Westwood Way
Happenings In Panther Nation - September 2018
Panther Pride
During Convocation, we had an opportunity to hear from several of our students and truly understand the impact that we have on the lives around us. This was a very heartwarming and emotional time for many of you and me.
As we approach the end of the first six weeks, I would like to challenge you today… this challenge is not about the “big” moments in our lives but focuses on the moments that most people would consider small.
My challenge to you is to recognize when the opportunity for a special moment is there and take it in! Our world is so face paced that if we are not careful, we will miss moment after moment. Each of us will face the time in our life when the little things will be the very things we miss.
Take time to reflect on this: What are the moments that you most value?
A student grabbing your hand and asking to play…Celebrate!!
Your friends laughing with you till it hurts…Celebrate!!
Working with a student one-on-one until they grasp the concept…Celebrate!!
A student remembering what you taught them last week…Celebrate!!
Working alongside your coworker and accomplishing a task that looked overwhelming…Celebrate!!
Life is too short and precious for us to miss the moments that mean so much to our lives. The big moments are awesome, but we do not experience them every day. These moments that we experience each day are just as special and are an indicator of how blessed we are.
I am thankful to have the opportunity to experience so many “moments” with you!!
Wade
School Board Update
During the September Board Meeting, the following items came before the School Board:
Christine Bedre presented a curriculum update in which she discussed the pilot classrooms, including changes to instruction and room arrangement. Mrs. Bedre noted different vendors had donated the furniture. She also showed and explained the versatility of furniture.
Christine Bedre presented an update on the Accountability Ratings. The most recent rating was released in mid-August. Data from Lead4ward was presented to explain an overview of the system. Ratings and scaled scores were presented by district and scaled scores were presented by campus.
The School Board discussed the possibility of starting a District-based food pantry. Articles of districts with similar programs were discussed, and the Board and Administration will continue researching this idea leading up to the next board meeting.
The School Board heard an update of the Facilities Advisory Committee. The Committee has been exploring options to enhance District facilities and increase safety and security in all buildings. The committee will be involving educators in discussions as they begin to visit newly constructed facilities. This will allow committee members and staff to be exposed to the facility possibilities that are available.
The School Board unanimously approved the purchase of a 2.458-acre lot and tract from the Joseph Jordan League next to Westwood High School with 79 highway frontage.
The School Board unanimously approved the purchase of a 1.31-acre lot and tract from the Joseph Jordan League next to Westwood High School with 79 highway frontage.
Curriculum
I want to say thank you to everyone who presented and attended Westwood University in June. This was our professional learning conference targeting specific needs identified by staff throughout the school year. August professional learning, was filled with curriculum workshops, professional learning, and data-driven program refinement. I appreciate all of your efforts, willingness to learn as well as the implementation of new concepts/programs into daily instruction.
TEKS Resource System continues to drive our instruction and outline for every six weeks. Currently, we are in a ten day trial for TEX Guide, an extension of the Instructional Focus Document (IFD) offered as an add-on through Region 13. Contact your campus administration or me if you would like a more in-depth look at this extension.
To date, we have held two substitute training, and we appreciate your willingness to learn the new substitute system. Another substitute training will be held in the future for any persons wanting to join our substitute team.
Finally, our adoption will begin soon! Be on the lookout for information about our committee for this process in the next month.
Proclamation 2019 includes:
- ELAR: K-8
- SLAR: K-6
- Spelling: Grades 1-6
- Handwriting: K-5
- ELLA: Grades 7 & 8
- Personal Financial Literacy: Grades 10-12
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Special Programs
Our department is off to a busy, but great start! We would first like to extend a huge welcome to Mindy Place, our new student assessment specialist. Mindy will be working with all aspects of assessment including state testing and local testing and everything in between! She has already proven to be very helpful and knowledgeable. We are very happy to have her at Westwood ISD!
While we are on the topic of assessment, the state has changed the testing year to match the school year, instead of going from January to December. Therefore, we will now have test coordinator training before December End of Course exams instead of in the spring. This will help us prepare even better for all state testing. Be on the look-out for training and information a little earlier this year.
