Structured Learning Early Childhood Classrooms (Donenberg & Loyd) - No School Friday, April 13
FIELD DAY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
On Wednesday, May 30th, all Kindergarten and Early Childhood children will be participating in Field Day at Willow Grove! This is a rain or shine event filled with games, races and fun! There will be 9 different stations, such as Silly Races, Parachute, Treasure Hunt and more.
Mrs. O’Gara is looking for parent volunteers to run each station. If you are interested, please email her at [email protected]. Half the students will attend Field Day in the morning, and half in the afternoon. Please see the list below to see when your child’s class will be participating. If your child attends Willow Grove for a 1/2 day program, they may participate with their classroom during their scheduled Field Day hours.
Please note, to ensure the safety of our students, only volunteers may attend Field Day.
Volunteers need to be here at 9:00 a.m. for AM FIELD DAY and 12:00 p.m. for PM FIELD DAY.
April Social Emotional Learning - Working Together!
Each month brings a new social-emotional learning theme! April's theme is "working together." There are so many ways our young children work together in the classroom. We seek opportunities for children to communicate and partner, where one child succeeding helps all children succeed. We strive to create an environment where individual contributions are valued and celebrated and benefit more than just ourselves. You can reinforce this life-lesson with your children at home. When you have them pitch in, doing age-appropriate chores, talk about the contribution that makes to your family and household. For example, "When you put your toys away and I'm doing the dishes, it helps us all enjoy our home more and feel more comfortable. Thank you for working together with me!" During this month we also talk about the ways we regulate our bodies and minds to work positively with others. At this age, we are all learning to work and play together.
Thank you to our wonderful parent volunteer who put together this masterpiece to reinforce our "working together" theme! The kids ALL made a hand, contributing to this. They are so proud of the beautiful display they made, working together!
PTO News
Please help us celebrate our teachers and staff for staff appreciation week, coming up May 7-May 11th. Read the PTO blog to see how you can help.
The remainder of the blog is repeat information, but still relevant, just in case you missed it! If you've been keeping up, skip it!
Kindergarten Parents, Save the Date: Friday, May 11th ~ You are Invited!
Kindergartners have a wonderful opportunity to perform for you in May! Further details in 3/16 Principal's Message.
2018-19 FIRST-GRADE PARENT CLASS PLACEMENT INPUT
Can you believe it is already time to begin thinking about class placement for next school year? Please read the information below on how class lists are created and how to provide input. This is for first-grade only. If you have an incoming kindergarten student a survey will be emailed to you on May 1st if you have fully completed the registration process.
Creating balanced class lists that meet the needs of all students is a tremendously difficult job that takes many hours of thoughtful dialogue between classroom teachers, specials area teachers, specialists, and the principal. We at Willow Grove take this process very seriously. The following describes the process for creating balanced class lists.
- Classroom teachers consider the social and academic needs of each student.
- Specialist Team members (social worker, speech teacher, special education teacher, etc.), the Specials Team (Music, P.E.), and the principal provide input as well during this process.
- Parent input is considered.
- We consider placing your child with other students they are familiar with. We cannot accommodate friendship requests.
- Class lists are finalized in August as summer changes must be considered such as move ins/outs, section size changes if any, etc.
We strongly believe that this detailed and collaborative process creates learning environments that benefit all students. It is a delicate balancing act which takes much consideration and thought by professionals who know and care about your children.
Because of the input and thought by teachers, specialists, and administrators, we cannot make changes once this process occurs, as moving one child can disrupt the balance of a class, impacting all students.
I welcome any insight you wish to share about your child’s strengths, needs, and learning style. I will take into consideration pertinent information received on or before FRIDAY, APRIL 27th. While we welcome your input, specific teacher or friend requests will not be honored. Should you provide a specific teacher or friend request, this will be omitted from information being considered.
To provide your input, please make sure your thoughts are provided through this First Grade Placement Input 2018-2019 Survey. As you can imagine, we receive a lot of parent input, and verbal information and multiple emails are impossible to carefully track. Any parents that submit letters/emails will be redirected to the survey. This keeps our information organized so that no input is missed! This information remains confidential between parents and me. Thank you!