Parents, please continue to help support us as your child grows as a student. Report cards are posted, and paper copies have been sent home.

Outside Drinks: We encourage healthy hydration of water only. A water bottle with a lid is the only option for any drinks within the classroom.

Student Attendance: Regular school attendance is very important for academic success. Parents, we would like to ask you to partner with us in being on time for school and attending every day. School begins at 9:50 a.m. and finishes at 4:00 p.m. Our doors open each day at 9:30 a.m. It's crucial for each child to be in the classroom to learn and grow each day.

Safety First: Our students' and staff's safety and well-being is most important. We will remain vigilant in maintaining a secure and nurturing school environment.

Transportation: All riders must have a tag to check in and off the bus. Please keep these tags on backpacks for safety.

Dismissal: If you are picking up your child, you must have a photo ID available for checkout. If someone else is picking up your child, the person must be in MyStudent so the child can be picked up with proper ID. If you are changing afternoon transportation, please use this link before 3:15 p.m. It is also available on the WZES website. This form helps us ensure your child's safety with any changes. https://wzes.pasco.k12.fl.us/mform/view.php?id=18826

Please take a look at the information in this newsletter. We have a great deal to share!

If you have any questions or need more assistance, please call us at the school or use the emails found at the end of the newsletter.

Mrs. Twardosz, Mrs. Allen, Ms. Purcell

Pasco County Schools is required to notify parents if their student is receiving instruction from a teacher who is teaching outside of their certified field. Individuals who are teaching out-of-field are qualified to teach but are required to take additional coursework or testing to add a teaching area and/or endorsement to their certificate. The state also requires a teacher to take coursework or in-service towards an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) endorsement when the teacher is the primary language arts teacher and/or reading teacher for an ESOL student.

The following teachers have agreed to teach outside their field while completing their coursework and/or testing requirements:

• Batista, Katherine - ESOL Endorsement K-12
• Black, Catherine - Elementary Education K-6; ESOL Endorsement K-12
• Hodge, Justin - ESOL Endorsement K-12
• Horsley, Jaime - ESOL Endorsement K-12
• Lloyd, Leortha - ESOL Endorsement K-12
• Reed, Melanie - ESOL Endorsement K-12
• Rich, Hanna - ESOL Endorsement K-12
• Rodriguez, Karina - Elementary Education K-6, ESOL Endorsement K-12
• Rowe, Anastasia - ESOL Endorsement K-12
• Spaulding, Kandra - ESOL Endorsement K-12
• Wilt, Cynthia - ESOL Endorsement K-12

To apply for the 2025-2026 School Year... follow this link

https://www.pasco.k12.fl.us/ecp/

• February 7 ~ All Pro Dads
• February 12 ~ 4th Grade Lunch and Learn
• February 14 and February 17 ~ No School
• February 21 ~ Progress Reports Posted; 7:30 a.m. WZES Student Advisory Council Meeting
• March 7 ~ All Pro Dads
• March 12 ~ 2nd Grade Lunch and Learn
• March 14 ~ Teacher Work Day
• March 17-21 ~ Spring Break
• March 28 ~ WZES Student Advisory Council Meeting
• March 31 ~ Report Cards

Complete this form to have a birthday shout-out!

Please submit this form two weeks before you want the message displayed. You can pay the fee in the school's front office. Last-minute requests may not be able to be displayed.
If your child's birthday falls on a weekend, your child's name will be displayed the week prior on the Marquee. The money earned from the Birthday Marquee goes toward student and staff recognition.

We know that providing a safe and secure learning environment for our students is essential to their success. We need your support to reinforce the student rules of conduct. It is important that students understand we are committed to providing a quality education in a safe setting for all students. Please review the Student Code of Conduct

This month, we are working on keeping our restrooms safe, clean, and free from damage. We are also focused on respect and responsibility for all actions at school. Thank you for your help reinforcing these positive behaviors.

