New from WES | March 12, 2021

Dear WES Families,

I want to share some reminders and updates:

Drop-off at WES begins at 7:55 AM. We are starting to have students left unattended up to 20 minutes early, and they are congregating in a non-socially distant way in the lobby without supervision. This presents a health and safety issue. Please adhere to your assigned drop-off time. Students are welcome to start entering the building at 7:55 AM.

Wednesday Learning Plans: Students all have asynchronous assignments to complete on Wednesdays. In K-2, a plan comes home from the classroom teachers. In grades 3-6, students have assignments from the classroom teacher as well as art and music assignments. Students in grades 4-6 also have an asynchronous Spanish assignment to do on Wednesdays. These assignments are tracked for attendance on Wednesdays.

Please reach out to your child's teacher if you are unsure about Wednesday assignments.

Absences: Now that all students are in school in person four days per week, the Wednesday assignments are the only assignments consistently available online. When your child is absent, you and your child will need to be proactive and connect with the teacher about missed lessons and missed assignments. Being present in the classroom is the best way to make progress at school. Make up and catch up are far from ideal modes of learning.

WES Configuration for 2021-2022. Woodstock Elementary School will be a PreK to 4th grade school for the 2021-2022 school year. We anticipate adding another PreK class and an additional 2nd grade because of the large 1st-grade class this year. WES will be considered the local elementary for PreK-4th grade students from Bridgewater, Pomfret, and Woodstock. PreK-4th graders in Reading will go to RES unless applying for school choice at WES. If you currently attend WES by town designation or school choice, you will stay unless you apply to switch to another school. Students from Plymouth can apply to WES by choice for grades PreK-4. The district is working to assign and hire staff and a principal for The Prosper Valley School for grades 5-6 for Bridgewater, Pomfret, Reading, and Woodstock students. I anticipate the majority of staff currently at WES will stay at WES unless they are retiring or request a transfer. I want to formally acknowledge that Mrs. Giller, "Mr. Wes" Hennig, and Mrs. Labella are retiring from WES this year. As we approach the end of the year, we will have much more time for closure and appreciation of their dedicated service to our school!

In the linked newsletter, you will find information about the following:

  • Girls On The Run registration is open

  • WES Art Show at DHMC

  • Nurse News: Returning after Illness reminder

  • PBIS at WES Updates

  • Free Meals to Go

  • Parenting Classes Announcements

  • Vermont PBS live stream link

Yours,
Maggie Mills
Principal

Katie