The state has also continued and expanded Interim Assessments for 2018-2019. As some of you may remember, we participated in the pilot last year. These are online assessments made up of STAAR-type questions that the state has created to help measure how well-prepared a student is to meet mastery on the actual STAAR. TEA has now provided two opportunities for students take the Interim in 3-8 Math and Reading (including Spanish for 3-5), English I, English II, and Algebra I. We are in the process of working with campuses to figure out the best time and setting to administer these assessments. The data garnered from these assessments will be valuable in our planning and progress monitoring.
Business & Finance
The Finance and Operations teams are off and rolling!
We have been, like everyone else, in an extremely busy season getting the school year started. Within the Business Office team, getting all the new staff setup and ready for the start of school was a top priority. There are some items that must happen to get everyone setup within each system, and all the departments pulled together to get that done. Great collaboration was exhibited across the district departments to get people set up in all the programs (and of course in payroll!). There are many new team members, or new to their role members, and I believe this process was a great success. A special thanks to Mrs. Cheatham, Ms. Weaver, and Mr. Schuessler for their collaboration and extra hours. There are plans to revamp the process and to make this smoother later in the fall. We want a seamless transition for onboarding new staff and appreciate the patience exhibited by any bumps new hires may have experienced in the process.
September 1 was our first day of the new fiscal year for campus and district purchases. Overall this has gone very well with some adjustments being made within the system for increased efficiency in our processes. Mrs. Walding has worked extremely hard to wrap up our 2017-2018 invoices while at the same time juggling the new purchases for 2018-2019 purchases. Many purchases for the year are purchased in September, so we are busy on that front too!
We have some projects and processes we are developing in the fall. We hope to increase efficiency and speed to assist the campuses in achieving their missions. As these goals progress, we will involve all the stakeholders and communicate them out to you.
PEIMS
The PEIMS department is off to a good start for the 2018-19 school year! The campus registrar's worked very closely with parents and guardians with online registration. Each year Westwood's returning students must register for school. Our online registration has provided parents with the ability to register from home at their convenience. This feature continues to show that the convenience of online registration works in favor of our parents and guardians in addition to the staff.
Campus administrators have put in the hard work to ensure teachers and student schedules were ready on the first day of school. We had challenges with the absence of an active counselor at the JH. However, this provided a huge opportunity for learning and growth. Challenges require a response. The way we respond in the challenge will determine the result! With strong administrators at the JH campus, the result was a success! We believe this sets the tone for this current school year.
We are looking forward to learning and growing with each challenge we face.
Food Service
The new school year is now off to a flying start for the Food Service Department. We were glad to welcome all the familiar food service staff back with some new training and of course the mandatory instruction. We were faced with general start-up challenges. Unfortunately, some of the kitchen equipment was not so accommodating in returning to duty for the new year, new delivery drivers missed routes, out of stock or short orders were just a few of our opportunities to be resourceful and still accommodate our students. A huge thanks go out to the Maintenance and Technology personnel for the quick responses to our equipment and technology outages! And a huge thanks to the Westwood school staff for your patience and understanding.
A new offering is being implemented at the high school campus. Athletes involved in early morning training are now being offered a ‘grab and go’ breakfast on their way to classes. This will help fuel their bodies and their minds for a successful day on campus. We are working to increase the variety of breakfast items for this service. GO PANTHERS!!!
On Monday the Grandparent’s Lunch with the students at the Primary campus was a huge success with a turnout of approximately one hundred family members enjoying the chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes and all the trimmings for lunch. Many thanks to the volunteers and staff for making this event flow smoothly! The Elementary Campus will host the Grandparent’s Lunch on Wednesday; we anticipate another great day for adults to enjoy a visit to Westwood ISD.
Eat Healthy, Exercise your mind and body daily!
