Corgi Tales | December 2024

Dear Crossroads Community,

Our November events were all a success! Thank you to our Veterans Day committee, led by PTA’s Jenny Lew, for all the hard work to help our students understand our need to appreciate our Veterans. The celebration was a huge success!

For our annual Thanksgiving Family Luncheon, our cafeteria staff, led by Mrs. Nussbaumer, served 1022 meals. What a wonderful day for our families to come eat lunch with their child.

I’d like to send a shout-out to our amazing House and Family Leaders for providing service and hard work. They helped out at each of the events. Their hard work didn’t go unnoticed. They received many positive compliments. Thank you for serving at each of these events!

I am so thankful for the crew we have here at Crossroads. Thank you, students! Thank you, parents! Thank you, staff! Thank you, PTA! Thank you, community!

Thank you! Have a great December!

Dr. Damian Fay & Ms. Kristen Henson

damianfay@wsdr4.org

Twitter:@Corgi_Tales

We had four amazing teachers on the ballot for the 2024-2025 school year: Jennifer Darks, Morgan Patterson, Bobbi Pegg, and Jill Williams.

Jennifer Darks is one of our first grade teachers. A staff member shared:

• Jen wants what is best for her students. She spends a lot of time and energy making sure she is organized and meeting her students' needs. She knows when to press and when to show compassion. She does a wonderful job assessing what her students need and advocating for what they deserve.

Morgan Patterson is one of speech and language pathologists. A staff member shared:

• Morgan is such a hard worker and deserves so much credit for what she does that most of our school probably doesn’t see - because they aren’t in her room every day. She is an active member of the Lighthouse Committee, she helps students in the Milestones program daily when she isn’t working one on one with her kids. She has a large caseload and builds amazing relationships with her kids. The amount of time Morgan volunteers to our school is phenomenal - and it’s all for our kids.

Bobbi Pegg is one of our fifth grade teachers. A staff member shared:

• Bobbi cares about making learning engaging and meaningful! She plans room transformations to get her students excited about the skills they are working on. Bobbi also does a great job of making sure her students understand how their curriculum ties into the real world. Bobbi cares about all of her students deeply and builds relationships with her kids that are remembered long after the 5h grade.

Jill Williams is one of our fourth grade teachers. A staff member shared:

• Jill is an amazing teacher. She consistently goes above and beyond for all of her kids. She is committed to their academic growth, which is evident in her wonderful teaching methods, support and ability to connect and form relationships with every student. Jill instills a love for learning; encourages thinking and creates an atmosphere where all students feel safe, loved and empowered! Jill’s influence extends far beyond the classroom walls at Crossroads!

Congratulations to our Teacher of the Year: Jennifer Darks!

Please help us celebrate each of these wonderful staff members for all they do to make Crossroads more and more amazing each day!

We celebrated our October Leaders of the Month on November 7. The students were recognized for a variety of reasons, including exceptional behavior, positive attitude, and reaching a goal. We are so proud of the work our students are doing here at Crossroads each and every day!

Pneumonia

Across the country there has been a significant uptick in Mycoplasma Pneumoniae. We have also seen that increase in our own community. It is spread by droplets in the air from an infected person’s cough or sneeze. It can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks from exposure for an infected person to show symptoms. Symptoms include but are not limited to fever, headache, and slowly worsening cough.

The best way to help prevent the spread is good hand hygiene and when coughing or sneezing to cover it with your elbow. Everyone knows that it is best to wash your hands. However, it is frequently missed in our hurry throughout the day.

Prevention Tips

• Use soap and water scrubbing all surfaces of your hands for 20 seconds.

• Have your student sing their ABCs or even the chorus of Taylor Swift's Shake it off.

• Dry hands thoroughly after washing.

• Damp hands are 1,000 times more likely to spread bacteria than dry hands, yet only 20% of people dry their hands after they wash them.

• Studies show that people who wash their hands have 24% less sick days because of respiratory illness

• Cover your cough: either with a tissue that is then thrown away and hands cleaned. Or into your elbow.

• A cough or sneeze can come out up to 100 mph spreading several feet. If blocked droplets don’t spread as far.

• If your student is ill please keep them home.

