Grizzly Gazette- 12/12/2022

It's a special time to be a Grizzly as we continue our Holiday Break countdown with eight more days! Remember- this year the Academic Calendar extends through until December 21st before the break begins. The last day of school this month is Wednesday, December 21st! (This is different than years past where we would be done around the 16th.) Be sure to note the High School Credit Courses Final Exam dates below if your student is in a high school credit course.

Last week students completed their TEA-Interim Assessment in both RLA (Reading/Language Arts) and Math. Please note that it is very normal for your student to feel like they did not do well on these tests. The interim assessment covers all TEKS for that grade level and teachers have not gotten through all course material yet. We still use this as valuable data to help students with what they have already learned. Students will get more information about their performance after the break.

Students will take this assessment again in the Spring as the benefit of this assessment is the STAAR-Predictive reports it offers.

We also want to give a special Shout Out to some of our students who competed in a district coding event- Holiday Hack-A-Thon - Friday and earned 1st place in the Microbit Challenge! Kudos to Ms. Merriweather and Ms. Moody who took this team of students to compete.

Finally, on Friday our WBMS PTO led a patio clean-up (pictures below) and our courtyard is now officially dedicated to Dean Nathalie Hoyt. A memorial bench was installed right outside the Library window. What a great way to make this part of our campus special for all who use it!

This week our Winter Events continue so come support our students as they perform.

Let's make it a great week!

• Mon, Dec 12- COVID-19 Testing (info below)
• Tue, Dec 13 - West Briar Campus Tour- 10AM
• Wed, Dec 14- West Briar Winter Dance Showcase
• Thu, Dec 15- Spelling Bee- Qualifying Round
• Thu, Dec 15- Basketball (Schedules below)
• Tue, Dec 15*- Softball Tryouts (info below) **Change in Date
• Sat, Dec 17- Theater Presents- Miracle on 34th Street- 6PM
• Sun, Dec 18- Theater Presents- Miracle on 34th Street- 2PM
• Tue, Dec 20- West Briar Spelling Bee
• Thu, Dec 22 - Mon, Jan 9- Winter Holiday
• Sat, Jan 28- School Choice Fair- Westside HS- 9AM- 12PM (flyer below)

WBMS AM Announcements Link

***Date for tryouts has been changed to Thursday due to rain***

Attention all 6th, 7th, & 8th grade students interested in joining West Briar's softball team this year. Softball tryouts will take place on Thursday, December 15th from 4:30pm-7:00pm on Field 4 at the Memorial Area Girls Softball Association (MAGSA) located behind Ray K. Daily Elementary.

To try out, all students must bring a hard copy of their physical and a copy of their last report card to the first day of tryouts. You will also need to bring a copy of the Parent/Student Contact Form which can be found on Softball website. If you have any question- see the West Briar Softball website or email Coach Levenson- kwilli64@houstonisd.org.

Special Thanks to our WBMS PTO who helped us clean-up our patio courtyard Friday. This clean-up was to dedicate our patio and install the below beautiful memorial bench in honor of our beloved Dean Nathalie Hoyt. It turned out great!

The HISD School Board updated our Student Attendance Policy to mirror the Texas Education Code (TEC) 25.092 (Attendance for Credit 90% Rule). A student in grade levels K-12 should not be given credit or final grade for a class unless the student is in attendance 90% of the days in which the class is offered.

We will continue to remind students the importance of attendance- in all class periods. In middle school and high school, the 90% rule applies to each individual class period. This includes coming to school late and remaining in all classes throughout the class period.

Students who have accumulated more than 10% absences in their courses during the school year will have asterisks (NG) printed on their report cards next to the courses in which the excessive absences occurred. These students will be denied credit in these courses based on the current HISD attendance policy unless the attendance committee grants credit because the absences are due to extenuating circumstances.

• Students who lose credit due to excessive absences may appeal if the student achieves an average of 70 or above at the end of the semester in which the no-credit (NG) status appears.
• All Attendance Committee meetings and appeals for the 22-23SY must be cleared by June 15, 2023.

HISD will be offering free COVID-19 PCR Testing at West Briar again this school year. This testing will be every other week and is completely voluntary. Testing will be offered to everyone (students & staff) who consents, even if they don't have symptoms of COVID-19. Testing is free, quick, and easy and done by Fulgent Genetics trained medical professionals with a short, shallow nasal swab.

Test results will be available within 24-48 hours.

• Learn more about testing here: https://www.houstonisd.org/COVIDTestingFAQ.
• Complete the consent process by visiting this website: http://www.houstonisd.org/COVIDtesting.
• Contact Fulgent if you need help completing the consent process at mailto:cshou@fulgentgenetics.com or by calling 346-803-5828, Option 2.

Testing Schedule at West Briar - 10AM, Mondays

• November 28
• December 12
• (past December- TBA)

West Briar's Spelling Bee competition is starting soon! The West Briar Spelling Bee will be held on December 20 at 9am. If you'd like to participate in the spelling bee, there will be a qualifying round on December 15th. See Ms. Miller in the Library for more information- including the Spelling Bee packet!

We are looking for a group of parents that would be able to help us translate with parents of different languages. Unfortunately, the district does not provide translators which makes it difficult for us to communicate with some of our parents.

If you are able to offer your time and translating abilities for any of the languages below, please reach out to our Social Worker- Ms. Madison Taylor at madison.taylor@houstonisd.org. We would truly appreciate it!

Languages Needed

• Arabic
• Pashto
• Persian/Farsi/Dari
• Swahili
• Ukrainian
• Russian
• Vietnamese

Canvas gives parents access to student learning. Parents/Guardians interested in monitoring student's Canvas courses, calendars, and announcements can use the Canvas Parent App. More information can be found here: Canvas for Parents

*Please note that West Briar is transitioning to this new learning management system and therefore, some teachers utilize it more regularly than others. Expect that teachers will have a Canvas course home page set up.

Families can show their support of West Briar MS by donating to this year's Grizzly Giving campaign. All funds raised will go directly to support WBMS students, teachers, projects, and programs! Please see the flyer below for more details. You can also download the form here: Grizzly Giving Form

More information can be found on our PTO website here.

Attendance: Mr. Anderson- compassion.anderson@houstonisd.org

Registration/Enrollment- Ms. Rodriguez- laura@houstonisd.org

Nurse: Nurse Papillion- rebecca.papillions@houstonisd.org

Special Education Secretary: Ms. Aguilera- joana.aguilera@houstonisd.org

6th Grade House Secretary: Mr. Rachal- tony.rachal@houstonisd.org

7th Grade House Secretary: Ms. Bass- vbass2@houstonisd.org

8th Grade House Secretary: Ms. Young- syoung1@houstonisd.org

Social Worker: Ms. Taylor- madison.taylor@houstonisd.org

Wraparound Specialist: AJ Buadu- Adjua.Buadu@houstonisd.org

Campus Administrators Webpage (includes new School Counselors)

Faculty/Staff Directory