September District Update

Let’s make 2026-27 a great year. -Jess Millard

Ram Jam is Saturday, September 12th from 11-3. We hope to see your family there for this fun event. A special thank you to our community-businesses and organizations who help make this event spectacular every year by donating baskets or giving us a monetary donation. We cannot do it without your support! Be on the lookout for a survey regarding Ram Jam later this month. We want to make next year an unforgettable event!

Make sure to add Clark Wood HSA on Facebook and look for us on Parent Square to hear about more happenings!

R – Respect Everyone
A – Act Safely
M – Make Responsible Choices
S – Show Pride

The Valley Youth Initiative wants to remind everyone that the Shoe Bank is open on the second Saturday of each month from 9:30-12 at the Elkland Gymnasium. Children from birth to the age of 18 may get shoes and other items twice during the school year. In addition, we will start providing winter gear in the month of November.

We will soon be taking applications for our weekend, backpack program.

The first month of school has been a whirlwind! We have been busy with back-to-school activities,

building relationships, and creating a classroom community that we can all be proud of.

Open House was a wonderful success! It was so exciting to welcome many of our families into the

classroom. Students had the opportunity to show off their classroom, share some of the hard work

they have already completed, and give their families a glimpse of all the learning happening each

day.

Math: We started math class off by reviewing addition patterns as well as 2- and 3-digit addition with and without regrouping. We are moving into place value and rounding, as well. It’s crucial that students know their addition and subtraction facts because soon, we will be working on memorizing

multiplication and division facts. Practice, practice, practice!!

ELA: In Reading, we have been exploring communities and learning how different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences contribute to making a community stronger. We connected these ideas to our own school and classroom community, giving students opportunities to reflect on what makes our classroom special. We have also been learning about narrative nonfiction. This week, students began brainstorming ideas for their own personal narratives. They are excited to write about a special moment from their lives that is meaningful to them.

Science: We started off this year in science by exploring safety precautions to remember when completing science labs. Students also had the chance to create hypotheses to see how baking soda would react to different levels of vinegar.

Social Studies: In Social Studies, we have been learning about maps and the different elements that make up a map. Students have especially enjoyed adding what they are learning to their interactive notebooks and creating something they can refer back to throughout the year. It has been a busy and exciting first month, and we are so proud of the connections our classes are building and the learning that is already taking place!

Welcome to the Fourth Grade Corner of the District Newsletter! We are so excited to be starting a brand-new year of learning!

Our Clark Wood Fourth Grade ELA students will explore many exciting topics! These topics include text structures, plot elements, making inferences, using context clues, utilizing text features,

identifying types of conflicts, noticing different viewpoints, and the facets of biographies and autobiographies. Each week students will have a designated spelling and vocabulary list. Vocabulary words come from our weekly story. The weekly story is also used to teach reading comprehension skills!

Our Fourth Grade world of math zeroes in on place value, operations and algebraic thinking, fractions, data and measurement, and geometry. To support math students at home, please spend time practicing multiplication facts. Math fact fluency allows students to learn more complicated concepts much more easily!

Fourth Grade Science focuses on many interesting topics. Students will discuss the difference between facts and opinions, delve into the various scientific investigation tools, explore animal adaptations, dive into the properties of matter, and much more.

Fourth Grade Social Studies is centered around our wonderful state of Pennsylvania! Students will learn about early settlers and the events that led to our modern world. We head to Harrisburg in May!

In Fifth Grade ELA, we are learning about how readers and writers use text features to present information and increase understanding. We just finished our review on nouns and will move on to verbs.

In Fifth Grade Science, the students are learning how to use the Engineering Design Process to define problems, design solutions, and test and improve prototypes. Emphasis is placed on testing one variable at a time to gather accurate data and refine designs.

5th grade Math classes are kicking off the year with a review of the place value system. We will use this prior knowledge to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers. Throughout the school year, we will be exploring numberless word problems to strengthen and deepen our understanding of each of these mathematical operations.

