Grizzly Gazette- 12/05/2022

It's a special time to be a Grizzly as we begin our Holiday Break countdown! Special Note- this year the Academic Calendar extends through until December 21st before the break begins. The last day of school this month is Wednesday, December 21st! (This is different than years past where we would be done around the 16th.) Because of this change (and because we're anticipating holiday travel plans already being set), we are publishing the High School Credit Courses Final Exam dates below. Remember than only High School for-credit classes have final exams.

Girls and Boys Basketball begins this week and there are quite a few Holiday performances from our Fine Arts department happening this month. All students will also be taking the TEA-Interim Assessment in both RLA (Reading/Language Arts) and Math Tuesday & Wednesday of this week. Students will take this assessment again in the Spring as the benefit of this assessment is the STAAR-Predictive reports it offers. Tailoring test questions according to how students respond to the first fifteen questions, teachers will have student-specific data about how to continue to help their students. (If you'd like more information about the assessment, see the link above.)

Also happening this week- Friday, December 9th- WBMS PTO is hosting a courtyard patio clean-up (4pm-5pm) to prepare for the installation of a memorial dedication bench in honor of West Briar's beloved Dean Nathalie Hoyt. We invite both parents and students to help us clean up our courtyard!

Let's make it a great week!

• Mon, Dec 5- Wrestling Mandatory Informational Meeting- 4PM- Library (flyer below)
• Mon, Dec 5 - Fri, Dec 9- Hour of Code (see article below)
• Tue, Dec 6 - Orchestra Winter Concert - 6PM
• Tue, Dec 6 - Tue, Dec 7- RLA & Math STAAR-Interim Assessments
• Wed, Dec 7- Fall Picture Retake Day
• Wed, Dec 7 - Virtual Parent Meeting- Mental Illness- 9AM (flyer below)
• Thur, Dec 8 - West Briar Choir Winter Show
• Thur, Dec 8 - Girls Basketball Game @WBMS (vs Pershing)
• Fri, Dec 9 - Courtyard/ Patio Clean-Up - 4PM - 5PM
• Tue, Dec 13 - West Briar Campus Tour- 10AM
• Wed, Dec 14- West Briar Winter Dance Showcase
• Thu, Dec 22 - Mon, Jan 9- Winter Holiday
• Sat, Jan 28- School Choice Fair- Westside HS- 9AM- 12PM (flyer below)

WBMS AM Announcements Link

Parents- Get your student involved in the Hour of Code!!! This week- December 5th - December 9th is Computer Science Education Week. The West Briar Tech Team is hosting an Hour of Code in the library during lunch that week. Students should sign up the in Grizzly Den (Canvas) for a time slot. After completing the coding challenge, your student will enter a screenshot of completed coding activity for a chance to win a Chick Fil A gift card. Let's put West Briar MS on the map for the nationwide Hour of Code challenge!

*For questions- reach out to Ansley Merriweather- Academic Instructional Technologist

**More Activities: Middle School- Houston ISD 12 Days of Code

In preparation of the dedication memorial bench in honor of our beloved Dean Nathalie Hoyt, we are clearing out our courtyard. We would love to have as many parent and student volunteers as possible to help beautify this part of our campus. Sign-up information is:

Sign-Up Genius Dec 9

One of our Dance Teachers- Ms. Drexler- earned a grant to collaborate with the Houston Contemporary Dance Company. Every few weeks, our students are taught by a guest instructor on a different dance technique from cultures around the world. While students are learning about a culture of dance, Social Studies teachers are aligning with a supplementary learning activity about that culture.

Last week was Afrodance 101 with Kemi OG- an Afrodance Instructor at the Institute of Contemporary Dance in Houston (and the founder of three organizations).

• Here is a video compellation of their dance lessons: Afrodance lesson Dec 2022
• Before that, students learned about Chinese Fan Dance: Chinese Fan Dance Lessons Nov 2022

We are thrilled that Ms. Drexler worked for this opportunity as students are thoroughly enjoying these activities! (as you can see in the videos) Stay tuned for future lessons from different cultures!

The HISD School Board updated our Student Attendance Policy to mirror the Texas Education Code (TEC) 25.092 (Attendance for Credit 90% Rule). A student in grade levels K-12 should not be given credit or final grade for a class unless the student is in attendance 90% of the days in which the class is offered.

We will continue to remind students the importance of attendance- in all class periods. In middle school and high school, the 90% rule applies to each individual class period. This includes coming to school late and remaining in all classes throughout the class period.

Students who have accumulated more than 10% absences in their courses during the school year will have asterisks (NG) printed on their report cards next to the courses in which the excessive absences occurred. These students will be denied credit in these courses based on the current HISD attendance policy unless the attendance committee grants credit because the absences are due to extenuating circumstances.

• Students who lose credit due to excessive absences may appeal if the student achieves an average of 70 or above at the end of the semester in which the no-credit (NG) status appears.
• All Attendance Committee meetings and appeals for the 22-23SY must be cleared by June 15, 2023.

HISD will be offering free COVID-19 PCR Testing at West Briar again this school year. This testing will be every other week and is completely voluntary. Testing will be offered to everyone (students & staff) who consents, even if they don't have symptoms of COVID-19. Testing is free, quick, and easy and done by Fulgent Genetics trained medical professionals with a short, shallow nasal swab.

Test results will be available within 24-48 hours.

• Learn more about testing here: https://www.houstonisd.org/COVIDTestingFAQ.
• Complete the consent process by visiting this website: http://www.houstonisd.org/COVIDtesting.
• Contact Fulgent if you need help completing the consent process at mailto:cshou@fulgentgenetics.com or by calling 346-803-5828, Option 2.

Testing Schedule at West Briar - 10AM, Mondays

• November 28
• December 12
• (past December- TBA)

We are looking for a group of parents that would be able to help us translate with parents of different languages. Unfortunately, the district does not provide translators which makes it difficult for us to communicate with some of our parents.

If you are able to offer your time and translating abilities for any of the languages below, please reach out to our Social Worker- Ms. Madison Taylor at madison.taylor@houstonisd.org. We would truly appreciate it!

Languages Needed

• Arabic
• Pashto
• Persian/Farsi/Dari
• Swahili
• Ukrainian
• Russian
• Vietnamese

Canvas gives parents access to student learning. Parents/Guardians interested in monitoring student's Canvas courses, calendars, and announcements can use the Canvas Parent App. More information can be found here: Canvas for Parents

*Please note that West Briar is transitioning to this new learning management system and therefore, some teachers utilize it more regularly than others. Expect that teachers will have a Canvas course home page set up.

Families can show their support of West Briar MS by donating to this year's Grizzly Giving campaign. All funds raised will go directly to support WBMS students, teachers, projects, and programs! Please see the flyer below for more details. You can also download the form here: Grizzly Giving Form

More information can be found on our PTO website here.

Attendance: Mr. Anderson- compassion.anderson@houstonisd.org

Registration/Enrollment- Ms. Rodriguez- laura@houstonisd.org

Nurse: Nurse Papillion- rebecca.papillions@houstonisd.org

Special Education Secretary: Ms. Aguilera- joana.aguilera@houstonisd.org

6th Grade House Secretary: Mr. Rachal- tony.rachal@houstonisd.org

7th Grade House Secretary: Ms. Bass- vbass2@houstonisd.org

8th Grade House Secretary: Ms. Young- syoung1@houstonisd.org

Social Worker: Ms. Taylor- madison.taylor@houstonisd.org

Wraparound Specialist: AJ Buadu- Adjua.Buadu@houstonisd.org

Campus Administrators Webpage (includes new School Counselors)

Faculty/Staff Directory