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September 2016 Issue 1

From the Principal’s Desk...

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to the 2016-2017 school year! The entire Wolford Staff joins me in welcoming you back to a new school year. We look forward to continuing to work together to support your child(ren)’s needs. Our goal is a home/school partnership in order to maximize the growth of each and every student at school; if you ever have questions

or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child(ren)’s teachers, Mrs. Lowery, or me.

We are excited to welcome several new staff members to the Wolford Team. Please join me in offering a squirrely hello to the following new staff: Fourth Grade--Martie Seaman, Fifth Grade—Carrie Dockins, Linda Frost—Teacher of Talented and Gifted, Michelle Kiernan, Counselor, Amanda Hinnen, Nurse, and Mike Stair, District Technology Technician. The staff joining our amazing team of support staff/paraprofessionals are Deb Akers, Kat Boisvert, Mary Correia, Jacob Damian, Cary Diaz, Andria Jensen, and Ben Willis. They are all excited to be part of the Black

Forest Community.

As new or returning parents, there are many ways to be involved at our school. One way to get involved is as a volunteer. There are many opportunities at school to support the learning of students and the efforts of our staff. If you think you might be interested in volunteering at Edith Wolford, and you have not already done so, you will need to attend one of our volunteer orientation sessions. These brief, informative meetings are designed to assist you with your efforts at school. Each session will last approximately 30 minutes, and you only need to attend one. At the meeting, there will be a PowerPoint presentation and you will complete some simple paperwork. If you have not recently been a volunteer at a D20 school, a basic background check will be conducted to ensure the safety of our students. Please visit the school web site or review the attached calendar for a list of dates of up-coming orientations. If you have already attended a Wolford orientation presentation, you need only view the

online refresher, also located on the school web site and sign a form stating you have viewed the PowerPoint.

You are also encouraged to be part of one or both of our parent organizations. The Building Accountability Com-mittee (BAC) meets to work on the means for determining whether decisions affecting the educational process at Wolford are advancing or impeding student achievement. In addition, we will review safety issues that may arise and review the prioritization of expenditures of the school budget. These meetings will take place before regular-ly scheduled PTO meetings, once each quarter. Our first meeting will take place on Thursday, September 8, at 9:00 am, at R and R Coffee House. At this meeting, an overview of RULER will be presented, as well as a discus-sion about the first anchor of RULER, the classroom charter. The second parent organi-zation is our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). This group is involved in support and development of our entire school community through fun events and activities and by providing additional financial support for our students and staff. Our first PTO meeting of the year will be Thursday, September 8, at 9:00 am, at R and R Coffee House. These

organizations cannot support our children as they do without your involvement!

(From the Principal’s Desk continued on page 2)

Important School Contact Information

Edith Wolford’s main office phone number is 234-4300. Please call 234-4301 to report an absence due to illness or other emergency, or if you would like to report an upcoming absence to the office. The FAX number is 719-234-4399. You

may also access Wolford’s website through District 20’s site: http://www.asd20.org.

EWE Need To Know Robert Wedel - Principal

Robin Lowery - Assistant Principal

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From the Principal’s Desk, continued

The information and data we recently collected during our two assessment days has been invaluable in helping teachers to plan for the support of your children’s literacy and math needs. With the help of our Literacy Support Team and our language arts/reading program, “Wonders,” classroom teachers will be better able to meet the needs of each student’s efforts to grow a year or more in reading achievement level. Through flexible scheduling and an effective use of staff, we will be able to pinpoint and address the needs of each student. You can play a part in your children’s reading achievement by supporting his or her efforts with Wolford READS, our school wide home reading program. Additionally, we are excited to be expanding our math intervention program, “Do the

Math.”

Following are a few final reminders to get the year off to a successful start:

1. Once again this year, the Wolford parent/student handbook is available on line. After reviewing the document, you will be required to indicate that you have read and understand the contents of the handbook. Failure to do so

will prevent you from accessing your student’s information and grades on the parent portal of Infinite Campus.

2. If you have not yet done so, please go to the Infinite Campus Parent Portal and reset your child(ren)’s password.

This will allow them to access the Internet when working on school projects and activities.

3. The back parking lot before and after school is for bus transportation only. Parents and guardians wishing to drop off and pick up students must use the front lot. If you choose to park and meet your child(ren) at the door, please park in designated parking areas only, and utilize one of the two crosswalks when moving between your car and the building. Thank you for your support in ensuring student safety and modeling appropriate behavior for our

students.

4. This year we will continue to enforce the district policy of no dogs on school property, to include the play-

ground, parking areas, etc. Thank you in your advance for helping us to follow this policy.

If at any time during the year you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me or stop by.

Warm regards, Bob Wedel Principal robert.wedel@asd20.org

234-4310

Work while your kids are in school!

No weekends or nights

Job Opening at

Wolford Elementary Kitchen

10:00 am – 2:15 pm

Duties include – Preparing food, Serving lunch & Cleaning up

Starting wage $8.75 per hour

Increased to $9.00 after 3 months. On the job training

If interested contact: Food Service Office at 234-1462 or go to –

Indeed.com and search for Sodexo or Food Service, Academy SD 20

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September Counselor’s Corner

Dear Parents and Guardians,

My name is Michelle Kiernan and I am very happy to join the staff at Edith Wolford Elementary as the School Coun-selor. I have worked for the past 12 years as both an Elementary and Middle School Counselor in several states. My husband and I have lived in the beautiful state of Colorado for the past two and a half years. We have three grown

children who love to come and visit us here in Colorado.

