Penn Wood Home & School Association

• Message from the Board
• Upcoming Events
• Scholastic Book Fair
• Spirit Wear

• Teacher and Staff Fall Appreciation Luncheon

• Lost & Found

• Volunteer Opportunities
  
• Thanksgiving Food Drive
• Box Tops for Education
  
• 5th Grade Corner
  

Hi Penn Wood families!

I hope everyone is adjusting to daylight savings time this week and enjoyed an extra hour of sleep last weekend.

Before we look ahead to what’s going on at Penn Wood in the month of November, I wanted to first say thank you to everyone who came out to Prized Pumpkin. It is always fun seeing all of the creativity and hard work everyone puts into their pumpkins. A big congrats to our winners (pictured below)!

Thank you to everyone who came out for the Halloween parade and volunteered for the parties afterward. Speaking of Halloween, if you have leftover candy that you would like to donate to our troops overseas, there will be a box in the Library through Friday, November 8.

We have a couple of assemblies over the next two weeks, so don’t forget to ask your kids all about them!

November 8 – WCU Music Assembly for grades K-3

November 11 – Veterans Day Assembly

Thank you,

Lauren Nealon

Director

November

• 8 - Music assembly (K-3rd), "Stockings for Soldiers" candy donations due
• 11 - Veterans Day assembly, 9:15 a.m.
• 14 - Home & School Meeting @ 6 p.m. in the library (all are welcome!)
• 19 - Scholastic Book Fair begins (see more details HERE, volunteer HERE)
• 20 - School Picture retakes
• 21 - 5th Grade Fees due
• 22 - Thanksgiving Food Drive donations due
• 25 - Half day (12:10 p.m. dismissal)
• 26 - Half day (12:10 p.m. dismissal), Teacher luncheon (sign up HERE)

• 27-29 - No school

December

• 6 - Student Holiday Shop
• 18 - Winter Concert at Rustin High School
• 23-31 - No school

Our Book Fair will run from November 19 – November 26. Every purchase supports Penn Wood Elementary!

How can you and your student participate? See below:

1. Set up your student's e-wallet HERE. Don’t forget to share your e-wallet with family and friends who want to contribute funds to your readers.

2. Volunteer...sign up HERE. Please consider signing up for a shift or two since the Book Fair cannot be successful without the help of volunteers to staff it. Clearances are required to volunteer.

3. Preorder Dog Man: Big Jim Begins. You can preorder the latest Dog Man book for your student by visiting the Penn Wood Book Fair’s homepage between November 18-December 1. It will ship free to your home after the December 3 release. Use the code FAIRSHIP.

4. Because of your generosity, our teacher’s book shelves are full of wonderful books! We are pausing the teacher fund for this Book Fair but will bring it back in the future. Thank you!

Questions? Contact Traci Healey: tracihealey@gmail.com

Penn Wood Spirit Wear is back on sale now through Tuesday, November 19. There are newly added items that would make great stocking stuffers.

Shop HERE.

It's time again for parent-teacher conferences. Let's show our teachers just how much we appreciate them with a fantastic lunch on their long day of conferences - Tuesday, November 26.

Penn Wood Home & School will be providing food from America's Pie, and we hope you can help provide some additional sides, salad, drinks, sweets and treats. Please see the SignUpGenius HERE. Any leftovers will be placed in the staff kitchen. Good news! Homemade items are allowed, so dust off that crock pot or grandma's famed dessert recipe!

Please drop your items off on November 26 by 11 a.m. at the absolute latest - you can bring them to the office or through the car line Tuesday morning.

Please contact Karen Pestritto at karenpestritto@gmail.com with any questions. Thank you!

Has your student come home without a sweatshirt, jacket, or other belongings? Partly due to the warm weather, the Lost & Found is overflowing! Please encourage your student to check out the Lost & Found located in the cafeteria. You can also stop by during parent/teacher conferences later this month to see if you recognize anything.

Due to the number of lost items, we are also in need of more hangers. If anyone has kid-size or adult-size hangers in good condition you won't be using, please send them to school labeled Lost & Found. Thank you!

Can you help?

Please see below for information about current volunteer opportunities. You can also visit the My Account section of PennWoodHSA.com any time to view all current volunteer opportunities!

• Outdoor Lunch*: Please consider volunteering for outdoor lunch duty so that the students can continue to go outside for some extra fresh air and sunshine. We will continue to take students outside as long as, and whenever, we have nice weather days. If you have your clearances and you are interested, you can sign up HERE. If there is inclement weather and lunch will not be held outside, you will be notified by Kelly Nolan. You can also reach out to her with any questions at kellypurvis@gmail.com or via text at 215-620-6135. You will receive an email from Kelly Nolan with instructions once you sign up for Outdoor Lunch. Thank you!

• School Store*: The PWE School Store will be open Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school (8:30-9 a.m.). We set up in between the cafeteria and gym and sell everything from school supplies (crayons, folders, erasers) to fun things (keychains, bookmarks, squeeze balls, bendable pencils) to PWE gear (stickers, bracelets, maybe more to come!). Please consider signing up – it’s quick (30 min), your kid(s) will LOVE helping you run it, and the PWE students really enjoy shopping. Sign up HERE! Volunteer clearances are required. Reach out to Liz Ryan with any questions (610-996-6586).
  

• Penn Wood Chocolate Bowl: Our Penn Wood teachers and staff enjoy a chocolate treat, mints, and even hard candy every so often. Home & School started a bowl of chocolate in 2020 and we would like to keep this going. If you would like to send a big bag or two of individually wrapped candies, please sign up HERE. It doesn't have to be the exact date you signed up for, but that week would be great. You can send candy in with your student and label the bag "Penn Wood Chocolate Bowl" or drop off to the main office. There are about 60 staff members.

• Classroom Party Sign Up*: Let's party! The SignUpGenius for Classroom Parties opened on October 6 for volunteers. Please read the guidelines in the link before signing up and thanks in advance for helping our students and teachers celebrate! If you have any questions, please contact Julie Finnegan at weareteamfinnegan@gmail.com.

*Volunteer clearances are required. For more information, click HERE.

Penn Wood is hosting a Thanksgiving Food Drive to support families in our community. Please see below for more details. Donations can be dropped off in the boxes in the lobby from November 1-22. Thank you in advance for your support!

If you have any questions, please reach out to Erin Crystle at ecrystle@wcasd.net.

Don’t forget to download the Box Tops for Education app (Apple or Android) and select Penn Wood Elementary as your recipient. The app makes it easy to scan receipts and help the school earn money! If you link your Walmart account, you earn a $5 bonus and every time you shop, Penn Wood will be credited automatically without a need to scan a receipt.

Hello 5th Grade families! We are excited to kick off this school year and work together to make it memorable for our students. My name is Marianne Johnston (Evan and Luca’s mom), and I’m thrilled to be leading the 5th Grade Committee with Kristen Casalenuovo. Throughout the year, we will be organizing special events and class trips to celebrate this milestone year for our 5th graders.

The 5th Grade Letter, which includes details on the 5th grade fee which is due on November 21, is attached.This fee will help cover costs for activities and events throughout the year. We appreciate your support in making this the best year yet for our 5th graders!

Penn Wood Elementary Home & School Association is an organization of parents dedicated to volunteer to enhance our children's learning experiences at Penn Wood.

Email: pennwoodhomeandschool@gmail.com
Website: https://pennwoodhsa.membershiptoolkit.com/home
Facebook: HSA Facebook Group