5th grade Social Studies classes will start the school year by learning about the earliest Americans and the theories on how the first people came to live in North & South America. Students will have an opportunity to work in small groups to explore the Native Americans who lived in four different regions of the United States -- The Desert Southwest, The Northwest Coast and Arctic, The Plains, and The Eastern Woodlands. Our goal is to understand how each region faced unique challenges in their environments and the steps that the Native Americans took to overcome these challenges.

Sixth Grade Social Studies begins with a map review. We cover continents, oceans, compass rose, and major parts of the globe.

Sixth Grade Math starts with reviewing all operations of decimals. Once finished we will move onto all operations of fractions and how to change from fractions/decimals/and precents. Sixth Grade fund raiser will begin Sept. 25th with a meat stick sale. This will earn money for our field trip to Niagara Falls. This trip includes Erie locks, the hydro-plant, and a ride on the Maid of the Mist.

Kindergarten is back in full swing with our new students and we are excited to be here! The beginning of the year will focus on writing names, recognizing, writing and naming the letters, recognizing and counting using numbers, and identifying colors and shapes. School is an exciting place to be as students begin to understand the expectations of school and our daily routine, make new friends and learn how much fun it is to be at WAES!

First grade at WAES is off to a great start! The students are doing a fantastic job learning the rules and establishing procedures to have a successful year in first grade! We started off the year by reviewing the letters, sounds, and sight words. We are starting unit 1 in our reading series “Getting to Know Us.” We are learning and discussing what kids do at school. In Math, the numbers 0-20 were reviewed by practicing counting objects to match the numbers. They are learning the number and number word. We are beginning a unit on addition in math. We are so proud of all their hard work so far!

2nd grade has been super busy! We’ve been learning new routines and procedures for 2nd grade as well as reviewing our BRAVE behaviors that are expected all over the school! The kids are doing great and have even earned some tickets and class rewards for showing their BRAVE behaviors! In reading, we’re working on how cultures are the same and different. In math we’re working on using different mental strategies like doubles and counting on to add and subtract. 2nd graders are diving right in and working hard! We’re off to an incredible start!

WAES 4th graders are back in the swing of things. Each class has been working hard on place value, fiction and nonfiction texts, using the scientific method, reading maps, and being better writers! In addition to all of that, they have been recalling basic math facts, reviewing how to form cursive letters, using proper punctuation in sentences, and learning to become great teammates to all in our classrooms! We will be visiting our Pennsylvania Capital and Capitol Building again this year, so look for more information on that very soon!

Fifth grade is off to a spectacular start. Math class has only had to review place value and rounding. They have done an excellent job at retaining and using this information. We are starting to review adding and subtracting large numbers. We will soon start multiplying multidigit numbers and learning to divide with double digit divisors. Mrs. Bieser is confident that the students will meet the challenge with enthusiasm and grit.

Social Studies classes are investigating how Native Americans depended on, adapted to, and modified their environment. The students are enjoying putting themselves into the situations the Natives encountered. They agree that life would have been a struggle. It is hard for them to imagine life without our modern conveniences and technology.

Our 5th grade reading/ELA class is very excited about our new textbook and materials for class this year. We will be reading and studying some very interesting and engaging nonfiction texts during the next month. Fifth grade is learning about text features in nonfiction text to begin our year.

In science class, we are studying the engineering design process. Students are excited about our first hands-on activity where groups will work together to design, construct, test, and improve a balloon powered toy car made from the materials provided.

Sixth grade has had a great start to the school year! We began the school year by getting to know each other. Students created binder covers on google slides that represent some of their favorite things! Students also tried to guess things about their teachers and tossed a beachball around answering questions about themselves. In Math, our year has begun by reviewing operations with decimals; and in Science, we are learning about plant and animal cells. This month, we will be selling Krispy Kreme Donuts to help raise money for our end of the year Niagara Falls trip!

We have chosen our representatives from 5th & 6th grade for the 2026-27 school year. We had our first meeting and we decided on special days for Homecoming Week (9/14-9/17).

