The Wellfleet Elementary News

Happy Thursday, WES Families!

A few important reminders as we head into the end of the week!

Tomorrow is a Half Day! Students in Kindergarten through Grade 4 will be dismissed at 11:00 AM. Our fifth-grade WES Waves are returning from their exciting week at the NEED Academy, and their pickup at WES is scheduled for 10:00 AM.

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for fall conferences this week! We appreciate your partnership and look forward to connecting with families to celebrate student growth and discuss the year ahead.

An exciting events are coming up!

• Saturday, October 24: Fall Festival in Coordination with the Wellfleet Fire Department! Join us from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM for a fun-filled community event. The WES Book Fair will also be open during the festival, so be sure to stop by and check out some great reads! Bulbs for sale! Games for the kids!

• Next Week: Pumpkin Harvest! Students in Kindergarten through Grade 3 will be participating in our pumpkin harvest activities. We look forward to another hands-on learning experience for our WES Waves!

Thank you for your continued support of our school and our students. There is always something wonderful happening at WES, and we are grateful to all of you!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Adam O’Shea

Principal, Wellfleet Elementary School

Second graders filled their classroom sprinkle jar by demonstrating excellent habits of character. As a result, they enjoyed Spy Day learning activities!

Beginning Thursday and continuing throughout the rest of the school year, you may notice an Extra Effort Award tucked into your child’s backpack. When one comes home, all you need to do is find a spot on the refrigerator for everyone to enjoy!

If you didn’t receive one this week, don’t worry. You undoubtedly will, and most likely more than once!

This initiative is designed to give families a little glimpse into the positive things happening throughout our school each day. During our weekly Collaborative Learning Team meetings, teachers spend time discussing how best to support our students, sharing strategies, and celebrating those notable moments when students go above and beyond.

Sometimes, extra effort means persevering through a challenge, showing kindness to a classmate, taking a risk in learning, or simply giving something your very best. These moments deserve to be celebrated!

Below is an important message from our newly appointed Director of Digital Learning and Technology, Lisa Orlandella.

I am pleased to announce that we have reached our goal of transitioning paper-based registration forms to the Aspen Go Parent Portal.

Directions for logging into Aspen (slide deck)

Parent/Caregiver Directions for Online Returning Student Registration (OLRR) (slide deck)

Parent/Caregiver Directions for Online Returning Student Registration (OLRR) (video)

By having parents enter their information directly into Aspen, we can significantly reduce the potential for data entry errors, improve the accuracy of student records, and strengthen the security of sensitive information.

This means our online re-registration includes parent sign-off of the following:

• Medical Information

• Permission to Publish Form

• Acceptable Use Policy Agreement & Student Technology User Agreement

• Students' Rights and Responsibilities Handbook

After School Assistance

After School Assistance is available each Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday afternoon for students in grades 2–5. Teachers will be available to work with students who would benefit from additional academic support until 2:30 p.m. Please email Mrs. Belair to sign your child up. belairl@nausetschools.org

After School Assistance Schedule

• Mondays: Ms. Shuemaker and Ms. Blute
• Tuesdays: Mr. Pursel, Mrs. Connolly, and Mrs. Bradford
• Thursdays: Mrs. McNulty, Mrs. Botting, and Ms. Wolf

Amelie and Alva designing the display for their science projects showing the orbit of the earth and moon around the sun. They have been studying Earth's relationship with the sun and moon. Also, the sun is a star that appears brighter than other stars because it is closer to Earth.

💌Please reach out to Lindsey Belair at Belairl@nausetschools.org with any dismissal changes, concerns, or questions. If you haven't signed up your child for the After School Child Care program, please let Mrs. Belair know what your child's plan is for dismissal each day. You can send in a note with your child or reach out by phone or email.

🚗 If your child is being picked up from school, they will be dismissed form the cafeteria doors, and parents/guardians should be in the side parking lot waiting. A staff member will call the students out as parents arrive.

🚌If your child is taking the bus, they will be dismissed one bus at a time.

🏫If you have signed your child up for the After School Child Care program and chose your days of need, your child will automatically be dismissed there on those days.

📝Once after school assistance begins, (for grades 2-5 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays), if your child is signed up they will automatically be dismissed there and pick-up will be at the WES front doors, at 2:30. If they are signed up for the After School Child Care program, they will be dismissed there after after-school assistance.

• School Arrival: Students may arrive at school at 7:30am. Breakfast is available, and students may otherwise sit in the cafeteria until the bell rings at 7:45am.
• Bus drop-off takes place at 7:30am daily.
• Parent/Guardian drop-off takes place at 7:30am at the front loop. Students will be greeted by staff personnel and then go directly into the cafeteria.
• School Departure: Students are dismissed beginning at 2:00pm daily. The dismissal process takes about 10 minutes.
• If students are participating in the After School Child Care program (ASCC) then they will be dismissed directly there.
• Students being picked up by a parent/guardian will be picked up in the parking lot located at the north end of the building.
• Students taking the bus will listen for their bus to be called
• Supply Lists: All school supplies are provided to our students. Thank you Wellfleet taxpayers!

• Electronics: Upon arrival, student electronics (phone/watch) should be turned off and stowed away in their backpack. If parents/caregivers need to contact your student, please call the school at 508-349-3101, and the front office can get a message to your student.

• Breakfast and lunch: are free for all students! If your child eats breakfast at home and you DO NOT want them to access the breakfast offered, please let the teacher know.
• Snack: Please send your student with a healthy snack and reusable water bottle daily. We are seeking to provide a healthy snack grant on Tuesdays and Thursday, and are awaiting if we received the grant. Plan to provide a healthy snack daily until you hear otherwise.

We’re offering after-school circus classes this fall for children ages 3–12, including Little Lions, Tiny Tents, and Open Skills. Classes are held at our Big Top Circus Tent behind WHAT in Wellfleet.

We’d love to help more local families discover these programs, and we also want to make sure cost doesn’t prevent anyone from participating. If a family is interested but needs financial assistance, please reach out to circus@payomet.org to ask about scholarships. We’re happy to work with families to make the classes accessible.

Thank you so much for helping us spread the word and for your continued support of circus education in our community!

Here are a list of upcoming events:

Monday, October 19th - Friday, October 23rd:

• Grade 5 NEED Academy trip

• Evening Parent/Teacher Conferences

• Early Dismissal 11:00am Parent/Teacher Conferences

• Fall Festival time-TBD

• Pumpkin Harvest - Grades K,1,3

• Pumpkin Harvest - Grade 2

• Grade 2 Field Trip to Wellfleet Audubon 8:45am

• Costume Dance Grades 4 & 5 - WES Cafeteria 5:30pm

• No School - Veterans Day

• Grade 3 Field Trip to Duck Harbor & Wellfleet Bay 10:30am-1:30pm

• No School - Thanksgiving Break

• Early Dismissal 11:00am

• Early Dismissal 11:00am

• No School - Holiday Break

• No School - MLK Day

• No School - PD Day

• WET Fest Grades 3-5

• No School - February Break

• Early Dismissal 11:00am

• Evening Parent/Teacher conferences

• Early Dismissal 11:00am
• Afternoon Parent/Teacher conferences

• No School - April break

• Early Dismissal 11:00am

• No School - Memorial Day

• No School - Juneteenth

WES October Lunch Menu

Truro Community Education Classes

FleetFund Info

Rental Assistance

Community Outreach in Wellfleet

Register with Wellfleet Rec

Free Play Fridays at Wellfleet Library

Storytime with Anna at Wellfleet Library

NEED Academy seeking Cook

Cape Kids Weekend Meal Bags

HPC Adopt-A-Family For the Holidays Sign-Up

Wellfleet Rec Halloween Parade

Trick or Treat at Adams Lodge

As you may know, the Nauset District has discontinued its use of ParentSquare and has transitioned to a new platform. If you download the Nauset App, you will receive all alerts, newsletters, and any other info from your child's school and the Nauset district. It’s the easiest way to stay updated with school news, alerts, and important announcements.

Similar to last year, I will continue using Smore to send out our weekly newsletters during the school year. These will begin the week before our return and will continue consistently throughout the year.

📱 Download the Nauset App:

• Apple App Store

• Google Play Store

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

The Lawrence Fund was established in March of 2023 by Ariana Bradford (Staff Member at WES) and Joan Zukas (School Committee member). 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 Claudia Cope at copec@nausetschools.org or by phone at (508) 349-3101.

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