Home Page About our School Visit our  Classrooms Our Teachers Our Parents Magical Mailbox Games & Links What's New	The Magical Mailbox, located in our school lobby, is a symbol of the centrality of Arts for Wolcott students. Last year over 1,000 pieces were submitted to the mailbox and over 650 found their way to an authentic audience in a meaningful way.  Click on the Words slot, the Art slot, and the Gotcha slot on the picture at right to see some of the submissions to the Magical Mailbox. Our emphasis on the Arts (written, drawn, acted, and now on the Web) is a part of us being a Connecticut Commission on the Arts HOT School and in partnership with the Bushnell Center of Performing Arts.	This page describes many of the ways our writings and artwork can be seen.  For more information about these artistic outlets click on the magic mailbox slots above. Student Writing Writer of the Week Artist of the Week Town Meeting Midweek Notes ECHOS Moving Arts HOT Schools
	A detailed description of the Magical Mailbox process is available in book form from the school office.

Student Writing

The Student Editorial Board receives approximately 50 pieces of quality writing every week.   Below is the work from our current writer of the week.  Check out some more examples from our creative writers.

Writer of the Week - Each week our student editorial board designates one piece of writing and its author(s) as Writer(s) of the Week. The piece of writing is displayed on an easel in the lobby for the entire week preceding Town meeting. During the week, hundreds of students and parents read the piece. At Town Meeting, the Writer of the Week is given a writer's pin and acknowledged by the audience. The Writer of the Week is given the additional privilege of drawing the name of the "Classroom of the Week" from the "Classroom of the Week" jar. The piece of writing is then framed and hangs on our writer of the week wall outside the office for a full year, after which the framed piece is taken down and presented to the student to bring home. Artist of the Week - Each week, the Design Team selects a piece of art work for display on an easel in the lobby. The display includes the child's name, title of the work, and a narrative writing by the child. We move the easel onto the stage prior to Town Meeting. During Town Meeting, the artist is called to the front of the room and is awarded the Vincent Van Gogh Medal. The medal is presented by the Art teacher. The piece of art work is framed and hung in the for a full year. The framed piece is then taken down and given to the artist to take home. Town Meeting - Every Friday, the entire school comes together from 2:30 - 3:15 to celebrate and validate our students and their accomplishments. Parents are always welcome to attend.  Town Meeting features reading, writing, math, dance, music, sign language, theater, special guests, art, and much more. We feel that Town Meeting fosters a strong sense of community for our school. A short booklet explaining Town Meeting is available from the office. Midweek Notes - Midweek Notes is our school newsletter, It is sent home with the youngest child from each family, every Thursday. ECHOS or Enhanced Curricular HOT Opportunities - Echos are co-curricular activities sponsored by teachers at Wolcott School. We attempt to link each Echo to some area of the curriculum. Our staff offers many ECHOS before, during, and after school. Information on meeting times, etc. may generally be found in our school newsletter, The Midweek Notes. This year's Echos include the following: American Sign Language Club, Hall Monitors, Music Composition, BOPCO primary movement group, Jazz Improv group, Animal Room:Deliver Post Office, Works of the Great Masters, Design Team, Artrepreneurs, Editorial Board, Data Rangers, Recycle Team, Word Works, Running Clubs, Repco theater company, Student Council, Moving Arts intermediate dance company,  Town Meeting Employees, and the Wolcott Webbers - who created these web pages. We work hard to insure that these opportunities are spread out to the greatest degree possible. Moving Arts - Moving Arts is our Grade Four and Five dance company. Every once in a while they present a polished choreographed piece. This is the group that also presents World Premiere Dances choreographed to songs from the Wolcott Songs music composition program.

coming soon!             HOT Schools - What are they? - The HOT School approach was developed at Wolcott School. HOT Schools focuses on the integration of arts, academics, and democracy in the school and classroom. We emphasize that each school is a culture and that effective school reform occurs at the level of organizational culture. Each day we work hard to celebrate and validate each and every child and his/her learning. There are currently 24 schools formally enrolled in the program.  We have a full time staff located at The Connecticut Commission on the Arts. We are funded by The Commission on the Arts, The State Department of Education, The Connecticut Legislature, and The National Endowment for the Arts. We have a great deal of written material to explain the approach. Please contact the school office if you are interested in reviewing some of this material. HOT School Web Site - If you want to learn more about the HOT School approach, visit the Connecticut Commission on the Arts HOT School website.   A few of the Webbers (Lisa and Katy) working on the web site

Home Page	About our School	Visit our  Classrooms	Our Teachers	Our Parents	Magical Mailbox	Games & Links	What's New