Paramount High West Campus
Pirate Newsletter
October 22, 2020
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Message from Elizabeth Salcido, Principal
Good Afternoon Pirate Families,
As we end our first quarter tomorrow, October 23rd, our students will have completed a quarter of their Freshman Year!
With this, First Quarter Grade Reports will be available on ParentVue the week of November 2nd. If you need to schedule a parent conference, please contact your student’s teacher.
I am excited to share a new service that Paramount Unified, in partnership with the City of Paramount, is offering all PUSD students called Paper Tutoring. This tutorial is available to students 24/7 through the My Tutor tile on Classlink, or through the Paper Education app on a smartphone. I am pleased to share that my teachers were trained with the consultants this week, and are eager to integrate this into our virtual learning environment. More information is included in this newsletter.
For families who have requested hotspots to support internet access at home, please contact the district for pick up at the District Office ROP, Monday through Friday from 8am – 12pm. If you no longer need a hotspot, you can text the district at 415-890-6702, and include your student’s name and school site so we can identify them correctly. This will allow us to re-assign the hotspot to another family in need.
I am pleased to share that our daily attendance rate for this month is 98%. As our students are attending class, please encourage them to continue to participate and complete class assignments. After such a strong start to the year, we want to continue to support our students as we move into the second quarter.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Salcido
Principal
Distance Learning Expectations
https://4.files.edl.io/1fe6/08/14/20/173159-3ea07c6c-e8bd-4bae-b937-13ca5d083907.pdf
Weekly Schedule
Student Tech Support
https://sites.google.com/paramount.k12.ca.us/studentechsup/home
Digital Classroom News
Language Arts
All language arts classes are reading novels right now. Here are some tips for helping your student be successful.
Take notes, especially of passages you like or find confusing. It is absolutely essential to take good notes when reading a novel for class. It is doubly important if you need to write an essay on the book later. You should highlight or underline important passages, and provide a brief note to the side reminding you why it is important ("symbolism," "character shift," "repeated metaphor," etc.). On paper, you should note bigger moments and shifts -- keeping track of character changes, overarching themes, and passages or moments you don't quite understand yet.
· Take notes during class discussion, marking important pages and quotes that you may have missed.
· You can go overboard with notes. You want your notes to be a guideline for your writing when you finish the book. If the whole book is underlined you won't get a lot of useful information.
Paper Tutoring Service Available To All Students 24/7!
AVID News
AVID elective class have begun their tutorials!
In the AVID elective students engage in a collaborative tutorial process that is facilitated by a college mentor. During tutorials students practice and apply collaborative inquiry skills such as Costa’s levels of questions, Socratic dialogue, and focused note-taking to help address their points of confusion in different subject areas. Tutorials tend to have a 7:1 ratio of students per tutor and normally take place twice a week.
We are fortunate to have college tutors to help facilitate the tutorials. Welcome to our 2020-21 college tutors: Michael Castillo, Estefana Castillo, Paola Macias, Miriam Mercado, Judith Murrillo and Patricia Hernandez.
ASB News
Counselor Corner
9 Tips for Dealing with COVID-19 Stress
1. Address stress.
Remember the difference between productive stress and destructive stress. Productive stress encourages us to take action and work toward solving a problem. Destructive stress does not change anything and depletes our energy and mental well-being with very little outcome. We can’t avoid stress, but we can choose to gear it toward the productive kind and use healthy coping skills when we find ourselves stuck in more destructive cycles.
2. Acknowledge your feelings.
We can be with our discomfort when it does arise. We can handle difficult feelings. We can survive pain. We can overcome challenges. If we try too quickly to escape our feelings, we are reiterating the disempowering idea that our feelings are more powerful than we are. Do your best not to push away or over attach to feelings. Just acknowledge them, be curious about what this experience may hold for you, and let them go when you are ready.
3. Create calm.
Remember that we may operate best and think most clearly when we remain calm. By practicing relaxation exercises, meditation, yoga, and anything else that supports our nervous system, we are also decreasing inflammation and increasing immunity.
4. Reconnect with nature.
Among the obvious pleasantries of the onset of spring, sunlight can increase vitamin D and regulate serotonin, which lifts mood, improves immune function, and can and help regulate sleep. It may also help our T cells, which are responsible for fighting infection and helping the immune system function optimally. Organic compounds found outdoors called phytoncides can also boost both mood and immune function.
5. Focus on hope.
Notice that while this pandemic is indeed a tragedy, many people have been looking out for each other. Notice the ways communities come together when faced with shared challenges. We are so much stronger together, and times like these remind us of that. If you are seeking new ways to be a part of the coming together, check out The Mutual Aid Project, where people are exchanging needs. If you are outside of greater Louisville, look for a similar organization in your town or start one using the above as a model if it doesn’t yet exist.
6. Practice gratitude.
While we are paying such close attention to keeping surfaces clean and rationing our home goods, please also pay attention to the parts that are working and all that you are grateful for. There is beauty that exists among the fear and heartache if we keep our eyes and hearts open to it.
7. Nurture yourself.
Recognize many of us finally have an opportunity to slow down. Our culture in the U.S. is notorious for overemphasizing work and achievement. Not everyone has the privilege of slowing down, so if you are able to do it, be curious about what slowing down means to you and reevaluate the pace at which your life normally flows.
Consider being productive in a new way: nurturing your relationship with yourself, loved ones, and community. Or finish up a fun project that you had to put on hold to keep up with the daily grind.
8. Give back.
If you are not able to slow down because you are a medical professional, first responder, because of finances, or for any other reason, there are many of us eager to help however we can. Giving can be healing, and the experience of receiving help can be a corrective one if you have a history of repeatedly not having your needs met. Ask for what you need, and you will have a better chance of getting the need met.
9. BREATHE.
Not too close to each other perhaps, but please remember that deep breathing helps calm the body and mind. Try the 4-7-8 breath to activate the vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system, which can act as a brake for slowing down anxiety. A big deep breath in for a count of 4, hold for 7, and release slowly for a count of 8.
We have been through difficult things before, and we moved through them. This too shall pass. Do your best to take a healthy authority over what you can control, love on yourself and your neighbors (from a distance), and find ways to appreciate the opportunities within the obstacle. We are in this together.
Upcoming Parent Meetings
Parent Educational Technology Workshop
Join the counselors to learn about technology that can help you connect to the school.
Click on the link below to join the meeting.
Friday, Oct 30, 2020, 10:00 AM
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Distance Learning Tips for Parents Webinar
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2020, 01:00 PM
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Wellness Information
Tips for Self Care
Pasos para el Cuidado de si Mismo
Body Scan Meditation
City of Paramount Information
Stay connected
Email: phswest@paramount.k12.ca.us
Website: phswest.pusdschools.net
Location: 14708 Paramount Boulevard, Paramount, CA, USA
Phone: (562) 602-8073
Facebook: facebook.com/phswestpirates
Twitter: @phswestpirates