Westfield Arrow
Aiming to Keep You Informed
MARCH 5, 2021
From the Office
Today, marks the end of the 2nd Trimester. We encourage parents to reach out to their child's teachers if your child is struggling with their academics, so that our staff can partner with you on creating appropriate academic supports for your child during the 3rd Trimester.
If you feel that your child is struggling more on a social-emotional level, please do not hesitate to contact our Social Worker, Mrs. Sheila Zagotta, and she can work with you to coordinate supports for your child for both inside and outside of the classroom.
The Middle School years can be very tricky for students to navigate even during the best of times, so with a uniquely challenging year like this one, it's even more important for all of the adults in a child's life to collaborate on supporting each student's needs. We are here to help, so please reach out if we can be of assistance and we will continue to do the same!
2nd Trimester Report Cards
Report Cards will be sent home the week of March 15th. Grades can be accessed throughout the trimester, by logging into Otus for 6th graders and PowerSchool for 7th and 8th graders. Please contact one of your child's teachers if you have specific questions regarding student assignments or grades.
Celebrate Women's History Month
Women's History Month is an annual celebration of the achievements and contributions made by women throughout U.S. history. Although students at Westfield learn about the achievements and history of women throughout the school year in all courses, we also believe it is important to use this month to encourage students and families to learn more. We encourage students to have conversations at home about the contributions made by women throughout the history of the United States. The links below from History.com and Womenshistorymonth.gov have wonderful resources.
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/womens-history-month
https://womenshistorymonth.gov/
Reminder - 2021 Illinois 5 Essentials: Parent Survey
We really value your feedback! If you have not yet had the chance to complete the 5 Essentials survey, please consider doing so in the next couple of weeks. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete and is phone friendly. Thank you to everyone who has already completed it!
Link to survey: http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/
It will ask you to type in DuPage and Westfield Middle School
Survey window is Feb. 3, 2021 to April 2, 2021
Reminder - 2021 Illinois 5 Essentials: Student Survey
A student version of the 5Essentials Survey will be offered to all students at Westfield in March, starting with 6th and 8th graders on March 12th and 7th graders on March 15th. Teachers will provide students with the link and time to complete the survey. Please see this letter from District 13 regarding the 5 Essentials Survey and your right as a parent to request that your child not participate in the survey this year.
The Warrior Games - Round 3
Round 3 of our Warrior Games took place this week. The top scores in each grade level will advance to a final round where students will compete as a team versus our staff finalists. The final round of student finalists versus staff finalists is scheduled to take place next week. Detailed information will be shared with all finalists.
Updated District 13 Calendar
A reminder to see the updated January - June District Calendar shared in December. Please take note of the Noon Dismissals on March 10th, April 21st, and May 19th.
Next week - In-Person Learning Schedule
Monday, 3/8 - Group A
Tuesday, 3/9 - Group B
Wednesday, 3/10 - Group B - (Noon Dismissal)
Thursday, 3/11 - Group A
Friday, 3/12 - Group B
Have a wonderful weekend!
Stefan Larsson
Principal
Nicole Gabany
Assistant Principal
WARRIOR GAMES: Rounds 1, 2 & 3 are complete. Round 4 Championship next week!
WARRIOR OF THE WEEK
Each week the staff recognizes students for demonstrating outstanding character based on attitudes or actions that fall under the Character Counts Pillars and our WARRIORS Mission and Vision.
UPCOMING DATES
Please visit our Google Calendar for all activities and schedules!
- End of Trimester 2: March 5th
- Begin Trimester 3: March 8th
- 12:00 Noon Dismissal: March 10th
- Student Supply Pick Up: March 10th 2-5pm ONLY FOR STUDENTS RECEIVING TEACHER/STAFF EMAIL
- Spring Play Auditions: March 10th 4:00-5:30pm INFO LINK
- Daylight Savings Time Change: March 14th
- Spring Break: March 29th -- April 2nd
Reminders
Daily RAPTOR Pre-Certification form needed for all In-Person Learners
All students attending In-Person learning must have the RAPTOR health pre-certification form completed by their parents through each day that they attend In-Person learning.
Daily Attendance
Please contact the Main Office at 630-529-6211 to report any student absences. We also ask that parents/guardians notify the Main Office if your child is listed for In-Person Learning, but will be attending classes Remotely for the day. This will help us to keep accurate records of every student present in our building. Thank you!
UPDATED: Out-of-State travel - possible Quarantine days
If out-of-state travel becomes necessary for your child, students will be required to attend classes remotely upon returning to Illinois for a period of up to 10 calendar days if the student has traveled to an area that has a higher transmission rate than Illinois. Please reach out to our Nurse if you have any health related questions or concerns. Thank you for helping us keep our building as safe as possible for our students and staff!
Academic Supports
In addition to our current academic supports, we are very excited to add the use of Paper for our students, which will begin on Monday, February 1st!