Facilities Services
Current Projects
· Replacing front doors on the High School
· Replacing freezer/refrigerator equipment at the Elementary
· Removal of old SPED building
· Removal of machine shop building
· Catching up on new work orders
Completed Projects
· Preparations for Region 7 back to school conference
· Replaced Guardian plan signs
· Installed panic button at the Primary
· Delivered updated EOP to Principals
· Disposed of auction surplus left behind by the customers
· Moved Sherry Luna’s office
· Installed new compressor in the grounds shop
Transportation
The Transportation Department has had a great beginning of school. My staff continues to do a great job daily transporting students, being safe, and having a great attitude. This year students and safety are our main focus. Nothing is more important than a student’s safety and receiving an education. Buses were re-routed to relieve traffic at the Primary. All Campuses have done an excellent job with car riders and loading buses. I would also like to thank the Administration and School board for the added Bus Monitors to our crowded buses. This has changed our student safety on the bus and better communication to students on what is expected. If I can assist you in any way, please contact me.
Technology
Highlights
· With help from Operations, resolved AC issues and equipment overheating issues in NOC
· Assigned technicians to specific campuses in Helpdesk system
· Started Customer Satisfaction Reporting
· Deployed Teacher Laptops-Chromebooks with laptop cases
· Purchased Dell laptops for Athletics Department
· Wiped and reloaded Elementary iPads for TPRI testing
· Helped create google form for School Safety – Staff Skills Survey
· Automated and scheduled user imports for district applications – Eduphoria-Destiny
· Automated and scheduled users and user password sync between Active Directory and Google
· Update District website
· Office 365 Access for Staff
· Closed Helpdesk tickets – Josh 181, John 273
Action Items
· Google Audit
· Office 365 access for Students
· Exporting staff and students from Skyward into Active Directory
· Integrate Frontline export into Skyward Finance
· Auto import and schedule teachers from Skyward Finance to Skyward Student
o Looking at Identity Automation’s Product for provisioning and de-provisioning users
· Generating campus reports of inappropriate internet use
· Quoting devices for Campus principal and administration Computer Refresh Project
· Gathering documentation and inventory reports for Classroom Refresh Project
· Developing a plan for sending out Tech Tip flyers
· Establishing a Technology Committee
Athletics
Philosophy
The Panther Mission Statement: (program/coach’s part)
To GROW men and women of integrity who relentlessly pursue excellence.
The Panther Vision Statement: (athlete’s part)
GROW Everyday
Execute Westwood DNA
Be the toughest program in Texas
Throughout the last several months we have put a premium on executing the Westwood DNA (our genetic makeup) daily. These six DNA traits are the fabric of our program; we must buy into and live by these principles on a daily basis. Let’s define these six DNA traits (core values):
Energy/Tempo Monday - relentless effort. We will attack with tenacity and make them quit.
Competition Tuesday - 1-0 Mentality. We are one play warriors who always compete.
Toughness Wednesday - comfortable being uncomfortable. We will impose our will and dominate with toughness.
Family Appreciation Thursday - value others above ourselves. We are a team of ‘foxhole’ brothers.
Discipline/Finish Friday - Discipline - always doing what needs to be done. We will continue to row the boat every day.
Finish - do more than is expected. We are a freight train that terrorizes with our finish.
Updated results from Volleyball, Cross Country and Football:
Volleyball:
The Lady Panther Volleyball team has been dominate over the last several weeks. They currently sit at 21-10 on the season and are in the midst of a ten-match win streak. They are also undefeated (2-0) in district play. The 7th and 8th-grade volleyball teams are gROWing each time they step on the court.
Cross Country
Cross Country is off to a great start this season. The Boys and Girls teams have had multiple quality showings at very competitive events this season. The JV boys and Varsity Boys won the Grapeland Invitational last weekend.
Football:
The Westwood Football program had a clean sweep (4-0) vs. Eustace last week at all levels.
The 7th and 8th grade Junior High Football teams took home wins from Eustace as well as JV Football at home on Thursday. Varsity football traveled to Eustace on Friday night and spoiled the Eustace Homecoming, clinching the win 31-21 late in the 4th quarter.