Words To The Wise
June 2018
PRINCIPALS MESSAGE
Message from the Principal
I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Memorial Day break. The weather wasn’t great, but was a good weekend to relax indoors and catch up on work/movies.
The Orioles are still working to improve and the high school and college lacrosse seasons are now complete with great conference and NCAA championship tournaments. This is definitely one of my favorite times of the year!
As the 2017-2018 school year comes to a close, preparations for the 2018-2019 school year have begun. Enrollment at Westowne Elementary is projected to be 683 students for the 2018-2019 school year, thirty-eight students lower than the current enrollment.
Unfortunately, Westowne will lose both the Early Childhood and Learning Support Kindergarten and Communication Learning Support Kindergarten programs to different schools as this will provide for better student progression scenarios.
We will also lose one kindergarten classroom.
Staffing allocations will increase though as we will add one additional grade four classroom and one additional grade two classroom.
Therefore, Westowne will have five kindergarten, first, and second grade classrooms.
We will have four third and fourth grade classrooms and three fifth grade classrooms.
Westowne special area staff allocations will increase slightly in both vocal music and art as we will add an additional day to each program.
We will continue with a second full-time physical education teacher.
All pre-kindergarten and pre-school classrooms will remain the same.
Westowne will also become a Passport School. This program will provide a Spanish teacher to work with each grade four classroom, 30-minutes each week. Moreover, all grade four students will work with Middlebury software for forty to fifty minutes a week.
The end of the school year is always bittersweet as we say goodbye to those teachers that choose to retire and/or move on to new positions. With that said, the transfer and hiring processes continue. We will have staff members that may transfer and will definitely have new faces in the building, but it is simply too early to provide names.
I will send an updated message as soon as this process is complete.
Thank you in advance for your patience.
We do need to acknowledge one staff member that will leave us on July 1.
Ms. Amanda McBride will be leaving Westowne to take over assistant principal duties at Scotts Branch Elementary. We wish her the best of luck with this move and know she will do a great job working with SBES community.
We will welcome assistant principal, Ms. Lisa Puchino, who will join us from the assistant principal position at Campfield Elementary School.
It will be very important to take a close look at the fourth quarter report card as their 2018-2019 teacher placement will be noted. Fourth quarter report cards will come home on the last full day of school for Westowne students, June 13th.
Students will participate in a “Flying Up” Day on June 12th to meet their new teacher. It is important to remember though, that classroom placement may change over the summer, based on new enrollments.
Students and parents will also have a second opportunity to meet teachers during “Sneak a Peek at your Seat” evening in August. This short classroom visit will be held prior to the start of school and will allow for students to bring in school supplies, see their classroom, and meet their teacher.
More information will follow about the “Sneak a Peek at your Seat” evening and classroom placement in the Westowne Elementary summer mailing.
Here’s to a safe and enjoyable summer break!
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NURSE'S NOTES
FROM THE NURSE'S OFFICE
The end of the school year is fast approaching!!
If your child has any medication at school, including an inhaler or an EpiPen, please pick it up before 1 p.m. on June 15th, or, it will be destroyed. I cannot save medications over the Summer. If you are unable to pick up the medication by June 15th, please call me to set up a time to pick up the medication. 443-809-0023.
You will need a new order from the doctor, dated after July 1st for the 2018-2019 school year.
If your child has come home wearing clothing from the health suite, please wash and return the clothing before the end of the school year. Please keep any underwear that has come home on your child. I would love to have my pants and shirts back. Thank you!
If your child will be getting a physical or has a dental appointment over the Summer, please stop by to pick up the physical form/dental form for the doctor to complete. Completed forms may be dropped off at the school during Summer hours, or, will be accepted when school opens in September.
Parents of 5th graders!!! A letter and a physical form were mailed to your homes the last week of May. Please be on the lookout for an envelope from Westowne, addressed to your child… it is actually for you!! Please, schedule a physical for your new 6th grader, ask the pediatrician about immunizations needed for middle school, and send the completed physical and updated shot record to the nurse at the middle school. An envelope addressed with the middle school your child is attending is provided in the mailing. Or, please drop off the health paperwork at your student’s middle school over the Summer. If your 5th grader has any type of medication at Westowne, a new order form was mailed with the letter. Please remember to pick up all medications before 1 p.m. on June 15th. I cannot forward medications to the middle schools; they must be picked up by an adult.
Parents of Pre-K students!!! Your child may or may not require additional immunizations to begin Kindergarten. Please, check with your pediatrician to ensure that all immunizations are up-to-date before the first day of school. Please bring an updated shot record to the school.
Have a safe, happy, fun, and relaxing Summer!!!
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email or phone me.
Nurse Martin, jmartin13@bcps.org 443-809-0023
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WHAT'S HAPPENING AT WESTOWNE
BCPS - JUNE CALENDAR EVENTS
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2018 5th Grade Recognition Ceremony
We are pleased to announce that the 2018 5th Grade Recognition Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, June 13th at 9:30 a.m. The ceremony will be held in the Westowne Cafeteria and will last for about an hour. During the ceremony, students will be recognized for various achievements, a slideshow will be shown commemorating our 5th grade year, and we will even perform a song. This is a fun and important event that we hope all students will attend in addition to their supportive guests.
Since the cafeteria has a certain capacity, students will be limited to four guests (not including the student). We would like to make sure that everyone has a seat and that all guests are able to be quickly admitted into the building, so we are asking that you provide the first and last names of the guests to your child’s homeroom teacher.
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Baltimore Museum of Art show May 16-20, 2018
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Letters from Westowne
If your child owes for lost or damaged books please send in payment by June 11, 2018.
We appreciate your taking care of these matters.
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DOCUMENTATION RETURN - SUMMER REGISTRATION
Please note:
Documentation return and summer registration will take place by appointment only
Mondays and Wednesdays. Please call 443-809-0854 to make an appointment.
Summer Office Hours: 8:00 - 3:00.
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AROUND WESTOWNE - What's happening in the area
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PARENTS EXPO 2018 - SUMMER READING ROCKS
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BEST BRAINS LEARNING CENTERS
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CATONSVILLE M.S. INFORMATION NIGHT 2018
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Distribution of the 2017 Maryland Report Card – Individual School Performance Reports
The 2017 school-level report is currently posted and available for parents to review on our school website, http://westownees.bcps.org/ , there are also available hard copies in the front office.
The school level report is offered in the following languages, English, Spanish, French, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese.