Westwood Weekly
Staff Newsletter - Week of 16-20
Shout-Outs!
-Welcome (back) Alison Padilla (SEA, A3) and Kathleen Britton (SEA, A3)!
-Thank you in advance to Bonnie and the 1st/2nd grade teachers for preparing the students for the Winter Concert! We can't wait to witness the cuteness!
-Thanks in advance to Karen and her roving crew on instrumental music carolers! We look forward to this each year!
Highlights this Week!
This Week:
-Peppermint Village Holiday Shop (1:00-2:00, MUR)
-School Site Council Elections (ballots will be placed in your boxes to have available to any parents visiting for conference this week).
-1:00 Dismissal for Grades 1-5
Monday - Welcome to Alison Padilla (SEA in A3)!
-Nancy at SARB (9-10)
-Section 504 Annual Review Meeting for ML (1:15, E3)
-School Site Council Meeting (3:00, Library)
Tuesday - SpEd Team Hosting a Holiday Brunch!
-Triennial and Annual IEP Meeting for RDA (1:30, B1)
-Winter Concert for 1st/2nd Grade (6:00, MUR)
Wednesday - Welcome to Kathleen Britton (SEA in A3)!
-JCL Tutoring
-SST Meetings (7:45-11:15, D6)
-Section 504 Annual Review Meeting for ML (1:15, Office) - tentative
-Section 504 Annual Review Meeting for MB (2:30, Office)
Thursday -
-Nancy at Elementary Principal's Meeting (7:30-10:00, WCC)
-Superintendent Visit (10:30-11:30)
-Annual IEP Review Meeting for LK (2:00, D6)
-DELAC Meeting (5:30, WCC)
Friday - Engage NY Orders Due for 3rd Trimester
-Kindergarten Party (8:00, A5)
-PE Minutes Due by 2:37
Upcoming Events:
-Winter Break (12/21-1/6)
-College & Career Day (1/15)
To dos:
- Complete the Self-Assessment Survey. DUE by 12/20
SEE NANCY IF YOU ARE AVAILABLE TO TEACH INTERVENTION FOR OUR ENGLISH LEARNERS
This Week in AVID
This is an exciting time of year as we head into our winter break! However, all of our students do not share the same experiences over the two-week vacation. As we plan our lessons for January, please keep in mind that relational capacity activities benefit our students by creating a welcoming classroom environment full of energy and excitement. They also build a culture of safety, honesty and mutual trust. HERE is a collection of activities that will help ease back into the school routine in January.
Jeanne Johnson - AVID Instructional Coach
Google Classroom Add Code: 7uwcLg or eavk628
PBIS Weekly Focus
Life Skill of the Month - Honesty and Integrity - Check out related lessons and activities in our Cool Tools for Schools resource.
Focus Area of the Week – Hallways/Lines - Review the lesson plan with your class. Please remind students who are getting breakfast or lunch and returning to the playground, that they must walk through the Courtyard, and enter through the gate behind E1. Student should NOT be walking between the D and E wings during recess breaks, or returning to backpacks/classrooms. Be sure they have what they need before going out.
Self Assessment Survey - Please take a few minutes to take this year's Self-Assessment Survey to provide feedback as to how we are doing with PBIS implementation this year. TIA!
The STEM Fair is Coming!
The District's STEM Showcase will take place on March 21st from 9-11am, so we will be backwards planning from that date. This is such an awesome event, and great way to engage our students and their families! Stay tuned for more details, coming soon!
CAASPP Videos Now Available
2019 CAASPP videos are now available in Aeries. As you may recall, last year we participated in a pilot with ETS and Spotlight to provide parents a video detailing their child’s CAASPP results. This year (year 2 of the pilot) the results are discussed in a first person video and are available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. To view the videos (as an administrator/teacher), go into Aeries and click “Test Scores” and then “Test Details” (left side of screen below interventions). Once on this landing page, you will see the word “video”. Simply click on the word and the video will start. This video reviews both ELA and math results (no science).
My office will be sending an email to parents next week providing information on the availability of the videos via the Homelink Parent Portal. Most of the parents of elementary students (4th & 5th) should have an account as we used the portal to send the CAASPP results at the end of last year. If they do not have an account, please have them create one using the attached directions. In addition, they will a need a verification code that will need to be generated in Aeries. Survey links (in the three available languages) will be included in order to provide feedback to both companies. As always, I wanted to share this information with you prior to sending the information out to the community. Parents may have questions regarding the videos (results)and you are likely the ones that they will contact first. Please communicate this with your staff as well so all stakeholders are aware of the videos.
If you view a video ( a student or your own child’s) and are interested in providing feedback, please use the link below. The email going out to the community with have links in Spanish and Vietnamese.
Marathon Symposium
MARATHON SYMPOSIUM --- FEBRUARY 22, 2020 --- REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!: The 2020 Marathon Symposium registration is now open. This one-day, "Bring Your Own Device" event will be held on February 22 at Valley View Middle School in Pleasant Hill. A $25 deposit, collected at registration, will be refunded when you check in to the event on that day. The link for registration and information can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/77653693287
This one day event was designed with several purposes:
- To build collaboration and communication between staff members in MDUSD and its neighboring schools/school districts in the areas of innovative, student-centered learning, including a focus on integrating STEAM into all curricular areas.
- To introduce and share resources from and between educators and other professionals who are using them now.
- To provide professional development that is fun and engaging, with hands-on and integrated activities that apply to various grade levels and areas of curriculum.
Megan Gerdts
Instructional Coach - Ed Tech K-12
Assessment Reminders
i-Ready Diagnostic Results - A question came up about the difference between 'Tested Out' and 'Max Score' when reading i-Ready Diagnostic results. "Tested Out" means that the student did not need to take a particular subtest. "Max Score" means that the student took the subtest and achieved a high score.
- ADEPT Testing: November 12th-December 13th (see email from Samantha)
- Optional IABs (3rd-5th) - Ongoing
- IAB Reporting System: Below is a link that will provide you with instruction on how to access the interim assessment reporting system as well as how to navigate the reports available.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xgo1YTEhn3Of45v8Z4riQ4ybX2OAdcvE/view?usp=sharing