Reminders:

• Friday Folders - Your child should have a Friday folder that comes home each Friday. Please review the folder with your child and return it to school empty each Monday.

• Specials: Our Special is I-Lab. We will switch to PE on September 7.

• Kidz Day In - Need care for your K-6 kids on September 4^th (the half day)?
  • Our High School Team and Mx. Catie are offering Kidz Day In from 12:00 to 4:00 PM.
  • Only $50
  • Fun, games, and pizza will be provided in the High School pod after school.
  • Pick-up will start at 3:45 PM
  • Space is limited, so be sure to sign up soon! Use the link below. https://campscui.active.com/or…
• Spirit Week – More details to come.

• Toys are strictly prohibited for all students. To ensure a safe and focused learning environment for all students, please make sure that your child is not bringing toys to school.

• Fidgets: While toys are prohibited, students are welcome to use fidgets in the classroom as tools to help them focus and pay attention. We have reviewed our fidget expectations and discussed the difference between using a fidget as a tool and using it as a toy. Fidgets should stay in a student's hands or on their desk without distracting themselves or others. Students should continue listening, thinking about the lesson, and looking toward the teacher or group while using their fidget. Students may not touch another student's fidget or share fidgets with others. If a fidget becomes distracting or the expectations are not followed, it may be put away and tried again at another time. Acceptable fidgets should are quiet and handheld. Examples include: squishies, marble mesh fidgets, small pop-its, wacky tracks, snake cube, Tangle Jr, stress balls, Needoh Nice Cube, flippy chain, infinity cubes, etc.

• Volunteers – Interested in volunteering?
  • Complete an online Volunteer Interest Form
  • Complete a background check. Cost is $20.95
  • Complete a Volunteer Agreement Form
  • Volunteer Opportunities:
    • Tear out pages from Math Workbooks and staple into packets.
    • Repair damaged books from my classroom library.
    • Help with Friday Folders on Thursdays or Fridays.
    • Work one-on-one with students to complete unfinished classwork.
• Advocacy:
  • Our September Advocacy theme is Self-Awareness. This month, our class will primarily concentrate on exploring feelings and emotions.
  • This week, we will begin using the “Spots” to help us identify feelings and emotions. Our September learning objectives are:
    • Students will learn new vocabulary that describes their feelings and emotions.
    • Students will learn to recognize feelings and emotions in themselves and others.
    • Students will learn the benefits of emotion check-ins.
    • Students will learn how to identify emotions when they are happening simultaneously.
    • Students will learn how to associate colors with feelings and emotions.

Hello!

My name is Mrs. Hamilton, and I am your child’s Advocacy Teacher/ Advocate. Advocacy is more than just Homeroom. Advocacy classes are first and foremost time for students to build supportive relationships with their peers and with an adult they can trust, as well as learn about social and emotional health. It is a time for everyone to feel recognized and welcomed into the classroom and school community. As your child’s Advocate, I will be your primary point of communication, so feel free to reach out to me at any time especially if it will impact them at school. I am committed to advocating for your child this year.

I am a 1st-grade teacher here at Westgate. This will be my 18th year at this amazing school and my 27 year of teaching!  I previously taught at Stargate Charter School in Thornton.  I received my Bachelor's in Early Childhood Education and post-graduate hours in early literacy.  My passion is helping students find their love for reading. The mission and vision of this amazing school keep me coming back year after year and being amongst a team of educators that put the social-emotional and educational needs of each student first is such a blessing! In my personal life, my husband and I have four amazing kids and one fabulous grandbaby that we love spending time with.  We also love to travel and explore new places.

I have subscribed you to my Advocacy and Academic pages through Edlio. Edlio is our means of posting information to our class pages on the Westgate website. You will receive updates to your email automatically whenever I post to Edlio. You may also receive an email from me with the same information.

Your child’s specials teachers for the first quarter are Mr. Elliott for I-lab and Mr. Anderson for PE. You are not pre-subscribed to their Edlio pages. To subscribe, you can click on their names in blue, and that will take you directly to their pages. Once you are one their page, you can click the button that says, “Subscribe by Email”.

This month, our August Advocacy theme is RISE!

At Westgate, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a part of our Whole Child Education program. PBIS is a system in which students, staff and the community create a set of school-wide behavioral expectations/core values, we teach those expectations in all our various environments, and then we CELEBRATE when we see students doing those things! At Westgate, we RISE (Respect, Integrity, Safety, Empathy).