Wasco Weekly

Dear Wasco Families,

This week, Wasco School teachers continued with a Valentine’s Day theme by participating in a “Share the Love” event during teacher work time. During our summer planning, our school developed Professional Dispositions which anchor our collaborative work. One of those dispositions is committing to an active, collaborative, and solution oriented approach.

We were excited to see the results of our collective habits as we reviewed our mid year school achievement results. As a continuation of our commitment to teacher collaboration, this week’s meetings focused on highlighting our successes and reviewing them with our teaching peers in order to learn from one another. Wasco School staff seeks to emulate the learning behaviors we want to cultivate in our students.

Kind regards,

Principal Brennan

331-228-6294

Stephanie.brennan@d303.org

February 25 End of 2nd Trimester (Elementary Schools)

February 26 School Improvement Day - NO STUDENTS

March 26 School Improvement Day - NO STUDENTS

March 29-April 2 Spring Break

Mrs. Therrien, our Music Teacher, has been including an SEL song of the month at the end of some of her music classes. If you are interested in listening with your children, you are welcome to use the links below. These songs are offered through one of our curricular resources, Quaver, and if you visit their youtube channel (QuaverED) you'll find many SEL songs appropriate to share with our learners.

January song: Feel the Same Way

February song: I'm Only in Control of Me

We would like to introduce you to Mr. Wayne Dunham. Mr. Dunham is a floating substitute teacher who is regularly assigned to our school. During the day you can find him filling in for absent teachers, teaching small groups, or helping in the lunch room. Mr. Dunham is also a published author! He wrote The Train That Rescued Christmas and hosts a special celebratory Christmas event. In the past, he has organized a yearly train ride from Lisle to Chicago, filled with Santa's, Disney Princesses, elves, etc. to entertain the families. We are fortunate to have such an accomplished community member to work with our kids every day. Thank you Mr. Dunham!

The PTO is excited for After School Enrichment to be here!

Below you will find the Week 1 ASE schedule flyer. You will see a mix of live Zoom calls and take home kits available. Registration will open at 12 noon on Wednesday, February 17th.

To register, head on over to FreshSchools and you'll find all the classes under Enrichment.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Leslie Brennan, Wasco PTO Treasurer at WascoPTOTreasurer@gmail.com

This is just a reminder that if anyone in the household has the following symptoms described below that all siblings need to stay home from school until the one with symptoms is cleared from their physician with an alternative diagnosis stating the symptoms are not related to Covid or a negative Covid test.

Fever(100.4 degrees or higher), new onset of moderate to severe headache, shortness of breath, new cough, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain from unknown cause, new congestion/runny nose, new loss of sense of taste or smell, nausea, fatigue from unknown cause, muscle or body aches.

This is very important to keep everyone in the school safe and healthy during this pandemic.

Kindly,

Nurse Tina

My name is Jennifer Rothenberg, I am a volunteer with Random Acts Matter (RAM). Random Acts of Kindness Week is February 15-21st 2021.
This is our fourth year of coordinating an all-out effort to spread care and compassion throughout Saint Charles with Random Acts of Kindness.
We were amazed at the participation of our schools last year and hope that this year will be even better!
We encourage our local students to get actively involved in February and beyond! This is a great opportunity for your students, faculty, staff, and families to shine by really changing our community! Please post our calendar of events to staff and your weekly newsletter. Thank you for your consideration of this amazing experience for your school! Please post photos to our Facebook, twitter, and Instagram pages to create a ripple effect of Kindness.
RAM is always looking for opportunities to grant acts of kindness, please keep us in mind if you have a student, staff, faculty, or family whom you would like to nominate to receive an act of kindness. Please check our website for more information or to nominate someone in need of a bit of care and compassion at:
www.randomactsmatter.com.

Volunteer for the weeks events at:

https://signup.com/go/EiyNfjS

Most Sincerely,
Jen Rothenberg
Random Acts of Kindness Week,
Co-chair
jonjenrothenberg@gmail.com

Your participation in the parent portion of the 5Essentials survey will give you the opportunity to share your thoughts on important elements of school effectiveness. Please use the link below to complete the survey.

We are in the process of registering students for kindergarten- be sure to tell your friends!

The District 303 Kindergarten enrollment process for the 2021-2022 school year will be virtual! Between January 19 and March 12, families will be able to enroll their kindergarten-age children by visiting the Kindergarten Registration & Information page of the District 303 website. On the site you will find:

• The New Student Intake Form (coming January 19, 2021)

• The Kindergarten Step-by-Step Guide for registration

• Health and Dental exams and immunization information

• Contact information for all elementary schools

• Information about Full Day and Half Day Kindergarten

Please Contact Patricia Burton at 331-228-5242 or patricia.burton@d303.org to arrange for more information.

