|
Upcoming Events
Updates from the Wolftrap Administration
Welcome Message from the PTA
You're Invited - Save the Date
The PTA One-Stop Shop
2021-2022 Wolftrap Spirit Wear
Fundraising with AmazonSmile
Your Wolftrap PTA in Action
Wolftrap Safety Patrol Training
September 2: Virtual Back to School Night
September 3: Holiday
September 6: Holiday
September 15: Spirit Wear Deadline
September 17: Virtual General Assembly PTA Meeting 8:45 AM
September 24: Wolftrap Under the Stars
September 27: Dining for Dollars (Chick-fil-A)
|
Dear Wolftrap Families,
We are so excited to begin this school year in-person. We have missed each of you and we’re so grateful for your trust and patience. We are looking forward to a great beginning and a positive learning experience with you, our Wolftrap community.
Thank for your suggestions, positive comments, and messages of support as we opened our doors to in-person learning for all our students. I remain grateful for your display of positivity, kind words, patience, and understanding. We pledge to continue to work with you in partnership in support of our students and staff.
From all indications, our students have adjusted and are glad to reconnect with their friends and us. Based upon the feedback from many of you, our Open House was a success. Our next schoolwide event will be our virtual Back-to-school Night on September 2. More information is forthcoming next week.
Respectfully,
Ms. Williams
|
Good News!!
CONGRATULATIONS to Dr. Grove!
Dr. Grove has been named the new principal at Wolftrap. We are so happy to know she is our new principal. We wish her all the best in her new role. Ms. Williams and Dr. Grove have started their transition plan to include the hiring of an Assistant Principal.
 |
|
Tent and Plexiglass
We just received our tent and it is being put up today!
|
 |
|
Plexiglass was delivered on Monday and is on every table in the cafeteria. |
Connection Newsletter
For those of you who are new to Wolftrap, the Connection is a joint newsletter published every other week by Wolftrap administrators and our PTA.
Dismissal
Thank you to all who are remaining flexible and patient with our dismissal process. As you know, the bus shortage has impacted our bus arrivals in these early days. In the interest of safety, we try to dismiss bus riders first, so that walkers can come down the sidewalk after the busses leave. Thank you for your patience as this process is streamlined. Every day, the process improves.
First Week Forms
Every year we put together a First Week envelope to send home with students. The envelope contains a variety of forms to be reviewed, completed, and returned to the school (Emergency Care, Opt Outs, SR&R, etc). This year’s First Week envelope is on the Wolftrap ES website and can be found at https://wolftrapes.fcps.edu/node/2206 This included important opt-out information for your review, regarding information that you would like shared publicly.
After you have reviewed the information and completed the necessary forms, you can either email them to the school or drop them at the office. Please return forms by October 8. Contact the office if you have questions.
Family Life Education (FLE):
Family Life Education includes two units of instruction. Emotional and Social Health (ESH) in grades K-6 and Human Growth and Development (HGD) in grades 4-6. Please note that you may opt out of any of these lessons, and the opt out forms are included in First Week Forms mentioned above. Parents will have an opportunity to attend a preview night before any units are taught in school. Please look for the dates to be announced soon.
Student Devices
All students will be assigned a computer the first week of school.
Parents’ Expectations
Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grades: Students will be assigned a device that stays in school. If devices are needed for schoolwork or projects, or in the event of an extended absence or temporary closure, devices will be sent home with students so they can continue to participate in their classwork.
Grades 3 - 6: Students will be issued an FCPS device for school use. Your child will take their device home each day. They should come to school each day with their device fully charged.
Parent Q&A Platform
For those of you who might have questions as we move through this year, we have developed a platform known as Padlet for you to deposit your questions https://padlet.com/mhmussen/wolftrapparentcoffee. We will visit this site on a weekly basis and reply with the most current updates of information to your questions.
 Welcome back, Wolftrap families!
The Wolftrap PTA is looking forward to a fantastic 2021-2022 school year. This year, the PTA will be returning as many programs and events as possible to our school. You may notice a slower start to the PTA schedule of events this year, and this is done on purpose to give our students and school a chance to settle into a routine/schedule before we start layering our programs and events back into the school. Have no fear, behind the scenes we are gearing up and excited to reintroduce many of our families' favorite programs. In the meantime, please allow us to introduce our organization:
What is the Wolftrap PTA?
Our school's Parent-Teacher Association which works jointly to provide support to the students/school and to provide enrichment opportunities and events for all students in the school.
What types of support or programs does the PTA sponsor?
Licenses for every child in the school to learning software Lexia and BrainPop; Teacher funds for classroom supplies and resources; Events like Wolftrap Under the Stars, Outdoor Pizza Bingo, Family Science Night; Enrichment programs for our students such as Cultural Arts Assemblies, Edison Expo, After-School Programs, the Talent Show; and SO MUCH MORE!
