BLACK BEAR’S

PAW

“Growing Healthy Kids in a

Healthy World” Hart to Heart

Welcome Back to School! We are ready for our best year yet at Eastwood Elementary School, and we are so glad you are a part of the Eastwood family. Our Black Bears have settled in beautifully and are snuggling in to their new classrooms for a year-long adventure in learning. They’ve already been practicing their “Black Bear Growl” to show-off their GRIT. Their minds are SET and they are ready to GROW!

What an exciting journey we have ahead of us this year! Our focus at Eastwood Elementary is on student-centered literacy, targeted math, and Being A Writer. We are also eager to continue using our wonderful “LEED-certified” school as an instructional tool to support the understand-ing of science and the marvelous world around us. Addi-tionally, our students will learn through and enjoy technol-ogy integration, project-based learning, and Spanish lan-guage instruction.

With the Board of Education’s purchase of an additional ten acres adjacent to the school and the help of various volunteers, we will also continue developing our school grounds this year. We look forward to new play spaces for our bear cubs to enjoy; more natural wildlife areas for their curiosity to explore; and more parking for our Mama and Papa bears. Welcome back home! It’s going to be a GRRReat year…… and We’re Off!

Mrs. Hartshorn

Eastwood Elementary Newsletter September 2017

Are you on Twitter? Follow us @EastwoodBears to keep in touch. We'll share latest news, upcoming events, and fun experiences that

Are you on Facebook? Follow our PTO on their official Facebook page: Eastwood PTO They will keep you informed about meetings and school events.

Our newsletter will be going digital! We

are going to continue our sustainability

efforts by reducing paper usage for the

newsletter. Over the next few months,

we will begin creating an e-mail list for

families that are willing to receive a digital

copy of the newsletter. Paper copies will

still be sent home, upon request. As

always, our monthly newsletter is

available to view in color on our website!

PTO September News

We encourage family and community

members to volunteer at our school. In order

to serve as a volunteer, you must complete the

Monongalia County Schools’ volunteer training.

The training is required annually, so it must be

completed even if you have completed volun-

teer training applications during previous

school years.

To access the MCS parent volunteer training:

Go to Monongalia County Schools homepage:

http://boe.mono.k12.us.

Click on District Info tab across the top of page.

Click on Divisions tab on side of page.

Click on Pupil Services tab on side of page.

Click on Safe & Supportive Schools tab on side of page.

Click on Instructions for Volunteer Procedure

If you do not have access to the technology

needed to complete this training, or you would

like to complete the process at our school,

please contact Andrea Rush, at 304-284-

8226.

Our 1st PTO meeting of the year will be held on Thursday, September 14, 2017, at 6:00 pm. We hope you can join us for this initial meeting, as we will be making lots of decisions about activities and our focuses for the 2017-2018 school year! Our PTO officers for the school year are as follows: Bethany Crites, President Patty Antonini, Vice President Kristina Patton, Treasurer Kari Baxter, Secretary Our Sarris Candy sale has started!!!! All orders are due back to the school by September 25th. 2016-2017 yearbooks have arrived! They are wonderful! A big thank you to Hollie Brown for all of her hard work on our year-book. If you did not preorder a yearbook, but would like to but one….

Gift Card

Monongalia County Schools recently pur-

chased 14 acres adjacent to our school. Our

maintenance department is currently working to

clean up some of the land. Our future plans for

this land include expanding our playground,

parking lot, and trails!

Eastwood Recycles!

One of our goals at Eastwood Elementary is

teaching and implementing sustainability practic-

es. Our fifth grade students take the lead on our

recycling initiatives. Not only do they collect the

recycling from classrooms, they teach the young-

er students about recycling. At our opening as-

sembly, Mrs. Potts’s students gave our students

and staff a summary of how our recycling pro-

gram works and what items we recycle.

Remember to Recycle!

Dear Eastwood Families,

It is our pleasure to introduce ourselves as the Eastwood Elementary school counselors for the 2017-2018 aca-demic year. We are looking forward to the many wonderful events that are planned for this year!

It is our mission to help every student at Eastwood Elementary acquire the mindsets and behaviors necessary to be successful at the next grade level and in life. We will accomplish this by collaborating with teachers, administra-tors, support staff, community agencies, and families to teach the academic, social, and career skills that will allow our students to prosper and grow. Input from each of these stakeholders will be utilized in the development and implementation of a school counseling program that is prevention based, developmental in nature, and comprehen-sive in scope.

Throughout the year, your child may participate in small group experiences to meet their specific needs. Small group counseling experiences allow students to relate to one another, understand their place within a group, and have exposure to a variety of perspectives. We have started the year with groups for new Eastwood students and have enjoyed getting to know the new members of our community.

We are also available to meet with students individually to help them with topics or issues that may be sensitive in nature. If you would like for a school counselor to meet with your child in this way, please feel free to use the coun-seling referral link on the Eastwood Elementary website under the resources tab. You may also contact us by phone or email at 304-284-8226, acsimmons@k12.wv.us (Anna), or courtney.craig@k12.wv.us. Best wishes to you and your child this year!

Sincerely, Anna and Courtney

Last Friday, we held our first Eastwood Way assembly of the 2017-2018 school year.

Each month, we hold an Eastwood Way assembly to acknowledge our school’s suc-

cesses and our student’s accomplishments. We celebrate all of the positive happenings

at our school, and we promote our school’s initiatives. We recognize an Eastwood Stu-

dent of the Month, a Black Bear Student of the Month, and a Terrific kid. Each month

the mayor of Morgantown, Cooper the Black Bear, and representatives from the Sun-

crest Kiwanis help us celebrate. Occasionally, we have guest speaker and other special

guests.

During our first assembly, we talked about our behavior expectations for assemblies.

We informed our students about the purpose of our Eastwood Way assemblies. This

year, we will continue to focus on “GRIT!” We want our students to learn to persevere,

even when things are difficult; and we want them to pursue their passions. Several of

our fifth grade students participated in a skit that demonstrated what is means to have

grit. The skits also introduced the concept of having a growth mindset. A growth mindset

is a belief that we can get smarter through hard work and practice. This means that

struggling with something difficult doesn’t mean you’re not smart—it’s a chance to grow

your intelligence. Growth mindset is all about trying hard, using good strategies, and

getting the help you need. Individuals with a growth mindset perceive a challenge as an

opportunity to learn rather than an obstacle to overcome. Research shows that when

students have a growth mindset; they respond to difficult work with constructive

thoughts and their behavior shows persistence rather than defeat.

After introducing these concepts to our students, we taught them to cheer, “My mind is

set, and I’m going to keep growing!” We were so proud of how well our students partici-

pated in the assembly. The definitely demonstrated how to do things the “Eastwood

Way.”

Students demonstrate how exercising your

brain can make you smarter!

Meet our 2017-2018 Eastwood Elementary School Staff

Principal DeAnn Hartshorn Speech Pathologists Denise DeVault

Asst. Principal Tracy Cottrell Kellie Serfoss

Preschool

Teachers and

Assistant

Teachers

Natasha Alt ELTeacher Emily Bragg

Amber Brandt & Stephanie Dalton Academic Coach Leslie Phares

Dana Crudup Title I Reading Specialists Gina Lenhart

Rebecca Diaz & Elissa LaPoe Mary Jo McIntyre

Alexa Jo Hanna & Sarah Meyers Title I Interventionists Jen Akers

Heather McCord & Monica Peltz Emily Dadisman

Kindergarten

Teachers and

Assistant Teach-

ers

Amber Nichols & Tanya Kacik Karen Davis

Andrea Panepinto & Tiffany Phillippi Guidance Counselors Courtney Drake

Linda Pentz & Brooke Huntington Anna Simmons

Ruth Siegel & Brenda Davis Art Teacher Michelle Johnson

First Grade

Teachers

Carrie McMillen Music Teacher Jessi Morgan

Ashley Moran Physical Education Teacher Nicole Katz

Mary Beth Selby Spanish Teacher Judith deLasker

Katie Shaffer Media Specialist Patty Antonini

Lauren Webster Technology Integration Andrea Rush

Lois Williams TAG Teacher Erin Neitzelt

Second Grade

Teachers

Mary Conley Preschool Special Needs Heather Cipolloni

Tamara Detrick

Ashley Sayre Secretaries Joy Bender

Mary Ellen Simis Jackie Reynolds

Third Grade

Teachers

Caitlin Barber School Nurses Kristen Grandstaff

Marissa Heckel Jenny Rowe

Holly Rich

Joyce Warner Head Custodian Allan Dalton

Fourth Grade

Teachers

Lana Boyce Custodians Autumn Hartman

Elaina Duley Gerry Mayfield

Jessica Greene Zack Rush

Dee Lee

Fifth Grade

Teachers

Leslie Cox Cafeteria Manager Kimberly Barnett

Marcus Law Cooks Donna Farudi

Karen Lemery Cindy Helmick

Jennifer Potts Debbie Nabors

Special Education

Teachers

Regina Cappellini Tomomi Smith

Caroline Gee

Kayla Thomas IEP Compliance Specialist Kayla Edsall

McKinzi Weese Attendance Assistant Michelle McGilton

Reginna Wagoner Occupational Therapist Bree Olesksa

Special Education

Assistant

Teachers

Terry Lipscomb School Psychologist Andrew Woolwine

April Edwards

Nicole Luci

Tonya Sollars

Kristen Grandstaff RN, BSN

I am so happy to be your school nurse this year. Our clinic hours are Monday through Friday 7:50-3:00 pm. On Tuesday and

Thursday mornings, our clinic is operated by Jenny Rowe, LPN.

Listed below are a few reminders about school health:

Medications: All medications that are to be given at school, both over the counter and prescription, must have a medication form

filled out by the doctor and the parent. This includes cough drops, creams like hydrocortisone, and Tylenol/Advil. All medication

must be provided by the parent in the original container with the child’s name. All medications must be brought in by a parent or

guardian. They may not be sent to or from school with the student.

Emergency #’s: Please advise the school of any changes in your phone number and emergency numbers. It is very difficult when

we have s sick child whose parent can’t be reached. Be sure to inform the office, nurse, and your child’s teacher of phone number

changes so that there is no delay in reaching you in an emergency.

Illness: Please do not send your child to school if they are running a fever, vomiting, or have diarrhea. Per policy, they must be

fever free for at least 24 hours without the aid of a fever reducer before they return to school. They also must be free of vomiting

or diarrhea for 24 hours before returning.

Dear Parents:

As you may already know, some students may need to be screened by Speech/Language Pathologist. West Virginia

policy specifically states the following must be screened: All out-of-state transfer students who enter WV public

schools for the first time; PreK, Kindergarten students who did not participate in a Monongalia county screening

day, and previously screened students who may have had at-risk developmental sound errors. This may include stu-

dents from all grade levels.

The purpose of the screening is to check or recheck for age appropriate speech and language skills. This can occur at

any time during the school year.

If you do not wish your child to be screened, please send a note within five (5) days to me here at school. If your

child is screened, you will be informed of the results.

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 304-284-8226.

Denise DeVault, MS CCCSLP

Speech/Language Pathologist

Eastwood Elementary

677 201st Memorial Highway

Morgantown, WV 26505

Phone: 304-284-8226

Fax: 304-284-8235

web address:

http://boe.mono.k12.wv.us/Eastwood/

Monongalia County Schools and Eastwood Elementary School do not discriminate in any

program or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age,

veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, or disabil-

ity. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of

alleged discrimination.

Monongalia County Schools Title

IX Coordinator

Adam Henkins

Email: ahenkins@k12.wv.us

Phone: 304-291-9210

Eastwood Elementary Title IX Coordinator

Tracy L. Cottrell

Email: tcottrel@k12.wv.us

Phone: 304-284-8226