Please come MEET & GREET the candidates for our open board of Director’s positions on April 9th from 6-6:30 pm. It is important to know who we are voting for to represent our school and its interests.

The Advocacy Focus for the month of April is “We Love our Environment”. All of the classes will be working on taking seriously the stewardship we are afforded in taking care of our planet and its resources.

CMAS testing will continue April 9-11 for math and then make-ups will begin for any students who have been absent during testing prior to or following the break. End of year PALS testing for 3rd graders will also take place the last two weeks of the month. End of year MAP testing will take place in May.

We are excited to announce an Overnight Field Trip to the Zoo for all 3-4 students. A packet with all of the detailed information and permission slip will be coming home soon. The basic information is as follows:

· Dates: May 13-14

· Cost per student: $60, some partial or full scholarships available

· Includes: dinner at the school on the 13th, transportation, over-night and next day entrance to the zoo, breakfast and lunch on the 14th.

Importance of Volunteers for this trip: This trip is only possible with a lot of volunteer support. We will need volunteers to help at all stages of the trip: at the school, at the zoo overnight and the next day, and new arrivals in the morning to bring back all of our gear. Background checks are required so please apply now if you are wanting to join us and do have one completed yet.

The 4th grade Science Fair is coming up from 12:45-1:15 for Science A and 2:40-3:10 for Science B on May 10th. Parents are invited to attend and see the student presentations. Please make sure your student is on track to complete their project by then and check with Ms. Tomlin if you have questions or concerns.

3-4 Night of the Notables Project beginning soon…this month all students will begin working on a biography project for Social Studies where they will research a historical person and create an integrated project that includes a board to show all their research, a costume so they can present as their person, and an oral presentation of their learning. Details will be coming soon from Ms. Seybold and Mr. Baldwin.

Join us for the Executive Director’s Address on April 23rd from 6:30-7:30 pm. You will learn about the state of the school and all the exciting things happening at Westgate directly from Mrs. Collins.

3-4 Pod March Update

Upcoming Dates:

March 1^st: Parent-Teacher Conference Sign up Opens

March 13^th: Panera Spirit Night

March 15^th: Parent-Teacher Conference Sign up Closes

March 15^th: Bios due to the Board for New Board Candidates

March 18-20: CMAS testing

March 19-20: Spring Play Performances at DL Parsons Theatre

March 21-22: Parent-Conferences

March 21^st-April 7^th: Spring Break

April 9^th: New Board Candidate Meet and Greet 6-6:30

April 9-April 17^th: CMAS testing

Spring Conference Sign Up to be posted after school on March 1^st.  20-minute slots are first come, first serve.  The sign up will close on March 15^th at the end of the school day. All requests for conferences beyond the closure of the sign up should be directed to Mrs. Dorschner at [email protected].

CMAS testing begins the week before spring break.  Students will be testing in the morning for English Language Arts on March 18, 19 and 20.    Please try to have your students here on time and throughout the morning that week as they will not be permitted to start the test if they arrive late for the testing window. We will be setting up and prepping for the test prior to the window in the mornings and the actual test will begin at 9:30. Please try not to schedule appointments in the mornings on those days.

Advocacy Focus for March is Mindfulness and Dealing with Stress so all advocacy classes will be doing activities focused on teaching these skills in March.

3-4 February Advocacy Update

GUM

Having gum at school is privilege not afforded at any other school in the district.  While we would love to continue allowing this freedom, the rules are not always being followed and it has resulted in gum being found in places it should never be, and gum being a distraction in classes.  In order for gum to continue to be an option for our students, the rules must be followed by all.  The rules are listed here, please go over them with your student if they are in the practice of bringing gum to school and make sure they are prepared to follow them all, or please keep the gum at home.  Thank you for your help with this.

• Gum must be held by a teacher and student must get it from the teacher when they need it
• Gum brought by one student cannot be shared with other students
• Gum cannot be chewed in specials classes (PE, Music, Tech and Art) and students will be asked to spit it out before going to these classes
• Gum should only be disposed of in a trash can
• Gum should never be seen when being chewed, this means they cannot be playing with it with their fingers or blowing bubbles 

KINDNESS CARD DELIVERY AND PERMISSION SLIPS

Kindness card delivery will take place on Valentine’s Day.  Please look in your child’s Friday folder for the permission slip and to see where your child’s advocacy class will be delivering cards. 

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Please consider making the walk with us to make deliveries of kindness cards.  Please indicate on the permission slips when you return them this week.

VALENTINE’S DAY CARDS AT SCHOOL ARE NOT ALLOWED AT WESTGATE.  Student cannot bring, make or deliver ANY Valentines at school, even to their closest friends.  Please do not allow this as it is painful for those who do not receive them and, as such, NONE are allowed. 

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR is FEBRUARY 4-8.  Students will only be allowed to attend during quiet time if they have money to spend and have already eaten their lunch.

FAMILY DANCE ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13

Make plans to attend the family dance on February 13^th.  Please see the school newsletter and calendar for more information.

ADVOCACY FOCUS FOR FEBRUARY

The focus in our advocacy lessons for February is HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS.  Topics can include such topics as good manners, learning to listen to others, conflict resolution, what real friendship looks and sounds like, and having respect for the differences of other.      