This support connects students in grades 1-8 to a live, human tutor in that content area via chat. Students can access this support through their school login whenever they have questions on homework, would like someone to review an essay, or need help reviewing for an assessment. Please see this video for Parent Information on Paper tutorial for more information. (Papel para Padres en Español)
On Monday, students will receive an email with instructions and information. They will also be watching a quick introduction video during Acceleration next week. We hope students find this resource useful, especially during afterschool hours and on weekends!
Check the In-Person Calendar
- Remember to follow the new hybrid calendar for student in-person A and B days.
- Parents will be able to update their choice again for Trimester 3.
WESTFIELD THIS WEEK
Grade Level News:
STUDENT INFORMATION
Gold, Gold, Gold! Be a Part of the Spring Play
8th GRADERS! Send in Your Baby/Toddler Picture for the "Guess the Baby" Yearbook Page
Lancer Select 2021 Spring Basketball
Parents/Guardians: Please Call in Your Student's Absence (even if they are 'full remote')
Join the Yearbook Team!
Check Out Westfield Library Books Remotely
Westfield Art Needs Your Frosting Containers!
Mrs. Gabany's Virtual Office
Want to give someone a shout out?
FROM WESTFIELD TECHNOLOGY
Chromebook Trouble?
If you need assistance from the Technology Department, please use this link to request support:
Students: Please log out of your Chromebook and log back in daily
See this video on how to log in and out of your chromebook.
Otus Student Progress for 6th Grade Parents
Get the Parent PowerSchool App
Similar to the PowerSchool Parent Web Portal, parents can download the PowerSchool Mobile App from the App store on your iOS device or the Play Store on your Android device. Simply search for “PowerSchool” to find and install the mobile app on your smartphone or tablet.
- After downloading the mobile app to your device, connect the Mobile App to the correct PowerSchool server for Bloomingdale School District 13, by entering our unique, four-character code: G M K T
- You can also search for Bloomingdale SD13 by district or school name.
- The PowerSchool Mobile App will display your child(ren)’s schedule and assignments.
- PowerSchool Mobile app users can also enable Push Notifications to receive alerts when attendance is recorded or a final grade changes. To setup notifications within the app: Tap Account, then tap Notifications to configure the notifications you want to receive. Use the slider icons to turn the notifications on or off.
- Note: Parents must have a PowerSchool Parent Web Portal account created and students linked to their account before using the PowerSchool Mobile App. Click here for instructions on how to create a parent Portal account.
'How-To' for Parents/Guardians:
Brand New to District 13 AND Starting in August 2021?
(Returning student registration will be coming soon!)
FROM THE WESTFIELD SOCIAL WORKER
Parents, please complete this needs assessment:
Career Education for Families
Education and Careers
Local Mobile Food Pantry
Make a Difference from a Distance
FROM THE WESTFIELD NURSE
PARENTS:
The State of Illinois is not waiving the requirements for all students who have mandated health forms (physicals, immunizations, dental and eye exams), even though students are not currently physically present in the schools. Please submit the mandated forms to your child’s school as soon as possible. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact your school’s building nurse for assistance (Westfield Middle School nurse is Beth Jones bjones@sd13.org) Please scan, fax, or drop off hard copies of medical documents to the school. We are unable to accept photographs of medical documents. Thank you!
{Students who are transferring into our district from out-of-state must speak with the building nurse.}
The exclusion date for non-compliant students remains October 15th, except for the dental exam which is not due until May 2021.
The required forms are available at your Doctor offices and on your school’s website, located under “Health Information”.
Please see below for the grades which have mandated paperwork due October 15th:
Kindergarten (or 1st grade, if your student did not attend kindergarten): physical examination, up-to-date immunizations, eye exam and dental exam. (Dental exam is due in May 2021.)
2nd grade: dental exam. (Dental exam is due in May 2021.)
6th grade: physical examination, up-to-date immunizations and dental exam. (Dental exam is due in May 2021.)
Teenage Depression and Anxiety
Student Expectations for Remote Learning
We ask that all parents take a moment and review the expectations for proper school behavior and on-line etiquette provided in the following links. Please reference our Student Handbook for general policies and procedures and this Virtual Etiquette for Google Meets infographic to assist students with Remote Learning expectations. Thank you!
WESTFIELD'S PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION (PTO)
Graduating High School Seniors: District 13 College Scholarship 2021
When students return fully, we'll use SignUp.com to organize Westfield Volunteers.
1) Click this link to see our SignUp: https://signup.com/go/xZeejVZ
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
BLOOMINGDALE CHARACTER COUNTS!
Annual CC! Nomination Form
BLOOMINGDALE PARK DISTRICT
WESTFIELD SOCIAL COMMUNICATION
How-To Videos
Gmail:
- How to delete all email (6th grade)
- How to appropriately write an email
- You can only email other sd13.org email addresses
- Creating Bookmarks
- Starring and snoozing Emails
Google Classroom:
- How to Join Classroom(with Code)
- How to Join with Teacher Invite
- Check Stream and classwork page
- How to Turn in assignments
PowerSchool: Coming Soon
- Logging in
- Checking grades
- Seeing assignments
- Comments from Teachers
FlipGrid:
Chromebook: