EAST WARD COUGAR NEWS - DEC '25

Good afternoon Cougar Community!

I am so thankful for the support, flexibility, and efforts of everyone to make this school year the best it can be for everyone. Your involvement and support makes a big difference. Thank you for participating in our conferences. When home and school work together, good things happen with student learning.

I am also very thankful for our wonderful teachers. I wanted to let caregivers know that each year, Citadel Bank gives the Heart of Learning Award to recognize teachers throughout Greater Philadelphia who make a difference in our community, support students beyond the call of duty, and encourage full potential. We know our teachers are amazing, but it is wonderful when they get recognized by others. If you would like to learn more or nominate one of our East Ward teachers, please click the link below.

https://www.citadelbanking.com/giving-back/citadel-heart-of-learning

Next week, our East Ward musicians will share their skills during the Winter Concert. Our orchestra, chorus, and band students will play a variety of music to get us in the holiday spirit! It is no easy task to perform in front of hundreds of people, but their hard work and preparation will pay off. There will also be a special performance during the day. I hope you all enjoy the upcoming winter break!

It has been quite cold outside recently and will be getter colder. I want to let everyone know we have a few winter coats available for students who may need them. We also have many hats and gloves. If your child/ren need winter jackets hats, gloves, please let Mrs. Greider know!

We are so proud of our students! I hope you will be able to keep a secret, caregivers. Our students have done such a great job being respectful, responsible, safe, and kind! As a result of their efforts, students have earned a school-wide reward day. On Friday, December 19, students will be able to choose from a variety of fun activities. They will be making their selections on Monday, December 15. Thank you for keeping the secret.

All DASD devices, regardless of physical location (at home or school), shall have all internet activity filtered and monitored by the district. The Securly Home app for caregivers is a valuable tool to help keep students safer when on their school-issued devices. The parent app can block sites and allows caregivers to create schedules when the device is inaccessible to the web, like dinner time and bedtime. The app also displays a real-time view of your child’s activity on their school-issued device. Caregivers also receive a weekly email from Securly with a snapshot report of the week’s activity. Please review the written directions or video directions to access the Parent Securly Home app. If you want to learn more about Securly’s online safety solutions, please visit www.securly.com. A list of Securly DASD Parent Frequently Asked Questions, as well as all other technology information can be found here. For additional information, please email homesupport@securly.com. While technology has many benefits, I recommend you watch the getting started guide video so you are able to see what your child is accessing online and set screen time limits to devices while at home.

The DASD Preschool Outreach Group will be holding a series of free events throughout the school year for preschool students who will be attending DASD kindergarten in the coming year. The goal of these events is to familiarize the children and their families with DASD and to help support the children's kindergarten readiness. The next Outreach will be in January (Books and PJ Story Time). More info call be found on the Preschool Parent Group Webpage.

Thank you to the 31 caregivers who took the time to complete the DASD Climate Survey. I will be sharing your feedback with teachers and staff along with the survey data from staff and students in order to ensure we continue to grow. Thank you for your support, encouragement, and involvement of all things East Ward!

For those who celebrate, I wish you happiness, peace, and all the best this Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. If I do not get the opportunity to see you before the end of the month, I hope you all have a restful and enjoyable winter break with your family!

Your Proud Principal,

Nick Argonish

Congratulations to our November Cougars of the Month!!!

Respectable, Responsible, Safe and Kind

We have been here for a few months now, and there are a lot of things in our lost and found. We will continue to encourage children to look in the lost and found during school, but I wanted to suggest caregivers stop at the lost and found when at EW. We will keep things in the lobby until winter break before donating.

Writing your child's name or initials on the tag is most helpful. We return items when they are identifiable.

• What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness is the awareness of one's current emotional, physical, and mental state and environmental surroundings. Practicing mindfulness results in focusing one's thoughts on present experiences rather than past events or thoughts of future tasks.

• Why is it important? A literature review found the following key findings:

  • Mindfulness can work for both adults and kids
  • Mindfulness can help individuals calm down, focus, and connect
  • Mindfulness is associated with improved emotional awareness
  • Mindfulness supports social connection

  Overall, mindfulness practices in schools can reduce behavioral problems, aggression, anxiety, and increase focus and positive feelings.

  
  

  How can we help students practice? You can help your family practice mindfulness by taking walks outside and paying attention to the world around you. Listen to the sounds, see how many colors, textures, or shapes you can identify, and smell the fresh air! Try using all five of your senses and see what you notice (see the grounding strategy below!).

Counseling lessons this month align with the social-emotional topic of emotional regulation in an effort to have consistent language and focus across the school day. You'll find linked the take-away note that will be posted to Class Dojo after each lesson.

K - Decision Making

1st - Feelings

2nd - Part 2 and Part 3 of our Bullying lessons

3rd - Relaxation/Mindfulness Techniques

4th - Mind/Body Connection

5th - None this month!

Dr. Katie Rastetter, School Counselor

krastetter@dasd.org

610-269-8282 ex 23040

Tuesday, December 2: Early Chorus Rehearsal 🎤 8:00 AM

Thursday, December 4: Early Orchestra Rehearsal 🎻7:30 AM-8:45 AM

Friday, December 5, 2025: Parents Night Out 6:00 PM-9:00 PM

Friday, December 5, 2025: East Girls' Basketball Student Day 7:00 PM 🏀 Tip-Off

Monday, December 8: Early Band Rehearsal 🥁 7:45 AM-8:45 AM

Wednesday, December 10: Early Chorus Rehearsal 🎤 8:00 AM

Thursday, December 11: Early Orchestra Rehearsal 🎻7:30 AM-8:45 AM

Thursday, December 11: Winter Concert 9:30 AM

Friday, December 12: Spirit Day

Saturday, December 14: Chanukah/Hanukkah Night Day 1 🕎

Saturday, December 21: Winter Solstice

Wednesday, December 24-January 2: Winter Break - School Closed

Thursday, December 25: Christmas Day 🎄

Friday, December 26: Kwanzaa

Monday, January 5: School Re-Opens

This is a reminder that pediculosis (head lice) are always circulating among school-aged children. Please check your child’s head throughout the school year and watch for signs such as scratching head and/or base of hairline with visible redness/ scratch marks. Please call your pediatrician if you suspect your child has head lice. Please remind your child not to share hats, combs, hairclips, etc. and to keep adequate space between themselves and others. Thank you for your diligence, The School Nurses

There’s a reason we learn nursery rhymes as young children. They help us develop an ear for our language. Rhyme and rhythm highlight the sounds and syllables in words. And understanding sounds and syllables helps kids learn to read!

Activities for younger children

• Create word families. Use refrigerator magnets to spell a word ending (–ap). Have your child put other letters in front of the word ending to create rhyming words (tap, cap, map, lap).
• Fill in the blank. Read children’s poems aloud and leave off the final word, having your child fill in the missing rhyming word:

“Run, run, as fast as you can,

You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread .”

• Make TV time a time for learning. Choose programs with a focus on reading. Check out PBS’ Between the Lions, for children ages 4–7, or Reading Rainbow, for ages 4–8.

Activities for older children

• Write a swap poem. You write one line of a poem, and have your child write the next line, matching the rhythm, and rhyming the last word. (Hint: Use words that are easy to rhyme!)
• Create a rhyming dictionary. Have a page for –op words, and –end words, and –ing words, and–oat words, and then move on to more complex letter patterns like –ouble (trouble, double).
• If kids don’t like reading, try poetry! Poems are short, provide important practice with reading fluency, and give reluctant readers a sense of accomplishment.

Some good poetry books for kids:

• Sing to the Sun, by Ashley Bryan
• In the Eyes of a Cat: Japanese Poetry, by Demi
• This Big Sky, by Pat Mora
• The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, edited by Jack Prelutsky
• A Child’s Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Any book by Dr. Seuss!

Check out Reading Rockets’ "Books and Authors" for recommended poetry books for kids:

www.ReadingRockets.org/books

Visit our sister sites, ColorinColorado.org and LDOnLine.org, for more information about learning.

• Donuts with Santa: Saturday, December 6, 9:30 AM-11:00 AM in the East Ward LGI

• For all the festive feels, join us for Donuts with Santa! Enjoy a donut, hot cocoa, writing letters to Santa, crafts & games. Also, Santa will be visiting from the North Pole!

• Volunteers are still needed to make this event a jolly good time. Please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848A4A929A5F9C16-60089650-donuts#/

• Holiday Cookies for Teachers: December 10th-12th

• Want to sprinkle some appreciation for our wonderful East Ward teachers? If so, consider signing up to donate Holiday Cookies for Teachers! The HSA is looking for a variety of yummy homemade cookies teachers can enjoy before the holidays. Share the love in the form of baked goods here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45A5AB2AA5FE3-60542758-teacher#/

• SAVE THE DATE for Pizza Bingo: January 23, 2026, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM at East Ward

• A favorite East Ward event of the year is coming up! Save the date for Pizza Bingo on Friday, 1/23/26. We will continue the tradition of pizza, bingo games, prizes, and community fun! You won’t want to miss it. Look out for more information soon!

The Senior Class at STEM is excited to host another Parents Night Out on Friday, December 5th, from 6:00–9:00 PM! This event is open to all DASD families with children ages 5–11.

Registration is open now through December 1st. Please use the link below to sign up if interested. If you wish to pre-pay, please drop off your payment or mail it to STEM’s main office (335 Manor Avenue).

Google Form: https://forms.gle/j5n9frEkxKgnAB4m7

The seniors have a variety of fun activities planned throughout the night. A snack and beverage will be provided.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Elizabeth Bradley (ebradley@dasd.org) or Kirsten Snyder (ksnyder@dasd.org), the Senior Class Advisors.

Email: ewinfo@dasd.org
Website: https://ew.dasd.org/
Location: 435 Washington Ave, Downingtown, PA 19335, USA
Phone: 610-269-8282
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dasdew
Twitter: @dasd_ew