Weirton Elementary School
August 2023
W.E.S. Families - October Newsletter
Happy October!
The start of the school year has gone extremely well thanks to all of our families, the staff, and the students.
We have practiced fire drills, safety drills with Officer Krzys, routines are becoming more solidified, and beginning of the year benchmark tests have been completed. Beginning of the year STAR benchmark information in reading and math will be distributed in report cards on Tuesday, October 31. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher or grade level principal if you have any questions regarding your child's academics or social/emotional progress so far this year.
A special thank you to all our families that attended "Coffee with Principals" (CWP) and Open House. We held 34 Coffee with Principal meetings. We received a lot of great feedback. CWP for our preschool families will begin in October (refer to October calendar for dates).
Here's what is in the October newsletter:
- W.E.S. October Calendar
- Halloween for the Hounds information
- Book Fair Schedule
- Red Ribbon Week information
- P.T.A. Information
- Grade level information
- October Lunch Menu
- Unity Day information in the Counselor's Corner below in the newsletter.
- PreK CWP dates on October calendar
New information and updates will be posted in the Family August Newsletter.
Read the entire newsletter. Lots of updates and information are included as you scroll down the newsletter.
W.E.S. Information
We consolidated the up-to-date information you will need into 4 easy locations. DOJO (school announcements/stories posted daily), electronic monthly family newsletters, W.E.S. website, and W.E.S. official Facebook page. Below are the links to our W.E.S. Website and W.E.S. Facebook page.
W.E.S. October Calendar Dates
Mark Your Calendar
Monday, October 2:
- Custodian Appreciation Day - Thank you, Paul, Chuck, Ron, Ed, James, & Jerri for keeping our schools so clean! Lunch is on us. See Mrs. Davis in the office to make your lunch order.
- Book Fair Week (refer to schedule below)
- PTA Fundraiser: Pepperoni Roll pick up 4:00-6:00
Tuesday, October 3:
- Book Fair Week (refer to schedule below)
Wednesday, October 4:
- Book Fair Week (refer to schedule below)
- PTA meeting via ZOOM at 6:00. A link will be posted on DOJO.
Thursday, October 5:
- Book Fair Week (refer to schedule below)
Friday, October 6:
- Faculty Senate (2-hour early dismissal)
- No PreK
- Wear Red/Black "Rider Day" and show us your school pride.
- Book Fair (refer to schedule below)
Saturday, October 7:
- PTA sponsored Family Book Fair Day and rummage sale.
Monday, October 9:
- No School
Tuesday, October 10:
- National Child Health Day
Wednesday, October 11:
- National Stop Bullying Day. Odd socks or mixed matched socks to promote that it is ok to be different and to stand up against bullying.
- Coffee with Principals, Mrs. Sanner's PreK class at 10:00. Invited to eat lunch with child after meeting. RSVP link will be added to class DOJO.
Thursday, October 12:
- Coffee with Principals, Mrs. Armantrout's PreK class at 10:00. Invited to eat lunch with child after meeting. RSVP link will be added to class DOJO.
Friday, October 13:
- Preschool field trip to the Pumpkin Patch
- Wear Red/Black "Rider Day" and show us your school pride.
- PTA fundraiser Pepperoni Roll Party with Principals
Monday, October 16:
- School Bus Safety Week
- Fire Prevention Week. The fire department will be at W.E.S.
- Coffee with Principals, Mrs. Mastrantoni's PreK class at 10:00. Invited to eat lunch with child after meeting. RSVP link will be added to class DOJO.
Tuesday, October 17:
- School Bus Safety Week
- Fire Prevention Week. The fire department will be at W.E.S.
- Coffee with Principals, Ms. Soplinski's PreK class at 10:00. Invited to eat lunch with child after meeting. RSVP link will be added to class DOJO.
Wednesday, October 18:
- School Bus Safety Week
- Fire Prevention Week. The fire department will be at W.E.S.
- Unity Day wear orange. This color is described as warm and inviting. Also, it is commonly associated with safety, visibility, and protection.
Thursday, October 19:
- Individual School Pictures
- School Bus Safety Week
- Fire Prevention Week. The fire department will be at W.E.S.
Friday, October 20:
- School Bus Safety Week
- Fire Prevention Week. The fire department will be at W.E.S.
- No Preschool only
- Wear Red/Black "Rider Day" and show us your school pride.
