Westwood Wire
August 22, 2021
Dear Westwood Families,
We had a wonderful first week with your students and are looking forward to a great 21-22 school year at Westwood Junior High.
The next Westwood Wire will be on September 14th, 2021 and will be found in your email inbox, Westwood Twitter & Facebook pages, school website and PTA platforms. The Westwood Wire will be sent on a 3 week cycle.
We began the week in Wolf Camp where student reviewed the characteristics of a Westwood Wolf who is Welcoming, seeks Opportunities, demonstrates Leadership and is Future Focused. In my meetings with students they determined and shared the following characteristics:
Welcoming - helps other, greets people, includes everyone, maintains a safe environment and is friendly and nice to everyone.
Opportunities - tries new things, gets involved in school activities and demonstrates bravery especially when they are scared to do something for the first time.
Leadership - respecting others, showing and guiding others when they are lost, leading by example and showing empathy.
Future Focused - setting goals for the present as well as for jobs and careers and that being successful now means that you will be successful in the future.
Having our students share these characteristics with their grade and hearing them speak so passionately and knowledgeably about these traits, was the highlight of my week. Westwood faculty and staff will reinforce and work with students throughout the year to add to this list of characteristics. I am very proud and honored to be serving your students and this community. I value our partnership and hope that you too will reinforce these characteristics of a Westwood Wolf at home with your student.
We continue to vigilantly follow the RISD Blueprint. District senior leadership is working closely with state and local officials to revise and update our protocols and responses as things continue to change very rapidly. Please take the time to read the RISD Blueprint and speak with your student. We ask that you partner with us to ensure that all students feel safe, welcome, included, accepted and belong at Westwood Junior High.
Westwood students have all been assigned lockers this year, where they will be expected to leave their cell phones during the school day. This decision was made by the leadership team to maximize space in classrooms for social distancing and keep our learning environments distraction free. Students will carry their chrome books, agendas and water bottles all day and may visit lockers before their lunch period to pick up their lunch box if they brought one. Additionally, this year breakfast and lunch is free of charge for all students.
Please be on the lookout for the Virtual Open House which will be sent electronically during the week of September 7th, so that you can learn more about your student’s wonderful teachers and the excellent work being done at Westwood.
The PTA General Meeting scheduled for Wednesday September 15th 5:30-6pm, will now be virtual and we are working to determine the appropriate protocol for the Parent Teacher Meet and Greet schedule the same evening from 6-7:30pm. Please be on the lookout for more information regarding these events.
The faculty and staff at Westwood are enjoying getting to know your students and ready to see them connect, learn, grow and succeed at Westwood Junior High. If you have any questions please let us know. We are excited to begin the 2021-2022 school year!
Sincerely,
Katie Mottram
Principal
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WOW (Westwood Overtime World)
Westwood’s after school program “WOW” (Westwood Overtime World) starts September 20, 2021. The program is FREE and will run Mon thru Thursday, from 3:45-5:45 PM.
Students enrolled will get a snack and a drink each day. Some of the activities planned are: Tutoring, computer games, board games, basketball, volleyball and soccer.
Please note that the program will NOT run on early release days: 9-22, 10-27 and 2-16.
There will be a bus available for students who need it.
Any questions, please call:
Chris Edwards
WOW Site Coordinator
469-593-3560
Chromebook Insurance
Deadline to purchase coverage: September 6, 2021
Insurance with Worth Ave. Group will protect the device against an assortment of
damages. This insurance policy will provide full replacement cost coverage. This policy is also transferable to a replacement unit. More Information: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B4r-74-P4EhiJV9W4IwexzvnU5qb5Ypj/view?ts=6102c982
To purchase please visit: https://gpo.worthavegroup.com/gpo/richardson-isd/
Household Family Data
Richardson ISD is required to collect and report the socioeconomic status of each student to the Texas Education Agency for purposes of annual state accountability ratings and for federal reporting tied to federal funding. Parents of enrolled students are requested to complete this form for that purpose. The income information requested on this form is completely confidential, it is not shared with any entity outside of RISD, and is solely used to determine the socioeconomic status of RISD students. Only a student’s potential economically disadvantaged status, as determined by the information provided on this form, is reported to the Texas Education Agency, and TEA maintains that information as confidential. RISD practices are in accordance with the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). Additional information regarding PPRA can be found in the RISD Student And Parent Guidebook.
WWJH PTA
Join the PTA
https://westwoodpta.membershiptoolkit.com/packet/7551
Support your school and stay informed! And please make sure your kid’s grade level is correct in the system. We will send you a weekly newsletter with information about upcoming events, deadlines, and more. Membership available for parents, students, and teachers. Remember – student membership also come with 4 homework passes!
Order your Spirit Wear
https://westwoodpta.membershiptoolkit.com/packet/7549
Show your school spirit. Support the Wolves.
Select WWJH on Amazon Smiles
Be sure to select PTA Texas Congress 7800 Westwood Jr High PTA when you purchase on Amazon. Amazon will donate a percentage of your eligible purchases back to your school just for shopping on Amazon. Win. Win.
2021 - 2022 BUS SCHEDULE
Dress Code
The Westwood Dress Code encourages a standard of dress that reflects a commitment to self-respect, pride in our school, and educational excellence.
(UPDATED) The district requires the wearing of facial coverings in the form of face masks. Masks must not have any messaging or imagery that is deemed inappropriate or offensive.
Dress should be clean, neat, appropriate, and have a positive effect on the learning environment. For items not covered in the bullet points (below) the Administration Team reserves the right to make judgment calls when it is in the best interest of the learning community.
Shorts, skirts, skorts, and dresses are acceptable as long as they are no higher than the students finger tips when arms flat at their side.
Jeans and pants can have holes in them as long as the holes are no higher than the acceptable length of skirts and shorts.
Shirt or dress shoulder straps must be at least two inches wide.
All shirts/tops must cover the length of the students torso. Tops that expose midriffs or are low cut will not be worn.
No head wear (unless of religious nature) including (but not limited to) ballcaps, cowboy hats, bandanas, beanies and hoods.
No offensive or inappropriate slogans or logo’s on any item of clothing (i.e. advertisements for liquor, beer, cigarettes, etc.)
No undergarments will be shown at any time.
No pajamas or house slippers. No blankets will be allowed.
Shoes should reflect the students' day's activities. Heels greater than 3-inches will not be worn.
We made it through our first week of school as a Westwood Wolf Pack. Over the next couple of weeks we will be having “minute meetings” with all our students. These are brief check-ins with your student to see how we can support them this year. Mrs. Scoggins, Mrs. Ruttenburg and Ms. Guillory are looking forward to getting to know all our wolves this year.
Schedules: We are going to begin the process of balancing classes. This is something that happens at every secondary school at the beginning of each year. Balancing is when we look at classes that have too many or too few students and try to level classes out. This is done through changing schedules. We can assure you that we do our best to minimize the disruptions. If your student’s schedule is changed due to balancing classes, we will communicate changes with the student. We know that a schedule change may be inconvenient but please have patience with us.
Office Aides: We are now taking applications for any current 8th graders who would like to be an office aide for this school year. Applications are available in the counseling office starting on Monday, August 23rd and are due back on Friday, August 27th. Students must be a current 8th grader, passed all their classes in 7th grade and had no major office referrals for discipline last school year. Office aides are used in both the front office and counseling office. If a student is selected as an office aide, it can only be to replace a non-high school credit bearing elective on their schedule. The counselors will communicate with students about their schedule change if they are selected as an office aide.
Forms below are REQUIRED for any athlete to practice, tryout, or compete in any athletic activity.
RISD Academic Calendar
RISD Secondary Grade Reporting Calendar
RISD COVID-19 Pandemic Site
Westwood Wire - August 2021 Editions
Westwood Junior High Math, Science & Leadership Magnet
Email: kathryn.mottram@risd.org
Website: https://schools.risd.org/WestwoodJH
Location: 7630 Arapaho Road, Dallas, TX, USA
Phone: 469-593-3600
Facebook: facebook.com/WestWoodJH/
Twitter: @WestwoodJH_RISD