Make-Up
Day: According to
the WCPSS website, Monday, March 23rd is scheduled as our make-up
day for Tuesday, February 17.
Testing
Proctors Needed: We will be conducting testing
for some of our English Language Learners in the coming weeks. We are in need
of proctors who are available to be trained on 2/23 or 2/24 at 9:00 AM. If you
are available to proctor at one of the following times, please complete this form
and submit by Friday, 2/20.
Carpool: As a courtesy to
our vendor cab services and daycares (many serving other students from
different schools), we allow priority access to the carpool loop in the
mornings and afternoons. Thus, we ask
that the carpool line begin at the College Place entrance sign; a staff member
will signal when it is clear to move into the loop. As such, this prevents others from having to
use the exit as an entrance into the
parking lot.
Bus
Loop/Walkers’ Crosswalk: As
you depart or enter campus using Calvin Drive in the back of Wiley, please be mindful that buses are
entering & departing and many students are walking to school. Drive with caution.
Wiley
Mascot: It’s
your chance to leave your mark on Wiley!
We’re calling all families to submit suggestions for a Wiley
Mascot. If your family has a creative
idea, please have your student submit the suggestion with his/her name to Ms.
Taylor. All students will have an
opportunity to vote on the finalists! It’s
doubtful that ‘the Wiley Wolfpack’
is going to make the cut (but who knows!).
J
Wiley Spotlight
The Wiley Spotlight
will return next week!
Upcoming Events
Monday,
February 16: Early
Dismissal
Tuesday,
February 17: No School
Wednesday,
February 18:
Thursday,
February 19:
Friday,
February 20: Interims
News from our Wiley PTA
Frozen Skate Night Cancelled
Apparently, snow, ice
and other frozen items make it necessary to cancel the event (for the second
time!) due to inclement weather.
Sky Zone Event a Success
A message from the
team that organized the SkyZone Event: The SkyZone event was a lot of fun, and
SkyZone donated $200 for the Williamsburg trip. Thanks to all who attended and
to SkyZone for hosting the event.
Moe’s Restaurant Night
Visit Moe's in
Cameron Village on Thursday, Feb 26. It's an all-day event so come for lunch
with friends or coworkers or grab dinner for the family. They will donate 20%
of all sales to the Wiley PTA when you
mention Wiley. You must mention Wiley at checkout to ensure we get 20% of
your purchase to benefit!
Tech Night Round-Up
Thank you to everyone
who came out to learn something new at Technology Night! If you were not able
to attend, here is a summary of what you missed:
Principal Leslie
Taylor is an excellent speaker and diehard UNC/Dean Smith fan. She gave a great
lesson in recognizing the efforts of the whole team (administration, teachers,
staff, PTA, parents) to the success of students at Wiley.
PTA membership
approved a revised budget, reallocating funds that aren't needed for Big
Universe to allow for professional development for teachers, supply boxes for
the playgrounds, and 5th grade celebrations.
PTA presented the
results of a survey sent to all teachers at Wiley asking for input on the
current condition of the technology in their classrooms. The results of the
survey were daunting.
140 Desktop Computers
are currently being used in classrooms, and 61 are broken or in poor quality.
23 Smart Board
Projectors are being used, but 7 are in need of repair.
20% of the total
number of technology devices at Wiley are broken or in poor quality (slow, poor
resolution, etc.)
The cost to replace
the broken or breaking devices is about $100,000. The school does not receive
any money from the county specifically designated toward technology and most of
the hardware we have (desktops and SmartBoards) are no longer under warranty or
supported by tech services.
Kicked off the Fun
Run for Technology. See details later in this blog and in your Monday folder.
Brian Marks, Wiley
father of two, concluded the general meeting by giving us an overview of The
Hour of Code and the Wiley Coders Club that will open for enrollment soon. See
below for notes on that club and further information on the Fun Run.
A special THANK YOU
to our wonderful Wiley teachers, who worked hard to create interesting and
informative breakout sessions. Presentations included keeping our children safe
online and helping them become responsible digital citizens, showcasing the
ways students and teachers use technology at Wiley, WGNN filming and editing,
Discovery Education Board Builder, interactive apps
The full budget, survey
results and slide show can be found at Wileypta.org.
Fun Run For Technology
What can
we do to help with the technology gaps? Wiley is partnering with Boosterthon for the 2nd Annual Fun Run for
Technology, which will take place in a few weeks. Last year we raised about
$22,000 and purchased many new devices. The focus will be on replacement, not
additional technology.
Why
Boosterthon?
