The Wheatland News

• Family Survey
• CKH

You should have received a district email with information and a link to complete the Family Engagement Survey. I would appreciate it if you would take a moment to complete the survey and give us your feedback if you have not already done so. The survey is linked at the end of this message and will close on Feb 27th in case you missed the email. Thank you. Family Engagement Survey Link

CKH (Capturing Kids' Hearts)

Staff have been trained in this program, and it has continued to help us positively improve our school culture and climate. This amazing program outlines a process staff can use to help build meaningful connections between staff and students, students and their peers, and between staff and families. The goal is to capture kids’ hearts in order to capture their minds.

One central piece of CKH is the Social Contract. A Social Contract is built in each classroom to establish the guidelines and expectations for how students and teachers will treat each other. The goal is to help each student develop “self-managing” skills.

The following are some additional components of CKH that your students experience at Wheatland. The EXCEL Model helps to show students that WES teachers and staff care about them.

• Engage: Students are greeted with a warm hello or welcome back and a smile as they walk through the front doors in the mornings. Teachers personally greet each individual student at the classroom door with a greeting and a smile.

• X-plore: Teachers and staff look for opportunities to listen to and interact with students, not just about school happenings but also about students’ lives outside of school. Students enjoy sharing “Good Things” each morning with their peers and teacher. Teachers affirm students’ personal experiences and show a genuine interest in their thoughts and feelings.

• Communicate: Interactions in classrooms are more of a dialogue between the teacher and students, as well as between students themselves, with the teacher serving as a resource and a facilitator of learning. Frequently, classroom lessons are tied directly to the real world in order to show students the importance of their education. Teachers facilitate classroom meetings and conversations focused on the classroom Social Contract, embedding those ideals into the daily schedule and lessons.

• Empower: Teachers and staff empower students to interact more directly with peers, to self-manage, to problem-solve, and peer-manage within a supportive role when appropriate. We want students to develop skills and feel confident to apply them.

• Launch: A conscious effort is made to close each school day with a positive thought, an inspirational quote/video/activity, or affirmations. The idea is to inspire students to enjoy their evening at home and to look forward to the next school day.

Capturing Kids’ Hearts is a process that involves many components. I have only shared pieces of CKH in this document, but we hope it helps to provide a general understanding of its usefulness and some information about the basic strategies.

Feb 4 - Global Play Day

Feb 4 - 3rd Gr. Cosmosphere Field Trip, 9:00am-2:00pm

Feb 9 - Site Council Meeting, 4:00-5:00pm in the library

Feb 9 - BOE Meeting, 6:30pm at District Office

Feb 10 - PTO Panera Give Back Night (Greenwich Place), 8:00am-8:00pm

Feb 11 - Dental Screenings

Feb 11 - WES Chess, 3:45-4:30pm in the library

Feb 13 - Valentine's Day Parties

Feb 16 - No School (Professional Learning Day)

Feb 25 - 5th Gr. StuCo Meeting, 3:45-4:30pm

Feb 26 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4:00-6:30pm

February is a month full of candy hearts, classroom parties, spying the Groundhog, celebrating Black History Month, and it’s also the month of kindness. This presents us with a great opportunity to teach, discuss and model kindness for our young learners. February 17th has been established as Random Acts of Kindness Day. Here are some Random Acts of Kindness ideas: Spend time with someone you’ve been meaning to connect with; Leave a kind note for someone; Organize a family/friends game night; Take time to practice self-love by doing something that makes you feel happy; Smile at people – especially to those you don’t know. Here’s a list of 10 children’s books that inspire kindness that you and your child can read together.

Did you know that you can receive FREE hygiene products from our school nurse? We participate in a program that provides free products like shampoo, conditioner, other hair care products, soap, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, laundry detergent and so much more. If you’re interested in finding out more, please contact our school nurse, Krystal Crumley crumleyk@usd385.org.

This month in counseling class we will finish Safer, Smarter Kids lessons. In the coming months we will learn more about respect, kindness, courage, perseverance and integrity.

