WIVA Elementary Monthly News

Welcome to the 2025 School Year!

Dear K5 Families,

Welcome to another exciting school year! We are thrilled to kick off the year with our Meet & Greets which will be scheduled the week of August 26th. Our teachers will reach out to you no later than Wednesday, August 21st to introduce themselves and schedule a time to meet you and your learner and also conduct a brief reading assessment. This will help us understand each learner's unique needs and strengths as we tailor our instruction to support their growth.

We are particularly excited about our new instructional design this year which is reflected in the weekly schedule. Our approach is centered on personalized learning, focusing on each learner's individual needs and strengths in reading. We believe that this design will empower each learner to reach their full potential and develop a love for reading that lasts a lifetime.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership. We can't wait to start this journey with our learners and we look forward to an incredible year together.

In partnership,

Britta Hanson

Principal WIVA Elementary School

bhanson@k12.com

Important beginning of school things to note

ALL 2nd and 3rd Grade students will need a STRIDE issued laptop for taking the state required early literacy assessment.
ALL 2nd & 3rd Grade learners SHOULD NOT turn off their computer on September 3rd until the end of the day on September 4th for an important download.
All teachers will be in contact with you no later than Wednesday, August 22nd to set up a meet and greet for the week of August 26th.
Teachers will share their tentative schedule with you when they contact you next week.
School supply lists are linked below and listed by grade - please reach out to Brianna Hubbard, bhubbard@wivcs.org or MIchelle Pliml, mpliml@wivcs.org if you would like assistance with purchasing the needed supplies.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eaqA6m5QaigyVM6m1xyY4ZjiUnFg3TIQ/view?usp=sharing

Materials on the WAY!

Early Literacy Materials

2nd and 3rd Graders - many learners will be receiving additional materials for use during their reading foundations classes. These materials will not be shipped until after assessments and placement in a reading foundations class occurs. Expect these materials to arrive in the 3rd or 4th week of September.

Science Kits

3rd and 4th Graders - Science kits will be arriving within the next couple of week for these grade levels. ALL other grades have the necessary science materials listed on their grade specific school supply list. MOST science materials are common household items.

Project Based Learning Materials - your learner's teacher will communicate throughout the year if there is a need for additional materials specific to a learner's individual project.

Say HELLO to our Elementary Staff!

4K - Caylee Schmidt

Kindergarten - Jennifer Vale & Kristin Brazier

1st Grade - Robin Bradford, Sarah Hadzialijagic, Bethany Palmer

2nd Grade - Stephany Beckstrom, Angie Zak, Jhordin Andell

3rd grade - Katie Bachochin, Ashley Mallo, Holly Hammann

4th Grade - Virginia Vormann, Brett Oxley, Colleen Janssen

5th Grade - Ashley DeBo-Gross, Rachel Henriquez, Amy Owen, Amy Marten

FLEX - Katie Keehan

Special programs - Brooke Mackenzie, Lauren Bruans, Brittany Punches, Jessica Schlieske, Shannon Finger, Kristyn Lahoff, Connie Ellsworth, Miriam Mueller-Owens, Karisa Weske, Emma Speder

Counselors - Michelle Pliml, Brianna Hubbard

Mentors - Abby Haufe, Dawn Rosenogle

Interventionists - Tara Koch, Kassandra Loken, Donna Zolinski

Coordinators - Holly Knudtson, Crystal Sandman, Erin Wermeling, Kim Klann

Schedules are Intentionally Designed to support student growth in reading

Last spring, we collaborated with teachers, LCs and virtual schools across the country to create an instructional design that supports an increase in reading growth for our students. We have prioritized balancing screen time, teacher live instruction, independent work, socialization, play, and family time all while providing instruction that meets the needs of individual students.

In order to ensure our instruction meets our learner's needs we will be administering short assessments at our meet and greets and throughout September so we know what each individual learner needs for their reading instruction. We are doing this as early as possible so that we can begin with the appropriate instruction without delay. Given the need for assessment information before instruction your learner's schedule will be tentative and may change within the first few weeks of school.

5th Grade House structure

We had an influx of enrollment at 5th grade this summer so we have added a teacher and created a house structure.

Learning Partnerships at the Elementary School

Partners Active in Learning (PALs)

We believe that our learning coaches are our partners in learning, so we intentionally plan weekly meetings with them in order to support their role as a learning coach. PALs sessions vary from 4xweek in 4K, kindergarten and 1st grade to 1x week in grades 2nd-5th. The times are consistent in our master schedule and LCs are expected to attend. Teachers walk through the week explaining the needed materials and how the LCs can support their child’s learning. The goal is to provide LCs with the skills and information needed to support the learner's learning throughout the week as well as provide an adult community for the LCs.

Learning Partners (New in 2024-2025)

To support our focus on early literacy we have scheduled designated times in the schedule for Learning Coaches and their learner to engage in structured, offline, literacy activities provided by the teacher. The focus is on oral language development, reading aloud to learners, early reading skills, and fun. 4K and kindergarten will engage daily while 1st and 2nd grade will have longer blocks of time weekly. The goal is to provide LCs with knowledge, skills and materials to engage in fun learning activities with their learner in order to support their love of reading while growing their early literacy skills.

BOY & MOY Conferences

We start every child’s experience at WIVA with a conference with their new teacher during their Week of Welcome during Strong Start. In addition, every student is invited to a Beginning of Year conference prior to the start of school with their homeroom teacher. This is a time to get to know the learners and their specific goals for the school year. We also host Middle of the Year conferences where we update progress and goals to ensure a strong finish of the school year.

ACE! Attend, Communicate, Engage

When you signed up for WIVA, you as the Learning Coach, committed to being a partner with us in the education of your learner. Unlike a Brick and Mortar school, your learner NEEDs you present, in the home, engaging both online and offline in school.

Please review our ACE expectations ACE-Attend, Communicate, Engage - Copy.pptx

In addition, we expect our Elementary LCs to:

Attend the Meet and Greets at the beginning of the year with their learner

Attend the PALs sessions hosted by teachers

Communicate the importance of schooling with their learner

Communicate with the teacher learner needs

Engage in PALS and the Learning Partnership activities