Wolf Cub Press

We have had a great start to the school year. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our first Whole School Family Meeting. The teachers and students introduced the Habits of Wolf Leaders. In my newsletter each month, you'll see resources for how to incorporate these at home.

Throughout the year, we offer a variety of events at a variety of times in order to reach the most families. We understand that you may not be able to make it to everything, but we want to be inclusive of our families who have different schedules. If you are ever unsure about an event, please reach out to your child's teacher.

Thank you!

Please review the handbook (link below). In the Powerschool School Year Registration Verification, there is a box to check that you have read this and gone over it with your child under the "Permissions/Agreements" section.

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.

Please complete this process no later than Friday, September 20th. If you are having trouble accessing your account, please reach out to Dawn Bilski at dbilski@hdsd.org or by calling the front office (603-495-3463).

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.

September 23rd - Students will have a different schedule this day which will include some whole school activities, academic time in their homerooms, and specials. Teachers will be participating in professional development for part of the day. We will also celebrate Dot Day! This is an international day that is based on Peter H. Reynolds' book The Dot. He visited our school 2 years ago. The Dot is about expressing yourself, making your mark, and taking chances. Please see below for "Dot Day Attire" - we'd love everyone to wear dots!

October 11th - Early Release for Students - Dismissal starts at 1:05pm with buses, followed by parent pick up at 1:10pm

On Monday, September 23rd, please wear DOTS to celebrate Dot Day! Here are some ideas for how to prepare for your Dot Day attire:

• Wear something you already have that has dots on it
• Get a plain white shirt and make your own dot day shirt with various types of dots
• Take an old shirt that you don't mind sprucing up, and add a bunch of dots to it
• Wear jewelry or accessories that have dots
• Tape or pin some paper dots to your clothes for the day

Specials will be as follows this year:

Monday - Unified Arts 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.

At WES, we follow the 7 Habits of Happy Kids, known to us as the Habits of Wolf Leaders. Each month, students learn and practice a new habit. See the graphic below for an overview. There will be more information here next month!

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