April 3- National IA/Paraprofessional Day!

April 4- National School Librarian Appreciation Day!

April 8- NO SCHOOL- PD Day

April 15- 5th Grade Field Trip to JA Biztown

April 18- 1st Grade Field Trip to Big Joel's Safari

April 18- 4th Grade Field Trip to Great Skate

April 21- Late Start (11:00 Arrival)

April 22- Talent Show Tryouts

April 27- Administrative Professionals Day

Journey Families,

As we wrap up our school year, we would love to get your feedback through our Measurable Results Assessment (MRA) survey. Over the next five years, data from the MRA will be used by all WSD schools to create action steps and measure our building's progress towards our Missouri School Improvement Plan (MSIP) goals. It only takes a few minutes of your time and your input will greatly impact our school culture. This MRA survey opens on April 1and will close on April 30.

By participating, you will also be eligible for the chance to win exciting prizes! To be entered in the prize drawing, please fill out this short Google Form after you complete the MRA.

Your opinion matters and we want to hear from you! Thank you for your participation and support!

-Journey Elementary School Staff

Field Day 2025 is Wednesday, May 21. We need volunteers - to sign up, please click HERE to sign up. In order to volunteer for Field Day, you must be an approved volunteer through the district. Information on how to do so is on the signup link.

Save the date for Journey Elementary Kindergarten Transition Night: May 6, 2025, 5-7 p.m. To RSVP, click HERE by April 18.

Journey Elementary Talent Show!

• Tuesday, May 20, 2025, 1:30-3 p.m.
• Talent Show tryouts: Tuesday, April 22, 2025, after school.
• Sign up window closes Wednesday, April 16.

Click HERE to sign up to try out for the Talent Show

Please make sure your child is prepared with athletic shoes for PE days. Shoes need to be closed-toes, no boots, Crocs, sandals, or flip-flops for PE. Classes will be warming up on the track if weather is appropriate. Please wear appropriate attire.

Call for vendors! Journey's end of year carnival is Friday, May 2, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. Do you own a small business? Would you like to promote or sell items at our school carnival? $20 for the vendor fee and a donated item to our raffle. Email Amy Robb: amyrobb@wsdr4.org by April 11 to participate.

Four candidates will be on the ballot for two open seats in the April 8, 2025, election. The open seats are currently held by Katie Lyczak and Julie Scott, and each open seat is for a three-year term. Read more.

The WSD is bringing Prop L, a zero-rate-change bond proposal, to the voters this April. If passed, Prop L would address key facility needs across the district by:

• Funding enhanced safety and security measures in all schools;
• Renovating legacy buildings such as Heritage Elementary, Wentzville Middle, and Holt High;
• Resurfacing all WSD elementary playgrounds to improve accessibility;
• Replacing turf at Holt, Liberty, and Timberland high schools' athletic fields; and more.

Paid for by Wentzville R-IV School District; Brian Bishop, Superintendent; 280 Interstate Drive, Wentzville, Missouri 63385.

Journey Elementary parents and families, please take some time to complete this important parent survey (LINK). The survey will close April 30, 2025. This survey was given to our families, students, and staff back in September and again this month. The survey will be facilitated by Leader In Me in partnership with the WSD. This link is unique to our building, so if you have kids in multiple schools, please check their newsletter to answer questions for that building. Learn more about this survey and its purpose here. Find the fall results here.

* Login to your Parent Portal account and click on LunchTime
* You will see an option for "items, Fees, & Invoices"
* Click on that and "select" School Lunch Heroes
* Type in the donation amount and click "Add to Cart"
* Process payment as you normally would

Has your child's teacher made a significant impact on their education and life? Do you want to recognize a staff member who goes above and beyond? The WSD rolled out a new way to honor our staff, and it only takes a few minutes to do. Nominate a teacher or employee for a Wentzville Wow Factor Award anytime throughout the school year to let them know they are making a difference! Nominate a Staff Member.

Dear Journey Elementary Family,

Throughout the duration of the academic year, the Wentzville School District partners with community agencies that specialize in providing students, families, and educators with preventative education. Agency presenters are credentialed, coordinated through the District, and under the supervision of building administrators. Presentation topics are targeted toward specific grade levels. All students will participate in each program unless you choose to opt your child out of the lesson(s). If you are interested in opting your student(s) out of the presentation(s), please click the appropriate link(s) below.

