Westside Pack Post
January 2023
Principal's Message
Welcome back and Happy New Year! We are excited to make 2023 an amazing year here at Westside. This month will be busy as we dive deep into learning and continue preparing students to take their year end assessments. We have midterms coming up and are excited to continue watching student growth and progress.
This month, we hope to really focus on attendance and the importance of consistently being at school. We know this can be hard with illness, but we want to focus on good attendance with our students as much as possible. The more they are here, the more they will learn.
Kelsey Anderson
Principal at Westside Elementary
District 91 Newsletter
January Dates to Remember
January 6 - FAME
January 13 - Vision Screenings
January 16 and 17 - No School (staff professional development days)
January 20 - Midterms
Late Start Fridays
FAME
Once a month, all students will have the opportunity to learn more about music and art through a 30 minute Fine Arts Mini Experience (FAME) taught by a PTO volunteer. FAME is an art and music program designed to familiarize students with historically well-known artists, composers, and their works. The content is presented by focusing on specific art and music elements as parts of a composition and by providing a connection, be it life experiences or artistic similarities of featured artists.
Winter Reminders
Blue in the School
Parent Teacher Conferences
Another round of Parent Teacher Conferences will take place in February. Conferences will be scheduled on Wednesday, February 15 (between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm) and Thursday, February 16th (between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm). Teachers will be sending home assigned conference times towards the end of January. We do our best to accommodate families with multiple children with back to back conference times. Because of this, rescheduling conferences will be difficult. We appreciate your every effort to attend at your scheduled time.
As you prepare for your conference, we have a few suggestions for you:
- Plan what you would like to ask the teacher and bring your questions with you.
- Ask your child if there is anything they would like you to discuss with their teacher.
- Ask the teacher about activities you can do at home with your child to reinforce or extend new skills and concepts.
- When possible, it is beneficial for both parents to attend the conference.
Breakfast and Lunch
School breakfast and lunch are not free this year. We are highly encouraging everyone to fill out the free and reduced lunch application. You may be surprised that you qualify! This form is also how we receive funding for programs such as Title 1 and All Day Kindergarten. The form only needs to be filled out once per family. Fill out the form here:
English - https://family.titank12.com/application/new?lang=English&identifier=738XVG
Spanish - https://family.titank12.com/application/new?lang=Spanish&identifier=738XVG
Title 1 at Westside
English
Spanish
Drop Off and Pick Up Procedures
Blue - drop off and pick-up zone
Yellow - crosswalks
Green - park and walk your student to their door
Counselor's Corner
Welcome Back! I hope everyone enjoyed their break. I am anticipating a fabulous New Year at Westside. For the month of January, we will wrap up our lessons on emotional regulation and move on to kindness and empathy. In grades K-3, students have been learning different levels of emotions and how each of us can have different feelings about the same things. In grades 4-6, students have been learning how to identify stress in their bodies. We’ve discussed coping strategies, how to be preventative, and how to reduce our stressors by making small changes or talking it out.
Amy Gallagher - Westside Counselor
Questions, Comments, and Celebrations
Follow Us on Facebook
Westside PTO - https://www.facebook.com/groups/578020748921992
Mrs. Anderson
Email: andekels@sd91.org
Website: https://www.ifschools.org/Westside
Location: 2680 Newman Drive, Idaho Falls, ID, USA
Phone: (208) 525-7666
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrskelseyanderson/