Timberwolf Times -April 18, 2022

T. Clay Wood - Facts at your Fingertips

From the Desk of Dr. Buchheit

School Wide Focus for April -- Habit 7 - Sharpen the Saw

"We truly do Everything Better Together as a

Community of Leaders and Learners Achieving Excellence"

Dear Timberwolf Families,

Kindergarten Registration is open - you start the process online - Registration - Prince William County Public Schools (pwcs.edu)

Parents/Guardians: Do you have a kindergarten student to enroll? Registration is required for all new students. Begin your online registration now. Please visit the PWCS Kindergarten Registration webpage.

Padres/tutores: ¿Tiene usted un estudiante de kindergarten ser registrado? Se requiere la inscripción de todos los nuevos estudiantes. Comience su registro en línea ahora. Por favor visite: https://www.pwcs.edu/cms/One.aspx?portalId=340225&pageId=775554

I wanted to send a reminder out to all families to be sure to 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.

Student Transfer Requests - Transfer requests can be made for students in grades 1 through 5 between January 3, 2023- April 30, 2022. Kindergarten transfer requests can be made starting from the first day of Kindergarten registration through 30 days after the kindergarten student registers. Please contact T. Clay Wood Elementary for more information by emailing Mrs. Morton, at MortonTA@pwcs.edu or calling 703.594.3990.

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

“Because YOU are here, ANYTHING is possible”

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:

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 Office36

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

Student Placement for 2022-2023 - Due by April 26, 2022

We are beginning to look at student placement for the 2022-2023 school year.

Placement of students is an important decision and we consider it very carefully.

If you have information that you feel is significant for us to be aware of regarding your child’s placement, we would like to know about it.

These letters are OPTIONAL and we do NOT expect or require anyone to send placement input. This is just optional for those families that feel there is some additional information which they would like to share with us.

It is very important to note, however, that we do not accept any specific teacher requests or any requests to have students placed with other students. (The only exception would be siblings).

When placing students, we look at individual learning styles, class make up and how classroom teachers can support individual learning needs.

I can assure you that all our teachers are excellent educators and are dedicated to doing their best for all of their students.

I know your children will be happy, safe, and successful in any one of our teacher’s classrooms.

However, please share information, which you feel would assist the placement committee as we develop our class lists, regarding your child’s:

· learning style,

· academic strengths or weaknesses,

· organizational skills/work habits,

· how you feel your child learns best

You may share this information with me by emailing me at buchhear@pwcs.edu or mailing a letter to my attention.

If there are students with whom you feel your child should NOT be placed with, you may include this as well. However, please do NOT include names of students with whom you would like your child placed.

I cannot accept letters asking to place your students with specific students or specific teachers.

I will share each letter with the current classroom teacher as well since their input will also be a significant part of the placement decisions.

I will accept letters of input between April 4, 2022 thru April 26, 2022

Mark your calendar!!! STREAM NIGHT is coming to T. Clay Wood!!!

Mark your calendar!!!

STREAM NIGHT is coming to T. Clay Wood!!!

(Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, Math Night)

April 28, 2022, 5:30 - 7:00 pm.

This is an in-person event!

The committee is seeking donations for door prizes. If you would like to donate a door prize, please

contact Adam Dove: doveax@pwcs.edu

We will compile a list of businesses who donate and share it at the event and on social media. This is a great way to advertise your business and support our students!

Summer School Info

Dear Timberwolf Families,

Registration for the Prince William Summer School Program has opened. It will close on June 15, 2022. Families register their children through ParentVue.
This year there is no tuition cost for summer school. Summer school will be free of charge for all students who apply.

The T. Clay Wood Summer School Program will take place at Victory Elementary School.

The Summer School Program will run from July 11- July 29, 2022. Hours are 9:00 am - 12:30 pm.

Transportation services is provided. However, bus stops may be different from regular school year bus stops.

Here is a link with lots of information about Summer School - https://www.pwcs.edu/departments/student_management___alternative_programs/summer_school/elementary_school_summer_school_information

Summer School is a great opportunity for our students to improve necessary skills through interactive and engaging activities. Students will receive instruction in Language Arts and Math.

I will also be sending out letters specifically to students who teachers are recommending attend summer school. However, this year summer school is open to all kg-5th grade students in Prince William County for no charge.

What's Happening at T. Clay Wood during the week of April 18 - April 22, 2022

Administrative Professionals (Secretary) Week

Monday, April 18, 2022- -Day 1

PEP Program (ZOOM)- 4:45pm
Report Cards go home

Tuesday, April 19, 2022 - Day 2

Chorus; 8:00 am

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 - Day 3

Pyramid Concert - 7pm - Patriot

Thursday, April 21, 2022- Day 4

Advisory Council Meeting; 6:30 pm - ZOOM (EMAIL me at buchhear@pwcs.edu for ZOOM Link).

Friday, April 22, 2022- Day 5

Earth Day -

The "Leader in Me" Corner

Leader in Me Info for April - Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

As a family, you can “sharpen the saw” together by creating and observing family traditions. When we work to build family traditions together, we show we are valuing the basic needs of individuals and our families. Renewing our family is where family bonding, identity, fulfillment, and happiness is found. Many of these renewal times come when we are giving time to the “Big Rocks” we learned in Habit 3; regular one on one-time, regular meals together, regular family times and family rituals and traditions.

Habit 7 is the habit of taking care of your body by eating right, exercising, and getting the right amount of sleep. It’s the habit of spending time with family and friends; to learn in lots of ways and lots of places, not just at school. The habit is about taking the time to find meaningful ways to help others.

In a nutshell, habit 7 is about taking care of yourself.

Imagine you are going for a walk in the forest when you come upon a man sawing down a tree.

“What are you doing?” you ask. “I’m sawing down a tree,” he says.

“How long have you been at it?” You ask.

“Two or three hours so far,” he says, sweat dripping from his chin.

“Your saw looks dull,” you say. “Why don’t you take a break and sharpen it?”

“I can’t. I’m too busy sawing,” is his reply.

As an outsider, we could see that the process of cutting was dulling the blade. And the duller the blade, the greater the effort that is required to keep sawing. The solution, of course, was for the woodcutter to stop periodically to sharpen the saw. He was so engrossed in the situation he couldn’t see the need to take a break and do what was necessary to make his job easier.

Habit 7 teaches us to take the time to stop and “sharpen our saw.” “Sharpening the Saw” is synonymous with “self-care” or “self-renewal.”

Habit 7: What does “sharpen the saw” look like in a family setting?

As a family, you can “sharpen the saw” together by creating and observing family traditions. When we work to build family traditions together, we show we are valuing the basic needs of individuals and our families. Renewing our family is where family bonding, identity, fulfillment, and happiness is found. Many of these renewal times come when we are giving time to the “Big Rocks” we learned in Habit 3; regular one on one-time, regular meals together, regular family times and family rituals and traditions. It may be helpful to ask your family members what some of their favorite family traditions are. Is there anything they would like to make a tradition? Is there a tradition they would like to discontinue?

In my family, we have started playing card games on Sunday afternoon. We usually pop popcorn and sit at the table together. We use this time to talk about our week and what we have going on. We also laugh a lot! This has become a fun tradition that we all look forward to.

While striving to have balance in our families we can look at the following four areas to assess where we are: Physical (our bodies), Mental (our mind/thoughts), Emotional (our feelings), and Spiritual. As a family, choose one or two areas to focus on at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourselves! Remember, the object is to strive for balance and that will look and feel different to each family.

From: https://www.leaderinme.org/blog/habit-7-why-its-important-to-remember-to-sharpen-the-saw/

The Top 6 of the week

1.Phones/Smart Watches - Please remind students they should not be using their phones or smart watches to call or text during the school day.

2. Daily Home Screening - Parents/guardians/caregivers are asked to complete this screening each morning prior to a student boarding a school bus or arriving at school. On the Daily Home Screening webpage, they have also included information about how to make decisions about sending a student to school if he/she has been exposed to another person with COVID-19.Questions about the student daily home screening can be directed to Mrs. Ousley, our school nurse.

3. Medicine – All medicine needs to be dropped off by a parent/guardian to our school office. Students are not allowed to bring medicine into the building themselves.

4. Attendance Email - when your student is absent, tardy, has an early dismissal, or a change to their dismissal, please use our attendance email - cwes-timberwolf-attendance@pwcs.edu

5. DISMISSAL

Please note a change to the Parent Handbook - Starting the week of January 3, 2022, if you need to pick up your student early from school, please arrive prior to 3:15pm. Here is the change. Please do not arrive early and ask to pick up your child unless you have an appointment. Instruction continues until students are dismissed. If 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.

Emergency Card - All parents picking up a student from the office must show a photo ID and be listed on the student’s emergency card. Please inform the office beforehand if someone other than the parent is picking up your child from school for dismissal. The emergency card information is only used by school staff in case of an emergency with your student when school staff is not able to get in contact with the parent or guardian. It does not give the individuals listed on the emergency card the right to pick up your children at any time unless the parent or guardian sends in written permission to school informing us that the individual is allowed to pick the student up from school on the specific date.

3:15 pm - 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.

6. Purchasing Device Insurance later in the school year

The best time to purchase device insurance is at the beginning of the school year, within the first 30 days of the device being issued. If you wish to purchase device insurance later in the year, you can purchase from Securranty, but the policy will not become active until our Technical Specialist has a chance to inspect your child's device at school and verify that it has no preexisting damage. If our Technical Specialist determines that your device already contains some sort of damage, it may not be eligible for insurance coverage.

What if I purchase insurance, but after visual inspection my device isn't eligible for coverage?

It depends on the reason your device isn't eligible. If we determine that your device isn't eligible because your child damaged it, you will need to pay for the damage. After the device is repaired, you can then activate the insurance policy against future damage to the device. If your device isn't eligible because it has another issue (not caused by your child), we may be able to swap the device out for a different device and activate the policy for the new device. If we are unable to activate your policy, we will work with Securranty to issue you a refund for your purchase since you're unable to activate it.