E. V. WALTON TIMES E. V. WALTON TIMES Colorful Leaves Falling The fall season is here and with the arrival of the fall comes many exciting events at Walton. 2nd grade will be going on their “Tour of Springfield’ field trip which is part of their Social Studies unit on communities. The students also develop their map skills by locating community landmarks on our town map. The first of our PTA assemblies begins with “School Spirt” on October 10th. Every Friday is School Spirit Day, so please wear your Walton sweatwear or our school colors which are blue and orange. If you have spirit, let’s see it! Please have your smiles ready. October 15th is Picture Day for PK & KDG, and October 16th for grades 1 & 2. The order forms will be coming home soon. The month comes to an end with the PTA Pumpkin Patch on October 29th, and the Halloween Dance in the evening on October 30th. The PTA will be providing a small pumpkin for each student to take home. Our annual Halloween Dance will be held at Gaudineer Middle School. This is an evening of fun for the whole family! Please be on the look out for the flyer which will be coming out in mid-October. CONTENTS OF THIS NEWSLETTER: Photo Gallery Health News A Caring Note from Your Counselors Parent Involvement We hope everyone enjoyed Walton’s School’s annual Back to School Night and gained important information regarding your children’s educational program. Research shows that parent involvement is an important factor in a child’s interest and success in school. The most significant type of parent involvement is when parents work directly with their child on learning activities on a regular basis, starting at an early age. Throughout each week, parents need to know what their children are learning, either through classwork and homework being sent for your review or through weekly newsletter updates in Study Wiz. K-2 teachers will be sending home their unit assessments in the various subject areas for your review and signature. Additionally, homework needs to be reviewed each day and initialed before returning it to school. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s performance at anytime, we encourage parents to be proactive in contacting the teacher in a timely manner. Please do not wait until November or February parent-teacher conferences to address areas of concern. Thank you for your part in helping your children, our students, be successful in their learning experiences! October 2014 Upcoming Events 10/6 & 20 BOE Mtg 7:30 PM 10/8 Progress Reports Online 10/13 NO SCHOOL Columbus Day 10/15 Picture Day PK & K 10/16 Picture Day Grades 1 & 2 10/30 PTA Halloween Dance at FMG 11/2 Daylight Savings Time Ends: Set Clock Back One Hour 11/3 & 17 BOE Mtg 7:30 PM 11/4 NO SCHOOL for Students: Staff Development Day 11/6 & 7 NO SCHOOL: NJEA Teacher Convention 11/12 PTA Mtg 7:30 PM in the Gym 11/19 Picture Retakes 11/20 Report Cards Online 11/21 Delayed Opening: Parent-Teacher Conferences 11/24 & 25 Early Dismissal 1:00 Parent-Teacher Conferences NO LUNCH 11/26 Early dismissal 1:00 PM NO LUNCH & No AFTER CARE 11/27 & 28 Schools Closed for Thanksgiving Break REMINDER: Please only park in designated spots in front of the gym. Parking in front of the school outside the main offices is prohibited. Thank you! The entire newsletter can be viewed & printed from our website at www.springfieldschools.com/evw/newsletter.html Photo Gallery During the spring, the students planted seeds in the garden and look at what they grew! This is a sampling of some vegetables that we donated to the local food pantry. Dr. Hung, Marissa and Noa show off the great eggplants and tomatoes that were freshly picked from our courtyard garden. Milton and Adriana are having a great time harvesting the vegetables on a beautiful afternoon with the PTA Garden Club. David and Eliana are happy to place the pinwheels in the flowerpot for International Day of Peace. Ava smiles for the camera before placing the pinwheel in the flowerpot. Our bulldog, Wally Jr., visits the classes with the most school spirit each Friday! A NOTE FROM THE HEALTH OFFICE…. Mrs. Schwartz, School Nurse IMPORTANT NEWS FOR PRE-SCHOOL PARENTS: The countdown has begun! The month of September has already passed and there are now 3 months left for your child to obtain a flu shot. Please be sure to submit documentation that your child has received his/her flu shot before the holiday break in December in order to avoid exclusion from school in January. This is a state requirement and our school is monitored for compliance. DID YOU KNOW? FLU is a serious contagious disease that can be very dangerous for children, especially children with chronic health conditions. The US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention recommends Flu Vaccination for everyone 6 months and older. For more information on protecting yourself and your child during the 2013-2014 flu season, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/flu ENTEROVIRUS EV-D68: While it hasn’t made headlines for a few days, I am hearing reports from local physicians that Enterovirus EV-D68 has made an appearance in our area. It seems to have the worst effect on young children; particularly those under the age of 5 who have asthma. We have put information on the district website from the CDC concerning this virus which appears at first like a simple cold. You can find the information at this link: http://www.springfieldschools.com/parentresources/healthoffice.html NOTIFYING WALTON SCHOOL WHEN YOUR CHILD IS ABSENT: If your child will be absent and/or tardy to school, it is important that you call our “Call for Safety” line as soon as possible. The number is 973-376-1025, press 9, then dial ext. 2650. Please speak clearly and slowly when leaving the message. Provide the following 4 pieces of information: (1) Child’s first and last name (say it twice slowly and/or spell it), (2) Child’s Teacher, (3) Dates of Absence and (4) Reason for Absence (for example; diagnosed with Strep, or high fever, vomiting, or sore throat and runny nose). Upon your child’s return to school, parents are to send in a signed note to the office relaying