Westchester Weekly
All-Star Newsletter February 4, 2021
Principal's Corner
Welcome to February! It's such an exciting month because WE get to celebrate Black History all month long. Although diversity is embedded within curriculum throughout the year, Black heritage will be highlighted throughout the month. Our faculty crew and students will enjoy a month long celebration of the contributions of Black people in America. Here's a great resource in case you are wondering why.
Beginning next week, I will offer lunch bunches for students. The first lunch bunch is Wednesday, February 10th at 12:15 pm. Please click here to register your child. It will be a fun 30 minutes of games while the students enjoy their lunch. There will be a limit of 20 participants in the lunch bunch, but don't worry. I plan to continue the lunch bunches through the end of the year. I want to spend time with every student. Parents and students will receive email confirmation of participation by Monday, February 8.
Thank you for your feedback, support and trust. I appreciate your encouragement and I value your honesty. I can't promise you perfection, but I am committed to a high standard of excellence. I hope you see the improvements as they are implemented based on your feedback. I remind you over and over again that we're in this together. I really do mean it.
Kindly,
Kimberly R. Watson, PhD
Principal
Westchester Elementary School
(404) 370-4400 Phone
(404) 370-3844 Fax
Upcoming Calendar Events
February- Black History Month is celebrated
February 5th- Virtual CC with Mrs. Querubin's Crew
February 8th- Bring in your Valentines- no treats
February 9th- BOE meeting at 6:30pm
February 11th- WE Parent Lunch 12:00pm-1:00pm
February 12th- King of Pops 3:00 pm-4:30pm
February 14th- Valentines Day
February 15th-19th- Winter Break- No school
Valentine Greetings
Our virtual teachers have plans for digital Valentines greetings with their students. In-person students are welcome to exchange printed Valentines, but they should be sent to Westchester by Monday, February 8th so that the cards can sit for at least 72 hours before teachers sort and distribute them for students. We are looking forward to celebrating love and we want to do so as safely as possible. Please do not send any edible sweets or treats for students on Valentine's Day.
Flybrary Update
OPTION 1: Thursday 10:00 AM-3:00 PM -Books will be bagged and labeled with the student’s name and placed on the front doorsteps for pick up during designated hours.
OPTION 2: Thursday In Person Delivery to classrooms- Books will be delivered to students' classroom.
*****Books must be reserved by 11:30 pm on Tuesday for pick-up or delivery on Thursday.*
News from our Nurse: In-person Schooling
From the Nurse
As we continue to adjust to this new in-person & virtual schedules, I wanted to take a moment and say Thank You. Thank you for notifying the school when your child is not feeling well, and keeping them home until they are symptom free or have a negative covid test. Your willingness to keep your child home if she/he has a sniffle or sore throat helps to keep us safe and well at school. Thank you for understanding when your child needs to be picked up for symptoms that in the past might have been monitored at school. WE are all in this together and by being proactive, we gain ground each day in the pursuit to have all our students back in-person.
We appreciate you!!
đź’— Nurse Nancy
Community Circle Dates-
Here are the upcoming dates:
2/5- Mrs.Querubin
2/26- Mrs. Querubin
Counselor's Corner
It’s National School Counseling Week! (February 1st-5th)
Click the link above to read stories, play games and learn more about school counselors’ role in supporting students’ social, emotional, academic and career success.
This week also kicks off Black History Month (BHM)!
Click the link to view a Black Lives Matter Reading Room you can explore and learn with your student(s) that includes music and stories to celebrate Black voices and leaders.
Counselor Appreciation Week is 2/1 - 2/5
Rebecca Peacock, our school counselor, is absolutely amazing and WE are so happy to have her on our crew. Her heart is so full of love that you can see her smile through her mask. It isn't easy to join a school during a pandemic. Trust me, I know! However, Ms. Peacock works hard and she hasn't missed a beat. She jumped right in as a support for our students and families, contributes a wealth of knowledge, plans the best activities, and works so well with everyone. I told you she's amazing. Let's shower Ms. Peacock with love and appreciation all week along. Please send a thoughtful email, card, make a banner, or anything else you can to make Ms. Peacock feel special. Our school counselor ROCKS!
