Wasco Weekly News

Friday, Feb. 8-TONIGHT! D303 Orchestra Faculty Recital-Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 7 p.m.

Tomorrow, Sat., Feb. 9-Campton Hills Winter Wonderland 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. @ Campton Hills Community Center, 5N082 Old LaFox Road

Monday, Feb. 11-15-Heart Adventure Challenge in P.E. all week

Monday, Feb. 11-PTO Meeting 6:00 p.m. @ Wasco School

Tuesday, Feb. 12-PTO Talent Show Practice 3:15-5:15

Thursday, Feb. 14 Valentines Day: classroom Valentines exchange (optional for students)

Friday, Feb. 15-Wasco Spirit Club meeting 8 a.m. in LRC

Monday, Feb. 18-NO SCHOOL: President's Day holiday-Offices closed

Tuesday, Feb. 19-PTO Talent Show Practice 3:15-5:15

Wednesday, Feb. 20-PTO Talent Show Practice 3:15-5:15

Friday, Feb. 22-PTO Girl's Sweetheart Dance-6-8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 23-PTO Talent Show Dress Rehearsal 9 a.m.-1 p.m. @ NHS

Sunday, Feb. 24-PTO Talent Show @ North High School Auditorium-2 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 25-1st Grade Field Trip to NHS-Junie B. Jones

Thursday, Feb. 28-Epic Air Night for Wasco Families

Friday, Feb. 28-End of 2nd Trimester

Please remember to send in a note or call/email the Wasco School Office to let us know if your child will be staying at school for an after school activity or class or to let us know if your child is going home differently from his/her normal routine. (i.e. being picked up instead of going on the bus, or being picked up by a different person.) Please communicate these changes by noon on the day of the change. Please always include the main office in on your communication. Thank you for your cooperation!

Dear Parents of Students in 3rd-5th grade:

In the winter of every school year, we start the process of determining the placement of students in our Academically Talented Math (AT) Program, Academically Talented Literacy (AT) Program, and Middle School Infinity Program for the following school year. The timeline for this school year is as follows:

• Parents will be notified the week of February 25 if their child qualifies for placement testing based on Performance Series and CogAT assessment data

• For students who qualify for placement testing, the tests will be administered the week of March 11

• Families will be notified of AT and Infinity placement decisions the week after spring break

• Families must submit appeals forms no later than April 19

• Appeals prompts and interviews will occur April 22-May 3

• Parents will receive appeals decisions the week of May 10

If you have any questions about the placement timeline or programming, please contact Dr. Cindy Ruesch, Director of Staff, Family and Student Services at cindy.ruesch@d303.org or 331-228-6738.

This month, our school is inviting all students, K-5, to participate in One School, One Book. Every family will receive ONE free copy of the book Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. We are encouraging everyone in the Wasco Community to follow the same reading schedule each night- which you will receive on Friday, along with your family’s copy of the book and a student bookmark.

One School, One Book is a unique program because students in all grade levels will be reading and listening to the same book (K-5). Reading professionals recommend reading material out loud that is beyond a child’s independent reading level. We also believe that you can, and should, continue reading chapter books with your older children, even when they are able to read by themselves. We have selected a title that can be followed, understood, and enjoyed by younger students, but that will still captivate and stimulate older children.

Reading aloud at home is valuable because it better prepares students to be effective readers and listeners. It is also a fun, worthwhile family activity. We aim to build a community of readers at our school. Everyone- students, parents, teachers and support staff- are invited to participate in this optional event.

How does it work?

• On Friday, February 8, Mrs. Stokke will be reading aloud chapter 1. That day, the youngest or only child in each family will bring home one copy of the book. The reading schedule is on the back of this letter.

• Nightly read alouds will be posted on the Wasco LRC website: https://sites.google.com/d303.org/wascolrc read by a different member of our staff each day. This provides students the opportunity to have a shared reading on any Internet device, in the event that reading aloud as a family is difficult on a given night.

• In school, your child will be invited to answer daily trivia questions to encourage active listening and participation.

Thank you for your support with this exciting event!!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Furlong, LRC Director

Mrs. Helland, Reading Specialist

Fruits and Vegetable Challenge

Apples, bananas, carrots and celery...oh my! The Wasco Wellness Team has created a class challenge for all grade levels to promote eating healthy snacks during the school day. Each class will receive a tally sheet to record the fruits and vegetables eaten during snack time. Students may, of course, bring other healthy snacks; however, the only foods that counts for this challenge are fruits, vegetables and applesauce. The contest will last for 3 weeks. The winning class in each grade level will get a free extra recess arranged by their teacher. The overall winning class in the school gets an extra P.E. time and your class gets to vote on the activity that day!!

Thank you for encouraging your students to bring healthy snacks to school.

Over the next two weeks, Mrs. Furlong, LRC Director is offering a STEM Challenges that focuses on coding unplugged and partner work. Students will work in pairs to create a tic-tac-toe game in which they code and trade with another group. The challenge will be writing a detailed code of moves and then trading code boards for another pair to follow it to get the same result.

Each year, classrooms enjoy a Valentines exchange sometime during the day on Feb. 14. This is a teacher-led event, details of which will be shared with you by your child's teacher. Participation in the Valentines exchange is optional, no student/family is required to purchase and exchange Valentines.

Sunday, February 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Day. It is a nationally recognized day to engage in Random Acts of Kindness. Throughout the month of February, I will be visiting classrooms to read and engage students in conversations about demonstrating and spreading kindness throughout the school and community. Students, along with their classroom teachers and staff, will decide what they want to do to spread kindness. Please ask your child what they will do to share their kindness with others. Together we can build a kinder community!

Volunteers Needed

Our PTO is a historically strong and vibrant organization that provides our school community with enrichment and resources for our students, staff and families. Our Wasco PTO is especially successful because of the leadership, hard work and dedicated volunteers who donate their time and talents to support our school. I invite each parent to consider their own time and talent resources they have available to contribute to our PTO. Each family is automatically a member of the PTO. In order to continue to provide the high level of opportunities for our students and families, we need more volunteers! Whether you can provide an hour, a weekly/monthly commitment or a one-event commitment, we WELCOME your involvement in the PTO Community. Please join us!

The following events are scheduled for this spring but do not have a committee chair or enough volunteers:

• Scholastic Book Fair (March 6-8)
• Used Book Sale (April 19)

Wasco PTO Open Board Positions

All Wasco PTO Board Positions are open for nominations:

• President/Vice or Co-President
  
• Secretary
  
• Treasurer
  
• Committee Chairs
  

Please contact WascoPTO@gmail.com for more information

The St. Charles Education Association, St. Charles Educational Support Personnel and St. Charles Transportation and Maintenance invite residents to hear from all seven candidates for St. Charles District 303 School Board at 9 a.m. Feb. 9 at the Hilton Garden Inn, 4070 E. Main St., St. Charles. This event is free and open to the public.

More information is available by going to scead303.com or contact SCEA President Joe Blomquist at SCEA303@gmail.com. Each candidate will have 30 minutes to speak.

The five candidates running for a full 4-year term are Garrett Seaman, incumbent Board President Kathleen Hewell, Jillian Barker, Becky McCabe, and Michael Bryant. The two candidates running for the 2-year remaining term are Poonam Gupta-Krishnan and incumbent Board Vice-President Nicholas Manheim. The election for the four seats on the District 303 Board of Education will take place on April 2.

February 20, 2019

Balance & Boundaries: Managing Technology in our Lives
Wredling Middle School - Cafeteria
6:30-8:00 p.m.

February 21:

Mindful Parenting
Part II: Simplify: Finding and Eliminating Stressors

• 9:15 a.m. at Baker Community Center
  (101 S. 2nd Street, St. Charles)
  
• 6:30 p.m. at Fox Ridge in the LRC
  (1905 Tyler Road, St. Charles)

Find out more information at the D303 Parent University Site

Want to keep up with Wasco happenings? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter: @WascoD303

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Wasco-Elementary-723967440987810/

Most teachers/classrooms have SeeSaw or Google Classroom accounts or websites. You should have received links to these sites. If not or need another link sent, please contact your child's teacher for assistance.