Please reach out if you ever have any questions or concerns. Thank you!

Maddie Whiteaker, RN BSN

School Nurse

amandawhiteaker@wsdr4.org

636-625-4537, extension 44233

Fax 636-445-5324

Hi Corgis!

Happy December Corgis! Thank you to everyone who came to our Red Robin dining night last month! It was a huge success and our biggest this year.

**CORGI STORE***

Tuesday, December 17 during lunch time

Students will have an opportunity to shop at our school store. We will have spirit wear for sale, but most items will be $5 or less. This is a cash only store.

If you are interested in spirit wear, our online Corgi Store is always open.

Online Corgi Store

***TIS THE SEASON***

We have created a quick and easy way to see CRE Staff favorite things lists. Click on the link below, you can view all lists or search by name. Please note not all staff filled out a form. CRE Staff Favorites

Stay tuned, we’ve got lots of fun coming up!

***COMMUNICATION***

Keep an eye out for emails, texts and social media posts for more information! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

The Crossroads PTA

All of our car riders and our daycare van riders will go to the gym at the end of the day. Once in the gym, a staff member will call students’ names over the radio for them to come out to meet their vehicle. A staff member will escort students to each car.

PLEASE READ: We are no longer allowing parents to walk up to get their children. You will need to drive through the pick-up line.

We sent home bright orange car tags with all students on their first day of school. Please check with the office if you need a car tag. ***PLEASE USE A THICK MARKER TO FILL THESE OUT***

When you drive through the car lanes, please have the bright orange car tag on your dashboard where we can see the names of your students. If you do not have the car tag, we will have to check your ID, radio the office, and wait for them to clear you before we can call your child out. As you can imagine, this will slow down the process for everyone.

A few other things to keep in mind with this process: Please remember, we do not accept dismissal changes after 3:00 p.m. Also, our primary focus is student safety and 3:20 p.m. is a critical time when children can potentially get lost in the shuffle; it is imperative that we streamline the secretaries’ time to focus only on emergencies that arise. With that in mind, please understand that we will not permit access to the office after 3:20 p.m. to check out a student. Please plan accordingly so we aren’t caught in the position to have to tell you no.

Also, remember that you are responsible for calling in to change if your walker will become a car rider during the days with inclement weather. We no longer send a text message about rainy day dismissals.

The expectation is all parents will have the bright orange car tags ready to go by August 21.

Please review our arrival and dismissal maps below:

Arrival Map

Dismissal Map

Bus Transportation

• Kindergarten students that ride the bus must have an adult at the stop to get their student off the bus at the end of the day
• You must have a picture ID to show the bus driver before your child will be released

Cafeteria Information

• Link to Child Nutrition page on the WSD website
• All meals will be eaten in the cafeteria
• Breakfast served 8:20 am to 8:35 am

Buying Lunch

• Students will enter a lunch pin number
• Teachers have a card with the pin number on it for the first few weeks of school
• Teachers will send home the pin number and a practice number pad

Bringing Lunch

• Label all lunch bags with student name
• Send items students can open by themselves
• Anything opened will be thrown away

Recess Information

• Supervision is provided by our noon duty staff and classroom teachers
• Dress for the weather
• Label clothing items with student name
• Avoid parking along the playground
• Visitors are not allowed at recess

Tips from the office

• All adults visiting Crossroads must sign in at the office and obtain a visitors sticker
• Please have your driver's license ready to sign in to our Raptor system.

• When you arrive in a WSD building as a visitor, you will be asked to scan your ID, take a photo and complete the management system’s check-in process.

• Raptor will screen the information against sex offender databases and locally customized lists of banned or potentially threatening individuals, instantly alert school officials to a threatening presence, and maintain a searchable log of all visitors.

• Once approved, you will get a customized visitor badge to wear while in the building.

• Call the office by 9:15 a.m. if your child is absent
• If your child arrives after 8:35 a.m., please walk them into the office
• The attendance email is: attendance.crossroads@wsdr4.org
• Let the office know of any dismissal changes before 3:00 p.m.
• Students cannot be checked out from the office after 3:20 p.m.
• Be sure to update any changes to your contact information in the office

Parent Portal - FAQs

Focus School Software Parent Portal

24-25 School Calendar

• WSD 2024-2025 Academic Calendar
  

24-25 School Supply List

• WSD School Supply Lists

One of our Crossroads Building Goals this year is focused upon attendance. Our goal is:

Crossroads will improve the proportional attendance rate from 88.2% to 89.4% by the end of the 2024-2025 school year.