Dine out/in Fundraiser
Have you tried Jimella's cookie sandwiches and treats? If you have, time to order more! First timers, get ready for yum!
Take care of all your Valentines by ordering AND give back to the Westchester PTA at the same time.
Emily Holden
Owner
PTA Update
Start Winter Break with a POP!
The Westchester Elementary PTA invites students and parents to stop by the King of Pops stand in front of the school from 3 - 4:30 pm on Friday, February 12th to jump start Winter Break. The PTA recognizes the students for their hard work and perseverance during the recent schedule changes. Please make a quick stop to pick up a pop and take it with you to enjoy as you start Winter Break!
What: King of Pops
When: Friday, Feb. 12th 3pm to 4:30pm
Where: In front of Westchester Elementary
Why: Westchester Wolves ROCK!
Decatur Strategic Plan for 202s..
The roundtables process included 800 registrants who contributed thousands of comments. Many of these comments about Decatur’s future were in agreement, but some topics revealed conflicting perspectives about how Decatur should chart its course for the next 10 years.
The 202s will allow for a deep dive on these topics. After hearing from subject matter experts, we will join together in virtual discussion groups to help understand tradeoffs and find balance among differing perspectives. Input will be used to form recommendations on how the Strategic Plan should address these issues. The 202s will seek to answer the question: “What does success look like in a community of 25K people within a metropolitan region of nearly 6 million people?”
Climate Change:
Thursday, February 11, 6-8 p.m.
Speakers will be announced closer to the event. All events will occur on Zoom and will be recorded and available after the meeting. Visit decatur2030.com for details.
From the CSD Special Education Department...
The Georgia Department of Education is requesting that parents who have a student with an IEP complete the Special Education Parent Satisfaction Survey. If you have more than one student who has an IEP, please fill out a separate survey for each student. This survey helps to guide our district and state toward a more meaningful collaboration, which helps to bring about good outcomes for our students' education. For questions concerning the survey please email Cheryl Grant cgrant@csdecatur.net. Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this survey.
City of Decatur News
WATCH NOW!
Decatur Education Foundation News
Load Up with New Books for Winter Break!
DEF is hosting a Covid-safe book sale at Legacy Park’s Cochran Building (the gym) just in time for Winter Break. There’s a large selection of gently used children’s books from toddler to high school at bargain prices! You can sign up for 20-minute shopping slots here.
The Tour Must Go On!
Due to Covid-19, DEF can’t host its annual Tour deCatur 5K and Fun Run in its usual in-person form. This year, we are offering a “Run Where You Are” 5K and Fun Run on the weekend of March 27th. 5K participants can register at www.tourdecatur.com where you can also order an event shirt. We hope this event will encourage the community to go outside to celebrate our health and the onset of spring. For some participants, this year’s Tour could be a goal to achieve or a fun family activity, and for others, it might just be exciting to have something to put on the calendar! 5K participants can submit a photo of their tracked time, and race results will be posted on the race website and on the DEF Facebook page in the week following the race.
The Joe’s Fund Challenge
Decatur Education Foundation and Decatur City Church are excited to announce they have joined forces to launch the Joe’s Fund Challenge! Decatur City Church’s Be Rich Campaign recently donated $25,000 to DEF’s Joe’s Fund which supports our kids’ behavioral health. Joe’s Fund, initiated by the family of Joe Bodine after his death in 2016, has been instrumental in the creation of the Decatur Student Center at Decatur High, as well as the recent expansion of services to Renfroe Middle School.
