GA Principal Newsletter

After reading Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet, third grade students have been working in teams to create their own floats and code Dash robots to carry them in Design Lab! Students built the structures of their floats out of Strawbees (reusable straws of various lengths and special connectors) before decorating them with construction paper, colorful tape, pipe cleaners, and other materials to bring some of their favorite characters to life. As they put the finishing touches on their floats, they are also working in the Blockly app to plan out their robot parade route through the halls of Glen Acres, paying close attention to the angles of turns and precise distances of each movement needed to reach their destination!

Dear Glen Acres Families,

As November came to a close, I want to take a moment to thank you for your active participation and partnership throughout this month. From your involvement in parent-teacher conferences to your support of our school events, your dedication to our students' success is evident and deeply appreciated. Together, we continue to foster a warm and engaging school community where every child thrives.

As we look ahead to December, we are excited to share some wonderful opportunities to celebrate the season and showcase the talents of our amazing students:

• Instrumental Concerts: Our young musicians have been working hard, and we can’t wait for them to dazzle us with their performances.
• Chorus Assembly: The beautiful voices of our chorus students will fill the school with holiday cheer, and we look forward to sharing their hard work with you.
• Winter Parties: Classroom celebrations are just around the corner, bringing joy and fun to our school community.
• West Chester Borough Parade: We are thrilled to participate in this community tradition. Look for our school representation as we spread school spirit throughout the borough!

We are so grateful for your continued support, whether it’s through attending events, volunteering, or simply cheering on our students. These moments are what make our school a special place for learning, growth, and connection.

Thank you for all that you do, and we look forward to seeing you at these events in the coming weeks. Please keep an eye out for additional details as we get closer to each activity.

Wishing you and your family a joyful start to the holiday season!

Have a great few weeks.

Donna

• Monday, December 2nd - Day 2
• Tuesday, December 3rd - Day 3: Advanced Orchestra (4th/5th Grade)
• Wednesday, December 4th - Day 4: Chorus Rehearsal
• Thursday, December 5th - Day 1: Advanced 5th Grade Band Rehearsal
• Friday, December 6th - Day 2: West Chester Christmas Parade featuring GAE Chorus

• Monday, December 9th - Day 3
• Tuesday, December 10th - Day 4: Advanced Orchestra (4th/5th Grade), Advanced 5th Grade Band Rehearsal; Orchestra and Band Concert
• Wednesday, December 11th - Day 1: Chorus Rehearsal; ASPCA Paws for a Change
• Thursday, December 12th - Day 2
• Friday, December 13th - Day 3

Important Upcoming Dates

December 6th - West Chester Christmas Parade featuring GAE Chorus

December 10th - Orchestra and Band Concert

December 16th - Pajama Day

December 17th - Wear Your Favorite Holiday Colors/PTO Dine & Donate: 4-8pm - Panera

December 18th - Wear you favorite Holiday Sweater

December 19th - Holiday Hair Day / 9:35am & 7:00pm Chorus Concert

December 20th - Dress in your favorite Holiday Attire / Classroom Holiday Parties

1st and 2nd grade students loved getting together to create a leaf for the gratitude tree that

Mrs. Lefler created (see below).

Our Gratitude Forest turned out amazing! This was an activity in which the older students joined the younger students creating a leaf stating what they were grateful for!

The Eagle signifies unity within our school community.

Students of all grades created the feathers on the Eagle by writing down how they can be

kind, respectful and responsible.

The holiday season is upon us and some of our families and students need your help. To support our families this holiday season, we will be accepting gift cards in any amount – no donation is too small! A few suggested places are Target, Walmart, Wawa, Amazon and local grocery stores (but other places are welcome as well).

Please send the gift card(s) in with your student(s) to give to their teacher. The teacher will collect the cards and give the students a snowflake to decorate and hang on our giving snowman in the lobby. Thank you for helping our families and students this holiday season. If you have any questions, please contact the Home and School Visitor, Thelma Meeks, at tmeeks@wcasd.net or 484-356.7584.

Happy Holidays!