The core purpose of having your student at school is so they can benefit from all of the learning opportunities so they can improve and grow!

We want our students to be in attendance this school year as much as possible. While we know perfect attendance is super hard to accomplish, we would like our students to be here between 90-100%. Let’s run the numbers on this. There are 174 school days in the 24-25 school year. So, a student can miss no more than 17.4 days of school in order to make our goal of all students having attendance of 90-100%.

Thank you for taking your child’s attendance seriously. Please check out the image below for a few stats to see what learning a student could miss:

Breakfast K-12 ~ $2.00

Elementary Lunch K-5 ~ $3.10

Reduced Price Meals

Breakfast ~ $0.30

Lunch ~ $0.40

Applications for free & reduced price meals are available here or at any school office. In an effort to assist families as we transition back to paid meals, the USDA has increased the income guidelines used to determine eligibility. Click here to see the income guidelines. If you believe your family would qualify for this program, please fill out an application. Applications can be returned by the following methods:

Returned to your child's school

Scan & email - marysanzottera@wsdr4.org

Fax - 636-327-3961

Mail - Child Nutrition Services, 101 Support Service Dr., Wentzville, MO 63385

If you have questions or need assistance filling out the application, please call our office at 636-327-3858 ext. 21330.

Dear Crossroads Elementary Families,

Throughout the duration of the academic year, the Wentzville School District partners with community agencies that specialize in providing students, families, and educators with preventative education. Agency presenters are credentialed, coordinated through the District, and under the supervision of building administrators. Presentation topics are targeted toward specific grade levels. All students will participate in each program, unless you choose to opt your child out of the lesson(s). If you are interested in opting your student(s) out of presentation(s), please click the appropriate link(s) below.

Kindergarten Opt-Out Form

First Grade Opt-Out Form

Second Grade Opt-Out Form

Third Grade Opt-Out Form

Fourth Grade Opt-Out Form

Fifth Grade Opt-Out Form

If you have additional questions, please reach out directly to your student’s school counselor.

Thank you,

Damian Fay, Principal

Kristen Henson, Assistant Principal

Amy Walton, Counselor K-2

Tim Burkemper, Counselor 3-5

Crossroads MRA Results

Our school's Measurable Results Survey (MRA) data is in! Thank you to our families, staff, and students for participating in this survey. This survey has helped us identify strengths as well as areas where we can improve and track our school's overall progress. Click here to view our school's highlights. View district-wide survey results here.

Wentzville Wow Factor Award

Has your child's teacher made a significant impact on their education and life? Do you want to recognize a staff member who goes above and beyond? The WSD rolled out a new way to honor our staff, and it only takes a few minutes to do. Nominate a teacher or employee for a Wentzville Wow Factor Award anytime throughout the school year to let them know they are making a difference! Nominate a Staff Member.

Inclement Weather & AMI Update

As we approach the colder months, we want to re-share the District communication that has information regarding the WSD's inclement weather procedures for the 2024-25 school year. This year, snow days one and two will be traditional snow days. After our second snow day this year, we will switch to AMI (alternative methods of instruction) for snow days three through seven. Read more on what to expect this winter here. View AMI assignments here.

Peachjar

The Wentzville School District cooperates with community groups and organizations that sponsor activities of an educational/enrichment nature for students by distributing materials electronically via Peachjar. You can find our school link here.

December 2

• Late start at 10:35 a.m.

December 17

• Corgi Store open during lunches
• Corgi Chorus Concert at Crossroads 6:30-7:30

December 18

• 5th grade DARE graduation at Liberty HS 6:30-7:30

December 20

• End of the Quarter
• Winter Parties: Kdg. & 2nd 9:00-10:00, 1st, 3rd, & 4th 9:30-10:30, 5th 10:45-11:45

December 21 - January 5

• Winter Break