Capistrano Unified School District

WAGON WHEEL ELEMENTARY

30912 Bridle Path

Coto de Caza, CA 92679

(949) 589-1953 Fax (949) 589-2813

http://www.capousd.org/wwes

August 17, 2012

Dear Wagon Wheel Elementary School Parents,

It’s hard to believe that the opening of school is coming soon! I hope that you are enjoying your summer and that this letter finds you rested, relaxed, healthy and looking forward to another exciting year, filled with meaningful, enriching experiences for your children and entire family. I am confident that by continuing to work together, we will continue to improve student achievement, provide meaningful learning experiences for children and extend the tradition of excellence for which Wagon Wheel Elementary School has long been known.

Our opening school enrollment projection, at this time, is for approximately 650 students, which reflects an overall decrease in our student population by approximately 45 students. We are currently projected to have 21 teachers on staff, although that may change with enrollment fluctuations. Our office is now open for new student registration. Please, if you would, encourage your neighbors to come into the office if they are new to the area and have not yet registered, as soon as possible. Thank you!

If you have already registered for a CUSD Parent Portal account, you are encouraged to begin the annual re-registration process by logging into the Portal at abi.capousd.org to review and update your child’s demographic and emergency contact information. You will also be asked to read, review, and accept district policies and then print the data confirmation signature form and data confirmation email. We will be requesting those forms at school. For parents who have not yet been able to create a Parent Portal account and do not have access to your child’s verification code,please contact the school office to obtain that confidential information. As a reminder, instructions for creating a Parent Portal account, additional information, and a short video overview can be found at abi.capousd.org.

This year, our staff is looking forward to receiving training and participating in a district wide instructional practice program, known as ADD (Academic Design and Delivery). The program has as its goal, improving instructional practice and providing support amongst colleagues through a peer coaching model. We will also be introducing the new Common Core State Standards. The new standards will impact instructional delivery by highlighting five main instructional practices that are based on facilitating high level text discussions, providing students the opportunity to focus on process as well as content, creating assignments for real audiences and for real purposes, and facilitating a learning environment whereby students can demonstrate a careful understanding of text and what it is they are learning. Lastly, increasing text complexity will also be a main feature of the implementation of the Common Core Standards. We will keep you informed of our trainings and provide you with further information on this important topic as we become further involved. As always, we will be striving to improve our instructional practices and provide a challenging, rigorous and meaningful learning environment for our students!

I would like to thank and acknowledge the outstanding leadership and hard work of our PTA President, Sara DeMond and last year’s 2011-12 Executive PTA Board. Through their hard work and dedication, our students benefitted tremendously. In anticipation of our new school year, Sara and our new PTA Board have already been working tirelessly and dedicatedly over the summer months to plan and prepare for a variety of exciting and enriching programs for our children.

The California Department of Education has notified us that there has been a delay in the delivery of the spring 2012 STAR Student Reports. CUSD will not receive the reports until the end of August. Results will be mailed home as soon as they arrive. You should receive those results by the first day of school. If you have not received them by Friday, Sept. 7, please contact the school office. If you would like to view your child’s results sooner, at the end of August, please log into your Parent Portal account. Once CUSD receives the scores and they are loaded into our information system, you will have immediate access to the results via the Parent Portal.

The first day of school will be on Wednesday, September 5. The first day will be a minimum day. School will begin at 7:45 a.m. and will dismiss at 11:50 a.m. for students in grades 1-5. The kindergarten schedule is being sent home under separate cover, with additional kindergarten program information regarding orientation, the first day of school and early bird/late bird schedules.

Again this year, our ACE (Academic Collaboration for Excellence) day will be Wednesday, and will begin on September 12, the second week of school. Each Wednesday, students in grades 1-5 will begin at 7:45 a.m. and will dismiss early at 12:50 p.m.

You will receive important school program and procedure information in your child’s opening packet. Please look for, complete and immediately return the Student Emergency Card, Acceptable Use Form and Insurance Form. The Emergency Card must be completed and returned on the second day of school. The more information you can put on the card, the easier it will be for us to locate you in the event of illness or an emergency. Please put your E-mail address in the space provided on the card. If you have changed your email address from last school year, please highlight the new address on the emergency card. Please also take a moment to sign up for our List Serve on the CUSD website under Wagon Wheel. The majority of school information is sent home using this venue.

Please refer to and keep handy the 2012-13 school calendar that will be included in the opening packet. Please note that Wagon Wheel’s Back to School Night will be held on the evening of Wednesday, October 3.

We are going to be using the same arrival and departure procedures that were in place last year. Please follow the traffic flow guidelines and directions that will be provided in your opening packet. If everyone is patient and observes the guidelines, traffic flow will move smoothly and efficiently. Please follow the direction of staff members when they are on duty in front of the school. Please do not park in the cul-de-sac during dismissal or arrival time. This area is reserved for school buses only. Remember that parking at a red curbed area and leaving your car unattended is illegal and disallows emergency personnel to respond, if needed. In addition, please pay special consideration to our neighbors and families when parking, dropping off and picking up your child on Gingham Street. Please do not attempt to pick up your child in the red curbed area on Bridle Path, as this creates a safety hazard. This is inclusive of Kindergarten drop-off and pick-up times. Thank you for your support and help with this important safety aspect of our school arrival and dismissal procedures.

We hope that you will always feel welcome and appreciated at our school! We encourage and are grateful for our volunteers. Please be aware of the volunteer policy that is in effect throughout CUSD. Please refer to www.capousd.org or www.wagonwheelpta.com websites or check in our office for specific information, requirements and details. If you do come to school to volunteer in a class or attend a meeting, PLEASE SIGN IN. Our sign in procedure is one way to help ensure a safe campus for all of the children and adults. In addition, please bring a PHOTO ID when picking up your child early from school. Your identification will be verified with the Student Emergency Card for security purposes. Finally, please make arrangements for your child’s pick up and any other special directions or changes before he/she comes to school in the morning.

We invite you to join us at the Round Up on Tuesday, September 4 from 12 – 2 p.m. Class lists will be posted on the handball courts. Teachers will not be present for this event, but instead will be utilizing the day and time to prepare for the start of school. As you locate your child’s placement and teacher assignment for the year, please keep in mind that our teachers have worked diligently to create balanced classes, taking into account a variety of considerations that pertain to and benefit each child, both academically and socially. Please do not ask for changes to the class lists. Our primary goal is to maintain the instructional integrity of each classroom. Children are wonderfully adaptive and make new friends quickly and easily. Thank you!

During this year’s Round Up, PTA will provide an opportunity to sign up for PTA membership, pick up previously ordered school supply packets and purchase Mustang Spirit Wear. School Supply Lists by grade level can be found on the PTA website at www.wagonwheelpta.com website. We hope you can make it!

We look forward to seeing you at the Round Up on September 4th, and on the first day of school, Wednesday, September 5th. Our teachers and I look forward to meeting and greeting you and your children on the blacktop in their class lines at 7:45 a.m.

Enjoy the remaining days of summer! Working together, we anticipate a very spectacular year!

Sincerely,

Kathy Parker

Principal, WWES