ATTENTION KINDERGARTEN PARENTS!
Kindergarten parents/guardians will be receiving a letter from your
child’s teacher to set up a parent conference at which time you will be
given the 10 week report card.
REPORT CARDS– For Grades 1 – 4
Report cards for our first marking period will be sent home on Thurs
day, November 16. As indicated above, kindergarten report cards for
this first marking period are given out at the parent conference. R
e
port cards do not need to be returned.
However, the envelope does
need to be returned with your signature.
Numbers 1 – 4 will be used to indicate level of student achievement.
Please see code below:
4 = Highly Competent
3 = Competent
2 = Minimally Competent
1 = Below Competency
(+ or – may be added to the number)
PARENT CONFERENCE HALF DAYS
Time is set aside each year for parent/teacher conferences. Students
are dismissed early so that teachers and parents can meet. CON
FERENCE DAYS are scheduled for November 30, December 6, and
December 12. Teachers will set up appointments with parents. Aca
demic Intervention Service (AIS) staff will also be available. Students
will not eat lunch at school on conference/early dismissal days.
Please
– If you have a conference scheduled and find that you cannot
keep it, call the school so that the office can notify the teacher. If you
are not contacted and you want to schedule a conference, please call
the teacher in advance or send in a note.
UPCOMING VACATION DAYS
Here is a quick review of upcoming vacation days for students:
Friday, Nov. 10
Superintendent’s Conference Day
Wednesday, Nov. 22
through Friday, Nov. 24
Thanksgiving Holiday
November Newsletter
WILLIAMSON ELEMENTAR
Y SCHOOL
PICKING UP YOUR CHILD AT SCHOOL
We are very careful in discharging students from
school. If you need to pick up your child before
regular dismissal, please …
send a note to your child’s teacher
include date, child’s name, teacher’s
name, the time you wish to pick up your
child, and reason (for attendance purposes)
The note will be forwarded to the nurse. She will fill
out a
blue release slip which you need to pick
up at the Nurse’s Office before you take your
child out of class
. When you arrive at school to
pick up your student, please check in at the Main
Office. We will ask you to sign in and pick up a
Health Office Pass
. You will then return this pass to
the Main Office as you ex it the building. Thank you
in advance for your cooperation.
We do not encourage picking up your child at dis
missal time since the road is filled with buses and
the parking lot is often very busy. If you have to
pick up your child at 3:00 p.m., please do not drive
in the circle and please be sure the teacher knows
you have picked up your child.
We need to know
where every child is … we need your help.
No child will be released from school (other than to
bus) without the blue release slip.
PLAYGROUND
Playground continues throughout the winter
months whenever possible. Starting November 1
students MUST DRESS FOR COLD WEATHER.
When weather is severe, we will keep all students in.
Please note winter clothing requirements:
∗
Gloves or mittens
∗
Hat/hood (ears must be covered)
∗
Boots
∗
Coat or snowsuit
∗
Snow pants or second pair of pants to wear over
These guidelines will be in effect until May 1, 2000
HOME/SCHOOL RELATIONS
We encourage you to feel free to contact school any
time you have concerns. Just call 5899668 and ask
for your child’s teacher.
ROLLERSKATING THANK YOU
The students, staff, and Mrs. VanNostrand (3/4
rollerskating chairperson) would like to thank all
of you who helped at the skating party on
November 1st. These parties would not happen
without your help!
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NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER
VALUES ARE IMPORTANT
It has been said that American schools do not
teach values. Well, not so at Williamson Elemen
tary. We do stress the following values and hope
fully we also model these behaviors:
caring
about others, caring about nature, hon
esty, helping others, respect for other’s
belongings and views, cleanliness, fair
ness, taking turns, and sharing
. Theses are
among the qualities we believe in and try to rein
force with our children.
These values are reflected in the
“BE WISE”
Pro
gram.
EMERGENCY CLOSINGS
There may be times, due to adverse weather or
other emergencies, when it will be necessary to
close the school. If the determination to close is
made before the opening of school in the morning,
local radio station WHAM (1180) will carry notifi
cations of the closing. This station will also be no
tified if emergency conditions dictate early closing.
Channel 10 and Channel 13 T.V. are also notified if
emergency conditions di
ctate a closing. Should
school close early for emergency reasons, we
would like to be sure that each child knows where
he or she is to go. A form will be sent home for
you to indicate any special arrangements for emer
gency closings. Please be sure to return this form.
REMINDER – STATE LAW
Effective November 1, 1990, Chapter 62 of the
Law’s of 1990 amends previous law to include
school driveways as included as it applies to pass
ing school buses. In other words, if a bus is
stopped in the school driveway and has
it’s red
lights flashing
, it is
illegal
to pass that bus.
To ensure the safety of our students,
this law
will be enforced
on our school driveways.
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NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER
RETAKE DAY FOR SCHOOL
PICTURES
Retake Day for school pictures is sched
uled for Thursday, November 9.
If your child did not have his/her school picture
taken, this is your opportunity to do so. If your
child’s picture was taken and you are not satisfied
with them, return the pictures and request to have
the picture retaken.
