The Western Weekly
Issue 31: April 20th, 2019
Fifth Grade Dance: Flying Into Spring!
With the help of many gracious parent volunteers, our fifth grade team worked hard to transform our gymnasium into a space for a dance, but also provided games, a photo booth (as you can see above, the kids really liked the photo booth!), snacks, and of course, a playlist that would encourage moving and grooving on the dance floor! Thank you to all of the parents and teachers who helped make this school dance possible, especially Mrs. Santoro, Ms. Hentsch, Ms. Gear, Mrs. Pasqua, Mrs. Kubas, Ms. Kubas, Mr. Hood and Mrs. Panozzo. We ended our dance with a calming movie, "Meet The Robinsons," and we so enjoyed spending time with our fifth grade students.
While there are just seven short weeks left in the school year, we want to create as many memories as possible with our children so that they enter middle school remembering all of the positive experiences they had at Western Avenue. More photos to be posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/district161wa. Go Wolves!
First Graders Loving Learning!
Lifelong Friendships
Positive Behavior Referral Students!
4th Graders Delivering Lunch Tickets
2nd Graders Earn Their Recess and Lunch Tickets for Positive Behavior!
Every Kid Healthy Week Calendar
IAR Testing Update and Schedule for Grades 3-5
Parents, please remember that this is an assessment in both English Language Arts (ELA) and math, and it will be taken on your child's chromebook. We have had more than a few students arrive to school with chromebooks that are not charged, or without headphones. Please remember that a charged chromebook and headphones are necessary for the completion of this assessment. We appreciate your partnership and support as we continue testing for the next two weeks.
The student scores for this assessment are what will determine a portion of our ESSA designation for the Illinois School Report Card. Where we use the MAP assessment to look closely at student growth, the IAR gives us data on levels of student grade-level proficiency. Both student growth and grade level proficiency are important indicators for academic achievement.
The testing calendar for the entire IAR window is below, and I will keep posting this in our Western Weekly for the month of April.
There are things that you can do at home to help prepare your child for days when they have to test at school. Please make sure that your child receives a good night's sleep before they take any of their assessment units. Each grade level will test for a total five days. Please make sure that you child arrives to school on time and that they have had a healthy breakfast. All of our units are scheduled for the mornings when our children are fresh and ready to give their best. This assessment is administered on our chromebooks, so please make sure that your child's chromebook is charged the night before their test. Finally, please make sure your child has a snack packed, as testing can make kiddos very hungry!
If you have any questions or concerns about IAR testing, please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher. Go Wolves, we will continue to crush the IAR!
Angels Sports Clinics!
Traffic Flow at Arrival and Dismissal
Parents, we understand that everyone is rushing to get their days started in the morning. However, we need to do a better job driving safely in the drop-off and pick-up lines. We have three staff members directing traffic at the front lot, two staff members posted at door I (primary playground), and multiple people posted at the playgrounds and blacktop area between the playgrounds. We also have one person stationed in the North parking lot. Please remember that there is a traffic flow. Students must be dropped off in the designated car lines. Please do not drop off your children on any other street or sidewalk other than the designated lines. Please do not wait in line to make sure your child walks to the door because that stops the flow for other parents behind you. And please be very mindful when you are pulling away from the car line. There should only be one priority for morning drop off and afternoon pick up--and that priority is the safety of all our kids at Western Avenue. If we all work together, we can ensure the safety of all students. Thank you!
Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful week!
Western Avenue Elementary
Website: http://westernavenue.sd161.org/
Location: 940 Western Avenue, Flossmoor, IL
Phone: (708) 647-7400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/district161wa/
Twitter: @western161