The Wellfleet Elementary News

Wild Robot Day is here! This is a reminder that after school today we are encouraging WES students to make their way to the Wellfleet Cinema to enjoy this PTO sponsored event. Students in grades 3,4, and 5 have all read the The Wild Robot book, however all WES students are invited to attend.

Who: ALL WES students

What: Free admission to the cinema and popcorn and a soft drink.

When: Drop off at 3:50pm and pick up at 5:45pm

Where: Wellfleet Cinema located at 51 Route 6 Eastham/Wellfleet line

Why: Because our students work hard and they should enjoy a good movie with friends

This showing is open to the general public, so family members are welcome to attend, however it is only free to WES students! If your child is attending the ASCC after school program then they will be transported by Principal O'Shea :)

Thanks you again WES PTO!

Principal O'Shea

After school homework help is offered to any student in Grades 2-5 on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday afternoons until 2:30. Please reach out to Mrs. Belair in the front office to let her know which day you would like your child to attend. Belairl@nausetschools.org

We are very excited to announce that Ms. Alexandra Roberts has been named the new visual art teacher for the remainder of the school year beginning November 4th. It was obvious during the interview process that Ms. Roberts' education, previous experience, and passion for art education along with a proven ability to design engaging lessons, would captivate WES students. As Katie Reeves, a student on the interview committee said, "Ms. Roberts seemed very kind and offered choices for the many projects. She seemed very motivated and had a lot of great experiences."

Some of you may recognize Ms. Roberts as she was the art teacher here at WES a decade ago. Since she left, she has opened an art studio in Harwich where she continues to thrive offering art classes to children. She has also been the art teacher at the Laurel School in Brewster. The principal of the Laurel School, Ms. Amy LaFranchise noted, "that her kind calm demeanor with her students, her high expectations, and creative spirit makes her a fabulous teacher." Please welcome back, Ms. Alexandra Roberts!

Join us in celebrating Farm to School Month throughout October. We’ve got lots a great ideas for you. We’ve listed a few ideas on the flyer below. Please click the link to read the full list!

Farm To School Month

If your child is going to be absent please reach out to Cape Cod Collaborative at 508-420-6950 so they can plan accordingly.

Please also direct any questions or concerns regarding your child's bus stop to Lori Newcomb at newcombl@nausetschools.org

We are excited to invite you to be a part of the WES School Council for the 2024-2025 school year!

The purpose of the School Council is to foster a strong partnership between the school and the community, provide valuable input on school-related matters, and support efforts that enhance the quality of education and school life for our students.

If you're interested in being a part of the WES School Council, we would certainly welcome your participation. This is a great opportunity to get involved, share your ideas, and help shape the direction of our school for the upcoming year.

Thank you for considering this opportunity. We hope to see you at our first meeting!

WES October Calendar

October Breakfast Menu

October Lunch Menu

Halloween Half Day with Rec 10/25

Wellfleet Covid & Flu Vaccine Clinic

Childcare for Wellfleet Special Town Meeting

Nauset Public Schools 2024-2025 Calendar

Community Outreach Flyer

FleetFund Info

Rental Assistance

Art Sparks Joy Info

Art Sparks Joy Class Descriptions

Truro Girls on the Run

Grow! At Castle Hill

Truro Intro to Circus Classes

October First Time Homebuyers Classes

Wellfleet Elementary Students in grade 5 have the opportunity to experience Cape Cod like they have never before. The success of the week long sleepover trip to the former Coast Guard station in Truro last year has led to it being a part of the educational experience for our 5th grade students this coming Spring. Parents, and guardians mark your calendar, schedule your date nights, take the week off from parenting from April 14th-April 18th. Certainly, more information to follow.

Each fall it is essential that our students are reminded that they are loved, cared for, and are in a safe, secure space when they enter Wellfleet Elementary School. As educators, we know that when students appear to be something other than good and decent, that it is only because they are reacting to stress, pain or the lack of basic needs being met.

As both a school community and a Wellfleet community it is our obligation to provide, model and ensure that our children are prepared each day. This requires a multifaceted approach that is well developed and transparent to our students and families.

This fall you will become familiar with WES' Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). This is a simple framework for supporting students' social, learning, behavioral, and emotional needs. Although components of PBIS are consistently in place, we aim to bring greater attention, to improve consistency across our school.

Throughout the school year, this will take on many different actionable steps which include:

• Teacher teams meeting weekly to discuss student concerns and determine best practice to address student needs.
• Data collection on what may be triggering unwanted behaviors or may be contributing to the continuation of behaviors.
• Development of a school wide reward system to to celebrate prevention, instead of focusing on punishment.
• Connect PBIS practices in school with PBIS use at home.
• School-wide monthly meetings focused on character development, and teaching appropriate behavior
• Dedicated Morning Meeting time at each grade level focused on reinforcing school wide practices

WES School Health Services-Resource page: Contact Mrs. Cope-Crosen for more information at copec@nausetschools.org

We have some Big News to share!! Nauset Public Schools officially has an App!!

This app will become the one-stop shop for all things Nauset, from communication to calendars, lunch menus, and so much more. Take a look and spread the word!

In a glimpse into classrooms this week, I had the pleasure to observe a variety of grade levels, and teacher designed instructional models. All looked different, however all shared a similar theme that they all were developed with the goal of providing student centered learning.

In a student centered learning environment, the overarching goal is to make the learning meaningful to all students; students take the "lead" and the educator is the facilitator of the learning. For example, In Ms. Ellis' class students are developing their reading skills and studying high-frequency words (sight words). Ms. Ellis shared a series of sight words, like "down", "be", and "fall". The students said the word, committing it to memory and then shared an example of how it is used in a sentence from their personal experiences. This simple yet purposeful design accentuates the attributes of good teaching and reinforces the importance of the student being at the center of the learning.

This model is consistent with the direction of Nauset

This school year teachers across WES and Nauset have adopted a new literacy and writing program called Expeditionary Learning, or EL. It is designed to reinforce the practices characterized by student centered learning. During this week teachers engaged in a professional development day focused on the intricacies of the program.

Like many programs, it offers rich text, and a significant amount of culturally responsive resources. Unlike many programs, it offers teachers the flexibility in implementation, encourages and provides ideas for student differentiation and allows educators to spend their time on manipulating the resources to fit the needs of their students, rather than spending an overabundant amount of time seeking resources as has been the laborious experience for many.

The EL resources and direction has been well received by our teachers thus far and we look forward to sharing more information as we immerse ourselves into it. I encourage you to reach out to your child's teacher for more information.

I am happy to report that breakfast and lunch remains free of charge for the entire 2024-2025 school year. Student lunch participation will remain the same as students will be prompted to enter a pin number that they receive on the first day from their classroom teacher.

Breakfast Breakdown

Breakfast is served daily from 7:30-7:45am. Any students interested are welcome to choose to have breakfast. Additionally, it is served to students that arrive by bus for 5-7 minutes after bus arrival. Students arriving late to school (after 7:45am) should let the office know if a breakfast is necessary and one will be provided to them during their morning snack break. The expectation is that students arriving by parent/guardian drop off should provide breakfast to their child if arriving after 7:45am. The instructional day begins promptly at 7:49am this school year and we want to make sure that students are fed and ready to learn at that time.

Lunch Breakdown

Ensuring our students receive nutritious and balanced meals is a top priority for us at WES. As such, our school has strict guidelines put forth by the United States Department of Agriculture which encourage healthy options, as well as satisfy many of the demands that cafeteria management faces; such as serving size, a balance of each of the food groups, as well as presented in a design that can be consumed in a relatively short amount of time. In coordination with our Local Chef Liam, as well as support and direction from Food Service Director, Susan Murray, our always amenable WES food service personnel, Cassi Nannini and Marianne Gage, and sound vision of healthy options from our school nurse, Claudia Cope, WES aims to create a menu that is both, delicious and nutritious.

This year we are focused on:

• Developing more meals from scratch:
• We will increase the hours of our food service personnel to provide time for food preparation.
• We will continue to work with local vendors, and buy locally, whether it be fruits, and vegetables, or locally raised poultry.
• We will increase education and celebrate eating healthy with our students. Such examples will be guest appearances' from our local chefs with creative menu items.
• Providing healthy snack items:
• Beginning this year we will be providing fruits and vegetables for snack. A cart will be presented during the snack time for students to pick from the buffet style offerings. Depending on the participation, we may seek to increase this, however our grant for this year will cover two days a week.

The Lawrence Fund was established in March of 2023 by Ariana Bradford (Staff Member at WES) and Joan Zukas (School Committee member and grandmother to two students at WES). The Fund was established to honor Lawrence Zukas, father to Ariana and husband to Joan. Its’ purpose is to financially support students and their families who may be in need of funds for camps, sports equipment, shoes, coats, boots, musical instruments, school supplies including technology support, etc. Request can be made to Mrs. Ariana Bradford, Mr. Adam O’Shea, Mrs. Claudia Cope or your child’s teacher. No proof of need is asked, The Lawrence Fund is just happy to help. Any additional questions can be answered by Joan Zukas at jzukas123@comcast.net or by phone at (413) 374-7436.

Throughout the school year you may want to reach out to your child's teacher, or reach out to me.

All Nauset staff follow the email formatting below:

• the staff person's last name
• then the initial of their first name
• ending with @nausetschools.org

Now there is an exception to the rule: Ms. Claudia Cope-Crosen, our school nurse, is simply copec@nausetschools.org