the reason for the absence. If absence is due to medical or health reasons, a signed doctor’s note is acceptable. Please be aware, should the office not receive a call from you, we do make attempts to contact you and those on the emergency contact list. If we cannot locate anyone who knows of your child’s whereabouts, we call the police department for assistance. WHEN SHOULD I KEEP MY CHILD HOME FROM SCHOOL? As part of our health regulations in the Springfield School District, the guidelines request that parents/guardians notify the school nurse if their child is home with a communicable disease. Some examples of reportable diseases to the health office are (but not limited to): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Strep infections Staph infections Scarlet fever Fifth Disease Coxsackie Pneumonia Mononucleosis Chickenpox (Note: Even if your child has received the vaccine for chickenpox (Varivax), there is still a chance he/she might contract the disease if exposed to the virus) Please contact the health office as soon as your health care provider has diagnosed any contagious disease requiring antibiotic and/or exclusion from school. As a general rule of thumb, children should not come to school if they have a fever of 100 degrees or more. They should be fever free without fever reducing medication for a 24-hour period before returning to school. If your child has vomited or is experiencing diarrhea, they need to remain home for a 24-hour period following their last episode. If your child has visited the doctor, the emergency room or has had any type of medical procedure, please follow the doctor’s instructions and send your child back to school with the doctor’s note. If your child has a rash that you cannot identify, please do not send your child to school unless a doctor has confirmed that the rash is not contagious. While we practice healthy hygiene and hand washing techniques here at Walton, we need your help to keep our entire student population healthy and ready to learn! Thank you for your help! A Caring Note… From Your School Counselors Marnie Cunningham, Bonnie Loew and Christine Saliceti 973-376-1025, Ext. 2001 Introduction to Character Education, Operation Goody Bag & Pinwheels for Peace Pre-Kindergarten The Pre-Kindergarten students were introduced to the school counselor with a fun interactive game that inspired their creativity and imagination. By using objects, the school counselor was able to explain their role at Walton to the children. This exercise proved helpful for both the school counselor and the students to get to know one another. The students loved the exercise. Kindergarten The year started with a lesson that introduced the Kindergarten students to the Counselor. Through the use of a fun interactive activity, the students laughed and explored the Counselor’s role during this lesson. First Grade During the month of October, both the Kindergarten and First Grade classes will have lessons about manners and school rules. While classrooms are establishing the expectations for social and academic behaviors, the lessons will concentrate on the 3 C’s of caring, courtesy and being careful. We will read books about manners, complete activities and sing a fun manner song that you could find on You Tube called “Mr. Manners Matters.” The kids love it! Second Grade The second grade character education classes will begin with the theme of respect, which is one of the 6 Pillars of Character. Students will participate in cooperate activities that allow them to explore getting in touch with their own feelings and learning to use empathy. We look forward to an exciting, a successful, and a fulfilling year working with your children!!! School-Wide September Projects Operation Goody Bag This year, our school participated in an event called "Operation Goody Bag" on September 11th. Operation Goody Bag's mission is to remember those we lost on September 11th and express support and appreciation for our Military Men and Women, Veterans and First Responders, through the gift of a Goody Bag. During the week of September 8th, we colored goody bags and wrote thank you letters to say thanks to American Hero's in memory of September 11th. Walton completed over 600 goody bags for the troops and over 400 letters. The children enjoyed writing and decorating their bags and letters. The PTA helped deliver our paper bags and letters back to headquarters for them to fill each bag with treats for our servicemen. If you would like to read more about this project, please go to the following link: http://operationgoodybag.org/the-project/ Pinwheels for Peace The school participated in the Pinwheels for Peace project this year. Everyday, we are bombarded with television images, video games, music, and magazine articles/newspapers that give importance to conflict and war. Violence has become commonplace and accepted, as part of our society and, for some; it is a way of life. It is our hope that through the Pinwheels for Peace project, we made a public visual statement about our feelings about tolerance/cooperation/harmony/unity. Since a pinwheel is a childhood symbol – it reminds us of a time when things were simple, joyful, and peaceful. Each class was given two pinwheels to place in a flowerpot so that they can be displayed for International Day of Peace, Sept. 21, 2014. The spinning of the pinwheels in the wind spread thoughts and feelings about peace throughout the country, the world and our school! With your help, we can create “whirled peace.” Important Dates This Month: October 6-10: Week of Respect October 20-24: Week of Violence Awareness We will be doing additional activities for these important weeks. October 2014 Edward V. Walton School Sunday Monday www.springfieldschools.com/evw Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 1 Saturday 2 3 4 Yom Kippur 6 5 7 9 10 11 15 16 17 18 23 24 25 30 31 K-‐2 Progress Reports Online 7:30 pm BOE Mtg. 13 12 8 14 No School Columbus Day Picture Day PK & K Picture Day 1st & 2nd 19 26 20 21 22 7:30 pm BOE Mtg. 27 28 29 Halloween Dance at Gaudineer Halloween
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