November 2026 - Wells Newsletter

05 PM P/T Conferences Student Attendance Day

06 Parent/Teacher Conf No Student Attendance

11 Veterans Day Observed Nov 25

25-27 Thanksgiving Break

Happy November, Wildcat Families! As the air turns crisp and our routines hit their full stride, this season offers a wonderful reminder to pause and reflect on all we are grateful for. Walking through our halls each day, I see our young Wildcats showing tremendous curiosity in the classroom, acts of kindness, and support for one another. Thank you for your continued partnership, encouragement, and dedication to our school community—it is the teamwork between home and school that truly helps our students thrive. Wishing you and your loved ones a warm, joyful, and restful month ahead!

Wells Outdoor Recess Guide

Students enjoy outdoor recess! As the colder weather approaches please remember to dress your child appropriately. Coats, boots, hats, gloves, and snow pants for winter weather. If you are in need of any of these items, please reach out to Tracy Hadley at thadley@emsd37.org or call us at 1-309-796-1251. Please review the Wells Outdoor Recess guidelines and reach out with questions.

To ensure a positive recess environment, students are expected to follow core Playground Expectations centered on being safe, helpful, and a STAR. Guidelines include showing respect by including others and using equipment properly, demonstrating responsibility through fair play and clean-up, and exercising self-control. Together, these standards remind students to stay safe and model great behavior while playing and learning.

• Fall Break Recharge: Our Wildcats returned from break refreshed, energized, and ready for an exciting stretch of learning.

• Principal Sliming: Students earned a messy, memorable reward by showing extraordinary kindness during our two-day Kindness Award challenge—and yes, Principal Anderson got covered in slime!

• Kindergarten ABC Parade: Our youngest learners proudly paraded their creative letter posters through the halls to celebrate their growing literacy skills.

• Wells Family Fall Fest: Thank you to all the families who joined us for an evening of games, community connection, and seasonal fun—the turnout was incredible!

• Quad City Botanical Garden Center Discovery Bus: Students had a blast learning about plants and how to take care of them. Each student received a plant to take home and many named them.

• Strongman Assembly with Riley Israel: Strongman Riley Israel captivated our students with incredible feats of strength—bending steel, ripping a phone book in half, and snapping a wooden baseball bat! More importantly, he shared a powerful message about the strength of character, encouraging our Wildcats to respect one another and stand united against bullying. Be sure to about his signed, broken bat the next time you are in the school.

• Special Guest JiJi: Our halls were filled with excitement when JiJi the Penguin waddled in for a surprise visit! JiJi energized our Wildcats to keep problem-solving and knocking out those ST Math puzzles all month long.

The Digital Backpack creates a place for community events to be shared with our EMSD families. The materials are provided for informational purposes and are not endorsed by the District. Click the Digital Backpack image to access.

Learning Comes to Life at School!

Our students have been busy exploring, discovering, and engaging in exciting learning experiences! Our kindergartners celebrated their ABC Bootcamp learning with a fun alphabet parade. Students across the school also participated in our Creative Curriculum Seeds Study and enjoyed a visit from the Plant Discovery Bus. During this hands-on experience, students learned about different plants, explored plant parts, and even had the opportunity to plant their own!

Extend the Learning at Home!

Families can continue these learning adventures at home! For younger children, take a nature walk, collect and observe leaves, plant seeds, practice identifying letters, or play simple word games together. For older students, encourage them to research how plants grow, compare different types of plants, observe and record the growth of a seed, or write about how plants help people and the environment. Everyday conversations, questions, and hands-on experiences help children build vocabulary, strengthen their thinking skills, and connect classroom learning to the world around them!

November Social-Emotional Learning

November is bringing lots of opportunities for learning and growing during our social-emotional lessons! We will be practicing important skills that help students understand their feelings, communicate with others, and work through challenging situations.

Kindergarten & 1st Grade

Our youngest learners will be wrapping up our Conscious Discipline Feelings Buddies lessons. We have been learning to recognize, name, and understand different feelings. We will then begin exploring the Time Machine, a Conscious Discipline conflict-resolution strategy that helps children look back at a challenging situation, understand what happened, and think about how they can make things right.

2nd & 3rd Grade

Students will be focusing on positive self-talk, I-statements, and the Time Machine. We will practice using encouraging words to support ourselves when things get tough and using I-statements to communicate our feelings and needs respectfully. We will also learn how the Time Machine can help us work through conflicts, take responsibility, and find solutions.

4th & 5th Grade

Our older students will be diving into the size of the problem versus the size of our reaction, developing their inner coach, and practicing the Time Machine. We will explore how to match our reactions to the size of a problem and use positive self-talk to guide our choices. Students will also practice looking back at conflicts, recognizing their role, and identifying ways to make things right.

How Can Families Help at Home?

These skills are even more powerful when we practice them outside of school! Encourage your child to talk about their feelings, use positive self-talk when faced with a challenge, and practice using I-statements to communicate. You can also ask questions like, "Was your reaction the same size as the problem?" or "What could you do differently next time?" A little practice and conversation can go a long way in helping children build lifelong skills!

Rooms Communication

📱 What is Rooms?

• Rooms is our one-stop digital tool for direct classroom updates and two-way messaging with your child’s teachers. While our monthly Smore newsletter covers big-picture school events, Rooms is where you’ll find day-to-day classroom news!

Why use Rooms?

• Direct Messaging: Send private messages directly to your child's teachers.

• Classroom Announcements: Stay in the loop on homework, class projects, and daily reminders.

• All-in-One Place: Access updates for all of your children in the school district through a single app.

• Visit the East Moline Rooms Support Page for more information.

Whether you have 30 minutes or want to help out regularly, there are plenty of ways to get involved this month.

• In the Classroom: Volunteers are welcome to help out in our classrooms with a variety of activities, reading with students, working with small groups, or other tasks. Please email your child's classroom teacher or reach out through the Rooms.

• Around the School: Help us prepare materials or organize events.

• Join the WIU Parent Mentor Group: Mentors spend roughly two hours a day working with students one-on-one or in small groups. Please reach out to Fatima Azem, fazem@emsd37.org or call 1-309-796-1251 for more information.