Wiggin Street Parent Update

Dear Wiggin Street Families,

There are exciting things happening at Wiggin Street! Students have been receiving Character Cards and being recognized for Respecting Ourselves, Respecting Others, and Respecting the Space. This week, students have received cable rings and a Respect brag tag for their bookbags and have the opportunity to earn more! We appreciate Friends of Wiggin Street helping with the purchase of these brag tags to help promote positive behavior.

Currently, we have a focus on empathy with this positive character trait being talked about on the announcements and in the classroom. All of our staff and students have been on the lookout for students showing empathy. Maybe a student is concerned when someone is injured, and they may even offer to get the other student ice or help them inside. Or, they may see someone that is frustrated with an assignment, and offer help. Students are recognized by adding an "Empathy" brag tag to their bookbag. It's cool to be kind!

One way students and their families have been showing empathy is thinking of others through donations to Food for the Hungry. We truly appreciate all of the food and monetary donations that have been brought in this week.

Lastly, we have lots planned before winter break. Make sure to look at our Upcoming Events for information regarding the Kindergarten Gingerbread Man Play, Grades 3-5 Winter Program, and holiday parties.

Have a wonderful weekend!

With Warm Regards,

Christy Grandstaff

Mount Vernon City Schools will begin transitioning from KnoxAlerts to Instant Connect. Instant Connect is a communications system that will allow us to send voice communication, text, and email to our district families. We will be using this software as our notification system for attendance, important district news, alerts, and school closings.

The first step started last year as parents of MVCSD students began receiving messages from Instant Connect through absence notifications and district COVID notifications. Parent contact information was being pulled directly from the Student Information Systems. At the start of each school year parents log in to the Parent Portal and update the contact information on the student’s emergency medical form. The emergency medical form is the location where phone numbers and email addresses are imported into our system.

The second step in the integration, involved having MVCSD faculty and staff register for an Instant Connect Portal account to manage their district communications.

The third step in the rollout is allowing all parents, community members and students to register their own Instant Connect Portal account in order to receive communications from Mount Vernon City Schools. Please read the registration instructions on setting up your Instant Connect portal. Then, select the 'Instant Connect Portal Account Registration Link' below for registration.

Instant Connect Portal Account Registration Link

Parents of Mount Vernon City School students will continue to receive information and alerts from Instant Connect as their contact information imports through our student information system. However, if parents desire to customize their communications from MVCSD, setting up an Instant Connect Portal account is highly recommended. Parents would have the ability to receive specific building alerts and notifications of their choice.

Congratulations to Wyatt Schirtzinger for winning the Amazon Kindle Fire 8 from the Mumkin Mega Raffle!

Wiggin Street's Food for the Hungry drive comes to a close today. The classroom with the most "cans" donated per students will win a gift card for a delivered Pizza Party (at a date of the teacher's choice). The student(s) in each school who donates the largest number of "cans" (based on the same calculation) will be offered the opportunity to be on the LIVE Broadcast with other schools' winners on the day of the drive (December 10th) and will receive a goody bag.

Nov. 29 Winners announced

Dec. 10 Winning students are interviewed LIVE @ Knox Memorial

Special thanks for all families who supported the Paragraphs Book Fair and donated food for our teachers and staff this past week!

Up Next for FOWS: The Holiday Shop is BACK and scheduled for Friday, Dec. 10th. Parents are encouraged to come shop with your kiddo from 8:30-9:00am that day. Please watch for more info coming home soon!

Please remember that students will go outside on days where the temperature with wind chill accounted for is above 20°f. Be sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather each day. Coats, hats, and gloves are necessary at this time of the year. Boots are required for playing in the snow. If you need assistance with winter outerwear for your child, please contact our school, and we will happily find warm clothes for them.

With winter weather approaching, we are getting a collection of sweatshirts and jackets. If you are missing items from your child's wardrobe, please remind them to check out our Lost and Found located at the top of the cafeteria steps.

Also, please label all clothing, lunchboxes, water bottles, etc. We will try to get it to the owner before making donations.

Run, run, as fast as you can to see our Kindergarten classes perform "The Tale of the Gingerbread Man" play! Students should arrive at 6:00 pm on Dec. 14th to get into their costumes. Parents are welcome at that time to proceed to the gym with the performance beginning at 6:15 pm.

Wiggin Street Elementary 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders are preparing a winter program for December 16th! (The Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd graders will prepare a performance in the spring.) Students will walk to and from Rosse Hall the day of the program for rehearsal. Please have your child dress for the weather.

LOCATION/TIME: 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students report at 6:30pm. The program will begin at 7:00pm. The program will be at Rosse Hall on the campus of Kenyon College.

ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL: Students and families can enter through the Rosse Hall entrance or through the side doors closer to Brandi Recital Hall. Students will meet in Brandi Recital Hall (in the same building as Rosse Hall) and check in with their teacher. Homeroom teachers will sign students out to 1 adult after the performance.

GUIDELINES:

Only two guests per student will be allowed to attend. Plan to sign in. This allows for social distancing in the theatre. Guests should plan to be seated by a volunteer to ensure the safest spacing.

Masks are required for attendance. Students will have the option to remove their masks for the singing portion of their grade level performance (less than 10 minutes).

ATTIRE: All students should dress in nice clothes the evening of the program.

5th graders should wear nice dark clothes, if possible (navy blue, black,etc). Why? It’s a surprise!

Looking forward to a celebration of the season with you!

Mrs. Suzy Springer, Wiggin Street Elementary Music Teacher

We had a fun week re-testing our jump for distance! The students did an excellent job and many were able to move up a level! We also discussed how some of the improvements we made maybe we not as visible and instead had more to do with our mindset and our willingness to try new things and work hard!

Have an excellent Thanksgiving and we will see everyone for our next Thrive Kids session on Thursday, December 2nd!

As grocery and online shopping pickup over the holiday season, Friends of Wiggin Street School (FOWS) would like to inform teachers and parents of two easy ways to earn cash-back rewards for the school. Below are instructions provided by Kroger and Amazon on how to sign-up for their charitable rewards programs.

Kroger Community Rewards

Create a digital account, link your card to the organization "Friends of Wiggin Street School” and cash rewards are sent directly to this charitable organization at no added cost to you

https://www.kroger.com/i/community/community-rewards

AmazonSmile

To use AmazonSmile, simply go to smile.amazon.com on your web browser or activate AmazonSmile in the Amazon Shopping app on your iOS or Android phone within the Settings or Programs & Features menu. On your web browser, you can add a bookmark to smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping with AmazonSmile.

https://smile.amazon.com

Shared Wiggin Street Calendar

2021-22 Wiggin Street Important Dates Calendar

2021-22 PTO School Events and Fundraisers

November

24-26 Thanksgiving Break

29 Picture Retakes

December

1 Gifted Seminar

3 Popcorn Friday

7 PTO Meeting, 5:00

10 Holiday Shop (parents may shop with kids from 8:30-9:00 am)

13 Gingerbread Man Play Dress Rehearsal (performance for students)

14 Gingerbread Man Play 6:15 pm (students arrive @ 6:00)

16 Winter Performance Dress Rehearsal (Warm clothing to walk to Rosse Hall)

16 Winter Performance @ Rosse Hall; 7:00 pm (Staff: 6-6:15; Students: 6:30)

17 Holiday Parties

18- Jan. 2 Winter Break

Email: cgrandstaff@mvcsd.us
Website: mvcsd.us
Location: 207 Wiggin St, Gambier, OH, USA
Phone: (740) 427-4262
Twitter: @LCGrandstaff