WES Weekly Update

October 2 - Pease Pep Rally Fun Run (school event only)

October 4 - WES❤️Pease/Media 10 Miler Run Fair, 8:00am-10:00am

October 7 - WES WEDNESDAY (wear WES colors, WES cares shirt or other spirit wear)

October 9 - Apple Crunch Day

October 13 - PTO Meeting, 6:00pm

October 13 - WES Night at Swarthmore Pizza (PTO fundraiser), 4-9pm

October 24 - WES PTO Pancake Breakfast and Halloween Carnival

October 30 - Halloween Parade and Classroom Parties

WES Families,

Happy Monday! Although it was a bit overcast this weekend and this morning, we aren’t going to let that dampen our ability to Light the Way here at WES!

With a full week (and month) of instruction ahead, we are hitting the meat of our academic year. Classrooms are becoming fully immersed into our academic programming, reinforcing previously taught skills, and being stretched and challenged with new concepts. Students are learning new processes and tools to support their learning, and our teachers are also learning new platforms to maximize what we can learn from student assessment data. And even better news….we have our library checkout system up and running, providing students the opportunity to check out books when visiting the library!

And each day, we reinforce the concepts of community, our core values of being Respectful, Responsible, Safe, and Helpful, and realize the impact that each one of us can have in this place every day.

This upcoming Friday, our students and staff are invited to participate in a WES❤️Pease Pep Rally and Fun Run in the afternoon. Each grade level will have time (about 15 to 20 minutes) to be physically active by walking, jogging, or running, around our “WES track” (driveway and parking lot), in anticipation of our fundraising kickoff event for the Media 10 Miler race on Sunday, October 4th. On that morning from 8 AM to 10 AM, the WES Playground fundraising group, and Sunshine Club will host a WES❤️Pease Fundraising Fair to benefit the ongoing playground project as the runners come down Providence Road.

For this Friday’s event, please have your child wear clothes they can be active in, including sneakers. They are also invited to bring a small donation (a quarter or dollar), to help kick off the fundraising event, but certainly not required to participate.

Have a wonderful week!

Mr. Krall

Principal

Mrs. Blake, WES Math Specialist, working with students on the primary hallway

The 5th Grade Mum sale delivery gave our students an additional opportunity to get outside and help deliver and coordinate the Mum on Friday, Sept 25th.

Attention Parents:

Student medical permissions for medication must be updated annually in the Parent Portal. Students without updated permissions cannot receive medication from the school nurse. Please log into the portal and update.

Thank you!

Erin Costa RN, CSN, MSN

ecosta@wssd.org

We’re excited to launch WES ♥️ Pease, a partnership with the Kyle Pease Foundation to transform our playground into a more inclusive and accessible space where every child can play, connect, and belong. Our aging equipment and wood chip surface can make it difficult for some students to fully participate. With community support, we can create updated play structures and an accessible surface that allows children of all abilities to play side-by-side.

How can you help? Donate, share our fundraising link, spread the word or join us at an upcoming event! October 4th is our big fundraiser - WES ❤️ PEASE Fair - from 8 to 10 am at WES. Entrance is free for adults, and the kids pay $10.00 each. That covers games, 1 food, 1 drink, and 1 raffle. Check out the flyer below!

Check out the raffle also. We have some great prizes and you can purchase your ticket ahead of time if you can't attend on Sunday. Purchase raffle tickets here!

We NEED your help! - Click HERE to sign up for the event by volunteering your time and/or making a food donation!

Upcoming events:

📅 October 4: WES ♥️Pease Fair
📅 January 4, 2027: Play for Pease Night at Oasis Family Fun Center

Together, we can build more than a playground—we can build a place where every child belongs! For additional information, please contact Lauren Bannon.

Read about what your child learned during the 2nd cycle of Guidance with Mrs. Schwam. Your child had/will have Guidance during the 9/24 to 9/29 Library period.

Please see the attached letter from the Office of Student Services about the upcoming Social Emotional Survey that our students will take in grade K-5.

As the elementary schools across the district are navigating to the use of the Schoology platform, there are some family resources that can help with accessing information in Schoology. Please see the parent navigation document and app access resource to support community engagement and provide greater transparency into learning outcomes.

If your child loves music and you want to help support our WSSD music program and its dedicated teachers, join the WSMA for its fall meeting. We will gather at 7 p.m. in the Strath Haven Middle School auditorium on Monday, October 5. All are welcome!

Click here to read the WSMA e-newsletter.

To get all the news from WSMA, sign up to receive the e-news directly! Click here to sign up.

CLICK THE BUTTONS BELOW for more information and guidance.

WSSD's visitor management system, Navigate 360, requires all visitors to scan their driver's license for their first visit to the building. All visitors should report directly to the main office and produce a valid, government-issued ID to receive a visitor badge. Upon exiting the building, please check out with the main office and dispose of your visitor badge in the trash.

Our school district is committed to providing a safe learning environment for all and we thank you for your cooperation!

The parent and community volunteers that we host at WES are a huge part of our school's success, and we value everyone that is willing to offer their time and talents. However, the school and district adhere to a strict and comprehensive volunteer clearance policy that is mandatory for all volunteers. They are required for anyone volunteering to work with our students or be present in our school; whether that is in school, on a field trip, or at an athletic event/practice, etc. Everyone who is volunteering with our students or in a school is required to obtain volunteer clearances.

We urge parents and guardians to complete the process for clearances at the beginning of the year, as the collection and submission of clearances is a process that can take some time. Clearances are submitted directly to WSSD's Central Offices (online via the PowerSchool parent portal) and not to our school building. Once completed and cleared, they are valid for 5 years.

You will not be permitted to volunteer without valid clearances on file with the school district.

Click the button below to learn how to obtain and submit volunteer clearances.

For information regarding 2026-2027 Food Service updates, pricing for lunch, or accessing the free and reduced lunch form applications, please visit the Food Services page of our site by clicking on the button below.

Please feel free to reach out to Kate Rittler, Director of Food and Nutrition, with any questions! krittler@wssd.org, 610-892-3470 ext. 2151 or visit the WSSD Food Services website.

SNAP changes related to the H.R. 1 law may reduce the number of students directly certified for free meals. Families who lose SNAP benefits may not realize that they need to complete a school meal application because their children were automatically approved in previous years through direct certification. School food Authorities are urged to promote the completion of school meal applications for the 2026-2027 School Year, to connect eligible students to school meal benefits and subsequently, Summer EBT.

Please click HERE for the WSSD WES Free and Reduced Lunch Application.

PeachJar is our community digital flyer system that brings important information about events and programs directly to our families! Click on the image to see the latest community flyers.

Including: The need to hire BUS DRIVERS and BUS AIDES!

On Friday, October 9th, WES will celebrate our annual Apple Crunch Day to commemorate the beginning of fall with healthy eating traditions! Throughout the day, students will have the opportunity to taste a variety of apples from a local orchard. Following the tasting, each class will vote on their favorite type of apple to find WES’ favorite apple of 2026! It’s a fun and exciting day for all, but we can’t do it without help from our WES families! We need apple slicers to pre-slice apples as well as classroom volunteers to deliver apples and join in the fun.

CLEARANCES ARE REQUIRED TO VOLUNTEER. Please consider signing up with the link below to help the day’s success!

Our fall Spirit Wear Store is officially OPEN through October 2nd, with new styles for the whole family. The highlight of this drop: our brand-new appliqué sweatshirts featuring a raised twill + embroidered look similar to the popular PARKE-style sweatshirts. The store shows digital renderings, but picture an embroidered finish. Also back for fall: cozy sweatpants, sweatshirts, and fleeces so you can rep WES from school drop-off to the sidelines. And the best part: all proceeds benefit the WES PTO, supporting programs and experiences for our school community.

Shop now through October 2nd! Reach out to Kristina Dechter or Coco Kaminski with any questions or suggestions!

The 2026-27 WES Student Directory is available to order here. This helpful resource has all of the important information in one place - including the calendar of events, class lists and contact information for teachers and families. Once published this fall, print copies will be delivered to your WES student's backpack. Digital access to the Directory Spot app will be sent to the email(s) provided. Thank you for staying connected with the WES community and supporting this fundraiser for the WES PTO!

• Beatty Rd./Wisteria/Winding Ln.: Amanda Hemmer or Karla Testa
• Grandview/Plush Mill Rd.: Meg Stine or Dan Green
• Rose Valley/Moylan: Erin Stancill
• Country Club area: Vanessa Thomas
• Martroy/Sykes & South Media/Wallingford Ave.: Tesla DuBois
  

Rain dates: 9/30 and 10/1.

Click here for bike bus guidelines and more information.

From September 14-30th, the WES Sustainability Committee will be collecting like-new and gently used small toys and trinkets. Backpack charms, keychains, bouncy balls, arcade and dentist office prizes, novelty pencils/erasers and the like. Your items will be given new life at our Halloween Carnival, greatly reducing the amount of new consumption needed to host the event. We would love to be able to eliminate new prize purchasing almost entirely for this fun fall event! Please see the attached information sheet here for full donation guidelines before contributing. Questions? Please reach out to Karla Testa, Erin Stancill, AmandaHemmer, Christina Forwood, or Danielle Grugan.

WES Night at Swarthmore Pizza is here to solve your dinner dilemma! Eat in, take out, or order delivery from Swarthmore Pizza on Tuesday, October 13th between 4pm and 9pm. A portion of the proceeds goes back to support our school - be sure to mention WES Night!

Monthly WES PTO meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 PM in the library. All are welcomed to attend!

Visit their website weskidspto.com for more information.