Westwood Way
Happenings In Panther Nation - November 2018
Panther Pride
Recently I watched a video on LinkedIn with Dr. Jill Balzer, principal of Haltom Middle School. I watched this video because of Haltom Middle School having extremely high test scores and the fact that they have similar demographics as our district.
During the interview, Dr. Balzer discussed that successful schools believe in building relationships and they have high expectations. The next thought she shared resonated with me, and this is where I want to focus on this month. Dr. Balzer stated that the staff at Haltom Middle School must care more about the students failing than they care about themselves failing.
At first glance, this may not make sense, but as I thought about this statement, I realized it intertwined with one of our Belief Statements: We are all a part of the Panther Family.
Belonging to a family means there are deep connections and a bond that creates a strong emotional attachment. When I think about my family members, I know that the love is so deep that I will do anything for them even when it appears that they aren’t doing anything for themselves. Even when they turn their back on me, I will always be there to help them, and I will continue to do that time after time. But isn’t that what family means, to sometimes care more about them than they care about themselves?
We have to understand that failing is not always associated with grades and caring is not just giving them what they want. Caring is digging deep to understand why something is happening and then doing whatever it takes to help the student overcome the challenge. Caring is adjusting our schedule to meet the needs of the struggling student or parents. Caring is having a conversation with a student that holds them accountable but is centered in love. Caring is fighting the good fight because every Westwood ISD student deserves to have a champion fighting for them!!
If we truly believe that we are all part of the Panther Family, we must be there for our students. They need to be guided, challenged, supported, pushed, encouraged, held accountable, loved, and most importantly, they need somebody to be there when they aren’t making the best decisions. I know that when I reflect on my time as a student, I didn’t always make the best decisions but thankfully, I had people that were there for me. I’m thankful they cared more than I did at the time!
Now it is our turn. Forty years from now, which student will say that they are thankful that YOU cared MORE than they did?
Wade
School Board Update
During the November Board Meeting, the following items came before the School Board:
BWA, District Architects, presented an update on the Facility Advisory Committee meetings. Early designs and photos from school tours were shared. BWA also shared concept drawings and early cost analysis of possible future buildings.
Michael Hornes, Palestine City Manager, and Mr. Stanford discussed with the Board the possibility of the development of a city park in the future.
Dr. Kyle Penn presented the requirements and details of the FIRST report. The District FIRST report will be presented during a public hearing in December.
Edwin Schuessler presented information over common phishing attacks. Mr. Schuessler provided examples and ways to protect ourselves from them.
Richard Bishop presented adjustments to athletic handbook along with weather guidelines for practice and games.
Curriculum
Recently, I have come across a new phrase that has caused reflection, analysis, and action. What is it you may wonder? Well…… Disruptive Technology ….. That’s right! Hearing the term for the first time lends one to think it means technology that is disrupting the educational process or instruction itself. This term refers to a curriculum and pedagogical practices within the classroom that require educators at all levels to think and act differently than they may have in the past. After personal reflection on the district vertical alignment day, I saw pockets of this occurring and realization sparking among staff members. One example of a comment related to this was instruction might have to change regardless of the old saying, "that’s how we have always done it” to "what do we need to do to best serve our students?” Witnessing these conversations was indeed a sweet moment!
Our district November vertical alignment day revealed organic conversation that highlighted our desire(s) and expectations for ourselves and students within each department. Whether we know it or not, we all hold ourselves to a specific standard. Continuing our conversations that have started on this day by truly reflecting with our teams will drive the work on our next vertical alignment day in February. I appreciate the focused hard work, commitment, and transparent conversations that occurred during our planning day. Please take a few minutes to complete the vertical alignment survey from November’s meeting. Click Here to complete the vertical alignment feedback survey.
Teacher learning walks is a new concept we will begin to utilize to shape instruction while learning from each other. The teacher learning walks are currently evolving on two campuses. Both Primary and Elementary staff were trained at the start of November on the teacher learning walk process and began the understanding of the instructional core. The instructional core (Teacher > Student > Content that revolves around the student task) is a basic framework process we will use to improve the quality of instruction and the level of student learning. Learning walks will begin after Thanksgiving break on these two campuses and expand to other campuses in semester two.
Special Programs
The Westwood ISD Response to Intervention (RtI) process has experienced significant growth in the last two years. Working as a team, we have been able to put some procedures in place to enhance the district’s intervention process. We have a teacher on each campus who has used multiple data points to create and complete spreadsheets to identify students who are in need of Tier 2 and Tier 3 targeted interventions in reading and/or mathematics. We appreciate the commitment and patience it takes from everyone to collect the necessary data to make these decisions. The four teachers have met collectively with Region 7 Intervention Specialist, Dr. Quentin Woods, throughout this first semester to strengthen consistency across the district. Through these meetings, and the hard work of our intervention staff, our student’s needs are being met, and we are better able to identify those who may need further support. This, of course, is an ongoing process and we continue to explore ideas that will strengthen our intervention practices.
We realize that all district staff is responsible for assisting with student intervention at some level. Whether we are taking care of the facilities, so students have a safe and clean place to learn, driving them to school each morning, feeding them, so they have the energy to participate in class or providing a targeted academic intervention, we all play a role in educating our students. We appreciate the efforts that go into growing the whole child every day at Westwood ISD. Thank you for being an instrumental part of the Panther Family and the difference you make in the lives of our students.
Business & Finance
The finance department has been busy doing final touches in preparation for the auditors to arrive next month. We are looking forward to closing out last fiscal year in time to begin the budget preparation for 2019-2020 in the spring! There is always juggling between the past, current, and future year - but it keeps things interesting that way!
We are excited with our superior FIRST rating in accountability, which is the highest level a district can achieve. This is the TEA rating for financial accountability and will be presented in a public hearing next month. It is achieved by the hard-working team committed to financial transparency.
PEIMS
Westwood PEIMS department is moving right along toward the end of this first semester. Continuing our new processes of reconciling our six-weeks data is proving to be successful! Different departments are taking responsibility for data and ensuring students are coded correctly while receiving the services assigned. We are very proud of the diligence of campus staff and PEIMS clerks that ensure the quality of data reported is at a high standard. While completing Term 2, the Campus Clerks are also collecting and correcting data for our Fall Submission snapshot due to the state this month. Multi-tasking is in full gear for these ladies, and they are doing a great job!
While much progress is being made, we are right in the middle of submission and with that comes challenges. Fall Submission is a snapshot data collection of the last Friday in the month of October. Data is carefully being reviewed and revised as needed at this time. The data collected during this submission includes staff, responsibilities, contracted services, student data, enrollment, special programs and more! TEA uses this data to calculate compensatory entitlement, monitor special programs, calculate retention, etc.. We know each department is hard at work with daily responsibilities, and yet we all pull together to make a team! Thank you PEIMS team!
There is always much work to do, and we are always planning and working hard to grow and create better practices. There are new ideas coming for improvements! We will keep you posted.
Food Service
Food Services was a beehive of activity as Thanksgiving lunches were served before the Thanksgiving break. The lunch service at the Elementary on Wednesday was a huge success; the clients were very delighted to have fresh baked turkey with gravy, dressing and side dishes followed by made from scratch cherry crisp. I must personally applaud the cafeteria staff for their hard work and extra efforts put into making this meal service a delightful success. I also want to thank the custodial staff and maintenance personnel who pitched in to help keep the cafeteria clean and efficient, so all the guests had a wonderful dining experience. I also appreciate the campus staff for communicating with the parents and grandparents to promote attendance and participation.
The regular meal service is getting good feedback from the students on all of the campuses and participation is increasing.
Facilities Services
The Facility Services Departments have been productive over the past month completing a number of
projects. Repairs were made on exterior lighting, and lighting timers have been adjusted. Athletic fields
have been overseeded with winter rye grass and fertilized. The front doors to the High School have
been replaced with new, more durable doors. The portable building to the south of the High School has
been removed, and the demolition debris has been cleaned up. Kudos to our Facility Services
Departments for all of their hard work, and swift response to incoming work requests.