Congratulations to Ms. Krasley and the Glen Acres “Singing” Eagles Chorus on being selected to march and perform in the 2024 annual West Chester Christmas Parade! Our fourth and fifth grade Singing Eagles will be marching in the parade with our very own Glen Acres parade float featuring our fantastically festive faculty and staff. This annual event features 6abc’s Adam Joseph and WMMR’s Kathy Romano returning as emcees. The parade attracts over twenty-thousand spectators into the downtown area and will be the event of a lifetime for our young singers. Mark your calendars now! The parade is Friday, December 6th and steps off at 7PM. We hope you can come out and join the crowd, support our wonderful music department, and enjoy our Glen Acres parade theme: “Holiday Lights.”

We have "found" many, many items that have been "lost"! All items were placed out on tables during conferences hoping to be claimed. If you were unable to take a look and retrieve your missing belongings, please let your teacher or the office know and we will check the collection for you.

Items that are not claimed by Friday, December 6th will be donated.

We hope you are excited to discuss your child's progress, growth, and learning so far this school year.

Report Cards with more information will be available on the parent portal on December 10th.The following are some reminders about the information provided on the report cards:

• In grade K-2, the West Chester Area School District (WCASD) utilizes standards-based reporting. Each child will receive a 1, 2, 2+, 3, or 4 for each standard addressed this trimester. If you see “N/A” it means that the standard has not yet been assessed. Please remember the goals are end of year standards/expectations. In December, you will likely see many 2’s and some 1’s which is appropriate for this time of year because the expectation is that students meet the standards with a 3 by the third and final report card in June. In addition, please know that 4’s are rare to receive, even at the end of the school year. For a child to reach that level, he/she is performing significantly and consistently above the standard expectations.
• In grades 3-5, WCASD utilizes numeric grades that correspond to letter grades (A, B, C, F) for core subjects. Please know that standard grading (1, 2, 3, 4) does not correlate to a letter grade. For example, a 3 in second grade does not mean a B in third grade. Teachers utilize various assessments, activities, and assignments to determine an overall grade. Parents are encouraged to stay abreast of progress via Parent Portal over the course of the entire trimester.
• Learning support students and reading support students will receive progress reports at the same time that report cards go live on Parent Portal in December.
• All children in grades K-5, receive needs improvement (NI), progressing (P), or demonstrates consistently (DC) for Learning Related Behaviors (LRBs). In order to achieve DC, a child needs to exhibit the expectation close to 100% of the time. Progressing (P) is completely appropriate, as it captures a behavior that is observed on a regular basis.
• Special Area Subjects for grades 1-5 utilize standards-based reporting as noted above for K-2.

I hope you find this information helpful. Please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher directly with any questions about your child’s specific progress or report card.

We have some important updates to share regarding attendance and communication:

1. New Note Submission Options: Parents/Guardians can now submit parent notes for absences through Pickup Patrol and Talking Points messages. We will continue to accept emails and handwritten notes. We hope this makes it easier for you to keep us informed!

2. Automated Phone Calls: Automated phone calls will be sent to parents/ guardians of students with unexcused (LAW) absences at 10:10 AM each morning. This will help keep you updated on your child's attendance. If this automated call ever feels inaccurate, please contact our main office.

3. New Email for Parent Notes: We have established a new email address for submitting parent notes: GAEattendance@wcasd.k12.pa.us. Our school secretaries (Theresa Weaver and Stacie Berglin) will receive emails to this address which will ensure a smooth communication process.

4. Doctor’s Note Requirement: Please note that the previous 60-minute early dismissal window during which a doctor’s note was not required has been removed. This year, a doctor’s note will be required for early dismissals to avoid an unexcused dismissal.

Thank you for your cooperation as we implement these changes to enhance our attendance processes.

Joining our PTO is free and recommended. When you join, you get access to information about upcoming school and community events, parties, and fundraisers. PTO fundraisers support our assemblies, field trips, and other special events and supplies.

See this link for helpful information.

We hope you would consider volunteering. Some volunteer opportunities that come up are opportunities to help in the library, lunchroom, as a homeroom party planner, and at field trips and school and district events. If you are interested in volunteering, please be sure to have updated clearances (good for five years) on file with the school. It is important that you submit your clearances to the school when you get them. Please do not wait until you volunteer as we need to get the clearances within a year of you receiving them.

A cultural bridge in the community for Spanish speaking families and our schools.
Un puente cultural en la comunidad para las familias de habla hispana y nuestras escuelas.

Ms. Donna Ryan

Principal

Email: dryan@wcasd.net

Address: 1150 Delancey Place, West Chester, PA 19382

Phone: 484-266-1700

website: https://www.wcasd.net/Domain/461

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WestChesterASD