Timberwolf Times -November 21, 2022

T. Clay Wood - Facts at your Fingertips

Welcome to T. Clay Wood ES

Welcome Back to School - 2022-2023

"It's A Great Day to be a Timberwolf"

Dear Timberwolf Families,

As a reminder, there will not be school and offices will be closed from November 23 -25. T. Clay Wood Elementary will reopen on Monday, November 28, 2022. Our Student lighthouse team has named Monday and Tuesday as school spirit days. On Monday, dress as someone or something for who/which you are thankful. On Tuesday, it will be (appropriate for school) PJ Day. Please be sure that all students wear shoes.

T. Clay Wood has a new Twitter and Instagram site. Please take a look at some of the great stuff happening at T. Clay Wood.

Twitter site is @TClayWoodElem
Instagram is; TClayWoodElementary

Changing Dismissal Routine – Parents, if you are changing your child’s dismissal, you must send an email/note to the office or notify the office by 3:15pm. The teacher and bus driver cannot accept a change if a student just tells him or her about the change without a note. In these cases, students are sent home the original way. In addition, please try to avoid changing dismissal procedures in the middle of the day and please send all dismissal changes to our office by calling our office at 703.594.3990 or sending a note in the morning. Emails sent to the teacher in the middle of the day may be missed if there is a substitute that day or if the teacher is not able to check his or her email.

If you must pick your student up early, please arrive before 3:15 pm. We will not be able to call students to the office after 3:15 pm until all car riders are picked up. Students called for dismissal after 3:15 pm will be sent to the car rider area and will be brought up after all car riders are dismissed with the supervising teachers. This way we can reduce interruptions to the classrooms, provide continual supervision for all our students and give our focus in the office to dismissing students. Parents coming in after 3:15 pm will be asked to wait in the vestibule outside of the office and once their students are brought up to come in and sign their students out.I f you need to pick up your child for an appointment, please plan to arrive before 3:15pm. Please park and report to the office. Please do not leave your car unattended in the pickup lane.

Attendance Email: cwes-timberwolf-attendance@pwcs.edu Phone:– 703.594.3992

At T. Clay Wood Elementary School, we love to have visitors and volunteers every day. To help ensure the safety of our students, visitors to Prince William County Schools are expected to report promptly to the school’s main office when entering school buildings. Visitors and volunteers will be asked to provide a valid government issued photo identification. There are no exceptions. Every visitor to our school must bring with them a photo id. Visitors will then be issued a temporary identification badge. We will not permit any visitor or volunteer into the building without this identification. Our main goal is to ensure the safety and security of our students and staff at school.

2022-2023 – Back to school information: https://www.pwcs.edu/parents/backtoschool

2022-2023 – Calendar link: https://www.pwcs.edu/cms/one.aspx?pageId=654031

Code of Behavior link: https://www.pwcs.edu/cms/One.aspx?portalId=340225&pageId=767701

Link to Family Life Education objectives and Opt out - https://www.pwcs.edu/academics___programs/science___family_life_education/family_life_education

PLEASE NOTE - if Packers/Lunch Bringers would like to purchase school milk, the cost this year is $1.00. If a student who has purchased lunch, would like a 2nd lunch, the cost this year for the 2nd lunch is $4.00

Masks will continue to be optional if students would prefer to wear them.

We truly do Everything Better Together as a Community of Leaders and Learners Achieving Excellence.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Dr. Andrew Buchheit

Principal

#TimberwolvesROCK

“Like the Sun, I am here to Shine”

STRINGS Schedule

4th grade:

Monday -- Young/Cortash

Thursday -- Aracich/Browning

Friday -- Sanfilippo/Curry

5th grade

Day 1 -- Van Gelder/Watson

Day 2 -- Van Gelder/Watson

Day 3-- West/Wood

Day 4 -- West/Wood

Day 5 -- Smith/Warren

Day 6 -- Smith/Warren

Week of Nov 21st

Monday -- Nov. 21st -- Day 3 -- West/Wood

Tuesday -- Nov. 22nd -- CASEY OUT! -- West/Wood WILL NOT MEET

Wednesday - Friday -- ENJOY YOUR BREAK!

Week of Nov 28th

Monday -- Nov. 28th -- CASEY OUT! -- Smith/Warren WILL NOT MEET

Tuesday -- Nov 29th -- Day 6 -- Smith/Warren

Wednesday -- Nov. 29th -- Day 1 -- Van Gelder/Watson

Thursday -- Nov. 30th -- Day 2 -- Van Gelder/Watson

Friday -- Dec. 1st -- Day 3 -- West/Wood

Cell Phone's and Watches with text/calling capabilities

We have seen an increase in students using watches to text during the instructional school day. In order to preserve instructional time, students are not permitted to text, on a phone or watch, during the school day. If you need to relay a message to your child during the school day, please call the front office.

