January 7, 2020
Dear P.A.W.S. Families,
Happy New Year! We are all excited to be back at school and are looking forward to a wonderful new year of growth, learning and fun at P.A.W.S.! With the start of the new year, I am sending an information filled message to you, with the hope that this information will help you to plan and participate in all of the upcoming events that are meaningful to you. There is so much to share and I want you to be aware. Please bear with me and the length of this message.
Information in this Update:
PTO Meeting with School Committee Members
Transition to Kindergarten Events
What is Kindergarten Round-Up?
Tomorrow, we welcome you to join us at Tea with ‘Becca, hosted by Dr. Terry Weksel. Terry will be sharing and unpacking a helpful parenting app, that coincides with Joanna Faber’s book, How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen.
Friday, we’d love to have you attend, is our PTO meeting on Friday, January 10th. We will welcome some of the Wellesley School Committee Members at our 9:00AM PTO meeting at P.A.W.S. and hope we will have many P.A.W.S. parents participate!
Tea With ‘Becca – Thursday, January 9, 2020 Please RSVP to Tea with ‘Becca, HERE.
I am hoping that you will be able to join us to discuss the next chapter of the “How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen” book this Thursday, Jan. 9th at 9:00 a.m. This session will be devoted to strategies for resolving conflict. Please let us know if you’ll be able to attend or join us remotely using this LINK. We look forward to hearing how things went over the recent school vacation and what tools you might have tried out from the last meeting. Also, think about real life conflict situations that you face with your kids, and let’s see if together we can brainstorm ideas to address them.
We have a few more copies of the book available to share, made available by a generous grant from the Wellesley Education Foundation (WEF). Let us know if you’d like a copy! We’ll send it home for you in backpack mail with your child, or stop in the front office and Isabel for a copy.
P.A.W.S. PTO Meeting with the Wellesley School Committee Members
Friday, January 10,2020 – 9:00 AM – Join us in person or dial in and join the meeting remotely using THIS LINK and ask questions and have discussions with our School Committee Members.
Binder Making Workshop – Get Organized in the New Year- January 16, 2020
Putting It All Together Workshop – Former P.A.W.S. parent, Rose Nolan is coming to P.A.W.S. to share her wealth of experience, insight and organization strategies at a very special make-and-take workshop. RSVP HERE to reserve your spot at the table or join us remotely!
This workshop is designed for all parents/guardians of children with identified special needs with IEPs (Individual Educational Programs). Join us at P.A.W.S. to learn specific, helpful, easy to implement strategies for keeping all of your child’s special education paperwork organized and easy to find.
At the workshop, each parent/guardian will receive a binder and several resources to help support parents in being a positive advocate for their child. Parents of children with an IEP, who have taken this workshop before, have said that the information and resources shared in this workshop are easy to use and helpful. RSVP HERE to reserve a binder and to ensure we prepare the correct number of materials and supplies for the workshop.
If you are not able to attend the workshop, but would like the information shared, please join us remotely or reach out to me and I will make a binder for you during the workshop, and will send it home via backpack mail.
Getting Ready for Kindergarten
Some families with children getting ready to head into kindergarten might be finding it hard to believe it is time for their child to be leaving preschool. Some families are excited to head into the next chapter of their child’s learning journey and eagerly look forward to this next step. Many parents experience a mix of emotions and no matter where you are in your thinking and feeling about your child’s transition to kindergarten, we are here to support you in the process in a variety of ways!
Transition to Kindergarten Events and Supports Available to Families:
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Special Education Transition to Kindergarten Night – Information Session for parents of children with Individual Education Programs (IEPs). This presentation is for parents interested in learning about the specific Special Education transition processes provided for families and children with special needs on Tuesday, 2/4 @ 6:30 PM
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Transition to Kindergarten Night – Information Session for ALL P.A.W.S. parents interested in hearing an overview of the transition to kindergarten process, on Thursday, 2/6 @ 7:00 PM
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Kindergarten Information Sessions at Each Elementary School – Each school will send an invitation to all of the parents of rising kindergarten students with the date and time of their school event.
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Kindergarten Round-Ups at P.A.W.S. and at Sprague
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Kindergarten Screening – Dates will be provided by each elementary school and invitations will be sent to each child.
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Kindergarten Visit Days – Each elementary school will invite the children to come visit before the first day of school
What Is Kindergarten Round-Up?
For all preschoolers heading to kindergarten in September 2020, parents will need to register their child for kindergarten. To help with the registration process, Wellesley Public Schools hosts an event they call the “Kindergarten Round-Up.” It is a time for parents to bring all of the kindergarten registration paperwork to one location.
We provide a Kindergarten Round-Up at the preschool in January, held exclusively and conveniently for our P.A.W.S. families. You can bring all of your kindergarten registration paperwork to P.A.W.S. where we will have staff on hand to help answer your questions, help you with the registration process, and the WCCC After School Program Director will be there, too.
There are two town-wide Kindergarten Round-Ups held at the Sprague School, one in February and one in March. Every family in town, with a rising kindergarten student, is invited to go to the Sprague School during one of the Round-Up days to submit their registration paperwork. At the Sprague Round-Up you may have the opportunity to meet some of the elementary school principals who might attend, and the WCCC staff will be there to help with your after school program questions.
Friday, January 31, 2020 – 12:30-2:30 – at P.A.W.S.
Wednesday, February 5, 2020 – 3:00-6:00 PM at Sprague Elementary School
Saturday, March 7, 2020 9:00-12:00 at Sprague Elementary School
Parent and Family Thank You!
I am sharing a great, big thank you to our amazing P.A.W.S. PTO President Elizabeth Nelson, for her tireless energy and dedication to the families, children, faculty, and staff at P.A.W.S.! Congratulations to Elizabeth for writing and receiving a grant for P.A.W.S. that will provide special games, materials, and toys to help the children get moving and have fun when playing outside. The grant also included funding for a little storage shed for all of the new outdoor toys!
A warm thank you to the White Family in PK6 for decorating the teachers room and for providing baskets of treats and gifts for the December faculty and staff appreciation recognition! We all appreciated their extra-special touches and thoughtfulness! We also thank C. and Lindsay White for bringing Bentley the service dog to visit the preschoolers in the main building! We hope Bentley will come visit again!
Thank you to PK7 parent Katherine Hala for her leadership and enthusiasm in organizing the Library Volunteers and the Room Parents for us!
Thank you to Tizzy Chamberlain for creating the Winter Welcome bulletin board in the front hallway at P.A.W.S.! It looks great!
As always, thank you all for your continued support. Your positive participation, partnership, and care helps to make P.A.W.S. its very best!
I look forward to seeing you all at P.A.W.S. this year!
Sincerely,
‘Becca Z.
Thursday, January 9, 2020 – 9:00 AM – Tea With ‘Becca – Invitation LINK
Friday, January 10, 2020 – 9:00 AM – P.A.W.S. PTO Meeting with School Committee
Thursday, January 16, 2020 – 9:00 AM – Binder Make-and-Take Workshop – for parents of children with an
IEP (Individualized Educational Program) Binder Workshop
Invitation Link
Monday, January 20, 2020 – No School – M.L.King, Jr. Day
Sunday, January 26, 2020 – 1:00-3:00 – P.A.W.S. Winter Carnival – A Free, Fun, Family Event held at the Fiske Gym
Thursday, January 30, 2020 – CPK Day (California Pizza Kitchen Fundraiser – bring this FLYER with your order!)
Friday, January 31, 2020 – Report Cards and Progress Notes Mailed Home
Friday, January 31, 2020 – P.A.W.S. Kindergarten Round-Up