Kindergarten Opt-Out Form

First Grade Opt-Out Form

Second Grade Opt-Out Form

Third Grade Opt-Out Form

Fourth Grade Opt-Out Form

Fifth Grade Opt-Out Form

If you have additional questions, please reach out directly to your student’s guidance counselor.

Thank you,

Emily Dittmer, Principal

Elizabeth Herbert, Assistant Principal

Pam Lueders, K-2 Counselor pamelalueders@wsdr4.org

Abby Pedano, 3-5 Counselor abigailpedano@wsdr4.org

Erika Kennedy, Educational Support Counselor

If you're not receiving emails from WSD staff or schools, they might be landing in your spam folder. Learn more on how to fix that. You'll want to make sure you familiarize yourself with the district email domain: All district emails are delivered from: noreply@sis.wsdr4.org.

Important: In Focus, not all emails allow replies, depending on who sent them. Teacher communication: You can reply to emails from your student’s teacher(s). School / District communication: These emails may not receive replies directly and you may need to contact them directly.

This fall, teachers and reading interventionists will be conducting reading assessments with all students. These assessments help us plan lessons and identify students who might benefit from extra reading support. In addition, our building reading specialists will work with small groups of students. These flexible groupings are not the same as Reading Intervention, families will be contacted directly by their child's teacher if he/she qualifies for Reading Intervention. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your child's classroom teacher.

If your child will need to take prescription or non-prescription medication during the school day, please contact Nurse Paula. Here is a link to the forms that must be filled out annually in order for us to administer medication at school. If you have any questions regarding medication or health services, our nurse’s email is paulamorrisey@wsdr4.org

Visitors:

• Eat lunch with your child
• Attend a class party
• Attend assemblies
• Be a guest speaker

How can you participate as a visitor?

Visitors can show up on the day of the event/activity/lunch and check in to our buildings using Raptor, a visitor management system designed to assist with building security. Part of keeping students and staff safe is knowing who is in our building at all times.

• When you arrive in a WSD building as a visitor, you will be asked to scan your ID and complete the management system’s check-in process.
• Raptor will screen the information against sex offender databases and locally customized lists of banned or potentially threatening individuals, instantly alert school officials to a threatening presence, and maintain a searchable log of all visitors.
• Once approved, you will get a customized visitor badge to wear while in the building.

Thank you for your support of our enhanced school safety protocols!

Volunteers:

• Work with students individually or in small groups under the supervision of the teacher or staff member
• Work inside the school, assisting staff with projects (PTA/PTO Officers, etc.)
• Work/organize field day activities
• Be a room parent, organize class parties
• Attend field trips - work with students individually or in small groups under the supervision of the teacher or staff member

How can you participate as a volunteer?

• Volunteers must register with the Family Care Safety Registry (FCSR). It provides a more extensive background check than our Raptor system, and is needed for volunteers who spend more individual time with students than our visitors.
• One-time, lifetime fee of $15.25. It is the responsibility of the volunteer to cover this one-time, lifetime fee. The online registration process can be found at FCSR-BSEES - MO.gov. (NOTE: This registration process CANNOT be completed on a mobile browser/device.)
• Once FCSR online registration is complete, you must submit a paper WSD Volunteer Registration Form A and B to the school office. When you arrive in a WSD building to turn in your forms, you will be asked to scan your ID and complete the Raptor visitor management system’s process as part of your volunteer registration. If you send your forms in to school with your child, or send them to the school office via email, please include a copy of your valid personal ID.
• Your approved volunteer status is accessible district-wide; you only need to turn in your forms to one WSD school.
  
• A new WSD Volunteer Registration form will be required each school year to run a current background screening if you would like to participate in volunteer opportunities.

Please note, the wait time for the FCSR Registration to be processed and for the District to be notified can be up to four weeks. We recommend completing this process as early as possible.

For complete information on volunteering in WSD schools, please visit the District website.

Emily Dittmer-Principal

emilydittmer@wsdr4.org

Liz Herbert-Assistant Principal

elizabethherbert@wsdr4.org

Journey Elementary

2000 Interstate Drive |Wentzville, MO 63385

636-445-5190