Westwood Weekly
Staff Newsletter - Week of May 12-19
This Week:
I hope all you mothers out there had a wonderful day yesterday, celebrating you! I sincerely hope that you all had a marvelous Mother's Day, filled with love, laughter, and maybe even some rest! Thank you to everyone who was able to make it out to our parade on Friday. Although it seemed like we had a smaller turnout than past parades, I saw some new faces out there, which was nice.
As always, there are many plates spinning at the same time, but now we have the additional challenge of the end-of-year crunch. This week, we will be drafting plans for cleaning out classrooms, distributing students' personal items, and collecting Chromebooks; working on finalizing plans for 5th grade promotion, Kindergarten advancement, and Volunteer Appreciation; scheduling remaining 504 and Special Education transition meetings, and more!
For teacher planning, I understand from Shannon Ortland that the i-Ready Diagnostic 3 is optional for all grades and subjects due to inequitable access. If you would like some or all of your students to be assigned the Diagnostic, please email me ASAP with the following information: 1) the date on which you would like the test to be made available, 2) which subject, and 3) which students. I also ask that you attempt to work with your students on submitting the 3rd District-wide Writing Assignment. Please be sure you are providing some feedback to the students who are submitting assignments, just as you would if they were turning them into you in class. This is especially important on those tasks that relate directly to any of the identified priority standards we are focusing on during distance learning.
This Week:
-Lunch served M, W, and F at EDMS (11-12:30)
-Soul Shoppe Workshops (daily, 1:30-2:15)
Monday, 5/11: =
-SST Meeting for JD-Spink (1:30)
-3rd-5th Grade Collaboration and Support Meeting (1-2pm)
-MDUSD School Board Meeting (7:00 pm) - agenda
Tuesday, 5/12:
-Mindfulness Lesson (10am)
-1st/2nd Grade Collaboration and Support Meeting (1-2pm) - Zoom link
-SST Meeting for AR-Mirner (1-2pm)
-IEP Meeting for GO-Kirby (2:30pm)
Wednesday, 5/13:
-Mindfulness Lesson (10am)
-Coordinated Care Team Zoom Meeting (10:30am)
-Mandatory Certificated Staff Meeting (2:00pm)
-Community Advisory Committee Parent Night In (7:00 pm) - Zoom link
Thursday, 5/14:
-Mindfulness Lesson (10am)
-IEP Meeting for Gabriel M-Kirby (12:30pm)
-Special Topic Support Meeting (1-2pm; Topic TBD) - link to topic
-IEP Meeting for EC-Monroe (2:30pm)
Friday, 5/15:
-District DHH Check-in with Amy (10:30am)
-TK/K Collaboration and Support Meeting (1-2pm)
This Week in AVID
Just in time for Teacher Appreciation Week, AVID Open Access is a brand new, free collection of virtual instruction resources that includes lessons, tips and strategies, and STEM activities for every grade level. It also includes modules for teachers who want to reflect on their transition from face to face to virtual instruction. HERE is a quick video summary of what AVID Open Access offers.
Jeanne Johnson - Instructional Coach for AVID, Social Studies and Secondary Literacy
Google Classroom: EAVK628PBIS - Connection Before Content
Soul Shoppe - Soul Shoppe has designed a website specifically for Westwood! There are 2 lessons ready for us on our private page - check it out, and please share with our community!
PBIS Incentives - Are you looking for ways to keep your students engaged, or to just get them to show up? Check out these idea for FREE incentives.
Student Connection - Continue to update these documents as information changes:
End of Year Notes
Teacher/ staff laptops: Questions have come up regarding staff computers. As in past years, staff computers will be looked over by site and network techs during the summer. This is especially critical this summer as there is a shorter window to complete the work, a lot of new projects, and less techs to do the work. I will be working with Matt to determine the timeline. Please let us know if you plan to be teaching ESY, as this will impact when you turn in your device.
Reports of Student Progress (aka Report Cards)
- The report card window opened up the first week of May.
- Any area where a standards-based rating cannot be given, students should received a NA-Not Assessed. It is expected that most students will be receiving mostly (if not all) NAs for the 3rd trimester on any standard they were not able to assess fully during the 1st or 2nd trimesters. (District administrators are currently working with the company to add 'NA' as a drop-down option for PE/ART, etc.).
- The following comment will be added to all elementary report cards. "Schools were closed for the 3rd trimester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Not Assessed (NA) mark was used by staff not as a reflection of student performance but of the inability to collect the student work necessary to assess accurately due to the unique distance learning situation."
- Teachers can complete their report cards early and distribute them along with the student items the last week of May (when personal items are distributed, and Chromebooks returned).
Yearbooks
Spanish Tech Support Available
During our DELAC meeting, parents expressed their need for technical support in Spanish. Parents may contact our Spanish speaking Tech., Mr. Mario, who will be able to assist them in Spanish. Mr. Mario's number (925) 542-8073. Please include this information in your communication with families: “Durante nuestra reunión de DELAC, los padres de habla hispana expresaron la necesidad de apoyo técnico en español. Los padres pueden llamar directamente al Sr. Mario, nuestro técnico de habla hispana, que les podrá ayudar en español. Sr. Mario's number (925) 542-8073."