August 1, 2018

Dear Wellington Parents,

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer break and is looking forward to coming back for a fabulous school year at Wellington! We want to take this opportunity to welcome you and to provide you with some information regarding the 2018-2019 school year.  

BACK-TO-SCHOOL INFORMATION

The first day of school, Wednesday, August 15th, is just a few short weeks away, and we will welcome all our Wildcats, new and old, to another amazing school year at Wellington! Below are a few details to ensure everyone’s first day goes smoothly. Lewisville ISD set new school hours for all elementary schools across the district, which are 7:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Doors will open at 7:15 a.m. Our theme for the year is “Be Our Guest: We create happiness!” We are not just a school, we are a family, and we welcome YOU to our “house” at Wellington Elementary. This exemplifies our commitment to making sure our students, parents, and community members feel welcome through our doors!  Your involvement is key to our success!

Parents may check their child’s Skyward account beginning Aug. 1 for their assigned teacher. Classroom lists will be posted on the front and cafeteria side windows outside the school on Friday, Aug. 10th at 5 p.m. Following the posting, PTA will be hosting a Sno-Cone Social for all students from 6:30-7:30 that evening!  Kindergarten students will not be assigned a specific teacher until August 21st due to Kinder Camp taking place the first four days of school. If you do NOT want your child listed in the class postings, please email braunt@lisd.net by Wednesday, August 8th to let me know. Please join us for our Parent-only orientations during the first few weeks of school.  Click on the link provided for our schedule of Back-to-School activities, including Parent Orientations, and our Kinder Kamp flyer.

WELCOME

Please welcome our new Wellington Wildcats! Mrs. Kaleigh Malone is a great addition to our Wellington Administrative team! Mrs. Malone has 8 years of experience as a teacher and Instructional Specialist. She has taught various grades, including Kindergarten, 2nd and 3rd; 2 of those years at Vickery Elementary. She brings experiences in dual language, professional learning communities, ePortfolios, and aligning the curriculum with the state standards. She will be an asset to our parents, students and staff members! Mrs. Lisa Phelps, our former Assistant Principal, will now be the Principal at Polser Elementary! We wish her well in her new endeavor. She will be dearly missed!

We are excited to announce Stephanie Brown, who will be our new nurse.  She is coming from Children’s Health Hospital in Dallas. Our former nurse, Annette Engel, transferred to Old Settlers Elementary.  Joining the kindergarten Spanish Immersion Program (SIP) team from Hedrick Elementary, is Lindsey Hurst. Mrs. Linda Ryan will now be on the monolingual side of kindergarten.   Stepping into Mrs. Aldrich’s first grade position is Laura Fackler. Lisa Aldrich is enjoying her retirement! Charity Barth will be moving from fifth grade to fourth grade SIP, while Christy Tidwell will be joining the first grade team in the SIP position. We are excited to announce our new second grade bilingual teacher, Jeamileth Hernandez.  Mrs. Rebeca Ruiz is moving back to the El Paso area and working for her husband. Karla Pantaleon will be replacing Diana Salazar as she will be joining the ranks at Killian Middle School. Lety Amador will be a great addition to our fifth grade SIP team. She is transferring from Lewisville Elementary. I am thrilled to announce that Breana Ford, coming from Ethridge Elementary, will be joining our office team as our campus secretary!  Chrystal Felix will be the new secretary at Old Settlers Elementary. We are all excited about the new opportunities that change brings and welcome all of our new staff members into our WES family!

REMINDERS for our NEW SCHOOL YEAR

• New Enrichment/Conference Schedule -  Beginning this year, we have added STEM to our Specials rotation, which will replace the Technology Enrichment class. The change will allow greater integration of  21st Century skills. Our Wildcats will enjoy the following Enrichment classes:  PE 1, STEM, Science, PE 2, Art, and Music. Hopefully, the acronym, Please Start School Prepared and Motivated, will assist in helping students remember the order of rotation.  Enrichment schedules will be shared at parent orientations.