The job is monitoring the students for indoor/outdoor lunch and recess. The qualifications is just being available from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm.

Outside, as weather permits, during PE and recess. Therefore, students must have snow pants and boots in order to participate in the activities.

Students should bring their snow boots, snow pants, and other outdoor gear in a bag, separate from their book bag. This bag is kept at their individual workstation, so a cloth bag that has a flat bottom is preferred (something that you might use to carry items from a shopping trip).

Suggestions for the bag:

• a small personal towel

• label clothes- all clothes, with your child’s name

• extra health masks, in case it gets wet

Please do contact your classroom teacher or the office if you have any questions or would like to share information.

Students will need to have a balance on their accounts to cover the items they wish to purchase from the Ala Cart menu. Our school has water bottle fillers throughout the building and students are welcome to refill their bottle at any time. As a reminder, all school lunches come with a milk. If you would like to check the balance on your account, the link for Push Coin is below.

The District 303 Community Preschool Program will be conducting its annual registration lottery. Enrollment will be offered online from January 19 to February 2, 2021. Two informational meetings will be offered via Zoom for all interested community families who reside in District 303. The lottery enrollment link and informational meeting's registration link can be found on the District website on the Early Childhood page. Please note, in order to receive the Zoom links for the informational meetings, you must complete the registration form.

Our Physical Education department is a great example of the resourcefulness of our teachers. We are ready to teach the target skills at home, in person, inside or outside. Knowing that inclement weather was coming our way, Mrs. Misner taught her students the “Cha Cha Slide” using the PE standards of movement. She had a masterful plan, as the lesson progressed into the skills of basketball. The PE department used the same health and safety protocols as fall soccer: equipment assigned to each child and disinfected between sessions.

In case you didn’t see it on the Wasco School Facebook: Wasco’s Career Day was a success! We have a collection of doctors, businesspeople, farmers, chefs, and scientists of all types. With all the chefs here, I think most parents don’t even have to cook! :-)

Families who wish to submit a Middle School Transfer request may do so beginning February 1, 2021. Families must complete a separate form for each student they want to be transferred. Requests are granted based on space available. This means that siblings are not guaranteed placement. A written decision will be communicated to families before spring break.

Once the request is approved, a student may remain at that middle school throughout his or her middle school career, as long as the student resides in District 303.

Families of students granted permission to attend a school outside of their assigned attendance area are responsible for their own transportation.

Students will return to their assigned attendance area high school regardless of the middle school attended.

Our school community both staff and students, self-certifies their health electronically before entering the building using the D303 Self Certification system. As a reminder, please sign the backpack tag and complete the online Self Certification daily. It would be very helpful if you could complete this certification before your child arrives at school. Please contact the office if you have any questions.

Thursday, January 28, 1-3 PM Eastern Time

Join expert Teachers College Reading and Writing Project staff at our upcoming workshop day for parents and caregivers of students in grades K-8. Learn more about ways to support your child’s literacy education at home, what or how they are learning in school, how to best engage in home literacy projects, and more.

These days are typically 2-3 hours long, composed of a series of 15-minute small-group presentations. Parents and caregivers can choose the workshops that match their needs and are free to come for one workshop or many. The schedule of workshops will be made available prior to the event. These sessions are offered live and are not recorded for later viewing.

Click the link below to register.

https://tcrwp.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIudu-orzMrGdUN0IyGUGksRGCvS2Sjp9E5

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Our school library is here to provide reading materials for your child. We have three ways to access fiction and nonfiction books: Print books for In-Person Learners, Digital/eBooks for In Persona and Remote learners, and Book Pickup for Remote learners. Please use this link below to access the pathway you choose. Happy reading!

Book Checkout procedures

Parents,

At this time of the year, teachers will receive many expressions of your gratitude. Recently, our teachers received written notes from one of our families. The family provided a personal thank you letter to each teacher, describing the impact of the teacher on their child. Parents, you and I have the same unique position, we have an opportunity to admire the efforts of teachers. As a former teacher and a lover of teaching, I can tell you that the best teachers actively respond to the needs of their students. It is complex and draining work, but the rewards are thrilling and transformational. Thank you for taking time to recognize and appreciate the teacher's hard work. It contributes to our learning community in such a meaningful way.