As the seasons change, we will be focusing our efforts on other types of work. All of our plumbing in
buildings that are not climate controlled will be winterized. Our Maintenance Department will be
working on heaters and inspecting them for proper operation. The Grounds Crew will be out making
repairs to fences and cleaning up campuses. And as always, we will be working hard to stay on top of
incoming work orders.
Transportation
I would like to thank our Administration and School Board for approving The Safety Award Jackets for the 2018 year. Our Department has not had a bus accident in two years. My staff has done an excellent job of transporting students on bus routes daily and numerous trips. We will continue to put students first and raise the level of expectation for our department.
Stacy Clark was selected for Employee of the Month for Transportation. Stacy does an excellent job daily and is a pleasure to work with. Stacey supports the students on the Life Skills bus. She is working on her teaching degree in Education.
We also received two new buses. A 77 Passenger Bluebird bus and a 14 passenger activity bus were purchased for the district. We are in the process of having a new gas fueling station installed. In closing, I appreciate the continued support from everyone.
Technology
I'm excited to announce that Technology has purchased Identity Automation's product Rapid Identity to automate and streamline user account provisioning and de-provisioning for real-time updates to on-premise systems and our cloud-based applications. Once implemented, we will have a fully automated identity lifecycle process that will ensure user accounts are automatically created and managed across all systems from beginning to end. The delegated administration and end-user self-service functionality of this program will empower our users and future-proof our user account management process.
During October, Amplified IT carried out an extensive audit of our G Suite for Education (GFE). We just received their 78-page findings report and will be developing a project plan to review and implement suggested changes to GFE.
Soon we will be returning the 65" interactive flat panel display unit that Boxlight through Visual Techniques Inc. allowed us to demo onsite for several weeks. I have heard nothing but positive feedback regarding this device. It is exciting to see the possibilities in which this type of technology can bring to instruction and our students at Westwood. Thank you Boxlight and VTI.
As a department, we are continuing to maintain and support our current systems and infrastructure by monitoring, tweaking and resolving problems as they arise.
Athletics
We are focusing on building Champions instead of Winning Championships.
We had a 100% pass rate in all sports at the varsity level for the 2nd Six Weeks. Breakfast with Champions is a great mentor program that is gaining traction weekly.
Philosophy
The Panther Mission Statement: (program/coach’s part)
To GROW men and women of integrity who relentlessly pursue excellence.
The Panther Vision Statement: (athlete’s part)
GROW Everyday
Execute Westwood DNA
Be the toughest program in Texas
WESTWOOD DNA (core values):
Energy/Tempo Monday - relentless effort. We will attack with tenacity and make them quit.
Competition Tuesday - 1-0 Mentality. We are one play warriors who always compete.
Toughness Wednesday - comfortable being uncomfortable. We will impose our will and dominate with toughness.
Family Appreciation Thursday - value others above ourselves. We are a team of ‘foxhole’ brothers.
Discipline/Finish Friday - Discipline - always doing what needs to be done. We will continue to row the boat everyday.
Finish - do more than is expected. We are a freight train that terrorizes with our finish.
Updated results from Volleyball, Cross Country, Football and Basketball:
Volleyball:
The Lady Panther Volleyball Team finished off an extremely impressive season including a trip to the playoffs. They finished the year at 28-14. The sub-varsity teams had success as well; Junior High combined record of 20-12.
Cross Country
The Varsity Boys finished in 13th place out of 32 teams at the Regional Meet in Huntsville. Great Season.
Football:
The Westwood Football program finished up their season last on Senior Night against Coldspring. The sub-varsity teams experienced success this year; JV Finished 6-4 on the year; 8th grade is 7-1; 7th grade is 5-3. (Combined 18-8 on the season)
Basketball:
Lady Panther Basketball is already experiencing success. They opened up their regular season schedule at Kemp and walked away with a 58-32 WIN (1-0). Girls and Boys Basketball are competing in the Athens Tournament this weekend.