Boosterthon promotes Fitness, Leadership and Character. Healthy living focus
and daily character lessons align to Wiley's core beliefs. The PTA analyzed
last year's feedback and has made changes to make the Boosterthon program to
make it a better fit for Wiley. We have decreased the time out of class and the
emphasis on individual pledges, and will increase the focus on teamwork and
character traits.
What are
the key dates?
•
Pep
Rallies - Tuesday, February 24th Students and teachers will help kick-off the
Rock'n Town Live, Wiley Fun Run in style by dressing up like a Rock Star! Pep
rallies will be held at:
o
K-2nd 2:45-3:15pm
o
3rd-5th 2:00-2:30pm
•
February
25th - March 4th: Children will have Team Huddles at the beginning
of recess, with character trait lessons and BoostFit exercises. During the 8
days leading up to the Fun Run, students can ask for pledges toward the laps
they will run on March 5th. Be sure to register at www.FUNRUN.com
, a safe and secure website that allows you to easily manage your student’s
pledges, review the daily character
lessons, and watch Rock’n Town Live music videos. You can help connect your
child to friends, family, and neighbors who can make a pledge. (phone, email,
social media, etc.)
•
March 5th
- Wiley Fun Run: K-1 9:30 a.m.; 2-3 10:40 a.m., 4-5 11:50 a.m. Every student
will participate in this school-wide event, regardless of pledges raised and
will receive a Wiley Rock-n-Run t-shirt. Students will run between 30-35
laps. Come out and cheer for the kids!
How can I
volunteer?
We need volunteers
for the race day and to help with counts on payments after the event. Use the
links below to sign up:
Talent Show Update
Wiley families, we
expect another fabulous year of music, dance, skit, comedy and -- most
importantly -- FUN with our grand, Wiley community. The 2015 Wiley Talent Show will be Thursday,
March 12, 2015 from 6 PM - 9 PM. Applications and Music submissions are due on
Friday, February 20 by 9 PM.
Students are required
to attend the Initial Review of Acts on Thursday, February 26, 3:45-5:45 PM and
the Show Rehearsal on Thursday, March 5, 3:45-5:45 PM.
Students should have
a plan for their performance by the application deadline, and performances are
limited to two (2) minutes. For more information, see Ms. Taylor's February 9
blog at:
If you have questions
- or would like to volunteer! - please e-mail Scott Andrews at talent.show@wileypta.org . Thank you for your continued support of this fantastic event!
Introducing Wiley Coders Club!
We are pleased to
announce that Wiley is starting a Coding Club! Wiley Coders will meet Friday
mornings from 8:00 – 8:45 a.m. in the Computer Room starting March 6th. Given
the size of the room and the number of available computers, we are only able to
enroll 20 students at this time. There is no cost to participate, but we do ask
that parents commit to helping us in the classroom for at least 2 of the
sessions. You do not need experience in coding to help out, just a willingness
to learn with us. Sign-up will begin on February 23rd with a link in
the blog next week.
We will loosely
follow Code.org’s K-5 Intro to Computer Science course to teach basic
computational thinking practices of Creativity, Collaboration, Communication,
Persistence, and Problem Solving. Code.org’s K-5 Intro to Computer Science
blends online, self-guided and self-paced tutorials with “unplugged” activities
that require no computer at all. We will supplement the curriculum as needed
with other activities (e.g., exploring what’s inside a computer, playing the
Robot Turtles board game, and even programming a simple robot). By the end of year,
students should have the skills needed to create simple interactive stories or
games that they can share with anyone.
If you have any
questions, you can reach Renate Andrews and Brian Marks at
WileyCoders@gmail.com.
Why Wiley
Coders?
I can cite the statistics
(http://code.org/promote ), but our reasons for wanting to start Wiley Coders are a bit more
personal. When Brian Marks introduced Wiley to Hour of Code 2 years ago, I was
fascinated. I saw that the skills being taught were about more than Computer
Science; they were skills kids could use no matter what they wanted to do later
in life. The skills were about thinking – about how to break a bigger problem
into smaller more manageable pieces, about how to learn from mistakes, about
how to work with other people – and these skills were being taught in a way
that kids found fun and interesting.
I use principles of
computer science every day in my job as a researcher at Duke (it’s a strange
day when I don’t spend at least ½ of my time programming in SAS or some other
programming language), but I wouldn’t call myself a Computer Science. I only
have a Twitter account because Wiley dragged me into the 21st century a couple
of years ago. The website we’re putting together for Wiley Coders is the first
time I’ve done anything like that. My family got our first iPad in September.
My kids come home from Wiley and Ligon using new and interesting tech tools
that teachers have introduced and I ask my kids how it’s supposed to work. All
that’s to say, I expect that I will learn as much from the kids as they’re
learning from me. I hope you’ll join us on this adventure! ~Renate