The informative video below will walk you through steps to access your child's progress on our most recent iReady test. You will be able to view the diagnostic scale score information and a record of your child's independent iReady practice.

i-Ready Family Video

i-Ready

Students have completed their winter i-Ready diagnostic. We will send home paper copies of diagnostic reports during winter break, but if you would like to access your child's i-Ready diagnostic information in the i-ready student portal as well as additional family resources, please watch the video below.

i-Ready Family Video

This week our musicians premiered the Winter Virtual Concert 2020! I am so very proud of them and their hard work. Thank you for all your support of the band program.

Please enjoy our virtual concert!

Winter Band Concert

Happy Holidays!

Marianne Rice

Virtual December Orchestra Concert Viewing Party!

You, and your family, friends - whomever you would like to invite -- may watch the premier of our Wasco/Bell Graham Virtual December Orchestra Concert 2020. Snuggle up with some cookies and cocoa and enjoy the culmination of many hours of work by your musicians!

Here is the link for viewing the concert. Enjoy!

Wasco/Bell Graham Orchestra Virtual concert 2020

Our music department has provided some fun holiday activities for our families. Check out the "Nutcracker Cup Game"! This activity will also be featured on our Facebook page.

Mr. Carter and Mrs. Therrien

Starting November 10th, Organic Life will be offering breakfast at all Elementary Schools. Breakfast meals are free for all students just like the lunches.

Students will have the option to order breakfast in the morning as they already do for lunch. Organic Life will prep the breakfast bags and deliver them to the classrooms by 1:20pm each day for students. This helps to support students eating a breakfast before coming to school the next day.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact our office.

SST appreciation-

All of us at Wasco are grateful for our Student Services Team! This team supports students, parents, and teachers by providing specialty services and being our resident academic and behavior consultants. Any teacher will tell you, having a guide on the side to provide suggestions, ideas, and extra help advances all the students’ learning. This team of specialists shares their expertise so we can all achieve more and they are always willing to step in and provide assistance to our whole Wasco school community.

As you know, we are using the Second Step program in your child’s classroom. The Second Step program teaches children important skills for getting along with others and doing well in school. It also helps our school be a safe,

respectful place where everyone can learn.

To further help our school be a safe and respectful place, we are also using the Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit. In these upcoming lessons, your child will learn specific skills to help stop bullying. Students will learn how to:

• Recognize when bullying is happening

• Report bullying to a caring adult

• Refuse to let bullying happen to themselves or others

• Be a bystander who stands up and is part of the solution to bullying

For bullying prevention to work, everyone needs to be involved. Get involved in making our school a safe and respectful place by letting us know if you hear about bullying at our school. Make sure your child knows to tell you or someone at school if he or she is being bullied. And give your child the clear message that it is never okay to bully others.

Rebecca Schroeder, Wasco School Social Worker

Nurse Tina Ahrens, Administrative Assistants Heather Kudabeck and Candace Thoke,

Lunch room Kelly Nelms, Fiona Galvan, Lucy Caraba, Jennifer Selvik, Faiza Memo

Custodian Rafael Sanchez

Not Pictured: Jennifer Selvik, Annie DeLapaz

Our school contains many different people groups whose work benefits the whole and they help us build a supportive network to facilitate the students’ school day. This week, I would like to recognize our school bus drivers. These men and women greet our students, become familiar with their interests, families, and friends. The bus drivers and students often share smiles and exchange support for one another.

Recently our school building was inspected for safety. It is a yearly inspection done by the Regional Office of Education in partnership with community safety officials such as the fire department. This team visits schools throughout the county during a school year. The inspector's appointment coincided with the arrival of our students and they had an opportunity to view students approaching and entering Wasco school. The inspectors admired how orderly our students approached and entered the building respecting the space of others. It was a fine compliment, because this is something that the students do ON THEIR OWN. Aren't all adults happy when the kids demonstrate the skills of cooperation and self sufficiency?

-”Quality is everyone’s responsibility.” W. Edwards Deming

Thank you to the PTO for hosting a Pumpkin Decorating contest! Our Wasco Wolves are a creative bunch and I think you are all winners! Did you see the Ghostmallow? The Wasco Wolf pledge pumpkin really caught my attention- we say that pledge everyday! What a great way to connect our whole school community. The PTO is currently hosting a Butter Braid Fundraiser and orders are due by November 10th.

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce this year’s Wasco Spirit Club Members!

Abby Poss - 3P

Natalie Wilton - 3A

Daniel McCauley - 3G

Graham Showalter - 3K

Meryl Kaplan - 4D

Joseph Barton - 4M

Julia Grawender - 4He

Andrew Leigl - 4Ha

Abeile Edwards -4th Remote (Erin Smith)

Sierra Horniacek - 4th Remote (Kerri Furlong)

Reese Full - 5R

William Showalter - 5R

Sydney Steib - 5E

These students were chosen from over 40 applicants for their leadership qualities and their unique ideas for promoting Spirit within our school and community! Stay tuned for more news from our Spirit Club and be prepared to show your SPIRIT!

Co-Coordinators: Amy Corda and Rebecca Schroeder

Last spring, Mrs. Misner, our Wasco Physical Education teacher, was awarded two grants from the Greater St. Charles Education Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting excellence in education within Community Unit School District 303. The group provides grants to teachers and several scholarships each year to our St. Charles High School students. Mrs. Misner received a grant for $274.98 for a Gopher Ignition Pro Interval Trainer that will be temporarily mounted on the wall in the gym. The timer can also be placed on a table so it is moveable. This will provide a great visual for station work and fitness training.

A second grant was written by Mrs. Misner for $990.31 on behalf of the D303 Elementary Physical Education team for new bowling equipment. The bowling equipment travels to each school throughout the year with all of our elementary students using it. The purchase was for 3 new bowling lanes including a rubber bowling ball and 10 pins and 6 new lightweight bowling balls for our primary and students with special needs to use.

Mrs. Misner would like to express her gratitude to the Greater St. Charles Education Foundation for their continued support of education and students in D303. If you are interested in learning more about the Foundation or would like to make a donation, the website is http://stced.org/

Here's an opportunity to admire the work of an entire grade level. Third grade is making the most of our schedule! These pictures show conferring, creative math word problems, and independent reading and writing. It's Spoooooktackular!

The picture below is a great example of functional writing. We teach writing to communicate ideas and we revise our writing to facilitate the reader's comprehension. As a school staff we invite students to learn and practice purposes of writing. One of our school writing goals is to increase students' knowledge of how to convey their thoughts and ideas with clarity.

There is a chill in the air and the weather is turning colder. Please dress your students appropriately for P.E. and recess with coats, hats and gloves. Please put your name on things so they don't get lost! If you are missing an item please stop by our lost and found inside the vestibule.

Please feel free to contact me if you have additional questions at julie.misner@d303.org.

Julie Misner

Physical Education teacher

It is important to us at Wasco that we provide a community of care and support to our families, especially when faced with financial hardship.

The current situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some families to experience a need related to job loss, medical bills, child care, etc. District 303 has several supports available for families through our schools.

The supports available include: Thanksgiving Meal Support and Big Hearts of Fox Valley Holiday Support Program. If you are interested, please complete this survey.

Parents we really appreciate your attention to safety you are when you arrive on campus. As inclement weather approaches, we are working to make sure we move traffic as smoothly as possible. Here are some suggestions:

• Please pull up AS FAR AS POSSIBLE in available space, without occupying the crosswalks (marked with white stripes). This will enable us to place more students in cars.

• Please be aware of loading quickly so that we can exit cars in the pickup line as quickly as possible.

• Take care to limit social interactions while driving. During arrival and dismissal, there is a lot of activity and we want to ensure all adults are watchful for moving students.

• Encourage your child to watch for your vehicle.

If your child is absent from school, your child's teacher will provide the necessary classwork, just as has happened in the past. Teachers can send home online resources as well as provide you with the learning objectives for each content area. Please reach out to your child's teacher when you need information about their lessons.

Parents and other visitors to a school campus are expected to be wearing a mask when at the school. Our school community goal is to be as safe as possible and following the precautions such as wearing a mask when sharing space with others or when we are unable to keep our distance is a community practice that decreases the spread of germs. Your help modeling mask-wearing and spacing from others demonstrates our commitment to the health of one another.

We realize there is much information to digest, especially if you are a parent new to Wasco. Please use this link to access a plethora of information about the daily operation of our school. We hope this guide answers all of your questions. When in doubt, please reach out to our office. We are happy to help! Even if you are a returning family, you might want to keep the link handy.

Transportation route information is accessible to families using this link: Bus Routes. You will need your HAC number to access the information. Transportation route information will not be sent home through the mail and can only be accessed online. Please note that for the first two weeks of the school year, the district will not make adjustments to the transportation routes. Our transportation department will collect suggestions about the routes and make adjustments where necessary after the first two weeks of classes.

Since March, District 303 has collaborated with our food service vendors to provide grab and go meals for students to enjoy at home. We want to make you aware of the procedures for making sure that students continue to receive meals, whether they are learning in-person or remotely.

Families who choose to purchase meals for their children will have their PushCoin accounts debited, unless eligible for free lunch. For more information about eligibility for free and reduced lunch, please contact Patricia Townsend at 331.228.6529.

Email: heather.kudabeck@d303.org
Website: https://district.d303.org/
Location: 4N782 School Street, Wasco, IL, USA
Phone: 331-228-2900