Monday – PJ Day

Tuesday – Hat Day

Wednesday – Jersey Day

Thursday – Blue & Gold Day

We are looking forward to planning Halloween activities and our Veteran’s Day Assembly!

RBW has had a wonderful start to the school year! It is hard to believe that we are already a few weeks into this exciting journey. We are grateful for the enthusiasm, kindness, and strong sense of community that our students and families bring to each day.

The bright SPARK of energy and excitement throughout our school has created a wonderful foundation for the year. We look forward to building on this momentum as we embrace the learning, growth, and joyful moments ahead.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support. Together, we will make this a memorable and successful school year for every little warrior!

Your partner in education,
Kathryn Slavinski - Principal, R. B. Walter Elementary School

The start of an amazing year is well under way in Kindergarten! We have been busy learning classroom routines and expectations. Students have been learning about showing their SPARK in school AND on the bus. We are looking forward to Student of the Week starting up and shining a bright light on positive behaviors. In ELA, students are working through a letter a day, starting with A all the way to Z. In math, we are learning all about colors and will soon take a deep dive into numbers 1-5. We have learned how to be a kind friend with our good friend “Forkie.” We are looking forward to watching each student grow and learn as we continue to challenge them daily and build relationships with each other.

First grade took off like a rocket! We have been so busy learning and reviewing it's hard to believe we've been in school for 3 weeks already! Students are almost complete with kindergarten review material and will be starting Unit 1 in our Reading Wonders soon. Parents, labeling all of your child's belongings will not only help return lost items to the owner but cut down on the Lost and Found pile. We're looking forward to a super year!

Second grade is off to a strong start here at R.B. Walter! The students are excited to be back and we are working on getting used to the rules and routines. In reading, we are exploring fictional text and learning how to find text evidence. In math, we are diving into addition and subtraction strategies. These strategies will help all year long!

How do people from different cultures contribute to a community? Students read various narrative non-fiction texts and learned how community members brought their culture to their town. They located time order words and determined the sequence of events in the stories. In grammar, students learned about nouns and verbs. Students determine if the group of words made a complete sentence or an incomplete sentence

In Math class, the students are learning different strategies to solve multiplication problems. We have reviewed skip counting, repeated addition, and how to use a number line. We have learned how to make an array.

In Science class, students are learning about the engineering and design process. Students are working to create a completely self sufficient watering system for plants. They will design a prototype and then have two more opportunities to improve their design.

The fourth graders at R.B. Walter are off to a great school year. What a wonderful group of students and genuinely nice kids!

In Math, we have been reviewing skills from third grade, such as; place value, comparing numbers, and rounding. However, now we’re dealing with place values as large as numbers in the millions place.

In ELA, we read The Book Report from the Black Lagoon and discovered how reading a good book can be a great adventure!

In Science, we are exploring what science is, what a scientist does, what engineering is and what engineers do. We will be transitioning into our life science unit and begin our study of plants and animals. In Social Studies, we are practicing map skills including creating our own maps.

The fourth graders are becoming familiar with Google Classroom and AR expectations. We have also been reviewing and practicing SPARK behavior and utilizing our Spark cards so students can “scratch off” their good behavior rewards. The students have enjoyed meeting Stormy, the class bunny, and are eager to learn more about her.

Welcome back 5th graders! We are excited to start a new school year. In reading, we are looking at text features and how they can be used to help determine the main idea. We are diving deep into the world of verbs and their tenses. We are also focusing on the world of prefix, suffixes, roots, and syllables. In math, we are learning to use place value and working with powers of ten. We will be moving on to calculations with multi-digit numbers. In social studies class, we are learning the three theories and how ancient Native Americans came to be in North America. In science class, students are exploring how people study, interact with and manage technology. Many fifth graders are enthusiastic about joining chorus and band. We are looking forward to learning many new concepts as fifth graders!

We had a great first few weeks of school! The students seem well rested after a nice summer vacation and are ready to learn new things.

In math class, we started the year learning about divisibility, factors, multiples, and polygons. These topics are all concepts that were introduced in fifth grade that we will expand upon in the coming weeks. We already have some contests and incentives in place to encourage students to do their very best each and every day!

In ELA, we have begun the year with many different pieces of literature, practicing point of view and inferencing. The students are building their academic vocabulary with words such as reflect, mission and recognize. We set goals for this unit to be worked on throughout the upcoming weeks with monitoring occurring every few days. Looking ahead, we will be reviewing the basic parts of speech, but more importantly putting the skill to work and actually applying it to daily writing.

In Science we have had a whirlwind start to the year. We started by exploring sweet corn. We husked, smelled, and ate the corn to practice how to make scientific observations and wrote about them in our Corn Chronicles. We have dived right into the world of cells, learning about what they are and how they function. We ended classes before Labor Day by using microscopes to look at the cells of an onion, lettuce leaf, and orange slice. Students did an amazing job and made observations that were unexpected. The year is off to a great start.

The R.B. Art room: WE ARE OFF!!!!! Glad to see that everyone is back to R.B. Safe and Sound! We have a bunch of work ahead and looking forward to seeing what these ladies and gentlemen can create. A few new projects are in the works and will be discussing them as we progress through the year. Good health to all. - Mr. McKee

The 2026-27 School year has started off well. The students are excited about being back and are ready to learn.

Their first Physical Education class is spent setting goals, discussing purpose, motivating students, and going over procedures. That went very well this year. Subsequently, each grade started their first unit. The primary grades are learning/reviewing basic movement skills. They include locomotor and non-locomotor skills. Time is spent participating in simple games to reinforce those skills. Grades 3-6 are participating in fitness activities. Most are done on the track. Some are done indoors.

All students are taught the value of Regular Physical Activity. It is very beneficial to overall health. Hopefully everyone can find time in their daily schedule for Physical Activity.

The RBW Title I team welcomes everyone back to the start of an exciting school year. We welcome a new member to our team, Mrs. Shelly Smith. We have been busy completing the DIBELS sweep and collecting and analyzing data for instructional purposes. We are excited to see that our students have retained much of the growth they made last school year. We will continue to ensure each student works hard and makes growth over the course of this year.

Our second grade team is joining kindergarten and first grade in implementing ECRI this school year. The Title I team is looking forward to helping make this a smooth transition. Students have shown substantial growth over the last two school years with ECRI as a part of their core reading curriculum. We can’t wait to see the impact this has on our second graders.

This school year the Title I team will also be supporting students in math. This is an exciting addition to the support we provide students. We are looking forward to helping students reach the same level of growth we’ve shown with reading.

May this school year be full of learning and success for each of our students!

Let the music begin! We are back at it for 2026-2027 school year, making music and having lots of fun! Kindergarten students are enjoying playing Copycat, singing “Walk to School” and experimenting with many instruments. 1st and 2nd grade students are reviewing steady beat and singing “Goin’ to Kentucky.” 3rd and 4th grade students are reviewing rhythms and having fun singing “The Noble Duke of York” at varying tempos. 5th and 6th grade students are also reviewing rhythms and rhythmic counting, in preparation for playing various classroom instruments and learning more complex rhythms this year. We are so happy to be back to school and enjoying and learning about music!

Also, every R.B. Walter student is helping to figure out a mystery picture together here in the music room! The picture is made up of 3,996 small square stickers of all colors. Every student will be adding stickers to this picture as the year goes on, and when all of the stickers are on, it will make a fun scene! Students have enjoyed adding to the picture and making guesses about what it will be.

Williamson’s High School National Honor Society members have been busy selecting their community service projects for the year. These students need to complete 20 hours of community service. Some of the projects that have been chosen are organizing the two American Red Cross blood drives, setting up the school Wide Goodies for Our Troops donation drive, participating in the Little Warrior/Big Warrior program, and volunteering on the Nelson Cemetery Committee to help organize the Wreaths Across America presentations.

