IB Spotlight

4/4/2025 4:39 pm

📚 IB PYP Spotlight: Prose and Poetry in Action🎤

This week, our PK–8th grade students embodied the IB Learner Profile as they participated in our annual Prose and Poetry Contest. In preparation for this special event, students demonstrated what it means to be reflective, carefully revising their work and practicing their delivery with intention and purpose. As communicators, they spoke with clarity and emotion, sharing original and published works that highlighted their unique voices.

Our students also showed great courage and risk-taking by performing in front of peers, families, and teachers—some for the very first time. Their creativity, confidence, and commitment to excellence truly shone on stage. This showcase of student voice is a celebration of the IB PYP’s mission to develop lifelong learners who express themselves with meaning and care.

We are so proud of every student who participated and thankful to our teachers and families who supported them throughout the process!

🏠 Essential Questions by Grade Level

Grade	Central Idea	Essential Question to Explore at Home
Pre-K	Everyone needs a shelter for health and safety.	What makes a shelter safe and healthy for different people?
Kinder	Interdependence shapes systems.	How do people, animals, and plants depend on each other to live?
1st	Technology impacts society.	How does technology make life easier or harder for people today?
2nd	What we eat affects our bodies and is a reflection of different cultures.	How do our food choices affect our health and reflect our culture?
3rd	Living organisms depend on and affect the balance of nature.	What happens when we change or harm an ecosystem?
4th	People use creative expression to share beliefs, experiences, and values, shaping cultural identity and perspective.	How can art or stories help us understand other cultures and ourselves?
5th	Our need to act on our beliefs and ideas drives us to develop effective ways to communicate. (Exhibition)	What do you believe in, and how can you share that with the world?

4/3/2025 4:39 pm

🌟 GT Corner: Supporting the Whole Child🧠💚

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a timely reminder that nurturing the social-emotional well-being of our Gifted and Talented students is just as important as challenging them academically. While GT learners often show advanced abilities, they may also experience heightened sensitivity, perfectionism, or asynchronous development that can impact their emotional health.

At Wharton, we are committed to supporting the whole child. Through strategies like self-reflection, mindfulness, creative expression, and inquiry-based learning, we help our GT students build resilience, balance, and confidence. As we continue to provide rigorous learning opportunities, let’s also take time this month to honor their feelings and encourage healthy habits that promote lifelong well-being.

Together, we can ensure our gifted learners thrive, not just in what they do, but in who they are.

4/2/2025 4:40 pm

Magnet Notification Day took place on March 20th! Please check the Office of School Choice portal to review your application status.

Phase I Key Dates:

📅 12/10/24: K-12 Applications Open – Parents rank up to 10 choices.
📅 2/12/25: K-12 Applications Close – All rankings & required documents must be submitted.
📅 2/12/25: Document Deadline – All eligibility documents must be uploaded.
📅 3/20/25: Parent Notification Day – Families receive one seat offer based on lottery results.
📅 4/3/25: Deadline to accept the offered seat.

(Updated 8.23.2024)

Phase II Key Dates:

📅 3/20/25: Phase II Opens – Parents select up to 10 choices.
📅 TBD: K-12 Applications Close – All rankings & documents must be submitted.
📅 TBD: K-12 Waitlist Retires – No further offers will be made.

For more details, visit the Office of School Choice Website: here.

4/1/2025 4:41 pm

Newsletters	Important Links (if needed)
PK
K	Kinder Promotion Guidelines
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th	5th grade-Hi fifth-grade parents! As our kids’ promotion ceremony is getting closer, we thought a small video of our kids during their time in Wharton, to play before the ceremony, would be very nice. If you want your students' photos to appear on the screen (not printed or shared in any other way), please upload them to the following Google Drive by May 16th. Google drive linked here. Thank you, Dany Rodriguez. Hi 5th grade Parents! Please double-check that your student's T-shirt size is correct in the Membership Toolkit. We'll be placing the T-shirt order soon, and we want to make sure everyone gets the right size. Thanks for your help! Go to this link: here. after you login, hit the "next step" button on the right bottom corner. Your kid size in under "Step 2 - Student Information" Hola, padres de 5to grado! Por favor, verifiquen que la talla de camiseta de su hijo es la correcta en Membership Toolkit. Pronto haremos el pedido de camisetas y queremos asegurarnos de que todos tengan la talla correcta. Gracias por su ayuda. Siga el enlace: aqui. Después de ingresar su ususario y contarsena, presione el boton"next step" en la esquina inferior derecha. La talla de su hij@ está bajo "Step 2 - Student Information" Please see here for 5th grade EOY plan: Link here.
MS	Click here for MS EOY Presentation

Click here for more information.