I want to take a moment to express my gratitude for your continued support and partnership. Working together with you to create a positive and enriching school experience for our students is truly a privilege. Your involvement—whether through volunteering, encouraging learning at home, or simply supporting our school values—makes a tremendous impact.

At WES, we believe that strong family-school connections are key to student success, and I sincerely appreciate all you do to help us create a nurturing and inspiring environment for our children. Thank you for being such an important part of our school community!

In the end of January, beginning of February, students participated in mid-year diagnostic testing. Reports showing your child's progress were sent home last week, via email; parents who requested non-electronic communication should be receiving them in the mail this coming week. Please contact the school if you did not receive your child's math and reading reports.

Another thing that went home recently was letters regarding attendance; these letters are meant as a reminder about the importance of students being at school. Attendance is an incredibly important component of success at school. In order to get the most out of their education at WES, your child has to be at school, on time, each day. If your family is experiencing regular, or chronic, difficulties getting your child to school, please reach out to the School Home Coordinator, Chelsea Kidder, to discover what resources are available to support you and your child. You can also reach out to your child’s teacher or to me.

With appreciation,
Venus Dean, Principal

As of the end of day Friday, February 14th, 117 students at WES have read a total of 13,600 minutes! We are so very proud of all of the kids who are choosing to participate during "I Love to Read Month!"

If you do not have access to an online account, but your child would still like to track their progress, here is a paper log.

In addition to students benefiting from reading, the PTO is grateful for all of the fundraising that the community has done. We were hoping raise $5,000 from our first ever Read-a-thon. We are excited to announce that right now we have raised $4,667! With several weeks left, we are VERY close to our goal! If individuals would like to donate, but don't have online access, checks can be made out to WES PTO; if the donation is associated with an individual student, the Office can credit that student's online account.

Remember, the Read-a-Thon comes to a close on Friday, March 7th, so students can raise money and earn prizes until then.

In order of our Drop Everything and Read event on Friday, February 21st, students are encouraged to wear their comfiest, coziest clothing. Students are also allowed to bring a stuffed animal to read to on this day.

We are asking for everyone's cooperation in helping with morning arrival and afternoon dismissal. In order to ensure that students are not getting in/out of their vehicles while cars are pulling in/out near them, we need to have ONE single line in front of the school.

We ask that you follow these guidelines:

• Stay in your car. Our students, especially our older students, should be able to get in and out of the car without their parent exiting the vehicle.

• Do NOT drive around cars in the drop off/pick up lane in front of the school. We cannot express enough how important this is. The line goes quickly, so you shouldn’t have to wait for long; just please be patient for the safety of our students.

• Pull ALL THE WAY UP. There are 5-6 pick up/drop off spots in front of the school. This system only works if each car pulls all the way forward. This allows for five families to load/unload, at the same time; after these five cars have pulled out, another group of 5 vehicles can take their place. Now that there is a ramp at the front part of the line, it is safe and easy for kids to get to the building from any of the spots.

• Follow the directions given by staff directing traffic.

• Be kind. Remember, everyone is doing their best.

In the event that your child is ill, please abide by the following guidelines:

• Fever: Students should stay home until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.

• Vomiting: Students may return to school 24 hours after the last episode of vomiting and once they are feeling well enough to participate in school activities.

• Diarrhea: Similar to vomiting, students should stay home for at least 24 hours after the last episode of diarrhea before returning to school.

• Contagious Illnesses: Students diagnosed with contagious illnesses (e.g., strep throat, pink eye) should follow specific guidelines, often requiring a period of being on antibiotics or being symptom-free before returning.
• Norovirus: It is important to note that a person with norovirus continues to be contagious until 48 hours after they stop experiencing symptoms.

There has been a lot of illness going through the WES community throughout January and into February. We continue to encourage proper hand washing hygiene, as well as extra sanitization of our facilities.

Do you, or someone you know have a 3 or 4 year old who would like to attend Preschool in the fall?

Registration for Williamstown's preschool program will begin in early March; further information will be coming out soon.

Preschool screening will take place April 9th. This is open to ALL 3 and 4 year old children in Williamstown.

Williamstown Elementary School

Main Office: Diane Collier, dcollier@cvsu.org

Phone:802-433-6653

Website: https://wes.cvsu.org/
Location: 100 Brush Hill Rd, Williamstown, VT 05679