Your membership will support our school - and ensure you continue to receive The WHISTLE!

More details on how to join below

THIS MONTH - OCTOBER

BLUE & GOLD DAYS - OCTOBER

2020-21 SCHOOL CALENDAR

WIS PTO WEBPAGE

WIS MAIN WEBPAGE

WIS PTO FACEBOOK PAGE - Please follow us to get updates on WIS PTO news!

• PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
• JOIN THE PTO
• BOE REPORT
• SCHOOL PHOTOS ORDER
• MINTED.COM FUNDRAISER
• WHS CAR MAGNET FUNDRAISER
• AROUND TOWN

Dear WIS Families,

 After careful consideration, our family decided to withdraw our child from Weston Public Schools. It has been an honor serving you as President these past two years and serving on the Executive Board over the last three years in various positions. I wish the WIS community continued success in the upcoming year.
I want to welcome Daniella Swetland as your new President. Daniella has been the Vice President for the last three years and has served on the Executive Board for four years, and has held numerous PTO positions. She is a dedicated member of our community, and I am grateful for her support. I wish her well in her new role.

With gratitude,
Monica Stromwall
 
I thank Monica for her dedication, hard work and tireless effort. I’m happy and exited to be your new PTO President. I have had many years on the PTO, serving as Secretary, Philanthropy Chair, Vice President and additionally as Grade Chair, Photo Chair and Yearbook Chair. All of those experiences have prepared me to take on the newest role as President of the PTO. Having grown up in Weston, going through the full Weston school district, it’s an honor to be representing WIS as your new President. I look forward to working together this year for the betterment of us all.

Thank you ,

Daniella Swetland

PTO President

Membership for the PTO is NOW OPEN.  You can sign up for membership, purchase extra directories, and make a tax deductible donation to the PTOs. CLICK HERE--PTO Membership to sign up for membership. The payment link will be visible once your information is entered.

We had some issues with the database, so please make sure that your child’s school and grade are correct:

• UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION FIRST
• MAKE SURE your child(ren)’s SCHOOL and GRADE are CORRECT!! (alumni year is the high school graduation year)
• UPDATE:  FAMILY INFORMATION before purchasing membership
• REACTIVATE EACH CHILD before purchasing membership

And remember, once our membership drive is complete, The WhIStle will only be sent to current paid-up WIS PTO members - so if you want to continue to receive the latest news and updates throughout the school year, sign up now!

BOARD OF EDUCATION REPORT - THURSDAY OCTOBER 8 2020

*Please note that this meeting took place before the letter was sent out to parents informing us of the upcoming scheduling changes that will begin on 10/26

This meeting began with Dr.McKersie giving a recap of the information that has been shared with both the BOE and the district community the past few days. These points included the discussions of safety factors, information about Covid-19 trends in CT, and new knowledge about how Covid-19 usually comes into schools. This information shows that the older students contract and spread the virus most often, so it was decided that WHS would stay with a hybrid ½ day model.

Dr.McKersie gave 3 recommendations on new school schedules. The first was that K-5 comes back full-time on 10/26. The second was composed of a few ways to improve the VDL which some people in the district are unhappy with. One idea would be to assign a designated teacher to the VDL students. Recommendation 3 was that the Middle School moves to a hybrid full-time day with the HS remaining hybrid with their early dismissal. All schools are in favor of having more professional learning for teachers so they are better prepared to teach like this.

Laura Kaddis and Pattie Falber, the principals of HES and WIS, stated that parents are concerned about the safety of less spacing in the classrooms. The BOE and administrators of the schools are trying to be creative while working on plans to use other rooms in the buildings and optimizing the time for students be out of their classrooms for a little while each day. As of now K-1 will average 5’ of space between students, 2^nd grade will average 3’, and 3^rd-5^th grade will average 4’ between students.

Much of the meeting was spent discussing different ways to improve the VDL and Dr. McKersie said there will be more information on this by 10/16. There are many points including the possible need to hire more teachers, the way students may feel if they are taken out of the classes they have already integrated into and given a new teacher, and how much of their day will be spent on screens.

Dr. McKersie said that with an all-in approach, if one student gets Covid-19 that whole class will have to quarantine, as well as any other students or teachers who are connected with contact tracing.

More to come on all of this information.

Julie Ruby

WIS PTO BOE Representative

If you didn’t order  photos prior to photo day you can order when you receive your proof.  You can order a package or just the digital image. Makeup day, won’t be scheduled/announced until after photos and proofs have been delivered to school.

If you chose NOT to send your Child in for Photo Day:
You can contribute a portrait for the yearbook. The portrait background this year is going to be nature. Photo must be vertical.
You will not email your photo, but submit it directly to the yearbook site, clearly labeling photo with students’ name.

Check back next week for link to upload the portraits.

Weather is supposed to be sunny this Saturday and could be a great day for photos. Take a head
and shoulder style photo (taken in an outdoor environment).

If you are submitting portraits make sure they are contributed/uploaded by November 30th.


Daniella Swetland
daniellarc@aol.com

This holiday season, we're partnering with minted.com to help us fundraise!

Shop holiday cards and gifts on minted.com now through December using our promo code to help support Weston Schools.  You save 20% and Minted donates 15% back to Weston Schools!

PROMO CODE – FUNDRAISEWESTON

Show your Weston Spirit and purchase a car magnet - for $5.00 each!

To order, please email alimelito818@gmail.com 

All proceeds will benefit the class of 2022. Payments will be made via Venmo or check, and magnets will be delivered to your mailbox within 10 days. More details when you email!

The Weston Historical Society wants YOU to get creative and carve a Jack O'Lantern for its "Jack O'Lantern Stroll"!  Prizes will be awarded for the top three Jack O’Lanterns, which will be voted on by those attending the “Jack O’Lantern Stroll” on Sunday, October 25, 2020 from 2:00pm – 6:00pm at the Weston Historical Society’s Coley Homestead.

Register to Carve & Donate your Jack O'Lantern and to select a drop off time here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49AEAA2EA6F8C07-signup

You must register your pumpkin by Sunday, October 18, 2020.

As a thank you for your carving efforts, you will receive a discount code for one FREE ticket to the "Jack O'Lantern Stroll". The discount code will be emailed to you within 48 hours of registering to carve and donate a Jack O'Lantern. *If you carve 2 Jack O'Lanterns, you will receive a code for 2 free tickets!

Questions: Please email director@westonhistoricalsociety.org or call 203-226-1804

Help fill the Coley Homestead with fun Jack O'Lanterns! Register to carve a pumpkin and donate it today: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49AEAA2EA6F8C07-signup

• The WIS PTO newsletter is distributed on Fridays, please send your submissions by the prior Wednesday, 2 pm.
• It is your responsibility to write and submit your relevant WIS activity each week.
• All submissions should be either included in the text of your email or attached in Word format and the content should be print-ready (please proofread!). Keep it simple and short.
• If you have a flyer, please submit a brief write-up along with it in PDF format and we will link it to the newsletter.
• Please send all necessary links, there will be a click "here" linking to the more detailed information.
• If you want to re-run a write-up from the previous week, check to see if it requires updating, i.e. changing the wording from  "next week" to "this week", etc.  If so, please make appropriate changes and re-send the revised write-up.
• All submissions should be sent to: wisptocommunications@westonpspto.org. All will be acknowledged.
• Submissions should be relevant to WIS and the town of Weston (i.e., town sports programs, Town of Weston sponsored community events or after-school sports programs for students taking place in the Town of Weston). If there is any question regarding the relevance of submission, final approval will be determined by the HES PTO Communications Chair and/or President.