This month’s book recommendation: Growing Up Strong by Allison Edwards. This is a great read about equipping your kids with the emotional intelligence they need to become confident, capable adults.

We are already starting to plan for the 2026-2027 school year! Thank you to everyone who filled out the Pre-Registration Form sent out in January. Your responses are very helpful for us as we plan for next year.

Moving?

If you will be moving this summer or your child will attend a different school next year, please let Claire know as soon as possible so the proper withdrawal process can be completed in May.

Incoming Kindergarten Students

If you filled out the Pre-Registration Form and entered your future kindergartner's information, you are on our list! Claire will send out emails once we get a bit closer to registration opening. If you have friends or neighbors who will have an incoming kindergartner, please encourage them to reach out to Claire at pruettc@usd385.org. Mark your calendar for our Kindergarten Preview Parent Meeting on Tuesday, March 24 from 6:00-7:00pm. This is a parents-only meeting. Children do not attend.

New Students

If you have friends or neighbors who plan on sending their students to Wheatland next year, please encourage them to email Claire at pruettc@usd385.org. Thanks for your help!

Kansas State Statute 72‐6251 requires all students enrolled in Kansas schools to receive a free dental screening each year. WES will be providing a free dental screening to all students enrolled during this school year on Wednesday, February 11th, 2026. Please inform the health office staff at crumleyk@usd385.org if you wish to opt out of screening. Thank you.

The Kansas English Language Proficiency Assessment (KELPA) measures the English language proficiency of EL (English Learners) students. Kansas administers the KELPA to measure student progress toward such proficiency based on English Language Proficiency Standards. Each KELPA assessment is broken into four parts, corresponding with the four language domains: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. All students who are identified as ELs must take KELPA, whether or not they are receiving ESOL instructional services. Building test coordinators (counselors) and ESOL teachers will administer the KELPA to all EL students in grades K-12 between February 2 and March 13th. EL students continue to qualify for services until they score “proficient” in all four language domains for one year.

This month’s StuCo service project will be creating encouragement cards for Wheatland third - fifth graders for their upcoming State Assessments. We will also be working on a kindness project for staff as well.

Meeting Date: 5th Grade members only - February 25th

First Student, which provides the district’s transportation service, has rolled out a new, improved FirstView App. This new app will allow enhanced, real-time tracking capabilities for all transportation services. If you have the FirstView Classic app on your phone, please delete it and download the FirstView 1.0 app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. You will need to use code D5F5F to access Andover’s information. If you have Transportation issues you can call First Student at (316) 247-1926.

If your student will be absent for any reason, you must notify the WES Office. Please email Claire at pruettc@usd385.org or call the office at (316) 218-4820 to report any absence. Simply notifying your student's teacher does not mean the message is received in the office and your student may be marked incorrectly. If your student will be absent for 4 or more days in a row, you must fill out a Pre-Planned Extended Absence Form and return it to your child's teacher.

If you need to make a change to your child's method of transportation after school, you must notify the office no later than 3:00PM. If possible, please try to keep changes to a minimum. Frequent changes cause confusion for students. If the office has not received notification of a change, your child will be sent home via the method they usually take. Additionally, if you are signing out your child at the end of the day, please do not pick up your student after 3:15PM if at all possible.

Upcoming PTO Events:

• Tuesday, February 10 - Panera Give Back Night (Greenwich Place), 8:00am-8:00pm
• Thursday, February 26 - Carousel Skate Night, 6:00-9:00pm
• Tuesday, March 10 - Slim Chickens Give Back Night (Greenwich Location), 5:00-9:00pm
• Tuesday, March 31 - FFN Basket Wrapping & PTO Meeting, 6:00-8:00pm
• Friday, April 10 - Family Fun Night, 6:00-7:45pm

Who's ready to have a great time to benefit students in Andover Public Schools?

Viva Andover will feature casino-themed games, food, beverages, live entertainment and more, all to support educator grants and district initiatives through the The Foundation for Andover Schools.

6:30 p.m. Feb. 21
Crestview Country Club

Tickets and sponsorships: https://bit.ly/VivaAndover