Principal Corner
I am saddened by the fact we can’t return this year to embrace our students and to finish off the year face to face, but I totally understand the decision by the governor as he looks out for the safety and well being of all students and staff. As we have done over the past six weeks of planning and preparing for distance learning for students, we will finish off the year with tremendous effort and energy to give our students the conclusion they deserve for the 2019-20 school year. Don’t lose hope during this trying time, stay positive, and know you are appreciated everyday by parents, students, and me! Thank you for your commitment and dedication to our students at Westwood! I appreciate your collaboration and teamwork each day, you amaze me…Keep up the outstanding work. Stay positive, this storm will soon pass!
Grade Level/Content Orders 2020-21
Currently we are on hold with ordering materials for next year. We will soon get the go ahead to make orders for the 2020-21 school. All orders will be handled through Abby and she is starting to gather the paperwork and forms for teams. Please connect with your grade level members to begin the discussion process of what will need to be ordered for the next year.
For the grade levels that had remaining money in their budgets for this year, it will be in the carry over fund for the 2020-21 school year. Abby will keep track of the money that is remaining in each account to make sure that it is put into the correct accounts nest year.
Admin Intern Report
Thank you all for all you do for our students and families each day. I know it can feel at times like we aren’t doing enough, but please know you are! You are putting out amazing lessons, continuing to foster relationships, and fulfilling all of your professional duties that sometimes seem overwhelming. We see this and we are in awe!
Just an update on attendance. This is the latest from the district:
At this time we have decided that students that login to e-learning should be marked present even if they don't complete the work assigned.
***We ask that if you have coded a student with an attendance type of "C" due to no work completion, but they did login to e-learning... that you mark the student present.***
Please continue to monitor attendance in this way. If you feel a student or family is in need of some extra support please let me know. I am always happy to reach out. Take care of yourselves and enjoy the weekend!
Professional Development Days- May 1st & 4th
Please let your parents know, but it was also sent out by Superintendent Jett yesterday in his communication to parents and staff that students will not have school on May 1st or the 4th with these days being designated as Professional Development days for staff as issued by the Governor. More details on what we plan to accomplish on those days in upcoming information that will be shared out. I have a meeting this afternoon to address these days next week. I will also send out the information to parents in the family newsletter.
Achievement Article-COVID-19
This is an article we looked at during our weekly principal meeting. I found some of the details to be quite interesting. I am attaching it for you to look at when you have a free moment. It looks at some of the facts with achievement declines with students during the COVID-19 outbreak and going through distance learning for the final three months of the school. The biggest question it ponders within the article is, how do we start school and catch students up from missing 3 months of school and then the additional time in the summer? These are thoughts we need to start to discuss as we plan for the 2020-21 school year at Westwood.https://www.the74million.org/article/researchers-urgent-message-for-schools-start-planning-now-for-a-precipitous-covid-slide-next-year/
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