Westwood Junior High
January 22, 2024
Dear Westwood Families,
We have experienced a successful start to 2024 at Westwood Junior High. We hope that you continue to find the Westwood Wire to be a proactive, timely, relevant and succinct form of communication. Please expect this newsletter in your email inbox as well as the Westwood Twitter page, school website and PTA platforms every three weeks. In addition to a message from me, the topics will include campus updates, academics, athletics, counseling, fine arts and library. We hope to continue our collaboration with you by compiling our communication in a way that is meaningful to you and allows you to best engage with the wonderful work being done at Westwood Junior High.
We continue to be grateful to PTA, and our President, Mrs. Teeple as the support of this community, especially though PTA, is felt by our faculty, staff and students. Thank you for the faculty and staff appreciation luncheon before the break. Please join us on February 12 for a PTA General Meeting at 6 PM, followed by the Spring Meet the Teacher from 6:30-7:30pm.
In closing, a few updates and reminders:
- We are celebrating our School Board this month as part of National School Board Appreciation Month and updated our marquee to include our message of thanks.
- Next, Monday January 29th, you will receive an electronic progress report from your student’s Wolf Den teacher. Please look this over with your student and if you have any questions, please reach out to teachers.
- Your child will receive the MAP scores report in Science class next week. This is the only format to view your child’s MAP growth scores.
- Last chance to buy a 2023 Westwood Yearbook is January 26th, see announcement below.
- RISD is once again using BrightBytes.net to survey parents, students and teachers about the use of technology in education. Parents can help by taking 5-10 minutes to complete the survey linked below.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration as we work to build strong relationships with all members of Westwood Junior High to ensure a sense of belonging, acceptance and responsibility for maintaining our collective safety and high quality learning environments.
Sincerely,
Katie Mottram
Westwood Junior High Principal
Mark your Calendar
- January 25: MST Ed-Talks (alternate bell schedule)
- January 26: Last chance to purchase a yearbook!
- January 29: Spring Sport Photos
- February 5 - 9: National School Counseling Week
- February 6: Westwood Walks
- February 12: Spring Open House/PTA Meeting
Parent Volunteers Needed!
Join us for our annual WWJH EdTalks. Please sign up to welcome our speakers in the lounge.
January 25 & 26
We will be hosting our annual MST Ed Talks on January 25th. To accommodate this event we will have an alternate bell schedule on January 25 AND January 26! Please click below to view the bell schedule for these days.
Q2 Report Cards
Q2 Report Cards were published December 28th in Focus.
Richardson ISD has a Focus Parent Portal, which lets parents view their student's grade and attendance information online. Report cards will now be published to the Focus Parent Portal.
To access Focus Parent Portal, parents must request an account, which can be done via an easy online sign-up process by visiting https://web.risd.org/focus/.
23-24 Yearbooks
THIS IS THE LAST CHANCE TO PURCHASE A 2024 YEARBOOK!
The last chance to purchase a 2024 yearbook is Friday 1-26.
You can purchase online at jostensyearbooks.com or click on the below link: (note by purchasing online you can pay in 3 installments)
Stock the Lounge
Help us stock the teachers lounge! We can never have enough coffee to get though the day!
Westwood Teacher Of the Year
We are thrilled to announce that Ms. Arroyo is our 2023 - 2024 Teacher of the Year!
Winter Coat Drive
Student Council is hosting a Winter Coat Drive to help support families in our local neighborhood!
Free & Reduced Meal Applications
Click the link below to apply!
Wolf Buck Store
The Wolf Buck store provides the students with an opportunity to redeem acts of positive behavior for tangible items.
We have created an Amazon wish list to continue providing students with items for the store while staying within our PBIS budget. Any support is greatly appreciated and I am sure the students will be forever grateful!
Here is the link: https://a.co/9MMiWto.
Legacy Studios
If you would like to view your school portraits, but don't have your online code click below to find your code.