Together, DEF and Decatur City Church is challenging our community to help us raise an additional $25,000 to double the impact we can make collectively. Your contribution to Joe’s Fund today will help expand the behavioral health programming at the high school and middle school and will allow us to offer behavioral health grants to every K-5 school. Early intervention can help arm our students with the coping skills they need to face future challenges. Help us help our kids. Gifts to Joe’s Fund will ensure that we can continue to react to address the wide and varied needs of all of our kids. To take part in the challenge, please visit www.decatureducationfoundation.org/joesfund. Together, we make a difference!
Staff Shoutouts!
Each month, the District Dispatch features shoutouts from parents and students to our excellent teachers and staff at one of our schools. This month we are featuring Westchester Elementary School teachers and staff.
If you would like to shoutout your child’s teacher or a staff member, send an email to Sarah Jones at sjones1@csdecatur.net. Also, at the end of the school year, nominate your child’s teacher for the Extra Mile award. Keep an eye out for more information on how your student can nominate a teacher or staff member as we get closer to the end of the school year. You can find the past shoutouts on this page https://www.csdecatur.net/shoutouts.
Take Action Tuesdays!
Take Action Tuesday is a new weekly spotlight where CSD spotlights our students for their good deeds in our community. #OurKids are truly making the world a better place in so many ways and each Tuesday we will salute one student for their fantastic work. We need your suggestions! Do you know a CSD student who is working to make the world a better place in small or big ways? Let us know! Complete this form (https://forms.gle/WJaPFJZ8ojTtNCVK8) and they may be highlighted next week! Please be sure to include a photo!
CSD Nutrition
If your child is eating with us and requires vegetarian meals OR has a special dietary need, please fill out this google form: https://forms.gle/eyo5veaaAN8iBczp6
Vegetarian students are required to fill out this online form, and no further action is necessary. For our in-person students: we will have your child's meals labeled with their name at the front office/desk of their school. For our virtual students: we are prepared with the required amount of vegetarian meals at our TakeOutSpot at Decatur High School. Please pick-up meals on MWF between 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM.
Students with special dietary needs are required to return the completed form "Medical Statement for Accommodating Disabilities" to our Food and Nutrition Supervisor at sblack@csdecatur.net. Please note that a healthcare provider must fill out & sign the form. We must receive this completed paperwork before we can begin to make menu accommodations. Only filling out our google form or emailing our department is not sufficient documentation. In the past food allergies have been handled more so by individual schools and nurses, however, we are moving towards having all food allergy documentation come through the School Nutrition Department. If you have a student who is only requesting lactose-free milk, note that the paperwork "CSD Milk Substitution Form" can be filled out by a parent/guardian OR a healthcare provider. Please see our Special Diets webpage for more details: https://www.csdecatur.net/Page/1403
Students with special dietary needs who are learning in-person: we will have your child's meals labeled with their name at the front office/desk of their school. Students with special dietary needs who are learning virtually: we will have your child's meals labeled with their name at our TakeOutSpot at Decatur High School.
Our menus for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year will be pork-free. Thank you for your patience as we work through new processes this school year.
Important CSD Contacts
Here are few other webpages that might be helpful to parents are:
Important CSD Contacts: https://www.csdecatur.net/domain/1658
www.csdecatur.net/opening - a repository for all documents, announcements, and communications about how CSD is handling the 2020-2021 school year.
www.csdecatur.net/nutrition - How to order meals
www.csdecatur.net/transportation
www.csdecatur.net/bustracker - How to sign up for the new Predictable Ryde Bus tracking app used for meal delivery, soon for the Fly-brary, mobile book delivery and when in-person learning resumes to track students on their buses
https://virtual.csdecatur.net/tech-help (how parents and staff can put in a tech support request)
https://virtual.csdecatur.net/students - classroom login information
https://virtual.csdecatur.net/parents - Virtual Learning Handbooks
********************************************************Please check our weekly newsletters, emails as well as your student's Google Classroom for all upcoming news and events.
Westchester Elementary School
Email: bnation@csdecatur.net
Website: https://www.csdecatur.net/Westchester
Location: 758 Scott Boulevard, Decatur, GA, USA
Phone: 404-370-4400