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2020-21 SCHOOL CALENDAR

WIS PTO WEBPAGE

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

• PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
• PARENT WORKSHOPS
• WPS BUDGET UPDATE
• BOE REPORT
• VIRTUAL FAMILY FUN NIGHT
• ALL PTO SPEAKERS EVENT
• WIS SPIRIT STORE
• 2021-22 WIS PTO BOARD
• 2021 NEW YEAR STAFF LUNCHEON
• YEARBOOK UPDATE
• ELC LOTTERY - CLOSING TODAY
• AR WORKSHOP FAIRFIELD VALENTINE'S FUNDRAISER
• AROUND TOWN

Hello WIS Families,

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our General Meeting yesterday and listened to Laura Cleary’s talk from Weston Youth Services. She had some great advice to surviving this time 

Also, our Nominating Committee who will help craft our board for 2021-22 was approved. Thank you to our team for stepping up.  Our Nominating Chair is Jennifer Bernheim and the committee consists of: Keisha Fink, Monica Stromwall, Stephanie Schafer and  Kathleen Custis. Now the work begins! 

Don’t forget to check out the upcoming dates for the Parent Speaker Series.  As this is a great support tool in this unusual year. 

Happy Weekend!!

Daniella Swetland 

PTO President

daniellarc@aol.com

HES and WIS, in partnership with the PTO, have scheduled a series of parent workshops to support parents during this unusual year.  

The speaker, Claudia Elfreich is a mom and former general and special educator She has been in the field of education for over 20 years.  She is an education specialist at CREC (Capital Region Education Council) as well as a member of the CT Transition Task Force, a PBIS endorsed trainer and the head of the SEL (Social/Emotional Learning) Council at CREC.  She is passionate about SEL in schools and homes for children and adults. 

Please save the date for the following sessions.

February- Session # 2

Tuesday, February 9,   9-10 am  or 6-7 pm

March- Session # 3

Thursday,  March 4,  9-10 am  or 6-7 pm

On January 13th, the 4 PTOs hosted a Joint PTO presentation of the proposed school budget for 2021-22.  Dr. McKersie and others in the administration shared the current version of the school budget.  If you missed the presentation, you can watch the recording by clicking THIS LINK.

On Tuesday 26th January, the Board of Ed will be hosting a Public Forum with the Administration for members of the community to ask questions/make comments regarding the proposed budget. Please go to the District Calendar HERE for details of how to watch and participate.  

Lastly, there is a BOE meeting on Thursday 28th January to discuss the BOE Approval and Adoption of the FY22 Budget.  Link for viewing can also be found in District Calendar HERE.  After approval, the process moves on to the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance.

In this first BOE meeting of the year the main topic was the impact of Covid-19 on the schools and what the possible learning scenarios are. The district continues to pay close attention to the spreading of the virus within the schools and how this can be mitigated. HES plans to decide on 1st graders coming back full-time this month and in early February there are plans to discuss the possibility of full-time for 2nd-5th. All schools are thinking about the impact of keeping desks 6 feet apart and whether this is imperative. Full-time in-person learning may be attainable sooner if desks and tables were moved closer, as they are in other local districts. Cafeterias and eating spaces, as well as movement in the hallways, remain large concerns. Dr. McKersie remarked that consistency and continuity are what the students and teachers need the most; an increase of students in each class will lead to an increase in the number of people who will need to quarantine if someone tests positive. This would mean the disruption of many more lives than is currently the case with hybrid learning. The discussion is ongoing and meanwhile, schools are putting supports in place for students who are struggling with distance learning. 

The WPS teachers are registered with the health department to receive vaccines, however CT is not administering to teachers at this time.

WIS and HES are welcoming 16 new students this year.

The superintendent search process is underway and there will be about 20 applicants for this position. There is a community forum on 1/25 where folks can share their thoughts about what to look for in the next superintendent. Interviewing will begin at the end of February.

The BOE Subcommittee on Sustainability has begun to draft a policy for sustainability in the Weston schools. This is exciting as they will be paving the way for a policy of this type in our region. 

1/26 is the next public budget workshop. 

Julie Ruby

WIS BOE Representative

Virtual Family Fun Night - Friday, Feb 5th at 6pm

Bake with Your Sweetheart Hosted by Chef Kathleen of Chopped and Chopped Champions! 

While there may not be a WIS Sweetheart Dance this year, you can still dance around your kitchen while baking with your sweetheart! WIS students and their families are invited to bake with Chef Kathleen who has appeared on both Chopped and Chopped Champions. Join us in baking cupcakes with hearts made from marshmallow fondant (with optional berry stuffing). 

The fee will be $25 per family. Participants will need to buy their own ingredients.

You can register HERE.

If you have any questions, please contact Family Fun Night Chair Jennifer Bernheim at jbernheim@onpurposepr.com. 

Please join the HES/WIS/WMS & WHS PTOs for a special speaker event:

TOPIC: DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

SPEAKER: JONELLE A. REYNOLDS, PHD 

UConn - Director Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives

DATE: TUESDAY 23RD FEBRUARY

TIME: 9.30am - 10.45am

Click HERE for a flyer

Show your WIS pride and support the PTO.

New items are available in our Spirit store.