Basketball:
The basketball teams have performed well through the season's midpoint. Let’s continue to support our student-athletes. The remaining schedule is outlined below. Game times are set for 6:00 pm (B-teams) and 7:00 pm for the A-teams. Come out and support your Westwood Wolves!
Tennis:
Congratulations to the student-athletes representing Westwood Tennis this year. The matches are scheduled at various RISD high school campuses and Huffhines Park each week; therefore, please see the attached schedules for more information. Rosters and schedules for boys and girls are attached.
Track & Field:
Track and Field will officially begin practices on February 12th. Coach McAdams and Coach Cervantes will post more information in Schoology during the next few weeks.
Spring Sports Photos:
Spring yearbook photos will be taken on Monday, January 29th. Early arrival before school will be required for some teams, such as girls' and boys' and 7th- and 8th-grade basketball teams. Therefore, check with your team coach to ensure you do not miss this opportunity to smile with your teammates. Sports scheduled for the last yearbook picture day of the year are basketball, tennis, track & field, and soccer.
Tickets:
Tickets for all RISD Athletic Events can be purchased at the door/gate or by visiting the link below. Discount punch cards (cash only) are available at the door. Tickets: https://richardsonisd.brushfire.com/
Westwood Walks
Please join us for our annual Westwood Walks event. You will have the opportunity to tour the school, learn about our clubs and organizations, and so much more. We look forward to connecting with you all then.
Saturday, Jun 1, 2024, 06:00 PM
7630 Arapaho Road, Dallas, TX, USA
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Thank you, thank you to the families who have supported the library by buying items off of our Amazon Wish List!
We celebrated MLK Jr’s DREAM by sharing our own dreams last week. PIC attached (The white dots have students’ dreams on them)
Book Club’s next meeting will be February 1st. Each lunch period is it’s own Book Club and we meet during 5th period on A Days. Students can join at any time. They bring their lunches to the library on meeting days and we have snacks and chat about that month’s book!
We decorated pumpkin cookies in October and the kids had a blast! I’d like to do it again on Valentine’s Day with heart shaped cookies. The best kits for this I could find are at Target, which is not a vendor for RISD. I couldn’t find any with the vendors we do have. If anyone would like to purchase one for us, that would help it not have to come out of my own pocket. Here’s the link. I would like at least 6 kits so we can have 16 kiddos per lunch period participate. If you want to purchase, you can drop them in the front office or send them to school with your student. Thank you so much!
Fun Friday continues as many times as possible during the month when we’re not closed or have classes. During lunches the students can bring their lunches to the library and play board games with their friends. A fun time is had by all!
On Friday, December 15th, the non-varsity band and orchestra students went on their annual holiday cheer/appreciation tour. They learned three-part ensemble music, in which they have to play independently; they learned to count off and introduce their group; and they learned to manage their time and logistics, getting off the bus, getting their group together, and heading to the performance location. Lots of self-management and leadership in evidence! Thanks to the section leaders for helping clean up after our CiCi’s lunch and checking buses for trash/left items after the trip.
Bright Bytes Survey
Click below to complete the District Bright Bytes Survey.
Thank a Teacher
RISD recognizes the work our teachers perform to support every child, every day. And we believe there is an opportunity EVERY day to show our appreciation for all they do to ensure student success. Click here to learn more about the Thank a Teacher program and how to sign up, and we will connect you with a campus.
Weather Watch
As it gets colder and the potential for inclement weather increases, please ensure your contact information on file with RISD is up to date.
In the event of inclement weather that may require classes be delayed or canceled, parents and employees will be notified directly by telephone, email, and text message before 6:00 a.m.
In addition, parents can check the RISD homepage, the district Facebook page or the district Twitter feed. The district also notifies local media outlets of closures or delays.
Parents, employees, and students should assume a normal school day unless a telephone message is received or the RISD website or media outlets indicate closure or delay. RISD does not send notifications stating that school is open or operating on a normal schedule.
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