• Background Checks – Volunteers are an integral part of what we do every day in LISD.  The district is excited to announce VOLY, a new volunteer management system.  To volunteer on our campuses, you will need to create a VOLY account. Please be aware that Board Policy requires that each volunteer undergoes a background check before working with students.  It is best to be proactive and complete one at the beginning of the year. You will need to complete the background check during your VOLY account creation process. Go to VOLY now to get started:  https://lewisvilleisd.voly.org/

Please note that all volunteers should allow up to 3 weeks for processing their background check.  If your background check is approved, you will receive an e-mail from partnerships@lisd.net letting you know that you can sign up for volunteer opportunities on VOLY.

Keep in mind that this applies to relatives visiting from out of state or from out of the country. If there is a possibility that you will have relatives visiting and they will want to visit the school, volunteer, or go into a classroom, please have them complete a background check.

• Car Tags – As you know, Wellington has over 900 students entering and exiting our building each day. To ensure the safety of every one of our students, please review our Arrival and Dismissal Procedures prior to our Back-to-School nights and the first day of school.  At grade level orientations and “Meet the Teacher” Nights, all families will be provided with two car tags, even if your student will not be a regular car rider. This year, car tags will have the student’s last name on it instead of numbers. Please discard any car tags from last year. During inclement weather or an emergency situation, it may be necessary for students to be dismissed by their car tags; therefore, it is necessary for every student to have one. Also, please be mindful of the drop-off and pick-up procedures we have in place. Please know that these procedures are in no way intended to inconvenience anyone, but rather are in place to keep all our students, staff, and visitors, safe at all times. Your cooperation in this matter and ultimately in keeping our Wildcats safe is greatly appreciated.

• Safety Protocols - Lewisville ISD constantly seeks to provide a circle of protection that generates safety and security in all schools and facilities. Looking to implement best practices for security, LISD introduced the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) in the fall. Created by the Colorado-based I Love You Guys Foundation, the SRP refers to five specific actions in the event of any emergency or crisis. Lockout, lockdown, evacuate, shelter or hold are the actions students and employees are trained to perform during an emergency. More information describing the drills will be provided at grade level orientations.  Please see the Standard Response Protocols link.

• Kindergarten Spanish Immersion Program - We do have a few openings in our Kindergarten SIP.  If you are interested, please email: spanishimmersion@lisd.net or call (469) 948-8155.

• Attendance – Regular attendance is one of the most important indicators of school success.  Research supports that students who attend school regularly improve their chances of being academically successful. A study conducted across 6 states revealed a correlation between excessive absences in kindergarten and lower academic performance in first grade. We want all our WES students to continue to perform well academically in all grades and ensuring that your child is at school every day is the first step in the process. Please avoid any unnecessary absences and be mindful of your child’s attendance when planning vacations or trips associated with extra-curricular activities. It is recommended that these be scheduled during times when students are not in school. Another important component of attendance is arriving to school on time every day. Class begins promptly at 7:45. Any student arriving after this time is considered tardy. The Texas Education Code requires students to attend school each day that instruction is provided. It also requires that students be in attendance 90% of the days to receive credit for the course/grade level. The school is required to notify parents and discuss a student’s absenteeism if the student:
• §  Is absent without excuse 3 days or parts of days in a 4-week period
• §  Is absent without excuse for more than 10 days or parts of days in a 6-month period
• §  Please keep in mind that “parts of days” refers to both tardy to school and/or leaving school early without excuse

Thank you in advance for making sure your student is on time and in school every day.

We are so excited about the promise this school year holds!  It will be a year of watching our Wildcats grow and mature, while celebrating their successes along the way, as they blossom into our future shining Wildcats! Thank you, parents, for your continued support in this process. Without you, we could not do what we do, accomplish what we accomplish, and be the amazing learning community that we are. Please “Be Our Guest” at Wellington as our doors are always open!   

We look forward to seeing all of our Wellington Wildcats walk through the front doors on Wednesday, August 15th.  If you have any questions or if we can be of assistance, please call 469-713-5989.

Sincerely,

Tami Braun                         Donna Good                        Kaleigh Malone

Principal                              Assistant Principal             Assistant Principal

braunt@lisd.net                    goodd@lisd.net                  malonekn@lisd.net