Please refer to the Parent Handbook regarding the use of Cell Phones (which includes texting on watches). It states, "If cell phones are brought to school, they should be turned off and kept in book bags during the school day."

We thank you for your support in ensuring our students are focused on the learning process while at school.

Thank you.

Dr. McDade's November 10, 2022 Message

In Dr. McDade's November 10, 2022 weekly email, she shared the following information:

The pandemic had a negative impact on all learners and widened achievement gaps. This is especially true for our nearly 33,000 Hispanic students, and our most vulnerable groups including our more than 40,000 economically disadvantaged students, nearly 12,000 students with disabilities, and over 23,000 English Learner students. Postpandemic academic achievement gaps are alarming. We are working earnestly to improve outcomes for all learners, and we need your help.

Here are four steps you can take to support your student:

Prioritize attendance. Unless your student is experiencing illness, please ensure regular on-time attendance. Schedule family vacations or travel for times when school is not in session.
Regularly check in with your student’s in-class progress. This can also be done by monitoring their assignments in Canvas, checking in with their teacher, and regularly reviewing grades in ParentVUE.
Seek help for your student. If your student is struggling with learning a lesson, free online tutoring is available. Please contact your student’s teachers or school for additional support.
For families with high school students, monitor your student’s graduation progress. Each year, students must earn the required credits to remain on track for graduation. This information is available in ParentVUE under “Course History.” If your student is not on track, reach out to your school counselor to learn about opportunities for credit recovery.

What's Happening at T. Clay Wood during the week of November 21-22, 2022

Monday, November 21 2022 Day 3

Dress as someone or something for whom/which you are thankful

Tuesday, November 22 2022- Day 4

PJ Day (Appropriate for school/wear shoes)

Bundt cake Pick up at store or 11:30 -2:30 and 5pm-7pm at T. Clay Wood ES

Wednesday, November 23 2022 - Day --

Thanksgiving/Fall Break.

Thursday, November 24, 2022 - Day --

Thanksgiving/Fall Break.

Friday, November 25, 2022 -Day --

Thanksgiving/Fall Break

2022-2023 Calendar - As a reminder, due to current supply chain issues with paper, the Communications Department will not be printing the 2022-23 School Guide and Calendar at this time. A printable PDF version of this year's School Calendar and Reference Guide, as well as a printable PDF Month-at-a-Glance Calendar, are available on the PWCS Calendar webpage.

Business Partnership - THANK YOU

A big Thank you to DJ Craig Wood - from Perpetual Sound for playing music for our students during lunch last week to celebrate the start of new quarter of school and to let our students know we are thankful for them.

Music today provided by:

DJ Craig Wood

Perpetual Sound LLC

www.djcraigwood.com

Volunteer Opportunities

Interested in Volunteering at T. Clay Wood? You can first check with your student's teacher. Then you can also look into these areas:

1. Welcome Table:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FAFAD28A4F5C52-welcome

2. Library Volunteers -

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA4AF2AA5F94-library

3. Book Fair- -

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4AA4AF2AA5F94-tcwes2

PTO Corner

EVERY TUESDAY between now and the end of the school year we have a spirit night at Papa Johns.....40% off for you and 10% back to the school. Order from the Gainesville location every Tuesday and use code: TCWES4010

Thank you again for your support and as always we look forward to seeing you soon! You can also email us at anytime: tclaywoodpto@gmail.com.

Warmly,

Your TCWES PTO Board (Nicole, Margy, Jess, Cooper, Erin

SAVE THE DATES FOR UPCOMING TCWES PTO EVENTS

November:

November 17th--Nothing Bundt Cake Fundraiser Orders due

December:

Monday, December 5th-9th - Penguin Patch Holiday Shop for Students
Tuesday, December 6th - Foster's Grille Spirit Night

January:

Tuesday, January 10th - 6:30pm PTO Meeting
Tuesday, January 17th-27th - Read-a-thon

February:

Saturday, February 11th - 7:00pm-10:00pm PTO Parent Prom

April:

Tuesday, April 11th - 6:30pm PTO Meeting

Friday, April 28th - STEAM night Fun
Tuesday, May 23rd-31st - Boosterthon Fun Run

LEXIA

Dear Parents,

T. Clay Wood ES and Prince William County Schools has purchased an incredible reading program for your student for this school year. It is entirely free for your student to use this year. We are encouraging all students to use the program each day.