Monday, October 23:
- Red Ribbon Week -
2023 Red Ribbon Campaign Theme, "Be Kind to Your Mind. Live Drug-Free. â„¢"
- "REDy" to live a drug-free life. RED OUT (wear red)
- Halloween for Hounds donations can start to be sent into child's homeroom teacher.
- Coffee with Principals, Mrs. Gottardi's PreK class at 10:00. Invited to eat lunch with child after meeting. RSVP link will be added to class DOJO.
Tuesday, October 24:
- WTRF coming to film the Daily Pledge for the 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. news. See attached flyer.
- Red Ribbon Week continues. Dress like a tourist or for a place you would like to travel. Life is your journey travel drug-free.
Wednesday, October 25:
- Red Ribbon Week continues. Team Up Against Drugs! Wear your favorite sports shirt or jersey or red and black school colors.
Thursday, October 26:
- Red Ribbon Week continues. Drugs can't find me. Camo Day. Wear black, brown, or green.
- End of the 1st nine-week grading period.
- Kindergarten Field Trip (more details to come)
- End of the grading period for the 1st Nine Weeks.
Friday, October 27:
- Halloween for Hounds
- Last day to donate to Halloween for Hounds.
- PTA Pumpkin Patch
- Students in grades PreK-4 can wear school-appropriate Halloween costumes. Refer to costume guidelines.
Monday, October 30:
Tuesday, October 31:
- Wear orange and black
- Report cards distributed for grades K-4.
- STAR reading and math beginning of year benchmark parent reports distributed for grades K-4.
Red Ribbon Week
W.E.S. Family Handbook 23-24
October Lunch Menu
PreK News
Preschool is off to a great start! Our preschoolers have been busy learning social skills, rules, and feelings so we can have successful learners throughout their school careers.
We had an impressive turnout for our Open House/ Family Engagement Activity on Attendance. A special thank you to all our families who attended!
We have an exciting field trip / Family Involvement activity planned for October. We are going to Janoski's Pumpkin Patch on Friday, October 13th.
Halloween festivities will be celebrated with the rest of the school on Friday, October 27th; so that's the day your child can dress in their Halloween costume if they want.
Dates to Remember:
Permission Slips for the Field Trip are due by Tuesday, October 10.
No Pre-K on Friday, October 6 due to a 2-hour early dismissal
No School county-wide on Monday, October 9
No Pre-K on Friday, October 20 for Staff Training
Kindergarten News
September was a busy month in kindergarten. We learned classroom, and school routines, and expectations throughout the building. Most of the kinder friends can now get to their classroom in the mornings with little to no assistance. They’re getting used to their classroom morning routine, unpacking and completing their jobs. There was a lot of practice walking in the hallways, through the lunch line, and learning how to proceed during dismissal. Carrying our breakfast and lunch trays has been a challenge, but we’re getting the hang of it now. It sure is fun to eat in the big cafeteria with all of our friends. Most kindergarteners are new to riding the bus, so they had to adapt to properly sitting and behaving on the bus as well. So far, we’ve seen so many doing a great job!
Kindergarteners have learned the sounds of the letters Tt, Bb, Ff, Mm, Nn, Ii, and Uu. We can already identify words that begin with these letter sounds. It’s great to see them generate their own words beginning with those letters. There is so much fun to be had while learning the other 19 letter sounds!
Our FUNdation lessons have spilled over into Haggerty, which is our phonemic awareness program, that all the students love! Rhyming, adding and deleting sounds, and identifying the beginning and ending sounds of words are just a few of the many lessons we’ve done with this program. The kids are all intrigued by it and even apply it to their work throughout the day.
In Wit and Wisdom, we are learning all about our five senses. Authors, illustrators, and parts of the book have been part of our daily reviews in kindergarten. We’ve learned some vocabulary words and regularly practice using them throughout the day.
We are identifying sets of objects up to 6. We have introduced more and less while comparing numbers. Counting out objects to represent a number is a work in progress. One-to-one correspondence is practiced during our daily math lessons. Learning to correctly write the numbers is also something we’re in the process of mastering. The students enjoy calendar time and learning about the days of the week and months of the year. We have been tracking the days we’ve been in kindergarten and counting to that number by 1s, 5s, and 10s. When we start in October, we will have already been in kindergarten for 22 days. We are almost a quarter of the way to celebrating our 100th day.