NO SCHOOL for students on February 15^th or 18^th

ADVOCACY FOCUS

This month’s focus for Advocacy is Gratitude so all classes will be doing activities focused on that topic during our mornings together.

MAP ASSESSMENTS

Winter MAP testing is upon us and our schedule for those tests is as follows:Wednesday, December 5th in the afternoon students will take the Language Usage assessment; Thursday, December 6^th in the morning students will take the Reading assessment, and Friday, December 7^th in the morning students will take the Math assessment.  Make-ups will be Friday, December 7^th in the afternoon for those who have not yet completed any of the assessments or who missed any of those days of school.  Please try to help us in encouraging your child to take their time and do their best work on these assessments.

HOLIDAY SHOPPE

Running from December 3-7

Flyers and wish list envelopes went home with students on Friday, November 30^th.

Preview day on Monday only at lunch/quiet time (students with money will be allowed to shop).  Students will not be allowed in the shop any other time the rest of the week without money.

Tuesday – Friday: only students with money can shop during lunch and quiet time.

Shoppe is also open M-F from 3:15 - 4:30 for students with money or students with a parent.

MATH AND MUSIC PRESENTATIONS

Our schedule on Wednesday, December 19^th will be a little different with students staying in their math classes most of the day, so we can have Curtis Madigan coming in to each math class throughout the day to do a Math and Music connection lesson based on what each class is learning right now.  We are excited to see how students connect to the very cool lessons he is developing for each class.

WINTER PARTY

The 3-4 Winter Party will take place during our half day on Thursday, December 20^th.  A sign up for helping out and sending in food for the students will be coming out soon. 

CONFERENCES

Winter Parent Teacher Conferences will take place from 12:40-8:00 pm on Thursday, December 20^th and from 8-8 on Friday, December 21^st.  The link to the sign up has been emailed to all parents and is also available on every teacher’s Advocacy pages.  Please make sure to sign up for only one slot and indicate the teachers you would like to be present.  We will make the final determination about who will attend based on the other conferences taking place at the same time.  Thanks for your understanding that we are trying to be present with as many parents as possible. 

LUNCH CLEAN UP AND LOST & FOUND

Please help us in helping your child to keep track of their things and clean up after themselves properly following lunches.  We are having some issues with students being very careless about their clean up and it is resulting in food being left in places it should not be and the sink and drinking fountain being left with food that clogs our system.  There are also a lot of dishes left behind that no one claims so they end up in the lost & found.  There are TONS of jackets and coats downstairs as well as laying around the pod that need to be claimed as well. 

All classes are finishing up our Bully Prevention focus from last month as well as moving on to our new focus for November, which is Growth Mindset.  All classes will be working on helping students learn to reframe failure and have perseverance and tenacity in their academic and personal lives.  Identifying and replacing the negative self-talk that so many of us are accustomed to with positive self-talk will also be part of this unit. 

Our K-8 field trip to experience Drums Around the World at Denver Center for the Performing Arts will take place on Tuesday, November 27^th.  Permission slips have already been sent home and need to be returned before the Thanksgiving break so we can provide final numbers to the event center.  Please return the form no later than November 16^th.  Sack lunches with nothing that needs to be heated are needed that day as we will eat before returning to the school.  Please do not order hot lunches for that day as your child will not be able to have it when we are out of the building.  The form is attached here if you did not see it come home.

Coming up:

Happy Thanksgiving Break! – no school November 19-23

K-8 Field Trip – November 27^th

Parent Teacher Conferences – December 20^th-21^st

Winter Break – December 24^th-January 11^th

This month’s focus in advocacy is Bully Prevention Month. We will be talking about what bullying is and is not, including identifying between rude or inappropriate behavior vs actual bullying behavior.  We will also be coming back to re-learning and refocusing on using our school’s “Enough” Protocol.  We will also be talking a lot of about kindness, including using the kindness box we have in our pod that allows for our students to nominate those they see being extraordinarily kind for recognition by the school.  Please participate in these conversations with us by talking to your kids at home about what they are learning here.

Our Growing Gardens field trip is on Thursday, October 18^th.  Please be sure to return a permission slip, either electronically or on paper not later than Wednesday, October 17^th.  Please remember to send a morning snack and a sack lunch that doesn’t contain anything that needs to be heated. Hot lunches will not be available for the students on the day of the field trip as we will not return until lunch is over. Water bottles are also a good idea.  You can apply sunscreen to your child before they come to school that day if you would like.  Please watch the weather for conditions that day and have your child bring appropriate jackets if necessary.

Our pod will have a Halloween Celebration on October 31^st for Halloween.  Look for a food and activity sign up for parents coming out soon.  Also, remember to send costumes with your student and not have them wear it to school.  They will be allowed to put them on prior to the party.  Make sure costumes meet the school’s guidelines before sending them, please. 

Upcoming:

Thursday, October 18: Field Trip to Growing Gardens

Thursday, October 18, 7-11 pm: Westgate 10^th Anniversary Gala @ Stonebrook Manor

Friday, October 26, 5-7 pm: Westgate Trunk or Treat

Wednesday, October 31: Halloween Celebration Party