Weekend Wire
October 4, 2020
WESTWOOD ROADRUNNERS
Roadrunners, We Are Proud of YOU!
DATES TO NOTE:
10/08 - School Site Council - subject to change
10/06--Xploration
10/12--Virtual Remix Dance Party Fundraiser Kick-Off
10/13--PTA Open Association Meeting 7:00pm via Zoom
10/22--Virtual Remix Dance Party Event
10/27--Xploration
Roadrunner News
Kindergarten Drop-off
Starting on Monday, 10/5/2020, drive-up Kindergartners will be entering campus through the main MPR gate and Walk-up Kindergartners will be entering through the Walk-up gate. For the few days, kinder teachers will be at the gate(s) to support our Kindergartners as they move towards this transition. Since all students will now be entering through the same two locations, this means that older siblings can also help support their younger siblings navigate this process as well. Once students enter through the gates, they will proceed to the teacher designated meeting spot.
Safety Reminder
The safety of your children is very important to us!! Please pull up to the curb to pick up your children. Children then go from the curb directly into their cars. Cars cannot pick up from the passing lane.
When dropping off students, students should exit the car from the right hand side. Parents should remain in their cars.
Let's work together to keep our students safe!!
Virtual Remix Dance Party Fundraiser
Health and Safety Agreement
Counseling Corner
This is a year that has tested us all. It is times like this when we realize just how important it is to help our children develop emotional strength and resiliency and one of the best ways we can do that is to model being emotionally strong and resilient ourselves.
How can we do that? Dr. Karen Reivich, the director of training programs at the Positive Psychology Center at UPenn says that openness and flexibility are the hallmarks of resiliency and emotional strength. While we might think a time like this calls for stoicism that isn't always helpful and it does not assist our children in learning how to get in touch with their own emotions. An emotionally strong individual is comfortable being vulnerable and more than that, is someone who can sit with unpleasant feelings when they arise. While the standard rhetoric of our culture might be to push through tough times or to always be positive and look on the bright side, real emotional strength is allowing ourselves to feel a full range of emotions and building up the resilience to welcome them in so that they can move through us rather than getting stuffed down just to later erupt.
We also model resilience to our children when we are open to learning from challenging times. Rather than seeing hard times as something to just put our head down and get through, we look for lessons to be learned and ways we can grow when faced with difficulties.
And the good news is that resilience and emotional strength are skills we can all cultivate. One of the best ways to do this is through self-awareness (paying attention to your emotions, thoughts and how your body is feeling) and controlling our self-talk to keep it productive.
Self-awareness helps us see ourselves clearly, even when what we are observing is uncomfortable. It requires a willingness to look inward which is a very vulnerable thing to do. Yet, it is the greatest avenue for us to see areas in our life where we need to change. The more we are in touch with ourselves and truly understand who we are, the more we can move through life with intention.
Likewise, when we catch ourselves in a pattern of negative self-talk we can course correct by simply noticing that our inner dialogue is unproductive and switching gears to a more productive way of speaking to ourselves. Changing our inner dialogue to a more positive one will begin the process of rewiring our brain so that our negative thoughts become fewer and fewer.
2020 has been difficult - there is no disputing that. But this year is also giving us a chance to learn some valuable lessons and to grow in ways we hadn’t before this experience (researchers call this post-traumatic growth). What a gift it will be to our children if this is a time where they watch us and learn how to develop their own emotional strength and resiliency, which are skills they can use for the rest of their lives.
In Wellness,
Teresa Zucchet
Westwood Elementary School Counselor
2020-2021 Lunch Procedures
October 2, 2020 --Updated Info
Lunch will be provided at WWES each day. Below are the procedures for food and nutrition distribution.
AM STUDENTS
AM students will attend school. Grab and Go Lunches will be delivered to the classrooms. All students will take a lunch at this time. Students will leave campus and eat lunch at their after school destination.
Students attending ESS will eat lunch once they arrive at ESS.
PM Session
PM students will attend school. Grab and Go Lunches will be delivered to the classrooms. All students will take a lunch at this time for student consumption anytime prior to the PM session the following day.
VIRTUAL LEARNING STUDENTS
Families can pick up at the WWES MPR 12:00-12:30 Monday-Friday
The district meal distribution locations are open 7-8:30am and 11-1pm Monday -Friday at the following schools: DNHS, MBMS, MCHS, PHS, RBHS, TPMS, and WVHS.
Health Office Notes
Please remember to be proactive and prescreen your student at home prior to leaving for school. If your child has any of the following symptoms, please keep them at home. If your child has developed any one of the symptoms below while at school, they must be sent home immediately. Parent(s) will be notified to pick up their student immediately.
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
Per the CDC Guidelines: The individual may return based on one of the following:
a) 10 days from the day symptom(s) first appeared, AND improved symptoms and no fever (or fever reducing meds) for the last 24 hours.
b) With proof of negative PCR COVID viral test, may return after 3 days if all symptoms are fully resolved; or after 10 days from the day symptom(s) first appeared, AND improved symptoms and no fever (or fever reducing meds) for the last 24 hours.
c) A signed note from a licensed MD, DO, NP, or PA (who manages that condition) must: confirm the chronic diagnosis (i.e., cites labs, date-of record when diagnosed); include provider’s contact information; explain how symptoms are unrelated to COVID-19; and be accompanied by signed consent for school to interact with MD, DO, NP, or PA.
News From the Library
October 5-9, 2020
Storytime with Mrs. Whitelock. We’ve waited so long for you to come back to campus and now you’re finally here! Was it hard to be away from your friends and wait for school to reopen? Waiting is so hard especially for the rabbit in “You’re Finally Here!” by Melanie Watt. Enjoy the next read aloud here.
Want to learn more about how Melanie Watt created the artwork for “You’re Finally Here?” Click here to learn more from Teachingbook.net.
Inspired by her artwork? Now you try it. Create a character for a book and share it on Flipgrid. Be original!
In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, please click here to view books for you to read in SORA. You’ll need to use your login credentials.
In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, please click here to view books for you to read in SORA. You’ll need to use your login credentials.
We’re getting ready for library services to start for students. Here’s a short video on how to put books in hold.
Need ideas for books? Here are some resources:
Want to see the latest in Mrs. Whitelock’s Google classroom?
Still have a library book? For your child’s account to be in good standing when library services resume, please return all library books. There will be a box in front of the library doors for your convenience Monday-Friday 7:45-2:15 or you can try the school office.
Would you like to donate a book to the library? Many books never came back and were lost due to the school shut down in the spring. Support the library and your childs’ love of ready. It makes a difference! Check out our Amazon Wish List.
Please look for upcoming information about library services. Questions? Please email me at nwhitelock@powayusd.com
Mrs. Nancy Whitelock, Librarian at Westwood Elementary
PTA Membership
The first Open Association PTA meeting will be held via zoom on October 13th at 7:00 p.m. Please join us to learn about all of the great things happening at Westwood this year! You must be a PTA member to attend the meeting. Zoom information will be sent to all members prior to the meeting.
Yearbooks
Math Olympiad
Math Olympiad 20-21 is going virtual! Are you looking for an extra challenge or a boost for your problem solving skills? Join us and test your math skills against other students nationwide. Classes meet once a week, starting in October, with 5 monthly contests November thru March. For more information and to register for for Math Olympiad, follow the link below!
About Us
Principal
Email: kholmes@powayusd.com
Website: https://powayusd.com/en-US/Schools/ES/WWES/Home
Location: 17449 Matinal Road, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: 858-487-2026
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WWESRoadrunners