How Can I Support PTA Efforts?
Becoming a member for $25 gives you the right to be a voting member at PTA meetings, a printed school directory, and covers the cost of the national/state/local PTA dues for your membership. In addition to a membership, the PTA asks you to consider making a tax-deductible donation to our Friends of Wolftrap program (the Wolftrap Elementary School PTA is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization). Simply put, PTA membership dues are not enough to cover all that's offered at Wolftrap. Your Friends of Wolftrap donation makes our programs possible! Joining and donating is easy at our Membership Form.
You can also support the Wolftrap PTA by becoming a volunteer. Reach out to president@wolftrappta.org for information about getting involved.
How Can I Find Out More About the PTA?
The Connection - Reading the bi-weekly Connection is one of the best ways to learn about all the upcoming programs sponsored by the PTA. Be sure to update your preferences for FCPS News You Choose (scroll down to the Wolftrap Elementary School section and check both options) to make sure you don't miss anything from the Wolftrap community.
Facebook - The PTA website and PTA Facebook page are also great resources. Please note the PTA has two Facebook pages: (1) our active, private page and (2) our public page that is used for general and community announcements.
Monthly Meetings - Finally, attending our monthly meetings is another great way to stay plugged into all that is going on with the PTA and to get involved.
Have a great first week, and we look forward to seeing you all!
2021-2022 PTA Board:
Corrine Fields, President (president@wolftrappta.org)
Debbie Rhoda-Choate, President-Elect (presidentelect@wolftrappta.org)
Ashley Uhl, Secretary (secretary@wolftrappta.org)
Laura Roper, Treasurer (treasurer@wolftrappta.org)
This year we have made it easier for you to do all your beginning-of-the-year forms for the PTA in one place. Visit our One-Stop Shop to:
-
Become a member of the 2021-2022 PTA and make a tax-deductible contribution to Friends of Wolftrap (please see the PTA message above for how crucial these FOW donations are to the functioning of our PTA!)
-
Contribute to Holiday and End-of-Year Gifts for our Teachers and Staff - The PTA collects a nominal donation for teachers, special education faculty & instructional aides, and specials teachers (i.e., art, music, PE teachers, etc). The funds are then distributed on behalf of the parents during the December holiday and in early June. Gifts are optional and variable by family preference. It is at your discretion whether you give gifts through the PTA form, separately, or both. Our teachers are grateful however you choose.
-
Donate to our Teacher Appreciation Week - The PTA provides a wonderful celebration for Teacher Appreciation Week in May. Please consider donating a nominal $5 in support of this celebration.
- Purchase your 2021-2022 Spirit Wear
|
Spirit Wear is for sale from now until September 15th.
Visit the PTA Spirit Wear webpage for apparel, color, and pricing options. All orders will be distributed once they are received, which is anticipated at the end of September/early October.
|
AmazonSmile is one of the simplest ways to earn 0.5% cashback for the school just with your everyday shopping.
Last year alone, our community's AmazonSmile purchases earned the PTA close to $2,000 to help fund our programs. Go to https://smile.amazon.com and select Wolftrap Elementary as the recipient charitable organization. Then make all your purchases through the smile.amazon.com website, and the school will automatically receive 0.5% back from your purchases. Visit the PTA website for more information and to learn how to link your Amazon app to your AmazonSmile account.
|
Over the summer, our PTA volunteers were in action preparing for this year's school year. Here's a small sampling of what our volunteers have been up to:
- Providing over $13,000 in direct support to our teachers to purchase classroom supplies and resources
- Purchasing Lexia subscriptions for every student in the school
- Providing over 500 new diverse and inclusive books for each grade-level classroom to get them directly in our students' hands
- Planning events such as Wolftrap Under the Stars and Outdoor Bingo Night
- Distributing school supply boxes to classrooms before Open House
- Planning programs and events for the new school year, including: After School Programs (stay tuned!); Cultural Arts Assemblies; and programs such as our volunteer-driven supplemental art program, AIM
- Purchasing programs, such as BrainPOP, Scholastic magazine, No Red Ink, and many more, to support our students' learning opportunities
We always love to meet new families and volunteers. Reach out to president@wolftrappta.org to join our efforts and to learn about volunteer opportunities. And don't forget to become a member and contribute to Friends of Wolftrap to see these wonderful efforts and programs continue at Wolftrap.
|
Just before school began, 45 Wolftrap students who will serve as Safety Patrol volunteers this year attended an official training on transit safety procedures. These students traveled via school bus to the FCPS bus depot for hands-on training for what to do in an emergency situation. They then returned to Wolftrap for further instruction about pedestrian safety and other facets of their job helping students, staff, and families remain safe while going to and from school. Thank you to Wolftrap P.E. teacher Mr. Bechtle, who serves as the Safety Patrol sponsor and arranged for this training, and to the FCPS school bus staff for this training opportunity!
|