Lexia is a program to help your student with reading. We are encouraging all students to use Lexia for 10-20 minutes per day. (at least 40-60 minutes a week). Lexia is engaging and works at your students personalized reading level.

All students have been shown how to access Lexia. Please help your student remember to log on to Lexia and work on Lexia each day.

Below are the 3 step directions to access Lexia:

1. Go to https://clever.com/in/pwcs

Log in - Clever

https://clever.com/trust/privacy/policy. https://clever.com/about/terms

clever.com

2. Log in with Office365

3. In Clever, scroll down until your see the blue globe for Lexia Core 5- Click on the Lexia

DIRECTIONS FOR ACCESSING LEXIA:

-Login to your child’s Office 365 account

-Click on the 9 dots (also called the “waffle”) on the top left-hand side of the screen

-Click on “Clever”

-Scroll down to “Apps purchased by schools”

-Click on “Lexia Core5”(The app with the world)

OR

-Login to Canvas

-Click on account

-Click on “Clever”on the right-hand side

-Scroll down to “LexiaCore 5” under “PWCS Resources”

-Click on “Lexia Core5” (The app with the world)

Online tutoring available to all PWCS students free of charge

PWCS has partnered with Paper to provide K-12 students with unlimited tutoring, 7 days a week—at no cost to families.

Students can get help with their homework, receive feedback on their writing assignments, or ask questions about any academic subject. Experts are available to assist students with any subject or content area via a secure, chat-based platform.

Tutors are currently available to help students in English, Spanish, French, and Mandarin.

You can access Paper right from your student's Clever Account. Or you can use this Link to Access Paper: https://paper.co/

Learn how to use the Free Online Paper Tutoring Service by clicking on this PWCS Link: https://www.pwcs.edu/departments/Instructional_technology/paper

Transportation Department

Our Prince William County School Transportation Department continues to update and implement some tools to help us all when it comes to buses. I have included some helpful links below that are now on their PWCS Transportation Webpage. I believe these will help families throughout the school year. Please take a moment to check these out.

1. The main Transportation Website - most of the below links can be accessed from this site: PWCS Transportation

2. Delayed Bus Page will inform you of any buses that are expected to arrive at least 15 minutes late. Delays will be removed after 12pm for morning runs and after 5:30 pm for afternoon runs. Bus Delay Site

3. Here Comes the Bus APP - See real-time map location for students' buses and get push notifications when the bus gets close by - Info on Here Comes The Bus App

4. Looking for your student's bus schedule? Remember it is located in the Hub which you can access in your ParentVUE account -

5. Transportation Contact for T. Clay Wood (PWCS Western Area Transportation): trns-westernbusroutes@pwcs.edu or 571-374-6593

Some reminders

Early Dismissal

We encourage all families to avoid, when possible, taking students out early from school. Instruction and learning continues until the end of the day. If you need to pick up your child for an appointment, please notify your teacher and school office at cwes-timberwolf-attendance@pwcs.edu and plan to arrive before 3:15pm.

Please park and report to the office. Please do not leave your car unattended in the pickup line. All parties picking up a student from the office must show a photo id.

Please do not make changes to your child’s dismissal time after 3pm. Anyone other than parent/guardian must have prior written approval to pick up a student even if listed on the emergency card.

Dress Code Reminders

All students are expected to dress appropriately and maintain a reasonable appearance. The Prince William County Schools’ Code of Behavior has addressed several areas that are considered improper dress in any Prince William County school. Please refer to the Parent Handbook in the Timberwolf Folder and the School Division’s Code of Behavior.

Volunteering

Please feel free to coordinate times to volunteer in the classroom with your child's teacher. Teachers and students appreciate our volunteers. Thank you again for everything you are doing to help us build our Positive School Community. I want to formally invite all parents to become involved in your child’s education at T. Clay Wood Elementary School. It has been shown that strong parental involvement and interest in education is a crucial factor in student success. There are many ways to volunteer at T. Clay Wood Elementary School as well. Joining the PTO or Advisory Council, helping out in your child’s classroom, volunteering in the library, working at our Welcome Table Counter and chaperoning field trips are just a few of the many, many ways you can become a part of our Community of Leaders and Learners. Please review the regulation on volunteering: Regulation 511-10

Classroom Interruptions

In order to limit interruption to the teaching and learning environment and protect instructional time, if you drop off forgotten lunches, homework or materials, we will ask you to leave these in the front office. We will inform the teacher who will pick it up at a more convenient time. We want to thank you in advance for your understanding of this procedure and hope you know that our only intent is to maximize your children's instructional time.