We have been excited to get back to school, start a new year, and begin brainstorming new ideas while also finding ways to revamp some of our past activities. We were pleased to welcome our first-day speaker, and we feel he did a great job connecting with our students and helping us start the year on a positive note.

Now that school is in full swing, Student Council has been busy planning a Color Run to kick off Homecoming Week. We are hoping to bring together Williamson alumni, community members, and students for a fun event that celebrates our school spirit and gets everyone excited for the new school year.

We have also started planning the other Homecoming Week activities, including the block party, dance, and pep rally, and we are really excited about what we have planned so far. We are looking forward to continuing traditions and creating a fun and memorable Homecoming Week for Williamson!

In addition to our Homecoming plans, we are exploring new fundraising opportunities that will allow us to expand Student Council activities and increase our impact throughout the school year. We are excited about the ideas our students are bringing forward and look forward to seeing their hard work come to life throughout the year!

The 8th grade science students at Williamson Middle School are following a case study about a student who sustained an injury to his foot. Students are learning about the relationship between the different parts of our bodies and how they work together as a system.

This week, we took a closer look at blood samples from both animals and humans. Using microscopes, students are learning about the different components of blood at the microscopic level. They are discovering that even though cells are some of the smallest parts of our bodies, they play a huge role in the function of the entire human body.

In addition to our Homecoming plans, we are exploring new fundraising opportunities that will allow us to expand Student Council activities and increase our impact throughout the school year. We are excited about the ideas our students are bringing forward and look forward to seeing their hard work come to life throughout the year!

We are well underway preparing for an exciting year! The Middle School Student Council members are preparing presentations for the election of executive positions. We are also busy preparing for the Homecoming Block Party!

In November, we will be traveling to Mountain View Junior/Senior High School for the PASC State Conference on November 13 and 14. The title of this year's conference is “Expanding the View on Leadership.” We have quite a crew of students attending, and they are eager to bring new ideas back to our school.

It’s here! The last year of high school for the seniors is off to a great start. They’ve created a Senior Checklist banner to keep track of all things senior, as well as a bulletin board in the cafeteria where information is shared. They kicked off the year with a Senior Sunrise just outside the gym. Although the fog kept the sunrise at bay, tailgating and yard games gave students a reason to hang out and anticipate the excitement of the year. That same week, Little Caesar fundraisers were handed out to jumpstart those costs associated with the final year. Orders and money are due September 21st.

Fundraisers will be a constant part of senior success. All money earned from fundraising will be added to individual senior accounts. The account can be used to pay for all senior year expenses: cap and gown, senior trip, yearbooks, flowers, senior apparel, etc. Class officers are setting up many fundraising opportunities such as Soak a Senior at Homecoming Block Party, a cake wheel at the Homecoming Color Run, spices, pies, bingo, and more.

The Family Consumer Science PCNOW class made mini cheesecakes for the staff coffee cart this week. They made homemade cheesecakes, ganache, and homemade whipped cream. The tasty treats were enjoyed by the faculty and staff.

National Honor Society students volunteered at the Knoxville Food Bank on September 1. Each month, a different group of students has the opportunity to participate, taking an active role in strengthening our school community through volunteering. This experience not only benefits others but also fosters a deeper sense of connection among our students and local community.

Our seniors gathered on August 21 for the cherished annual Senior Sunrise, kicking off the school year with a lot of friendship, laughter, and food. Although this year's sunrise was hidden behind a blanket of fog, it did not dampen the good times. Students enjoyed a delicious pancake breakfast prepared by Mr. Sottolano and our dedicated faculty, making for a memorable morning together.

Disclosure of Athletic Opportunities: Act 82 of 2012 requires schools to annually disclose to the PA Department of Education information detailing the interscholastic athletic opportunities provided to students and athletic expenditures in the preceding year. This report must also be made available for public inspection and placed on a school entity's web site. This information can be found on the district’s website at www.ntiogasd.org under district information – athletics. A hard copy is available for public inspection at the Northern Tioga School District Business Office, 110 Ellison Road, Elkland, PA, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.