You can purchase the WIS Spirit t-shirt or pre order the hat HERE

We are still looking for 1 person to join our  the Nominating Committee responsible for selecting the 2021-2022 WIS PTO Slate. If you are interested in serving on the Nominating Committee, please contact me at jbernheim@onpurposepr.com or complete the nomination form HERE.

We would also love to hear from you if you are interested in joining the Executive or General Board itself next year!  

We welcome new and returning members - it is a great way to meet other parents, and is also a way for friends to work together and for you to get more involved in your child's school environment.  A full list of the various board positions can be found on the PTO website - if you have any questions regarding any of the positions, or any part of the process, please contact me at jbernheim@onpurposepr.com.   And please go ahead and fill out the nomination form HERE if you know which position you would like - or if you know of someone else who would be fantastic!  

Thank you!

Jennifer Bernheim
WIS PTO Nominating Chair

Hello all,

We would like to thank our teachers and make them start the 2021 feeling parents appreciation for their amazing job. 

 We will treat them with a catered lunch but we can't do it without your help. Please consider making a monetary donation to assist in the purchase of these items. Any donation will be greatly appreciated.

Click here to donate

Thanks as always for your support!

Daniella Swetland
daniellarc@aol.com

Don’t forget to order your yearbook!

https://wis.picaboo.com/weston-intermediate-school-2020-2021

Password: WIS2021

This price is $36.50 

You can personalize your book with four personalized pages as we have done in recent years (at no charge) and you will be able to stamp your Childs' name and symbols on the cover in silver foil (for an added fee). The personalized pages need to be completed by May 1st.  Please disregard the Picaboo site telling you that pages need to personalized by a different date. 

Please contribute photos to the yearbook making sure they are  added to the correct section. 

https://uploads.picabooyearbooks.com/9186108

Yearbooks will be back on track to be handed out at school during the school year.  

Please stay tuned for more updates.

Daniella Swetland 

daniellarc@aol.com

The Early Learning Center (ELC) is a preschool program that has been developed to integrate special education students with typical peers to provide strong communication and positive role models.  The ELC is open to Weston Families only.  The program runs 5 days a week, 4 ¾  hours a day (8:30am - 1:15pm) with parents expected to provide transportation. To participate in the ELC children must be 3 or 4 years old on or before September 1, 2020 and toilet trained.  The anticipated cost for the program is $7,000.   

Applications for Hurlbutt Elementary School’s Early Learning Center (ELC) are now available on the Hurlbutt Elementary School website.  We are accepting applications from December 7th through January 22nd.  In the event that we have more students apply than open slots a lottery will be conducted on Wednesday, January 27th.  A virtual informational Open House will be held on Tuesday, January 19th at 2:00pm please RSVP to jodihanna@westonps.org.

If you are interested in having your child participate in the program, complete the application located at https://forms.gle/jENW3ZbcPJrSWcH8A.  It can also be found on the district website, www.westonps.org on the Hurlbutt Elementary School Home Page.  To find the application scroll down and click on the Parent Quick Link “Top Forms & Resources” under Parent Resources.  

We will be accepting applications for the program from Monday, December 7, 2020 through Friday, January 22, 2021.

For further information please contact, Jodi Hanna at jodihanna@westonps.org or 203-221-6343

AR Workshop ~ Fairfield is offering DIY To Go craft kits for Valentine's Day!

$30 or $35 per kit.  

DIY To Go kit options are:  Valentine Garland (7 designs), Valentine Mini Blocks, or Tea Towels.

A percentage of the proceeds will go to support all 4 Weston PS PTOs. Visit their website: www.arworkshop.com/fairfield and use the code WESTON20 to be included in the fundraiser.

Please note, there is not an additional discount, just a percentage of your purchase that will go to Weston PTOs.

January 15^th is the last day to register for baseball and softball winter workouts. Sessions are available for baseball programs from Kindergarten - 12U (i.e. players who do not turn 13 prior to May 1, 2021) and all softball players from 1st through 8th grade.  Please visit 

https://www.leagueathletics.com/Registration/Default.asp?n=125819&org=westonll.com

to learn more about the programs and to register.

Registration for the Spring programs will be opening soon!

• Winter Book discussion:  We’re starting a Youth Services book group! Our first book in February is Self Compassion, by Kristen Neff PhD. We’ll have a private FB group where WYS Director Laura Cleary will share highlights of chapters and encourage discussion (we’ll have a virtual discussion group end of February if there’s interest). Email: lcleary@westonct.gov  Open to any interested adult.
• WYS Youtube Channel: Parent education and wellness videos & webinar recordings
• Youth-to-Youth Mentor Program: We’re gathering interest in a youth-to-youth mentor program, with Weston teen mentoring WIS or WMS students. This would be light mentoring/friendship. Teens will have a 3-hour training and be encouraged to meet with their mentees a minimum 30 minutes per week. If you’re an interested teen or the parent of a WIS or WMS student, email for info.: lcleary@westonct.gov
• Family RE-treat: A virtual DIY retreat for families to Re-imagine purpose, vision, and values, sponsored by Weston Youth Services and On Purpose Family. Family activities include a gratitude scavenger hunt and create a family vision board kit! More information and Register HERE

• 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.