As the School Counselor, I will spend time in every classroom teaching a monthly guidance lesson. I am also available to work with students individually and in small groups. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to meeting all of our Wolford stu-

dents and families!

Mrs. Michelle Kiernan, M. Ed. michelle.kiernan@asd20.org

719-234-4326

**3rd Graders to take CogAT**

Per district requirements, all 3rd graders will be given the CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) full battery assessment later in September and into October (Sept. 26-Oct.14). The specific test-ing days have yet to be determined, but parents of 3rd graders will be notified when those days are identified. CogAT measures a student’s learned reasoning abilities in verbal reason-ing and quantitative reasoning in greater depth. As with other forms of standardized testing, this is just one piece of information teachers use to help make decisions about in-

struction for your child.

If you talk to your student about the upcoming tests, please encourage them to do their best. We encourage stu-dents to be present and on time to school. Be sure that your child continues good eating and sleeping habits during

the testing period.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at 234-4300.

Robin Lowery

Assistant Principal & School Assessment Coordinator

Garden Club starts for grades 3rd, 4th & 5th on September 8th and

will meet every Thursday from 3:45-4:30.

EWE September Character Trait of the Month: Respect

Showing consideration for self, others, property, rules, and people in authority through words and actions. What does it look like? Getting to school on time Listening when others are speaking Speaking respectfully about others and avoiding gossip

What does it sound like? “Thank you” “May I”

“Excuse me”

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Don’t forget those PE shoes . . . .

PE shoes are required to be safe in class. PE shoes are athletic shoes like a tennis shoe, running shoe or high top. Hik-ing boots are not considered PE shoes. This type of boot leaves marks on the floor and should be used for outside trails. Sandals, Crocs, dress shoes and snow boots will not be allowed. Please help your child remember to wear PE shoes or pack them in their backpack. Unfortunately, if your child doesn’t have PE shoes on their PE day, it will result

in having to sit out of class.

Class: Day:

Morgan Monday & Tuesday Thompson Monday Cloe Wednesday Teigen Thursday Nappo Tuesday Kamborian Wednesday Keller Tuesday Mathis Wednesday Seaman Tuesday Johnson Wednesday Dockins Tuesday

Bresciano Thursday

Student Council News – September 2016

Congratulations to our 5th grade officers for the 2016-2017 school year:

President - Griffin Rial

Vice-President – Mackenzie Frazee

Secretary – Alyssa Tidwell

Treasurer – Brooklynn Smith

Reporter – Kylie DeCoste

The third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms are getting ready to select one boy and one girl representative for their class-

room.

Donuts for Dads will be held Thursday, September

15, 2016. Please mark your calendar and plan to

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Mrs. Frost’s TAG Tidbits

FREE EVENT for parents of Gifted Students!

Lisa Van Gemert, nationally recognized expert in gifted education, is coming to Colorado Springs!

Gifted Directors of the Pikes Peak region voiced a strong value for continued professional develop-ment on the affective needs of gifted students. Lisa Van Gemert was recommended as a speak-er. Diane Cassidy, Gifted Education Regional Consultant (GERC), is happy to announce Lisa is coming to our region September 21-22. Regional grant funds will be sponsoring an opportunity to support

parents.

Wednesday, September 21, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. – Lisa will provide a session specifically designed for parents. Our Pikes Peak Association for Gifted Students will also be co-sponsoring this event. All parents in our region are welcome to attend. The loca-tion will be at Cheyenne Mountain High School. The topic for the parent presentation is: The Gift of Self: Developing Effective

Self-concept for Gifted Children.

About Parent Event - appropriate for parents, no child care. The Gifted Self: Developing Effective Self-concept in Gifted Stu-dents Healthy, effective self-concept promotes achievement and life satisfaction. Telling kids they’re smart and/or pretty is the entirely wrong way to go about creating this. This engaging workshop focuses on specific, research-proven tools that build self-confidence and self-concept in learners. RSVP Today! ppagsmail@gmail.com When: Wednesday September 21, 6:30-7:30pm Where: Cheyenne Mountain High School NEW Auditorium, 1200 Cresta Rd, Colorado Springs, CO 80906

Center for Bright Kids Regional Talent Development Center Western Academic Talent Search (WATS)

This is the 34th year of the Western Academic Talent Search! WATS is offered through the Center for Bright Kids, one of several national non-profit Regional Talent Development Centers. WATS enables academically talented 3rd through 9th graders to take

the ACT, SAT or PSAT 8/9 test at a much earlier age. This above-level experience allows students to:

*better evaluate their strengths *practice taking a more challenging test *compare their scores with other high achieving students *qualify for special summer or academic year opportunities or scholarships *receive recognition of the outstanding abilities

For more information please contact Mrs. Frost at: linda.frost@asd20.org.

The Wolford Pledge

The following is our school pledge. Students & staff recite this together each day:

At Wolford, I believe I can be a good student. I believe I can show good character.

I believe when I work hard, I will succeed. Today I choose to do my best.

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