Westwood Weekly
Staff Newsletter - Week of March 2-8, 2020
Shout-Outs!
- Welcome Giovanna Bobincheck, student teacher joining us in Michaela's class!
- Thank you to Christine for pulling together a fun and tasty Mardi Gras luncheon on Fat Tuesday!
- Thanks to Christine, Kelly, and Lauren for opening up your classrooms and rearranging your schedules to accommodate our guest principals for Instructional Rounds -- so many great things happening!
Highlights this Week!
This Week: Read Across America Spirit Week
Monday: Wear Green!
-Triennial IEP Meeting for Juan EJ (2:30, B2)
-School Board Meeting (6:00, Dent Center) - agenda
Tuesday - SUPER TUESDAY! Wear Your Favorite Hat!
-Family Reading Night and Dr. Suess' Birthday Bash (6-7pm)
-Annual & Triennial IEP Meeting for Scarlett C (2:30, A4)
-5th Grade Family Life Meeting (5:30, E3)
-Family Reading Night (6-7)
-Experience Dyslexia Workshop/CAC Meeting (7-8, District Office)
Wednesday - Wear mismatched socks or shoes!
-Community Coffee (7:40-8:00, Parent Courtyard)
-JCL Tutoring
-Care Team Meeting (10:30, Office)
-Triennial IEP Meeting - Part 3 for RDA (1:30, B1)
-Teacher Discretionary Day
Thursday - Wear Multi-Colored Clothing!
-Nancy at TK-12 Principal's Meeting
-Westwood Book Club-Lower Grades (2:30, Library)
-Initial IEP Meeting for Jesus FD (2:30, D5)
-Annual IEP Meeting for Ryan L (3:30, A3)
Friday - Spirit Wear!
-2nd Trimester Awards Assemblies (8:50-9:10, 2/3; 9:15-9:40, 4/5; 9:45-10, 1st)
-Glitter Tattoos Fundraiser (2:20)
Upcoming Events:
3/8 - Daylight Savings Time Begins (Move clocks one hour ahead)
3/9 - Spring Pictures
3/11 - Soul Shoppe Workshops
3/16 - Teacher In-Service
3/17 - Art Gala & Auction
"First and foremost, we need to be the adults we want our children to be. We should watch our own gossiping and anger. We should model the kindness we want to see." ~Brene Brown
This Week in AVID
Novel Ideas Only is an AVID collaborative structure that encourages collaboration, listening, and accountability. It can be used to review new material comprehension and to practice academic talk and public speaking.
For more resources and support, contact our AVID TOSA:
Jeanne Johnson - AVID Instructional Coach
Google Classroom Add Code: 7uwcLg or eavk628
PBIS Information
Life Skill of the Month - PATIENCE - Check out related lessons and activities in our Cool Tools for Schools resource, along with activities found in our Westwood Staff Handbook located in our Drive:
March is Women's History Month. What are you planning to do to share stories of trailblazing women leaders?!
California School Staff Survey (CSSS)
All Westwood staff members - both certificated and classified - are asked to please take this survey. Your input is valuable! The purpose of this survey is to obtain staff perceptions of student behavior and attitudes, school programs and policies, and the overall school climate as they relate to student well-being and learning. Your participation is voluntary. It is also very important. The information you provide will help guide district and school efforts to promote safety, enhance learning supports, improve student achievement, and reduce health risks that stand as barriers to learning.
Click here to access the staff survey.
California Healthy Kids Survey - Parent Survey Information
The CHKS links will be available for parents, and our 5th grade students starting tomorrow, 1/27. The information below will be shared with our families. Please encourage your students' parents/guardians to participate (one per household) - maybe offer an incentive upon completion. Our goal is to reach a >80% participate rate.
Dear Parent or Guardian,
Some students will be taking the California Healthy Kids Survey soon. We want to hear from you as well. We would appreciate your participation in the a CA School Parent Survey (CSPS). Your survey responses are anonymous. This is an opportunity for parents to confidentially communicate their perceptions and concerns about the school and its environment.
MDUSD values the survey data for addressing the needs of students, improving the learning and teaching conditions, and addressing LCAP requirements. Each family is invited to participate in the CA School Parent Survey (CSPS) however, there should only be one survey participant per student.
Parents can access surveys in the following languages online or on paper: English, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Hindi, Korean, and Vietnamese. Your student’s school will put a link on their web page or you will be able to go to the district web page www.mdusd.org to access the surveys online.
Parents can access surveys in the following languages on paper: Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Farsi, Hebrew, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Tagalog, and Thai. Please let your school office staff know if you would like a paper copy of the survey in one of these languages.
If you have any questions about this survey or your rights contact Linda Pete; MDUSD Administrator, Student Services at 925-682-8000, Ext 4061.
ELPAC
Dear Teachers,
The Summative ELPAC (English Language Proficiency Assessments for California) will be switching to a mostly Computer-Based ELPAC assessment. The administration window is from February 3 - May 31, 2020. Although we hope to be done by mid-March. As the time get closer, I will let you know when we will be testing at Westwood.
English Learners should use the online Computer-Based Practice questions to become familiar with the format and types of questions on the ELPAC.
TK, Kinder, 1st grade students are tested one-on-one on all 4 domains.
The Listening, Speaking, and Reading domain are administered by a district examiner individually using a computer. The Writing domain is administered individually by a district examiner using paper and pencil.
2nd Grade students are tested one-on-one on 3 domains, and in a group for writing only.
The Listening,Speaking, and Reading domains are administered by a district examiner individually using computer. The Writing domain is administered by a classroom teacher in a group setting using paper and pencil.
3rd - 5th Grade students are tested one-on-one for Speaking only.
The Speaking domain is administered by a district examiner individually using a computer. Students take the Listening, Reading, and Writing domains on a computer, administered by classroom teachers, in a group setting.
Both Computer-Based and Paper-Based ELPAC Practice Tests can be accessed online. The Computer-Based Practice Test has DFA (Directions for Administration) that should be used as a companion document to the online Practice Test. The DFA includes scripts and example test questions for giving the practice test to students.
Follow this link to access the DFA's for the computer based practice tests: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HY6OFfFI1VGBiGsl9GcDJUE3Ol5kZNst (The script is only really necessary for the Speaking domain.)
Here is the link for students & teachers to access the Computer-Based online Practice Tests: Practice and Training Tests: https://www.elpac.org/resources/online-practice-and-training-test/
If you would like to print out paper practice tests in order to focus on the task types, they can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AYQBGW5KEU4SuSRwKPu5jNUZy8u9dkkR
I am happy to go through this with you in person after school. I am also available to come to your class and do a lesson with your students. Just let me know!
Thank you for supporting English Learners!