FIRST GRADE NEWS
Learning to read, write, and add numbers is the
awesome task facing first graders in September
and October! Mastering basic sight words, ap
plying consonant sounds to the beginnings and
endings of words, and listening for short vowel
sounds in the middle is the task of all first grad
ers. Using this knowledge to express thoughts
in writing while remembering to add “finger
spacing” and a period at the end of a sentence
requires daily practice and lots of encourage
ment on the part of the teachers. As a result of
our conference days with Richard Strong, we
have begun to teach first graders basic skills of
note making as we enjoy literature together. By
starting with pencil drawings the students are
recording key events and details which can later
be used to write about a favorite book or simply
to retell the story in their own words. The focus
on key words goes beyond reading and into the
realm of math as we learn to add numbers to
gether after listening to a story problem which
requires a solution in which the work is shown,
the students are asked to find the words which
told them what process to use to solve the prob
lem. Thus, “how many in all” takes on meaning
as an important part of the whole concept.
NOTIFICATION OF BUSING ARRANGEMENTS
1.
In case of new enrollees (including kindergartners) and changes from previous year’s busing
arrangements – parents are required to provide the school either in person or in writing (by mail or
personal delivery) with accurate information about where the child is to be picked up and delivered
from school. Such notification must be received prior to the day the child enters school.
2.
In cases of where a change in either pick up or delivery site is sought – this applies to all
changes requested after the start of school. Parents are required to provide the school, either in
person or in writing (by mail or personal delivery) with accurate information about the requested
changes in busing arrangements.
Such notification should be made no later than 9:00
a.m. of the day of the proposed change.
3.
In cases of emergency when a change in busing arrangements is required by uncontrollable
circumstances, parents must call the appropriate school office and ask for the person in charge of
bus passes. The parent should be prepared to explain the general nature of the emergency and to
provide personal data that insures the caller’s identity.
Such requests must be made to the office of the school in which the child attends school. The bus
garage will not process such requests.
BEST CONNECTIONS BEST CONNECTIONS BEST CONNECTIONS
Dear Parents,
We would like to tell you that we are opening
our school store,
Best Connections
, on
November 6. We will be open on Mondays at
lunch time. We will be selling school supplies
again this year. We will have pencils, crayons,
paper, and folders. Everything will cost under
$.50. We hope your children will visit us at the
store.
The Best Connections
Grade 4 Advertising Team
BEST CONNECTIONS BEST CONNECTIONS BEST CONNECTIONS
NEWS FROM THE HEALTH OFFICE
This month and next we will be focusing on vision and hearing screenings on every child. Often,
changes in these 2 senses are so subtle that they go unnoticed until a screening at school is per
formed. If a problem is noted, you would receive a letter informing you of the need for further
evaluation. Early treatment would, therefore, be quite beneficial to your child’s development.
Color Deficiency
– Color deficiency is the inability to distinguish between the primary colors.
Signs/symptoms are: unable to discriminate colors, difficulty learning primary colors, family history
of color deficiency, fails testing. Treatment: no known treatment, parents and teachers must be
aware of deficiency, counsel child in later school years regarding realistic career goals.
Reminders from the School Nurse
When a child is absent he/she must bring a written excuse on the first day of his/her return. If a stu
dent comes to school late, he/she must report directly to the nurse’s office before going to the class
room. If your child runs a fever, he/she should not return to school until free of fever for 24 hours.
All students who have throat cultures done may not return to school until the culture has been read.
If your child needs to take medication while in school, even nonprescription medication, the school
nurse needs orders from the doctor and a request from the parent.
NEVER SEND ANY MEDICA
TION TO SCHOOL WITH YOUR CHILD.
It must be brought in by an adult. Medication
must
be brought in a properly labeled bottle.
Reye’s Syndrome Alert
Reye’s Syndrome is a very serious disease that you should know about. Some people develop Reye’s
Syndrome as they are getting over a viral illness like the flu or chicken pox. Watch for these sym
p
toms, usually occurring in this order:
•
Relentless or continuous vomiting
•
Listlessness (loss of pep and energy with little interest in their environment)
•
Drowsiness (excessive sleepiness)
•
Personality change (such as irritability, slurred speech, sensitivity to touch)
•
Disorientation or confusion (unable to identify whereabouts, family members, answer questions)
•
Combativeness (striking out at those trying to help)
•
Delirium, convulsions, or loss of consciousness
Studies have shown that using aspirin or aspirincontaining medications to treat to symptoms or vi
ral illnesses increased the chance of developing Reye’s Syndrome. If you or a member of your family
have flulike illness,
do not use aspirin or aspirincontaining medications
. In fact, you should con
sult your physician before you take any drugs to treat the flu or chickenpox, particularly aspirin or
antinausea medicines. Antinausea medicines may mask the symptoms of Reye’s Syndrome.
Please call Mrs. Plyter (School Nurse) if you would like more information.
Needed/Wanted:
The Nurse’s Office desperately needs sweat pants and large sized tshirts. Socks would be helpful,
too. Thank You!
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