For all Pasco County Schools ~ Grades Pre-K through 5:

Students in grades Pre-K through 5 who bring WCDs (wireless communication devices) to school must ensure that they remain on silent mode and completely out of view for the entire school day. Students must put their cell phones on silent and their smartwatches in their bookbags once they arrive on campus each day. Please discuss that cell phones MUST be on SILENT and put away during the ENTIRE school day- no exceptions. Refer to pg. 32 of the Student Code of Conduct for more details and corrective actions/confiscation of device procedures.

It is very important that you have access to your child's Parent Portal. This is where you will be able to view your child's Progress Reports and Report Cards, test results, and bus passes.

If you need help creating or logging in to your account, please see the resources available at https://www.pasco.k12.fl.us/parents.

Have complete access to your school's cafeteria menu right from your computer or smartphone. Click this link, or download the mobile app, to view/print your Café's Menu, monitor food allergies, and calculate critical nutritional information such as counting carbohydrates.

MealViewer allows you to customize your food service experience by allowing you to mark your favorite entrees and it will notify you when it's on the menu so you don't miss it! Once you create a User Profile account the site will store your school(s), allergen information, and favorite entrees. You can save multiple schools to your account if you have more than one child attending different grade levels. By saving allergens to your profile, parents and students will be alerted when an allergen is present on the menu. This cuts down on uncertainty and potentially dangerous situations for each of our students.

The education of a child happens only through a partnership between the student, School and District personnel, parent(s) or guardian(s), and the community. Partnership is an active state that includes sharing responsibilities, having meaningful communication, and welcoming participation. People will not always agree, and that can make partnerships difficult. Partnerships are most powerful when we agree on how to disagree. All stakeholders must remain civil in their discourse. The purpose of this policy is to provide rules of conduct for students, employees, parents, and visiting members of the public which permit and encourage effective communication between all stakeholders, while at the same time enabling the Board to identify and deal with those behaviors that are inappropriate and disruptive to the operation of a school or other District facility. It is not the intent of the Board to deprive any person of his/her right to freedom of expression, and nothing contained in this policy is intended to restrict or chill an individual's free speech rights as determined by the forum in which the speech occurs. Public participation at school board meetings shall continue to be governed by Board Policy 0169.1 - Public Participation at School Board Meetings.

(F.S. 1001.41(2), 1006.145, 20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq., 29 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 29 U.S.C. 794 et seq., 41 U.S.C. 1983, Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000 et seq., 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq)

Main Office: (813) 794-6300

Office Hours 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

WZES Website: https://wzes.pasco.k12.fl.us/

WZES Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WZESBulldogs

WZES Twitter: https://twitter.com/WZES_Bulldogs

Administrative Team:

Principal ~ Mrs. Twardosz ctwardos@pasco.k12.fl.us

Assistant Principal ~ Mrs. Allen aallen@pasco.k12.fl.

Assistant Principal ~ Ms. Purcell epurcell@pasco.k12.fl.us

Student Services Team:

Clinic Assistant ~ Denise Bartus dbartus@pasco.k12.fl.us

School Nurse ~ Catilin Geiger cageiger@pasco.k12.fl.us

School Counselor: Antonio Belavilas abelavil@pasco.k12.fl.us

School Psychologist ~ Claudia Long ~ cllong@pasco.k12.fl.us

School Social Worker ~ Leortha Lloyd llloyd@pasco.k12.fl.us

School Social Worker ~ Yuly Mera ymera@pasco.k12.fl.us

Student Support Specialist ~ Alicia Price amprice@pasco.k12.fl.us

Dropout Prevention Teacher ~ Justin Hodge jhodge@pasco.k12.fl.us

Intervention Teacher ~ Killian Hoffman khoffman@pasco.k12.fl.us

ESOL Teacher ~ Zeraris Arroyo zarroyo@pasco.k12.fl.us

Need to contact a teacher? All teacher emails can be found on our website. Just click the Contact Us on the tab at the top.