In our science lessons, we’ve talked about what scientists and engineers do and how we can explore those fields in our classrooms. We have learned about predictions and how that helps us think about planning when we work. Sharing ideas and talking about what we know already are great ways to be successful little scientists. We did a few science experiments and explored the outdoors noticing the changes in nature. Fall leaves are a lesson we will be exploring very soon. There are so many fun activities planned in science.
Social studies in kindergarten focuses on giving students a better understanding of local history, geography, economics, and community members. So far this school year, the students are learning about personal, home, and school responsibilities. Learning to be a good citizen starts at home and at school. They explore how to be their best self as Lil' Riders at W.E.S. It’s great to see them follow the rules and adhere to appropriate behavior all while being safe within the building.
Our kinders are learning about emotions and feelings and how to adapt to new situations. We role-play and talk about making good choices. Managing their own emotions is hard for anyone to understand, especially children. We discuss how they can self-regulate and healthy habits of mind. The goal is for children to develop an understanding of how they best focus and learn, to respect themselves and others, and to promote well-being in themselves and others. This is a big step in being lifelong learners.
First Grade News
"First Grade is very excited for an outstanding October! We have a busy month ahead!
In Wit and Wisdom, we are continuing to learn all about how different people around the world get books, and how those books can change their lives. We are so excited that first grade will have a special visit from The Storybook Cafe (a mobile book bus) during the second week of October! Each first-grade class will get to explore this mobile library, and each student will be able to take home a book!
October 16th-20th is fire safety week. Students will be learning all about fire safety, and we will even have a visit from the Weirton Fire Department for a presentation and a look at the fire truck!
We'll end the month of October with the annual PTA pumpkin patch & Halloween for Hounds: Hancock County Animal Shelter fundraiser.
We are looking forward to learning more about addition and subtraction strategies in math and reading/writing words with digraphs( wh, ch, sh, th, ck) in Fundations. We can't wait to have some fun learning about the fall season and doing some seasonal science investigations. Be sure to check class dojo regularly to keep up to date on all the happenings in our school & your student's classroom!"
Second Grade News
Happy October Parents and Families!
*2nd grade has welcomed the changes of the season with our Wit and Wisdom Module 1. We are reading books with the titles How Do You Know It’s Fall? The Little Yellow Leaf, and A Color of His Own. We are reading our fluency practice to build our skills of reading and decoding words.
* In our Fundations’ units 4 and 5, we will be adding a suffix to base words and reading words with more than one syllable.
* In Math, we are counting numbers up to 1,000 and recognizing the place value of these numbers. We will also be working with basic addition and subtraction facts to 20.
*We are eager to begin reading our library books as well as using MYON and Learning Ally reading apps to begin going down our AR trail to earn badges.
* 2nd graders are learning to become great at finding evidence in our reading and using the information to make a paragraph with a Topic sentence, 3 details, and a closing sentence. We are so excited to see each child grow this year! Weirton Elementary 2nd grade students are amazing!
Third Grade News
Our fabulous third graders have been working so hard with school expectations, attendance, and learning new skills for the month of September. They are all doing an amazing job. Here is an outline of the skills students will learn throughout October.
Wit and Wisdom- Module 1: Students are focusing on why and how scientists explore the sea. Students are developing their listening skills, charting the elements of an ocean food chain, and identifying key details and the main idea of the text. They are also working on their writing skills with the help of graphic organizers (informational/narrative), drafting, peer editing, and forming their final draft. Students are taking part in Socratic Seminars. In a Socratic Seminar activity, students help one another understand the ideas, issues, and values reflected in a text through a group discussion format.
Fundations- Unit 2 reviews suffixes (es, s, ed, ing, er, ment, ful, less, etc.). Students will categorize suffixes as vowel suffixes or consonant suffixes. Categorizing suffixes and isolating base words lays an important foundation for the new spelling doubling the final consonant of a base word if adding a vowel suffix to a word. To master this rule, students will learn how to identify the 1-1-1 rule.
Social Studies, Health, and Science weekly- Each week students learn about a different topic with weekly educational newspapers or online.
Math- Students will continue with multiplication and start division near the end of the month. In these chapters, students learn strategies for multiplying 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7. They will use the distributive property, associative property, and patterns on a multiplications table, describe patterns, and find unknown numbers. Reflex is a great source for practicing math facts.
Also, in the month of October, students will begin practicing for the GSA’s. This year will be their first time taking standardized tests in Math, Reading, and Writing. Our 3rd graders will take practice tests and learn different skills to help them with each test.
Finally, continue with AR, Learning Ally, or MyOn. They need to try to meet their individual goal by the end of October.
Fourth Grade News
Thank you to all the families that stopped by for Open House! It was so nice to meet you all! We are looking forward to a wonderful year of collaboration getting our students ready for the next step in their educational journey to middle school.
We have been working hard on our fact fluency, by earning our greenlights, and finishing up chapter 1 in math- All about Place Value. We are masters at addition and subtraction with regrouping. In Wit & Wisdom, we read and studied "All Summer In A Day" and applied some new reading skills we learned like theme, and story structure while reading. We have been sharpening up our writing skills with an opinion paragraph on whether we liked "All Summer in a Day" text or video better. We have been enjoying reading AR books and working on getting our goals. We have also been doing Readworks, and learning new content everyday with Article of the Day!
Our Fourth Graders take the responsibility of being leaders and role models seriously and have been doing an AWESOME JOB modeling the schoolwide expectations for our younger school friends. We couldn't be more excited.
Keep reading and practicing your facts at home!
Related Arts News
Hello from the Physical Education Teachers,
We are off and running into October.
In the month of October, your child will be getting ready to participate in the Fitness Gram Pacer Test. It stands for Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run. Your child will get to practice running a 15-meter shuttle run. It starts out easy and then gets harder at each level. Students learn how to pace themselves. I know it says "test" but don’t worry, your students are not getting graded on this. This is a practice test.
The students will also learn the proper way to throw and work on their throwing skills through a different variety of games. Students will work on stepping with the opposite foot and work on throwing and following through with their throw.
As always, our goal in the Weirton Elementary Physical Education department is to promote lifelong physical activity.
Mrs. Naughton, Mr. Cassiadoro, and Mr. Weltner
Music Class:
Kindergarten: making instruments
First Grade: making turkey gobblers.
Second Grade: Making rain sticks.
Third Grade: and Fourth Grade: G Clef Skill games
Art Class:
Fall art activities.
WES School Counselors
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. At WES we want all of our students to have those very important and positive peer relationships. We do recognize and understand that peer conflicts do exist and sometimes occur. We all do our best to help prevent these incidents from occurring in the classroom and on the bus.
At the elementary school level, many students are learning about positive peer relationships and also conflict. This is a learning process as is everything at this age. The learning process is most often occurring organically in the classroom with their teachers. There are times when additional lessons are needed to help children understand conflicts and conflict resolution. Sometimes we need to help them understand the dynamics of friendship and that disagreements happen. We want children to understand that their behavior affects other children's positive and negative feelings.
It is extremely important that when these instances occur, we need to know immediately so we can ensure that the issue is resolved properly. We love to see the smiles and hear the laughter when students are having fun and getting along, that is our goal for our children to be happy and feel safe. We will be promoting Bullying Prevention throughout the month through WES news segments and activities. If you ever have any concerns, always contact the school to address the issues.
https://nationaltoday.com/national-stop-bullying-day/
Elementary Anti-Bullying Pledge
- I am a student at Weirton Elementary.
- I will do my part to take care of myself and my classmates.
- I promise to be kind to others.
- I promise to step up when I see someone being hurt. ...
- I promise to do my best to include others in my play.
- I promise not to be mean to others.
What is Unity Day?
DAY OF UNITY - October 18, 2023 - National Today
Thank you,
W.E.S. Counselors
Ms. Mary Ann Petrelle: Grades PreK & K
Mrs. Stacy Cullinan: Grades 1 & 2
Mrs. Sarah Aspenleiter: Grades 3 & 4
WES Health Center offers Social Emotional/Behavioral Therapy
http://www.changeinc.org/health/weirton-elementary-health-center/
(304) 797-5299
WES PTA News
President: Allyson Taflan
Vice President: Arrissa Cochran
Vice President: Stephanie Baumgardner
Secretary: Maria Rhoads
Treasurer: Lindy Dunlap
Contact: weirtonelementarypta@yahoo.com
Electronic Link to sign-up for PTA Membership is below "Givebacks".
https://weirtonpta.memberhub.com/store?limit=21&live=true
Wednesday, October 4: October PTA Meeting 6:00 pm via Zoom. A link will be sent out on Dojo.
Notes from Nurse DeCaria
Please contact Mrs. DeCaria for any medical concerns.
Thank you for sending back the health forms.
Attendance Reminders:
Going Bananas for Attendance:
Attendance % for the week of 9/25 - 9/29
Kindergarten: 92.4%
First Grade: 91.0%
Second Grade: 93.1%
Third Grade: 95.0% ***** (2x's in a row)
Fourth Grade: 93.3%
Congratulations Third Grade! You earned your second banana on your grade level tree!
School-wide attendance for the week of 9/25 - 9.29
93.0%
We met our goal of staying at or above 93%. Congratulations! 2x's in a row. When we reach 4 times on the thermometer in the hallway we will receive a school-wide HAT DAY.
Going Bananas for Attendance video:
Go Bananas for Attendance: https://youtu.be/bYiR6YPKCao
Please remember to call the office or email Ms. Stephanie for any missed days.
304-748-8370
or
Attendance Tracker
School Calendar 2023-2024
Arrival & Dismissal Procedures
CAR RIDER TRANSPORTATION​
​
Arrival​
Car rider door is located at the pre-k/kindergarten entrance​.
Car rider door opens promptly at 7:50am. Tardy Bell 8:15am. ​
Cars should not line up before 7:00 and cars should not park in the drop-off area.​
Students must remain in cars until a staff member opens the car door.​
Cars that arrive after 8:15 must park car in a parking spot in front of the school. Guardian must walk child in the building to the main office to receive a tardy slip. ​
Parents/Guardians must remain in their vehicles at all times during drop off and pick up.​
Please work with your child to learn to buckle/unbuckle themselves in their seatbelts/booster seats/car seats as this will help traffic to flow smoothly.​
​
Dismissal​
Car/Bus Dismissal is at 3:00. ​
All car riders must have a red car rider tag on their book bags. Bus riders must have a yellow car rider tag on their book bags. ​
Please do not line up before 2:55 as the area in front of the dismissal door is a fire lane.​
iDismiss is utilized for car rider dismissal. ​
Each student is assigned an iDismiss number. ​
iDismiss number must be displayed in the front widow of the car.​
Cars without the iDismiss numbers displayed or readily available will be asked to park until all cars and buses are dismissed.​
Parents/Guardians must enter the front office and present identification before the child can be dismissed.​
Replacement copies of iDismiss numbers may be obtained by presenting identification in the main office (ask for Ms. Stephanie).
Bus Safety
Please remind your child about good behaviors on the bus.
- Students are to stay seated the whole time.
- Students are not to walk in the aisles or jump seat to seat.
- Students are to refrain from touching each other.
- Students are not to yell or argue.
- Bottom to bottom, Back-to-Back, Bookbag on lap.
Students are to refrain from creating any type of safety issues for anybody on the bus.
Contact Mrs. Carinci-Bell if you have any bus concerns or questions.
Mrs. Martich (3rd & 4th) Mrs. Carinci-Bell (1st & 2nd) Ms. Miller (Head Principal) PreK & K Principal TBA
WES Title Services
Meet our WES Title Teachers:
Mrs. Orwasky
Ms. Paull
Mrs. Donna Carnes
Mrs. Davidson
WES Related Arts
WES HEALTH CENTER
WEIRTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HEALTH CENTER
Our licensed healthcare staff is on site in a safe, child-friendly environment. We closely work with the school nurse and faculty to provide convenient care to your child. We closely work with the school nurse and faculty to provide convenient care to your child.
We provide the following services:
Well check exams, sick visits, injury treatment, immunizations, allergy shots, ADHD evaluation and treatment, sports physicals, behavioral health, dental care, chronic health care maintenance - like being on site to assist with Diabetes, Seizures, and Asthma. Just think of us as a doctor's office inside the school.
Please contact the WES Health Center at 304-797-5299 if you have any questions or medical needs.
WES SPEECH THERAPISTS
WES Speech Therapists
If you questions regarding speech screenings or speech services, please contact one of our speech therapists.
Mrs. Lockerbie (Kindergarten)
Mrs. Gianvito (First Grade)
Mrs. Hinzman (PreK & 4th)
Mrs. Burdette (2nd & 3rd)
Mrs. Edie (Special Education Classes)
Special Education Staff
August Lunch/Breakfast menus coming soon.
Bank at School
Our Partners in Education, First Choice America, will be setting up a program called "Bank at School". Families were able to sign-up at Open House. Students will be able to do banking at school during breakfast once a week on Tuesdays. More details to come.