Westwood Intermediate/Middle School
December 16, 2020 - Newsletter
See translation information below / Consulte la información de traducción a continuación.
Westwood Families,
Just in time for winter break, we have the matching weather. There is no school from December 23 – January 1. School will be back on January 4, 2021.
This week we were able to invite a limited number of students back for at-school learning. We hope to be able to invite more students back for at-school learning in January.
We're resuming school on Jan. 4 in Extended Flexible Learning (distance) model. The Governor announced today new statewide guidelines for reopening preK-6 schools, and we're encouraged that we will be able to begin this process for our youngest students as early as January 19. See the district message that went out earlier. We look forward to updating families on this planning after winter break. We also hope to have an update on the evolving and possible transition plans as we have an opportunity to understand more of the details for students in grades 7-12.
A few reminders prior to the break:
- Parents of students in grades 5 and 6 who have been in EFL all year will need to pick up materials for trimester 2 starting on Thursday, December 17. The materials are in the office and ready for you to pick up. The office is open each day from 7-11 a.m. and 12-3 p.m.
- School pictures are in the office. If you ordered school pictures, please stop in and pick them up. All pictures have arrived.
We know that many of you are happy to see 2020 leave us behind – myself included. However, there is so much to be thankful for in 2020. First, of course, is our students and teachers at Westwood who jumped into Extended Flexible Learning last spring and have continued to learn in all kinds of new ways. We also are thankful for parents who entrust us to do this and help their kids connect to learning. We appreciate the feedback and many hours you have put in to make the school year work.
I am sure each of you have many people to thank in your lives for their love and support – friends, family, and community members. With my heartfelt gratitude and much grace, I say a final farewell to 2020 and wish a happy and healthy 2021 for each of you.
Sincerely,
Tom Larson
Principal
Teachers open up about Extended Flexible Learning
We asked some of our teachers to share their experiences and observations of Extended Flexible Learning. "This year is different. . . and that's okay . . . We're in this together. We're all learning." Listen to their honest, real and vulnerable perspectives as they discuss the challenges and successes of this year.
Meals services update for the upcoming holiday break
Due to the upcoming holiday break, families will receive five-days' worth of meals next Tuesday, December 22. There will be no meal pick-up on Thursday, December 24, Tuesday, December 29 or Thursday, December 31. Meal services pick-up will resume on Tuesday, January 5.
As a reminder, there are 10 community distribution locations to pick up meals from. Check out the locations and find an interactive map here.
Make sure your child's immunization records are up-to-date
All students in Spring Lake Park Schools must comply with Minnesota Immunization Laws. All immunizations need to be up-to-date, prior to January 31, 2021. Students who are not up-to-date on immunizations should have received communication from our nurses in the mail and by phone. Minnesota School Immunization Laws require ALL students enrolled in school to be immunized against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, hepatitis B, meningitis and varicella.
The only exceptions are:
- A student has had the chickenpox virus
- Medical exemption with paperwork from your provider
- Conscientious exemption with notarized exemption form
If your child's records need to be updated with proof of immunizations, please bring or send these to your school nurse or call 763-6--5304 for verification. Learn more about immunizations at SLP and find a downloadable immunization form.
Trimester 1 report cards for students in Grade 5
- An NA indicates that students did not have opportunities to learn this outcome in trimester 1.
- Specialist grades in grade 5 Art, Music, PE, and Grade 6 PE and Art will be listed as NA – teachers will continue with the learner outcomes in trimester 2 and report out on progress at the end of trimester 2 and trimester 3.
- An NE (No Evidence) grade indicates that students had opportunities to learn this outcome during Trimester 1, but did not submit any evidence of their learning. As a result, there is no evidence to determine where they are at toward meeting the learning outcomes.
Trimester report cards will be available to access through Campus Parent Portal beginning December 11.
Trimester 1 Report cards for students in Grades 6,7,8
Students will receive a grade of NY (Not Yet) for any courses where they have submitted evidence of learning but have not demonstrated proficiency in their learning to result in a grade of A, B, C, or D.
- Students who end Trimester 1 with a grade of NY will continue with the learning in trimester 2 to aquire the academic outcomes until they demonstrate proficiency on course learning outcomes that result in a grade of A, B, C, or D.
Students will receive a grade of NE (No Evidence) for any courses where they have submitted no or limited evidence of learning in Trimester 1.
- Students who end Trimester 1 with a grade of NE will continue with the learning in trimester 2 to aquire the academic outcomes until they demonstrate proficiency on course learning outcomes that result in a grade of A, B, C, or D.
Trimester report cards will be available to access through Campus Parent Portal beginning December 11.
Band student tutorial
The next Westwood PTO Meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 25 at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom.
We are looking forward to working with all of our parents and families this year to support the staff and students at Westwood.
Visit the PTO Facebook page: Westwood Intermediate and Middle School PTO
- Click here to receive email notifications about Westwood PTO.
- December 23-January 1 - No School, winter break
- January 4, 2021 - School resumes
Visit the website to view full details and sign up or call Community Education at 763-600-5050.
Youth Virtual Chess Class
Chess benefits student's focus, sportsmanship, problem solving, mental fortitude, and more.
Adult Cooking Classes
Check out these two virtual classes offered in January to get you to master cooking with your Instant Pot at home!
National Flag Football MN
The National Flag Football MN program is set up in collaboration with SLP's Community Ed. Registration is open now on their website with early bird registration open through December 31. Athletes that sign up in 2020 receive $10 off their registration fee and a $20 coupon towards any NFL Flag Fan Shop purchase.
In case you missed important information from last week's newsletter, check out the topics below and click to learn more.
Translate This Newsletter / Traducir Este Boletín
To translate this newsletter information to another language, please click anywhere on the newsletter to open it in a web browser and at the top of the page, select your language from the dropdown menu.
Para traducir este boletín de noticias a otro idioma, por favor presionen en cualquier lugar del boletín para abrir el boletín en un navegador web y en la parte superior de la página seleccione su idioma del menú.