Sept. 2013 newsletter

World of West Gates
September 2013
Sun
1
Mon
Tue
2
3
Wed
4
Thu
Fri
Sat
5
6
7
12
13
14
19
20
21
Staff Conference Days
8
9
10
11
Half Day Kindergarten
FIRST DAY
OF SCHOOL
15
22
16
6:30pm 3rd5th Gr. Meet
the Teacher
7:30 PTA Mtg
8pm K-2nd
Gr. Meet the
Teacher
23
7pm SEPTA
Meeting &
Meet the
Teacher
29
17
18
9:30-11am
Pre-K
Registration
8pm Board
of Education
Community
Forum @ W.
Gates
24
25
7:30pm PTA
Council Mtg
at Alleghany
26
27
28
9:30am
Pre-K
Orientation
30
SCHOOL TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
Main Office (631) 867-3400
Attendance (631) 867-3403
Nurse (631) 867-3410
Dr. Kaufman (631) 867-3420
Kitchen (631) 867-3425
From Principal’s Desk…..
Dear West Gates Families,
I hope that you had a restful summer. I am thrilled to be welcoming you and
your children back to what I am sure will be a terrific school year. I would
like to extend a warm welcome to the new students and their parents.
West Gates is a wonderful school with exceptional teachers and supportive
parents! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you should have questions or
concerns.
Our goal at West Gates is for all students to be successful and achieve all
that they can. I encourage you to volunteer and support the educational
process of your child. There are many opportunities throughout the school
year for you to be involved. You can contact your child’s teacher or the PTA
to inquire about upcoming events. The PTA has many wonderful activities
planned for the families throughout the entire school year.
As many of you have seen in the media, the State Assessment results were
released by the New York State Department of Education. These
assessments were based upon the new Common Core Standards, which were
introduced during the 2012-13 school year. For those of you who attended
PTA Meetings last year, I spoke about the rigors of the new curriculum,
strategies for you to use with your children and how our District was
addressing the changes. As summarized in Mr. Nathan’s letter to you, our
assessment scores were neither a result of a decrease in our students’
performance nor a reflection of our students’ abilities to be successful in
school and become college/career ready. Our students and teachers worked
diligently throughout the year and we will continue to do so, again, this year.
Please be reminded that Meet the Teacher Night will take place on
Monday, September 16th. Please note the changes in the times for the
evening. Grades 3-5 will begin at 6:30 PM and grades K-2 will begin at
8:00 PM. All parents are encouraged to attend, as it is an opportunity to
hear about the goals and initiatives for the 2013-2014 school year, as well
as, become more familiar with the curriculum your child will be exposed
to this year. Also, our first PTA Meeting for the year will take place at
7:30 PM in the AP room.
As always, please adhere to the traffic pattern and guidelines sent to you
in our summer mailing. There is more traffic on West Gates Avenue during
the first few weeks of school, so please make sure you are familiar with
the arrival and dismissal procedures.
I am truly looking forward to a successful school year. If you have any
questions, or concerns, please feel free to call me. I am confident that the
2013-2014 school year will be successful and memorable at West Gates.
Both the staff and I look forward to working with you and your children.
Sincerely,
Donna Smawley
Principal
2013-14
BUILDING DIRECTORY
Principal - Donna Smawley
Grade
KK
KPC
KCC
1E
1H
2M
2H
2G
3I
3F
3A
4JM
4MM
4Z
5P
5M
5D
Room
107
108
109
113
114
115
117
119
116
118
120
125
126
128
127
129
130
Inclusion
Ellen Evans – Room 112
Lynn Dietz – Room 112
Suzanne McCollum – Room 112
TBA – CSS
Marisa Bonventre – CSS
Jaclyn Vrana – CSS
Music – Room 122
Marguerite Abatelli
Band – Stage
Al White
Orchestra – Stage
Paul Cronin
Physical Education
Anthony Mantovani/Mike Crispo
Library
Jason Elliot
Psychologist
Susan Kaufman
Reading – Room 110
Erin Kozodoy
Glenna DiMartino
Kimberly Pluschau
Teacher
Amy Koutsakos
Phyllis Capizzi
Christine Cole/Suzanne McCollum
Doreen Earl
Pennie Hale/Ellen Evans
Rosanne Mulholland/Lynn Dietz
Roseanne Hennig
Karen Garguilo
Maria Ierardi/Lynn Dietz
Gregg Fiori
Kelly Ales
Joseph Mancuso
Megan Maronski/Suzanne McCollum
Angelo Zurica
Suzanne Prenderville
Robert Maffei
Casey DeNatalie/Ellen Evans
Office Personnel
Josephine D'Angelo
Laura Bemindt
Permanent Substitutes
W. Sullivan
M. Brocato
TBA
Math – Room 112
Lisa Parness
T. Berry
Occupt. Therapist-Prac. Room
Kathleen Taufman
ESL – Speech Room
Maria Rotta
Nurse
Elsie Vetack
Attendance Aide
Lynn Laurino
Library Aide
Carolann Martorano
Security Aides
Jane Cerniglia
Fran Montesanto
Speech
Danielle Engel
Social Worker
Julie Moschella
Art – Room 124
G. Alvino/C. Bode/J. Marx
Custodians
Joseph Wolf
Steve Baltunis
Phyllis Wilson
Anthony Buscema
Program Aides
School Monitors
Victoria Terzella
Joan Ingino
-
Kindergarten
Kindergarten
-
1H
3F
3I
5M
___
___
Lori Martinez - Playground
Theresa Ciccarello - Playground
Fran Benyo - Playground
Jill Vaneck - Cafeteria
Louisa Morvillo - Cafeteria
Anne Wildner - Cafeteria
Shared Aides
Victoria Nicolich
Doreen Snyder
Sue Ness
Anna Benetos
Floater Aide
Angie Minutolo
___
___
___
___
Lunch Hours
K
1
2
3
4
5
-
Lunch
1:10 – 1:35
1:35 – 2:00
11:15 – 11:40
12:15 – 12:40
12:40 – 1:05
11:40 – 12:05
Recess
1:35 – 2:00
1:10 – 1:35
11:40 – 12:05
12:40 – 1:05
12:15 – 12:40
11:15 – 11:40
___
___
___
West Gates PTA
ww.westgatespta.org
September 9, 2013
Dear West Gates Families,
Welcome to all our new families and Welcome Back to all our returning families! The
summer seems to have passed so quickly, but I hope it was fun and relaxing for everyone. I am really
looking forward to all of the activities we have planned for the new school year, but first things first:
Membership! Our PTA sponsors many wonderful events, but they cannot happen without your
support.
Our PTA membership drive is underway and I encourage everyone to join. When you join the
PTA you are not only helping to bring exciting activities to our school, but you are also then able to
become a class parent. Your membership also entitles you to many discounts through the NYS and
National PTA. A membership letter and envelope will be sent home with your child within the next
couple of days, and there is also an application in this issue of The World of West Gates.
Our website is a wonderful way to find out all about our events, and it has been revamped this
year! Just go to www.westgatespta.org to download PTA forms, find out about upcoming events and
see links to other useful school and community sites.
Our first PTA meeting will be held on Monday September 16th at 7:30pm in the All Purpose
Room. This is also “Meet the Teacher Night.” Stop by to meet your Executive Board and see what
your PTA has to offer.
The activities your PTA sponsors need your help! Each committee needs parent volunteers to
be a success. If you would like to help out at any of our events please feel free to call the Committee
Chairperson or another Board member. A list of all our committees is in this issue. Any and all help
is appreciated.
One big change this year is that we have moved our PARP (Parents As Reading Partners)
program up to October. We did this to help our children get started on the path to reading. There are
many activities associated with PARP, and they are all in need of volunteers. Please see the flyer
enclosed in this issue for more information.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me at (631) 957-1082.
Thank you for all you do!
Sincerely,
Maria C. Kalish
PTA President
(631) 957-1082
mkalish@westgatespta.org
West Gates Pre-K Registration
Registration for the 2013-2014 Pre-K Program will be held on Friday, September 20th from 9:30
a.m.-11:00 a.m. in the All Purpose Room. If you know of someone who resides in the West Gates Area,
please pass this information along to them! We are located at 175 West Gates Avenue.
To be eligible for this year’s program, children must be 4 years old by December 1, 2012. Please
bring along the following information with you.
 Drivers License
 Proof of Residency – tax bill (phone bill or utility bill is not acceptable)
 If you rent, you will be given a Landlord Affidavit to be filled out and notarized which can be
returned the first day of school.
 Child’s original birth certificate, plus a photocopy of it
 Immunization records, which must include:
3 DPT’s
3 Polio
1 MMR
1 HIB
3 HEP B
Varicella Vaccine
There is a $30.00 registration fee. Cash or check made out to West Gates PTA is acceptable.
This program is designed to familiarize the children to West Gates School and to ease their
entrance into Kindergarten. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Pre-K Coordinator,
Amanda Sliwoski @ 631-592-0742.
West Gates PTA
ww.westgatespta.org
REFLECTIONS 2013-2014
“Believe, Dream, Inspire”
The National PTA Reflections Program is an art and cultural
recognition and achievement program and is open to all students at
West Gates Avenue Elementary School. There are three categories to
be judged this year in literature, photography, and visual arts.
All work submitted will be judged. Three from each category for
grades K-2 and 3-5 will advance to the Regional competition. All
entries will be displayed at the Lindenhurst Memorial Library in March
and there will be an ice cream party for participants at the end of the
year.
If you are interested in participating please indicate which category
you would like to be entered into. A set of instructions will be sent
home to you. You may enter more than one category, but only one
entry per category. Please fill out the form below and return it to your
teacher by September 13, 2013.
Questions? Contact Maria Kalish at 957-1082 or mkalish@westgatespta.org
Name_________________
 Photography
 Literature
 Visual Arts
Teacher______________________
WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL
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