Welcome back from winter break, I hope you had a great break, and I wish you all a happy new year! January is the month of Growth Mindset at Westgate, and our seventh and eighth graders will be focusing on developing their growth mindsets through study and practice with positive language, the learner’s mentality, brain plasticity, and how the brain learns new habits and creates intelligence.
Reminders for the new year, new semester, and new quarter:
- Cell Phone Policy: We recommend that students leave their phones and other electronic devices at home throughout the day so that they may focus wholly on learning, socializing, and living in the moment throughout their day. However, should your student bring their phone to school, they will have to store it in their classroom lockbox for the duration of the school day. Per district policy, if a student is found to have their phone on them throughout the day, consequences will progress as follows:
- 1st Offense: Device is confiscated, parents are notified, device is returned to the student at end of the day after reviewing the electronics policy
- 2nd Offense: Device is confiscated, transferred to the front desk, parents are notified, and the device may only be released to parents/guardians of the student.
- 3rd Offense: Device is confiscated, transferred to the front desk, parents are notified, the device may only be released to your parents, and you may receive a suspension of at least one day(to be served in or out of school).
- Further Offenses: Offenses beyond the third, result in the consequences outlined in the ‘3rd Offense’ section. However, the duration of the student’s suspension will increase until it reaches the maximum of three days.
- Pod Expectations(slight change): Starting at the beginning of the second semester, the 7/8 pod is open for test taking/make up, quiet individual or small group work, and individual breaks as needed. However, students must have permission from their teacher to be in the pod at any given time.
- Grade Checks: Please make sure to keep up with grades and recent assignments in Infinite Campus which can be accessed through the Infinite Campus Website or app. Additionally, students are given time on Fridays during Advocacy to write and send to you a brief update on their week at school as well as an outline of their current academic standing as well as recent events. Please reach out to your child’s advocacy teacher if you are not receiving these emails.
Kindness Week (Feb 10-14, 2025) Advance Preparation:
Kindness Week is Monday, February 10th through Friday February 14th. A few things for you to know about:
- We do not exchange Valentines cards, candy, or treats at school. If your student arrives with Valentine’s cards, candy, or treats, they will be asked to put them back into their backpack to be taken home.
- Get your Kindness Day permission slip (virtually emailed to families) signed by Wednesday February 12th. Classes will be walking to different nearby businesses to deliver hand-made kindness cards to local businesses on Friday, February 14th. We do not need any chaperones for these trips.
- Be prepared to go rain or shine on Friday, February 14th (half day) – bring a warm jacket, gloves, beanies, etc. If needed because we will be walking outside.
NEW this year – Kindness Week Food Drive! Let’s spread some kindness by collecting non-perishable food items for A Precious Child. The details:
- Bring non-perishable food items to your advocacy class from Monday, February 10th – Friday, February 14th.
- Last year in November we collected 1,100 non-perishable food items! Help us reach our goal of 1,500 this year!
Monday, February 10th: Spice it up Monday - Dried herbs and spices
Tuesday, February 11th: Pasta Tuesday - Dried pasta in boxes
Wednesday, February 12th: Veggie Wednesday - Canned vegetables
Thursday, February 13th: Toiletry Thursday - Kleenex, toilet paper, paper towels
Friday, February 14th: Fruit-filled Friday - Canned fruits
In addition, there are different advocacy themes for each day aligned with the different love languages. Here’s a list of things that you can do to support your student’s learning at home.
Monday, February 10th: Words of Affirmation
Kindness Week Challenge #1 – Use kind words of affirmation with 3 or more other people you see today. It could be a family member, friend, teacher, grocery store worker, or anyone else. Set aside a few minutes daily where each person gives a positive word or phrase to another family member.
Tuesday, February 11th: Quality Time
Kindness Week Challenge #2 – Spend at least 30 minutes of quality time with yourself or someone you love today after school. Have a family game night, movie or show night, cook or bake something as a family, enjoy story time, crafts, exercise, or even some yard work together.
Wednesday, February 12th: Acts of Service
Kindness Week Challenge #3 – Do another act of service for someone when you get home! Cook a meal for the family, organize a shared space, help each other with chores, plan a relaxation evening, do a surprise improvement project, or care for a pet together.
Thursday, February 13th: Gift Giving
Kindness Week Challenge #4: Deliver the gift you made today in class to the person you made it for. Talk about how giving someone a gift made you feel. Dedicate an evening to creating homemade gifts for each other, create a family shared photo album, playlist, or video.
Friday, February 14th: Kindness Day (Half Day) - various walking trips
Kindness Week Challenge #5: Create a family “Compliment Jar”. Place a jar in a common area. Family members can write positive affirmations or compliments about each other on small pieces of paper and drop them in the jar.
Thanks and reach out if you need anything!