Change in Transportation Home

If a situation occurs which makes it necessary for your child’s transportation home to change, please send in a note with your child in the morning giving clear directions as to how your child should go home at the end of the day. Only a parent/guardian can change their child’s transportation plan for any given day. A note from the parent must be received by the office AND the teacher before noon that day indicating the change. This is for the safety of the children and will alleviate any confusion at the end of the day.

Bus Passes

If it is necessary for a student to ride a bus home other than the one he/she is normally assigned, a bus pass is required and must be approved by the office. A note must be sent to school indicating the bus number that the child should ride and a phone number to verify the information. Thank you for helping us ensure the safety of all our students.

Drop Off and Pick Up

Drop off and Pick Up - When dropping your students off in the morning, please drive all the way around to the front of the drop off area in front of our school. Please do not allow students to exit your vehicles until staff members are outside. If you will be picking your students up frequently, please come into our office to sign up for a car pick up tag. You can get a tag on August 19, 2022 during the Open House Meet and Greet and Orientation times. If you choose to park in the parking lot, you will need to park your car and walk your student to the cross walk.

Drive Carefully

Drive Carefully - Drive carefully and obey the posted speed limits around our parking lot and the neighboring streets. Please pay close attention to posted speed limits and reduced speed limits during the start and ending of our school day and Patriot High School’s day. There are many students and families driving in our two parking lots and around these neighborhoods. Please be extra careful and follow all signs and cones and directions. Please do not enter the parking lot through the exit lane. Car drop offs and pick up should enter through the T. Clay Wood Entrance and not through Patriot HS.

Student Inclement Weather and Emergency Dismissal Plan

In the event of inclement weather, power failure or any situation in which we are faced with an early closing of our school; we will activate our Automated Auto Dialer Calling system to inform our parents of the early closing. We will send out both a phone message and email message with the early closing information. Please make sure your phone number and contact information is updated. We will also place this information on our school website, Facebook and Twitter sites.

I encourage you to sign up for PWCS Weather alerts from PWC Schools. You can access this link from the PWC website or by this link:

https://www.pwcs.edu/departments/communications/p_w_c_s_weather_alerts_subscription

Kindergarten teachers will contact their students’ parents to confirm dismissal.

If schools close early, the SACC program will not open. Parents of students who attend SACC will be contacted by our SACC staff. Parent of SACC students should have an Emergency Back-up Plan.

When school does close early, we will send your children home via their regular dismissal method for that day, unless we hear differently from you.

Please contact the school office immediately in case of a change to their dismissal procedures

Device Reminders

All Students in Prince William County Schools will be issued a school laptop or similar device. Students and their families are responsible for the safe and appropriate usage of the devices.

Families can opt to purchase low cost insurance to protect the device in case of accidentally damage. Here is the link for information on the optional digital device insurance. https://securranty.com/pwcs If purchased, the insurance covers unlimited repairs or replacements for everything from broken screens, lost chargers, and accidental damage, with a zero deductible for one year on a school-issued HP device. The insurance cost is $32.95, which may be significantly less than repair or replacement costs without insurance.

I do encourage all families to consider the optional low-cost insurance. After last year, I observed it was very beneficial for families to purchase the insurance PWCS was offering for the devices.

As we get ready to start using the devices again, please look for emails from Mr. Taylor about how to reset passwords, etc.

Also this is a good time to remind all families to always know what your students are doing when they are on the internet, using devices to complete their school work, using social media, texting with friends, or playing online games. We continually are reminding our students about appropriate and acceptable use of technology. I encourage all parents and guardians to regularly check what their students are doing on the internet and while using technology -(school devices, gaming systems, home devices, phones, etc). Just as you monitor where your children go in person, I encourage you to monitor where they go on the internet.

I would also encourage all families to consider adding parental controls on their personal devices that students use. If you have any questions about student devices, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Taylor, our Instructional Technologist at TaylorBi@pwcs.edu. Thank you.

Phones - Reminder: If students bring in phones to school they must remain in their backpack and turned off. Please let all your family members know not to call your elementary school student during the day. If you need to change dismissal, please let our front office know by calling 703.594.3990.

Also I recommend that all parents and guardians turn off the Air Drop feature on their Iphones. I have heard of students at secondary schools air dropping inappropriate photos into all phones that can receive airdrop and then other students accepting those photos. You can turn this off on your students' device.

PWCS is now a fully one-to-one School Division; laptops are provided by PWCS for every student and all instructional staff. As such, the use of personal devices by students and staff for any instructional or official PWCS business is strongly discouraged. The PWCS technology support will not support issues with Personal Technology Devices.