WGO - ES Archive: April 17

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Issue #31: April 17, 2025

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From the Principal

Ms. Michelle Alzamora

Dear Families,

As an elementary school principal, I witness the magic of children learning and growing together. It is beautiful to see the students make friends, learn how to solve problems, and develop empathy for one another. Part of growing up is learning how to navigate relationships, and with that comes misunderstandings, disagreements, and sometimes unkind behavior.

It can be difficult to know when a child is experiencing normal conflict and when they are being bullied. Here is what our Family Handbook says:

Bullying is defined as physical and/or emotional harassment that is deliberate, repeated, and demonstrates a power imbalance.

While bullying can take many forms, there are a few common factors:

An imbalance of power: The person (people) doing the bullying has more power, either because they are bigger, stronger, more popular, or because there are more of them.
Repetition: Unkind behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to continue.

It is essential to understand that there is a big difference between bullying and unkind behavior. Teasing, name-calling, or arguments are examples of unkind behavior, but if they happen once, and are not part of a power imbalance, they are not bullying.

Here are some ways you can help your child deal with unkind behavior:

Practice problem-solving at home. Brainstorm different ways your child can respond, such as walking away, using "I" statements, or seeking help from a teacher. Consider using the poster that we use at school, shown below.

Build their confidence. Help your child find activities they enjoy and excel at. When children feel good about themselves, they are less likely to be affected by unkind behavior.
Teach empathy. Talk to your child about how their words and actions affect others. Help them understand different perspectives and be kind to others.

While it is important to give children the tools to solve problems independently, bullying is different. If your child is being bullied, it is important to step in. Here’s how you can help:

Contact the school. The first thing you should do is contact your child’s teacher, the elementary administration, or the elementary school counselors. We can help investigate the situation, support your child, and take steps to ensure that the bullying stops.
Listen and validate. Let your child know that you believe them and that they did the right thing by telling you.
Work together. Partner with the school to develop a plan to support your child and address the bullying behaviors.

Remember, we all have a role in creating a safe and supportive environment for our children. By working together, we can teach our children to be kind, respectful, and resilient.

Yours,

Michelle Alzamora

Parent Chat

Please join me for our next Parent Chat on April 28th at 6:00 pm about how we are approaching Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI). YOu can access the chat at this link.

MAP

We will begin our Spring MAP assessments after the break. Students in grades 2-5 will take one MAP assessment a week following the schedule below. Your child’s teacher will let you know when they will take the assessments. You will note gaps between some of the assessments. This is due to holidays.

Language Assessment - Completed
Reading Assessment - Completed
Reading Assessment - Week of April 27
Make Ups - Week of May 4

The MAP assessments provide external data that compares your child’s performance with a set of recognized standards. Because the assessment is adaptive, we can gather information about children outside of the constraints of grade-level bands.

This is not an assessment that your child can study for. To help her or him do their very best, please ensure that your child gets plenty of rest and eats a healthy breakfast. You can also help your child by not making a big deal about this testing experience. It is not a high-stakes assessment; the children have no reason to feel stressed about their performance. After all students have completed the tests, you will receive information about your child’s performance on the MAP assessment. You can jump to the MAP Family Toolkit for more information about the MAP assessment.

As a school, we look at the results of the MAP assessments to help us better understand each learner and our academic programs. Our classroom teachers will spend time together looking at MAP results in conjunction with other data about learning. As administrators, we use multiple data points (including MAP) over time to help us understand where our students are doing well and where we might consider making programmatic changes. The Spring data helps us see student growth trends over the year. Additionally, we will collect and analyze data from reading and writing assessments.

From the ES Counselors

Save The Date - Departing Families Transition Workshop Invitation

Join us on Wednesday, May 7th from 5:00 - 6:30 pm for connection, activities, and discussion in relation to transitioning out of ACS and into a new place. This is for elementary school students and parents. Expect to connect more deeply with each other (and other leavers) on the things that make leaving complex, and perhaps gain clarity on the things you and your family might do to offer closure to your time at ACS or in Amman. We will send out a formal invitation to all departing families with more detailed information soon, and we hope you will join us. Location TBD.

Please reach out to one of the ES counselors, Hayley Jeanes or Tim Steadman, with any questions.

April Family Connection Challenge

The ES counseling department is excited to share another fun challenge for families to enjoy at home! This April, make it your family’s mission to create 100 moments of connection.

With spring break on the horizon, this is a perfect opportunity to be intentional about spending quality time together. Connection doesn’t have to be fancy or time-consuming—what matters most is presence and love. Whether it’s taking a family walk, having a game night, spending ten minutes drawing together, or sharing jokes, every little moment counts!

How It Works:

Choose a handout from the available options. You can print one at home or pick one up from Ms. Hayley or Mr. Tim’s office.
Hang it somewhere visible—on the fridge, a bedroom wall, or anywhere your child will see it often.
Each time you share a moment of connection, your child can color in one space on the handout.
Need inspiration? The handout includes 100 ideas to connect, or you can create your own!
Once all 100 spaces are colored in, have your child bring it in to show a counselor!

Enjoy this special time to bond as a family. We can’t wait to hear about your moments of connection!

Updated Resource Webpage - Discussion ideas and coping strategies when approaching unfairness, violence, crime and war with your child.

Talking about topics like unfairness, violence, crime and war can be hard. You might not know what to say in the moment. Being ready for these talks can help. Please check out the resources on this page and let us know how we can support you!

Tim Steadman and Hayley Jeanes