West Hills STEM Academy
December 2019
Mission/Vision
West Hills STEM Academy is dedicated to working with our community to serve the whole child, fostering the lifelong learner skills of persistence, confidence and readiness to thrive and contribute to society.
Life, Career and College Ready!
December & January Calendar
Dec. 4 - Donuts with Grown Ups, K-5th, 8:35 am - 9:00 am in the Flex Space
Dec. 20 - School Spirit Day- Pajama Day
Dec. 22-Jan. 3 Winter Break - No School
Jan. 15 - Family Night, gym, 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Jan. 20 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No School
Jan. 21 School Spirit Day - Griffin Spirit Day
Jan. 22 - School Spirit Day - Crazy Hat Day
Jan. 23 - School Spirit Day - Future/Career Day
Jan. 31 - Non- Student Day - No School
Volunteering in Our Schools
Volunteers make a major difference in the lives of children.
Steps for First-Time and Renewing Volunteers
1. COMPLETE AN APPLICATION ONLINE HERE
2. PROVIDE IDENTIFICATION AFTER you complete the online application. You will need to present a valid Driver’s License or photo ID (it must show your date of birth). We cannot process the online portion without this.
PLEASE NOTE: It is unlawful to copy Military IDs for this purpose.
The processing time is roughly 2 weeks. If you are planning on attending a field trip or helping in a classroom please plan accordingly and get your application in as soon as possible.
Volunteers are cleared for 2 years! If you have been cleared at another school in the district let us know and we can pull that information to our school as well!
Students of the Month for November
Ashton Baur
Ava Young
Dorian White
Tawhlarus Baker
Sadie Berg
Jade Rainbow
Emily Cortes Conzalez
Jordan Copenhaver
Guillermo Miguel
Eliana Stamey
Rajan Jones
Brittany Gaspar Raymundo
Adriel Tancinco
Riya Hewitt
Deago Aquino
Ethan Warren
Allison Murphy
Albert Tagoai
Benny Borrego
Allison Reyes
Adrian Ndugu
Ana Mask
Janelle Holt
Aisha Sadullah
Impressive Attendance!
Every month we have a random drawing for those K-5 and 6-8 students who had PERFECT Attendance for the Month. In addition, the classroom with the HIGHEST average gets to have a stuffed GRIFFIN in their classroom for the month. Below are our honorees for the month of October.
Students
Darrylon Aldridge
Haili Young
Madyson Waters
William Matthews
Classes
Mrs. Botti
Mrs. Bunch
Mrs. Nelson
Ms. Magiera
Griffin CHAMPs (formerly the Self Manager Program)
Griffin Champs for K-5 is fully up and running!
Why the change in name? Griffin Champs represents both our mascot and the rules we follow throughout the school each day.
Another change is that all students receive an application right away and have the opportunity to show their awesome Griffin Champ behavior and earn all of the required signatures. This gives students a taste of success from the beginning. We cannot wait to see all of our Students with badges very soon!
iReady: What is it? How can my student get on iReady at home?
i-Ready is an online program for reading and/or mathematics that will help your child’s teacher determine your child’s needs, personalize their learning, and monitor progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows your teacher to meet your child exactly where they are and provides data to increase your child’s learning gains. i-Ready consists of two parts: Diagnostic and Instruction.
To see more information for families to support your student's learning in iReady, please go to
http://i-readycentral.com/familycenter/ where more information is available.
Leveled Recess
What leveled recess is: a program to help our students be more successful so they and others may enjoy their recess time
What leveled recess is not: a punitive program that takes away recess
The procedure for moving a student to leveled recess:
- The student will receive a blue slip for concerning behavior displayed at recess (classroom behaviors are not tied to leveled recess)
- An administrator will assess the behavior and decide if it is necessary for the student to be on leveled recess
- An administrator will contact parents and relay the leveled recess plan to paraeducators (via email- teachers will be copied)
Leveled Recess will have 5 levels:
Level 5: Normal Recess
Level 4: Check-in Check-out. Students will check-in and check out with a para at recess each day. This is a verbal check-in/out. Students will discuss what went well and what they can work on for next time.
Level 3: Specific Spot on playground or field (student may be restricted to one piece of equipment or spot on the playground/field where they are still able to play)
Level 2: Shadow Para or Assigned Spot (student will "shadow" a para and stay near them or they will be assigned a specific spot where they are still able to play).
Level 1: Indoor Recess (this will be in the breezeway with Ms. Dains- she has board games and legos as well as other things for our students to play with)
Family Access
Get Connected with EA+ (Skyward)
Family Access!
Check in with our front office to get signed up for online access and update your information. Through this service you can:
- check on lunch funds
- check grades (Middle Level students)
- receive e-flyers, including notice of PTA Events
Did you know?
Bremerton is a Title 1 School District and West Hills STEM receives additional funding to support continued improved student performance. The requirements and responsibilities for building capacity are as follows:
West Hills STEM, to the extent practicable, provides full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities and parents of migratory children. We provide information and school reports in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents understand. To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school, parents and the community, our district and schools assisted by Title 1 provide opportunities
1. Through family nights, parent conferences, special events, participation in district and school committees, multimedia resources and information, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school or district, as appropriate, in understand topics such as:
a. Child development and social/behavioral development and concerns
b. The state’s early learning goals and academic content standards and state academic achievement standards
c. State and local assessments
d. The requirements of Title I.
e. How to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children.
f. Available extended learning opportunities
g. Available community resources.
2. Provide Materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve
their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parent involvement. (i.e. bookflix)
3. Ongoing professional development for all staff regarding current struggles of families, outreach and resources available to families and how to partner with families.
All our Title I schools coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with Headstart, Before and After school care, community preschools and other community organizations such as Salvation Army Homeless camp that have families whose students attend our schools.
Title 1 Parent Involvement Policy
Our Title I Parent Involvement Policy was shared at the PTA meeting on October 15, 2019 at 6:00 pm. At that time, parents had the opportunity to review the plan and provide feedback.
The compact was sent given to parents at conferences on November 7-8, 2019. Every student and parent/guardian had an opportunity to review and sign our school/parent/student compact that outlines what each member of the team will do to help make your student successful at school.
Follow Us On Twitter & Facebook
For up to the minute news, tweets from students, and a glimpse into what
#180DaysofSTEM looks like! Follow us at
@WHSTEMAcademy