Wolf Cub Press

I hope that everyone had a great summer! While we have had some rainy weather lately, the earlier part of the summer definitely lent itself to lots of outdoor activity and swimming!

Please review this newsletter for general information about the upcoming school year. By now, you should have received communication from your child's teacher as well. This may have been via email, phone, or snail mail! If you think you missed this communication, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's homeroom teacher via email.

Shirley Bergstresser (K/1) - sbergstresser@hdsd.org

Lisa Grolljahn (2/3) - lgrolljahn@hdsd.org

Stephanie Engle (4/5) - sengle@hdsd.org

For registration or general school questions, feel free to reach out to Dawn Bilsk or myself.

Thank you, and see you all in a week!

Please review the handbook (link below). A sign off that you have read and understand the handbook will be sent home the first week of school. Please return it as soon as possible.

Changes from previous years are in blue on the table of contents. Please make sure to review those sections.

If you have not already done so, please sign into Powerschool and complete the school year registration. This is an extremely important process in ensuring that we have updated contact information and permissions.

We love to showcase all the great things we do at WES, but it is difficult to share pictures when we aren't sure who is allowed to have pictures shared and who is not. This is one small part of the registration process but it is extremely important and helpful for us to know.

August 21st - Ice Cream Social 3:45-4:45pm on the playground - Please come and see your teachers and classmates. The building will not be open at this time.

August 26th - First day of school for kindergarten through fifth grade

August 27th - First day of school for Early Learners

August 30th and September 2nd - No School - Labor Day holiday

September 6th - Whole School Family Meeting at 2:30pm in the gym. This year we are changing out whole school meetings to the afternoon. Families are invited to the first meeting of each month. At this meeting, we will roll out that month's habit and do an activity.

September 10th - No School - Professional Development day for staff; State Primary Election

September 17th - Washington School Board Meeting - 6:00pm in the art room

September 18th - Back to School Night - 5:30-7:00pm - We will meet together as a whole school community in the gym and then families will be invited to visit classrooms. The Title I Annual Meeting will happen in the Early Learning room at 6:15pm. All Early Learning families should go to Early Learning first before going to other classrooms.

Specials will be as follows this year:

Monday - Unified Art with Mrs. Sandoe (Students will learn more about this in the first few weeks of school. Mrs. Sandoe will be using a technique called visual literacy and will be incorporating ELA themes and nature into this unified art special.)

Tuesday - Library with Mrs. Colarusso

Wednesday - Art with Mrs. Sandoe

Thursday - PE with Mrs. Colarusso

Friday - Health with Mr. Rhodes (1 time per month for each class)

Please remember sneakers on Thursdays for PE, but it's always a good idea to wear sneakers each day or keep a pair in your child's backpack just in case we go outside another day of the week.

School lunches can be purchased this year for the following prices:

Breakfast: $1.75

Lunch: $2.75

Milk: $0.40

Reduced Breakfast: $0.00

Reduced Lunch: $0.40

We encourage ALL families to fill out the free and reduced lunch application whether or not you will use the program or not. This application helps our school obtain federal grant money which funds our Early Learning program, special programs for students, and training for teachers. Without this funding, these programs would not be possible with our current budget. If you do not think you would qualify or you do not want to use the free/reduced lunch service, we understand but still ask that you fill out the application.

You can apply online here: https://secure.ezmealapp.com/ApplicationScreen.aspx

**While we are technically a separate district from Hillsboro-Deering, when it asks for District Name, for this form, please use Hillsboro-Deering.

**You only need to fill out one form per family, so if you have MS/HS students, you only have to complete the form once.

A paper application will be sent home on the first day of school.

How to Pay for Lunch:

Please pay in advance for each week's meals. Each Friday, Dawn Bilski will send home envelopes with your child's balance written on it. Please return the envelope with cash or check payable to Washington School District with enough money for that week's meals. Please see the handbook for more information. Thank you!

Bus routes are posted on the hdsd.org website. Bus #73 and Bus #74 are the Washington busses. Please be sure to be at the bus stop 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time. In the afternoon, please wait outside for your child so the bus driver knows that someone is at the stop or home. Students in kindergarten through grade 2 may not be dropped off without someone over the age of 18 to greet them, unless we have written permission that an older sibling will be getting off the bus with them.

If you need to reach the school for any reason, please call the main office at 495-3463. If someone does not answer, please leave a message. We check messages frequently throughout the day, but there is not always someone at the front desk, as we all wear many hats!

If there are changes to your child's dismissal routine, please make sure to leave a message on the office phone before 2:00pm, as opposed to emailing Dawn or the teacher. Our teachers often do not have time to check their emails throughout the day and may miss the message, so a phone call is best. Please do not leave messages about dismissal or absences on the school Facebook page or any staff member's personal Facebook page.

In the event that internet is down, our phones are also down. We do have one emergency phone to use if this happens. The number for that phone is 603-495-0187. There is no way to leave a message on this line. Please only use this number if you try the main line and it does not ring or gives you a busy signal.

If there's ever anything we can do to improve our communication, please let us know!

If you ever have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. I typically get to school by 7:45am, and I stay until about 4:30 (sometimes later!). On days I teach specials, you may not reach me right away, but if you leave a message, I will give you a call when I am available. Email is also a great way to get a hold of me.

Email: kcolarusso@hdsd.org
Website: https://www.hdsd.org/Domain/200
Phone: 603-495-3463
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Washington-Elementary-School-110720773888378