Originally delivered on 3/23/2021 7:02 am

SUBJECT: Wickliffe PTO Weekly - What to Watch for this Week (3.23.2021)

Facebook
What to Watch for This Week:

Hello Wickliffe families,

We hope you had a wonderful Spring Break, and your children are excited to be back at school! This week, please watch out for:

  • Flower Sale flyers and catalogs, which will be coming home with your students this week (or by email if you are an Online Academy parent), with all the details for ordering online. Orders for these stunning flowers and edible plants can be placed from TODAY (3/23). Thank you for supporting our school and happy shopping!
  • Adopt A Teacher/Staff Member: thank you to everyone who has adopted one of Wickliffe's amazing staff members for this month! If you haven't yet, please take a minute to sign up.

Don't miss Counselor's Corner: mark your calendar for the next parent coffee on Wednesday, March 31st at 6:30pm. Angela, Felice and Megan Ruiz will be sharing the newly developed lesson content on body safety, which will be taught to our students.

And, in Dr. Kassoy's food for thought, please take a minute to read the important article Dr. Kassoy shares on talking to children about anti-Asian bias in a developmentally appropriate manner. This article and the resources provided can help you have these critical conversations with your children.

Have a great week,

Kelley Swiney and the whole PTO

News and links to our website:
Spring Flower Sale - Begins TODAY (3/23)

Our Spring fundraising campaign begins on Tuesday, March 23rd. Watch for this flyer and catalogs that will be coming home with in-school students this week. Online Academy parents can also get a physical catalog too, by stopping in to the school office.

Please follow these steps to place your order:

1. Visit www.fundraiseit.org
2. Click the online shopping button under the parents tab.
3. Enter your student’s last name, first name, and Wickliffe (for the fundraising group)


More
Adopt A Teacher/Staff Member!

We want to show the teachers and staff at Wickliffe how much we appreciate all of their hard work and support during the school year! We invite you to sign up and adopt a teacher or staff member for either a month or for the rest of the school year. Up to 3 families can sign up to adopt the same teacher/staff member. 

During the time you have adopted the teacher/staff member let them know that you are thinking about them! Send them encouraging e-mails, mail them a card, drop off a small treat at the Front Office, etc. 

You do not need to spend a lot of money adopting the teacher/staff member just let them know you and your family are thinking about them and are thankful for all of the hard work!

Sign up to adopt a teacher or staff member
The teachers/staff members completed a survey about their likes, favorite candy, etc. Click here to find out more about your teacher/staff member.
More
Teacher Appreciation

Thank you to all who have donated snacks and drinks for the teachers and staff members. The teachers and staff real enjoy and appreciate the treats and drinks! We need your help to keep it going!

If you would like to contribute individual prepackaged food and drinks, our amazing teachers would really appreciate it. Please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/teacher_appreciation

  • Please drop your items off at Kelley Swiney's porch at 3942 Newhall Rd (or order online and have the snacks delivered to Kelley's address).
  • Requested items include: candy, chips, cookies, nuts, trailmix, soda, San Pellegrino flavored water, La Croix, cold brew coffee.

If you have any questions please contact Jennifer Waddell at jenniferawaddell@yahoo.com. Thank you for your support! 

More
Quarantine Guidelines Update

For families in-school, Ms. Evans provided updated quarantine information in her latest parent update, if you missed it you can view it here.

And, Dr. Imhoff shared this message from our school nurses:

  • Daily symptom checks: Please continue to conduct a daily symptom check at home for any symptoms related to COVID-19 —  fever of 100.4ºF or higher, chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore threat, new or worsened nasal congestion, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. If your student is experiencing any of these symptoms, please keep them home, and you may call your school nurse, Janice Walsh, for advice. 

For more information, the UA school district's responsible restart webpage is here.

More
School Lunches

There is currently no charge for elementary students to buy school lunch through the end of the school year due to a USDA National Waiver.

  • IN-SCHOOL: Beginning the week of March 1, students in the school based pathway will no longer need to pre-order school lunches. Teachers will take a count each morning of the students getting lunch from the cafeteria. Parents can view the lunch menu, with the full description and nutrition information for each lunch option, by clicking here.

  • ONLINE ACADEMY: the meal pickup services will continue. Updated information and details will come from Ms. Evans, and on the UA Nutritional Services webpage here

If you have any questions, please contact our Nutritional Services department at (614) 487-5244, or by emailing ihunt@uaschools.org.

More
Counselors' Corner
Counseling Team Updates

Welcome back! We hope everyone found some time to reset over spring break and are geared up for the homestretch. 

Please join us for a very important Parent Coffee on March 31st @ 6:30pm facilitated by Angela, Felice, and Megan Ruiz, an OSU counseling intern. We will be sharing the newly developed K-5 lessons on body safety. This will be a great opportunity to hear about the content being presented. 

For those of families who have had older children, you are probably familiar with the YES Program. After almost forty years of presenting this workshop to our K-5 children, the elementary school counselors have designed new lessons. 

As the world changes, so do the safety needs of our students. To ensure that our programs reflect the current research, data, and statistics, we consulted with Dr, Julie Harmon, founder of IMPACT Safety, to discuss the latest literature surrounding safety for young children. Julie guided us towards KidPower.org which ultimately led us to Jayneen Sanders and her most recent publications on body safety.

Below are some graphics which summarize the key concepts of our new lessons. We hope to see you on the Parent Coffee Zoom to discuss this important content in greater detail. Be on the lookout for the Zoom link.

And just a reminder about our Spring groups. Detailed descriptions are available in previous newsletters.  Please let us know by the end of the week if you are interested in having your child participate. You can email Dr. Kassoy (fkassoy@uaschools.org).

  • Change: Exciting, But Tricky

  • Morning Mindfulness

  • BIPOC Student Affinity Group (to be renamed by the kiddos)

  • IDEA Mentors

  • Moving On Up: Skills to Survive Middle School

More
Dr. Kassoy's Food For Thought

As we wrestle with the recent incidents of hate in our country, it is with a heavy heart that I share this week’s article with you. Talking to our children about anti-Asian bias in a developmentally appropriate manner is important. Children begin to develop their racial identity at a young age so we must help them have a healthy sense of who they are and celebrate our differences.

According to the authors of this article, here are some ideas of what parents can do to help:

  • Read books, watch movies and consume media with racially diverse characters. Read with your children or talk with them about what they’re reading.

  • Be proactive in bringing up conversations about race with your kids. Ask them what they are hearing and experiencing.

  • Kids will hear what’s happening in the news. Discuss it with them in an age-appropriate way.

  • Role play what to do when you see a racist incident. Talk to your kids if a racist incident happens to your child or to someone in your community.

  • Read this parenting guide for parents of Asian-American teens: How are you and your children talking about racism?

  • Share these resources from the M.G.H. Center for Cross-Cultural Student Emotional Wellness with your kids.

  • Explore additional resources for talking about race with younger children such as Embrace Race and PBS Kids for Parents.

We hope that this article and the resources provided will help you have these critical conversations with your children.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/well/family/Talking-to-children-anti-Asian-bias.html

Until next week,

The Counseling Team (Felice, Rebecca, Megan, Jihyeon, and Syd)

More
Calendar
Tuesday, March 23
Students back to school (after Spring Break)
Spring Flower Sale begins
Wednesday, March 31
Restaurant Fundraiser - Chocolate Cafe
6:30p Parent Coffee - My Body Safety Rules
Friday, April 2
NO SCHOOL
Monday, April 5
6:30p Monthly PTO Meeting
Monday, April 19
Scholastic Book Fair (ALL WEEK)
Thursday, April 22
Spring Flower Sale - Last day to order!
Friday, April 23
Last Day of Scholastic Book Fair
Monday, May 3
6:30p Monthly PTO Meeting
Tuesday, May 4
NO SCHOOL - Primary Election Day
Thursday, May 13
4:00p Spring Flower Sale - PICK UP
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -