March 1 - 5

 Families, 

#ReadAcrossUnderwood is March 1 - 5! This celebration of reading is based on Read Across America, of which the purpose is “....to help motivate kids to read, bring the joys of reading to students of all ages, and make all children feel valued and welcome.”       (National Education Association)

 

Here are some ways you can celebrate reading at home:

• Set aside an extra time each day to read together as a family. (Drop Everything And Read)

• Check out the Underwood library! 

• Join specialists and Mr. Shillings for Bedtimes Stories at 7:00pm Monday - Thursday.  These virtual read-a-louds will last no more than 15 minutes. To join the live reading, go to meet.google.com and enter “ugtmbedtimestory"

• K - 2 Recommend a book!   *Student will have to login to WCPSS Rapid Identity.

• 3 - 5 Recommend a book!  *Student will have to login to WCPSS Rapid Identity.

• Tweet pics of students and family members reading or pics of books they are reading  #readacrossunderwood (Let’s see if we can trend!)

Wind Down Wednesday - We are excited to have our Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting tonight. Underwood Staff will do a short 5-10 minutes presentation on communicating through the Parent Teacher Conferences. The remainder of the meeting will be conducted by the PTA board members. Video meeting link https://meet.google.com/aci-rquy-okx 

Single Subject Acceleration: Students meeting qualifying criteria in grades K‐7 can take advanced academic content in mathematics or English Language Arts through Single Subject Acceleration (SSA). This ensures opportunities for appropriate levels of academic challenge. Only students who are currently enrolled and attending a WCPSS school during the open nomination and testing window are eligible to be considered for SSA.

Test Requests for the 2021-22 school year must be submitted by  March 22, 2021. 

Students will be tested for the 2021-22 during the testing windows will be April 7 - April 28, 2021. No requests for testing outside these windows will be accepted.

Your request for testing must be documented and provided to the Jennifer Page (jpage5@wcpss.net) . The request must clearly indicate which one subject you wish for your child to be tested. Below are the SSA Test Request Forms. **For rising sixth graders this is the way to be registered for compacted math.

Mrs. Page will have a parent session - Wednesday, 3/3 at 12:00 pm and Thursday, 3/4 at 8:00 am via Google Meet Code - https://meet.google.com/mhk-zvqy-vxv 

Test Request Form (ENG)  

Test Request Form (ESP)

Wake Up and Read Donations - we are collecting new and gently used books to be donated to families in need of books. Here is some more information about Wake Up and Read - https://mailchi.mp/3bdaeadd9a79/wuarpartners?e=c1c88ec685. We have a donation bin at the front entrance door. 

Wishing you well!

Travis Shillings, Principal

February 22-26

 Families, 

Wind Down Wednesday - Family Black History Trivia. We are excited to have our First Family Black History Trivia, so please come and join us based on the grade(s) of your child. Mr. Dunston and Mrs. Bryson-Jacobs will be our hosts. 

6:30-6:50 K-1 - https://meet.google.com/cer-kuzi-jeb

6:50-7:10 2-3 - https://meet.google.com/rdi-bchw-sbi

7:10-7:30 4-5 - https://meet.google.com/xqp-koor-hak

Link for uploading your photos for yearbook (Photos of at home learning, book fair dress up day, daily work Underwood meet-ups, holiday crafts, PTA or Foundation events, etc..)https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOvglj-a5iDAqklsnnPEjLVi5ilUB-fW0QhzeBDsHJoDu4GJhc_H1sLLSY2UcYMFg?key=MGpIRlA4YVM4ZS1MeElnUnRDcXdkazFqS3pCUU9R

Free and Reduced Lunch Applications:

Parents, please consider applying for meal benefits by Feb 26. By submitting a qualifying application, families will also support the district in qualifying for additional funds to support students and learning! Also, the NC Department of Health & Human Services will soon begin collecting free and reduced lunch data from WCPSS to determine families that will receive additional Pandemic Electronic Benefits (P-EBT) that will be issued in the coming months! By not applying for these meal benefits, you will miss the opportunity to receive direct P-EBT funds for your family!

Yes, meals will still be free for all students through June 2021 but we still need you to complete a meal benefits application so our school can be eligible for this extra funding next year. Information about applying for Meal Benefits for the 2020-21 school year can be found at www.wcpss.net/meals. Help our school continue to receive this funding by completing an application online at MySchoolApps.com. Paper applications can be requested by calling 919-588-3535.

Foundation 

Save the Date April 17th is our Annual Underwood Gala! The purpose of the foundation is to provide funds to close gaps in funding to ensure Underwood can maintain our staff and dynamic instructional programming.  Please consider donating to the Underwood Foundation - http://www.underwoodfoundation.org/

PTA

The purpose of the PTA is to provide goods and services for students and staff to create learning environments to support all students' learning. To donate or find out more information about the PTA -- https://underwood.new.memberhub.store/. 

Wishing you well! 

Travis Shillings, Principal